Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections | 0 Comments

When I Grow Up…

Today, being the first day back in class, I asked my kids to tell me about their vacations. We had a blast talking about their Christmas celebrations and their favorite presents from Santa when out of the blue, one of the kids started crying. Apparently his seatmate was explaining to him that Santa wasn’t real and it was just a man in a costume. Egaaad….

These are one of those few conversations I hate having to deal with. Although I never really grew up believing in Santa, I don’t want to be the one to rain on the kids’  parades, especially since I don’t know how their parents handle things like that. So what I did instead was to have the kids play pretend. I had them pretend what they wanted to be when they grew up and said that the Santas they saw in the malls were just like them as they put on the old white lab coats, fireman’s hats, and various types of uniforms (from baseball jerseys, to basketball shorts, even replicas of medical nursing uniforms as well). I explained that sometimes, the clothes we wear explain or define our jobs and roles, and that went for the mall Santa’s though. That helped pacify the little boy a bit but now I can’t help but wonder what his mom has to say about it Will find out in the morning!!!

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Countdown Begins

There’s a song in my head tonight and part of it goes:

Clean up clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up clean up everybody do your share.

Yes, that’s a Barney song right there, haha. Today we cleaned up the school in preparation for the last stretch of the school year and that song kinda got stuck in my head. It’s funny how I so hate that song,but I can’t stop singing it!!!

Once again, it’s a little bittersweet for me because as we spruced up the school and while dusting off those artificial flowers by the grotto I couldn’t help but think (in between my sneezing and scratching from all that cleaning) there’s just a few more weeks to go before it’s bye-bye Teacher Ria. Errr…50 days give or take….siiigh.

When I stop and think about it, albeit I am at peace with my decision to leave the preschool, I still feel a little tug of loneliness whenever I find myself in this spot. I have always loved my role as a preschool teacher, and I think I always will, but I have gotten to the point where I have to say I can no longer do the waking up every morning all bright and sunshiney for the children. I have difficulty bearing with the noise and bending over to pick things up and lift the kids when they’re owie because, um, I get all owie too! Yes, teacher has gotten older. However, I still wish I can lend a hand in terms of decorating the school and planning events and the like I remember one of the most fun things (errr….but admittedly painstakingly difficult and tiring!) was create a flower garden on my classroom wall. I took the inspiration from an arrangement of  tropical artificial flowers I saw in the mall once and I decided to use paper cut outs glued on the wall in a decoupage fashion It came out beautifully, I must say, but sadly, I don’t have photos of it. That, I think, I’d like to do more of

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The Teachers New Clothes

Over the holidays, teacher went on a shopping spree. Yes, I spent every last cent of my baking money on clothes. EVERYTHING. Egaaaad…what was I thinking. Then again, after losing 30 pounds, I guess it’s okay to buy new clothes, right? The old ones didn’t fit anymore, after all (rationalize, rationalize, rationalize )

However, after shopping for all of those clothes I realized….I forgot to buy pants. Yes…I have a whole lot of tops, and lots of pretty new dresses, a couple of leggings but no pants. Genius. Then again, I’m pretty used to chasing after the kids in dresses so I shouldn’t really care much, right? Haha….

Seriously, though, I’ve always had a problem buying jeans because they never could fit right, I tell ya. But I’m hoping now that I’m losing weight, I can finally get into a good pair. Oooh…random…have you seen those rocawear jeans? Oh so nice!!! Maybe soon…

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections, Teacher's Corner | 0 Comments

Welcome Back to School!

The whole holiday season seems to have passed by like a blur and in the next few days, most kids (preschoolers and other grades alike) will be trooping back to school. While I have the customary “gaaah…back to work” feeling, there’s a little part of me that has all sorts of mixed emotions. After all, I only have three months left with my preschoolers. It’s a happy and sad feeling, to say the least.

I do hope that before those three months are up I am able to accomplish the following, in terms of leaving behind something to the school that has been my home for such a long time.

1. I hope to be able to store my old activity outputs (i.e. the body cut-out we did showing the inside of the human body, storybooks written by the kids, etc) so that the next teachers can also use them too.
2. Have the school sound system replaced (well, shop for it at least haha). I’d love for them to have a good audio-visual system that works, complete with microphones,wireless speakers, and yes, even a projector.
3. Set up a system that works for the school library. For some reason, we can’t seem to get this right!
4. Clean up the art supply closet!!!
5. Laminate and repair all the teacher made materials, put them in boxes and label them neatly so these all can be maximized. Currently, its sadly underutilized.

The most important thing I want to do, however, of course besides get my kids ready for the big school, is to truly enjoy every last moment till it’s time to hang up my teachers hat for good. Wish me luck.

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Start The Year Right with a ToyWatch from ToyWatch Philippines

One of the things I hate the most, be it in my students or people I work with (in fact, even with friends) is how often punctuality is not observed. I really hate how the whole construct of  “Filipino Time” has become such a deeply ingrained habit in many. I have to admit, because people around me are often late and have that mentality, I tend to think along those lines every now and then, but I really hate it to bits so I try my best to be on time.

Now, if you are one of those people who are always late, perhaps it’s time for you to change that! Wouldn’t that be a neat New Years Resolution? One big step to accomplishing that is by investing in a good watch. However, if you’re feeling Fun, Colorful, Fabulous or Bold, you can have the chance to snag one of these snazzy watches by simply submitting your photo in one of the four categories in the ToyWatch photo contest.Mechanics are quite simple to follow and the prizes at stake are more than just fun, colorful, fabulous and bold!!!

For me, this is what I would love to win from ToyWatch Philippines

Pretty, right? This is only one of the many chic and sassy ToyWatch designs . These watches range from about Php 12,000 to Php 35,000 and are available Rustan’s Gateway Mall, Shangri-la, and Makati.

These time pieces have been known to grace many a celebrities wrists. Wouldn’t it be so fab to have one too?  So what are you waiting for? You have only till January 4, 2011 to snap up that winning shot Good luck!!!

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