Dominic Chua
The Time Machine
The reaction of half of the class was one of incredulity — they asked her questions like ‘ How is this possible ?’ and ‘ What ’ s going to happen to the Periodic Table ?’
Shanti ’ s New Element
Mrs Shanti Sundram was a Chemistry teacher , and one of the first few teachers to teach the first batches of the Gifted Education Programme ’ s ( GEP ) secondary programme when it started . She had an MSc , and very few teachers had a Masters in those days .
So she went and told her class , one April Fools ’ Day , that a new element had been found and discovered . The reaction of half of the class was one of incredulity — they asked her questions like ‘ How is this possible ?’ and ‘ What ’ s going to happen to the Periodic Table ?’ The other half of the class never asked any questions and just copied whatever she was telling them .
At lesson ’ s end Shanti ( Mrs Sundram ) flashed a transparency with the words ‘ Happy April Fools ’ Day !’— but there was a bigger point to her prank : those who questioned had thought critically while those who didn ’ t had a long way more to go .
Rafflesian Times
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