Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies | 11 Comments

Show Your Real Love!

I think it is no secret, especially to those who read my blogs a lot, that my Lolo is my hero. It has been 14 years since we lost him, and though the pain and sadness of not having him around has faded, it never really goes away. Although he was diagnosed initially with emphysema, he eventually succumbed to cancer in 1996. Our family has had a long history of battling this deadly disease, which claims so many lives yearly. Even my mom had her own uterine cancer scare a few years back after she had given birth to my youngest brother and in all honesty, this is also why my personal PCOS related woes kinda scare me to the highest heavens all the time things don’t go well health wise. In my head I do know prevention is better than cure, which is actually why I opted to get myself vaccinated against HPV, which is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer, but right now, I’m butting heads with my doctor because of it hehe.

I realized that one thing that helped my family a lot get through all those cancer scares and difficulties was the fact that we had a good support system to lean on. However, not everyone has that. This is why when I was invited by Ms. Janette Toral to support the Real Love Campaign for the benefit of Kythe Foundation, an organization that provides support and psychosocial services for children with cancer, I did not hesitate to include it as one of my personal advocacies.

The Real Love Campaign is led by Unilever Foodsolutions. You too are invited to support the cause by simply “liking” their official Facebook Page. By just clicking on that “like” button, you help make a difference. How? For every 1,000 “Like” entries until it reaches 10,000 fans, Unilever Foodsolutions will donate 1,000 sandwiches to the different Kythe partner hospitals.  Not bad, right? (SO CLICK NOW!!! hehe)

You can also support the cause by buying a special Team Manila Shirt (especially designed for this campaign) for only Php 550. The shirt comes in both mens and womens sizes.

You can also WIN one of these limited edition shirts by simply supporting my little contest here in The Accidental Teacher The mechanics are simple. Just complete the statement:  “I will share my love to the kids of Kythe by____________”. Post your answer in the comment section below and on October 10, 2010,  one lucky winner will take home the special Team Manila shirt Winners, however, must be Philippine residents only.

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

Little Changes, Big Impact

In the last few months, I have been working on making little changes in my behavior that I would like to believe will make a big impact on my profession as a teacher. For a long time (perhaps because I have gotten so used to the daily grind of teaching), I take some things for granted and become too lax in planning ahead, mainly because I am able to rely on my past preparations and experiences anyway. However, I realized that I can do so much better if I just made little changes along the way. What changes might this be, one may wonder. Well, for one, I have made it a point to be more careful about the way I manage my time. I try to make it a point to be in class a few minutes before I’m supposed to so that I don’t have to feel rushed and all sweaty when I come in because I have enough time to do that beforehand. Secondly, I consciously make an effort to check attendance and recognize those who exert extra effort to get to know me (and allow me to get to know them better) by their names. Because I often have almost 120 students a trimester at the minimum, I find it almost impossible to memorize names, but now I am really trying. I think it makes an impact on the students as well. Lastly, I am working hard at no longer cramming and being lax about my students’ grades. I still have to work on a better document management system though, mainly because I tend to get too lazy to segregate my students’ work per class every meeting. I tend to just put them together in one pile, which often ends up with all of them getting mixed together. I think by being more cautious about this, grading will be easier. Also, this will definitely allow me to manage my time (whatever little time I have for this task!) better. These little steps will definitely make a big impact down the line. What about you, any other suggestions? Feel free to drop me a line

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

On Growing as an Educator

Every once in a while I think I have been teaching for far too long. At times, I have to admit it gets very tiring and monotonous, especially when it comes to the routine of class (particularly in the preschool level!). However, I think everyday I still gain something new in my growth as an educator. For a little bit, when I get stuck in a rut, it was a little hard to appreciate my own growth potential. But whenever that happens, something always, always happens to remind me of why I teach.

Today the message came via an email of a former student who was asking for some help. In her letter, she talked about how much she enjoyed my class and how it has influenced her over the years. It was heartwarming, to say the least. One thing she pointed out was how much she appreciated my teaching style (which often times, admittedly, is very preschooley). She went on to say that through this she enjoyed and appreciated the class, and it made learning very fun and easy. Granted that some students may say that when they’re asking a favor of you, but I’d like to believe in my heart of hearts that maybe I did make an impact in her life. What makes me say this? She is enrolling in a masters program abroad in early childhood.

For me, I’d like to think that growing as an educator is not limited to my own personal growth and improvement. It goes beyond getting all those letters behind your name and having countless publications in journals. Growing as an educator also means being able to spark an interest in your students that allows them to explore endless possibilities that are open for them. Today, I felt that, and while I may question where I stand in my profession every now and then, I know I did well

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Teaching Resources | 0 Comments

My Favorite “Office” Supply…

Okay, brace yourself for some strange thoughts from Teacher Ria…hehe.

Since I’ve become a preschool teacher, I have discovered so many office supplies and equipment (whether they are really designed for this or not!!!) that I have fallen in love with. If I had an unlimited supply of money, I would definitely get them for myself, but since I don’t, I try to get the school head to buy them instead haha.

So, what are these supplies I love? Well, here are a few:

• Packaging tape
• Bristol Board
• Letter Shaped Punchers (as well as other craft shapes!)
• Craft scissors
• Glue sticks!!!
• Ring binders (we only have a small one, but I’d love to have one of those heavy duty VeloBind machines that can handle large volumes of paper, as well as paper with larger dimensions!)
• Photocopiers
• and best of all….laminating machines (we only have a small one that can fit regular sized papers, but I would love to one day have a big one that can laminate posters!!!)

See….weird random thoughts at midnight tonight. Haha.

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Tips and Tricks | 0 Comments

Field Trip Reminders!

One of the kids’ favorite activities EVER are field trips. I don’t think this ever goes away…even my college kids ask me to take them on little field trips all the time! However, for the teachers, field trips can be a logistical nightmare. Sometimes it can get difficult to iron out the kinks of any trip, but somehow it always works out. Some tips to keep in mind, however are as follows:

• Make sure all teachers are given copies of all lists needed (bus assignments, special considerations, etc.). That way everyone is on the same page.
• Keep a list of parents numbers handy, just in case of emergency
• Stock up the first aid kit. Be ready for anything.
• Bring extra water, clothes, barf bags, cleaning aides and the like. With kids, anything can go wrong at any moment!
• Check on the policies of the places you are visiting, so you can prepare for these. For example, if you do a theater activity, do note that snacks are not allowed, therefore the kids, their nannies and parents should be reminded to leave these in the bus instead, especially since checking them in to the counter can take a long time.
• Try to get travel and0 emergency insurance quotes included in your tour packages, even if this may up the rates a little bit. It’s better to be prepared than to be sorry, right?

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