So I've been playing DotA 2 after I got tired of the grinding I needed to do to advance in Path of Exile. After several farming trips with one of the Ledge farming parties, I decided this isn't what I want to do.
I've really lost a lot of skill in DotA 2 after such a long time away from this kind of games but I managed to get back some after several co-op matches with Easy AI bots.
Initially I wanted to play with the Undying but I found that, just like the guides told me, it's pretty bad in late game. Heck, it wasn't even particularly good in the earlier parts anyway.
Hence I'm with the Centaur Warrunner now. He's actually pretty good TBH. His Double Edge does great damage in early game and Return is really effective in late game. Double Edge does damage to both himself and any enemy within melee range, while Return does damage equal to a specific number plus a portion of his strength against each attacker.
As a tank, Double Edge is fantastic against weak Intel heroes. With a tank's health, the damage is not a lot to me while it's a lot to them.
To make things better, he has a stun. Great for ganks.
His ulti is probably one of the most utilitarian I've ever seen. Stampede increases the movement speed of the whole team on the map, removes unit collision (can't be blocked by any unit), slows down all enemies they Stampede over and does some damage.
This means that it can be used to chase enemies or run from them.
The only real catch to this hero is that in late game, if the enemies ignore him, he's worthless because by then, his worth lies mainly in Return which needs him to be attacked first. Double Edge is horrible in late game and barely hurts even Intel heroes, while Stomp is just a weak melee-range stun. This leaves just his Stampede which doesn't really hurt.
Therefore, guides recommend getting Radiance just so that the damaging aura can cause enemies to want to kill him just to stop the constant pain.
So far, I'm still practising on bots so this isn't necessary.
So this new pair of glasses is already falling apart. One of the rubber grip loosened and held on to my ear when I took my glasses off. I can easily slip it back but what happens if it drops outside?
I'm going to need a new pair from another shop.
Found some really weird stuff from the old cartons I was getting my staff to clear to make space. Some strange vests made of some kind of plastic fabric material. Some only cover the chest. I have no idea what my mother was doing with these.
So the conversations with my former teachers during CNY showed me a bit of what it's like to teach in Singapore today.
It also appears we are about to get some kind of crisis as we run out of teachers. I don't really know if it's true but it sounds like the turnover rate is rather high among young teachers, so most of them are either very green or around retirement age.
Worse is that other than the old ones, teachers and principals today are more concerned with their careers and bonuses than with the kids.
A teacher who used to be my PE teacher is now a discipline master in a primary school, and according to a former teacher of mine, he's practically impotent in that role. In one incident, the kid was so bad he pulled him by his collar to scold him, and the student kicked him multiple times in retaliation.
Despite his demand for the principal to cane him, the student got just a week of suspension plus counselling for that. I bet he took it as a holiday. The discipline master even threatened the principal that he would file a police report for physical assault, and even that didn't work. I'm sure he would have had a solid case, but that clearly wasn't enough.
I've been caned by a principal for a lot less!
The thing is that principals like that aren't uncommon these days, and it made me wonder about the point of having a discipline master at all if they can't use corporal punishment and principals don't support their judgement in meting out punishment.
If you want merely a loud voice, just buy loudspeakers for teachers.
If all discipline masters can do is shout at students, then the role is now obsolete. Keeping teachers in those jobs is only a waste of blood pressure medicine.
And since corporal punishment is no longer allowed, it's much harder to control students. Apparently, making students stand outside the class is not allowed. Neither is making them write lines. Nor are teachers allowed to make students walk up and down the stairs. Or running laps out on the track/field.
Basically, teachers are only allowed to shout at students. And counsel them, as if it works on everyone. Anything physical, even a hard poke with a finger on the forehead or a light slap (almost a pat) can possibly result in emailed complaints from parents to the Ministry, especially since students today are much more capable at exaggeration. Kudos to the English teachers for that... maybe.
Pokes have been turned into punches by students before when they tell their parents what happened in school, and parents trust their children to tell the truth, often enough that they would send the email without clarifying with the school or the teacher.
One of my former teacher claims to be able to handle them with his ferocity, and I don't doubt that. He'd taught me for 4 years out of the 6 in primary school, and I know he is fierce not just because of his voice. He's just got that attitude when it's necessary.
Another teacher is much more interesting - she simply tells the principal to sack her if he wants to. She's retired anyway. Moreover, like other retired teachers I know, she can easily get a job in other schools. From everything I've heard so far, veteran teachers like her are in high demand and schools are willing to bend over backward just to accomodate them, including really short single-semester contracts that do not require them to handle administrative work and attend meetings, and allowing them to leave (with advance notice) before the contract's over.
At worst, she could always move in with her children over in the US. The elder one is doing very well there, living in a gated community and sending her grandkids to private pre-schools ($800 a month per child! WTF?).
I only worry for the children today. If it is so obvious that the current incentive system for the teachers is a mistake, why does it continue?
I also wonder what happened to principals like the one who caned me back in my primary school days, the kind who would support the judgement of teachers and really drove fear into bad students simply with his presence.
I'm not saying the caning wasn't part of it, but it was not a major factor at all. No, it was something else, something more psychological. The caning was nothing; it was never particularly painful to me.
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