Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades, Featured, Lesson Plans, Outside the Classroom, Preschool | 0 Comments

When Nature Has Other Plans

Often times in a preschool teachers life she will find that no matter how well in advance she has planned her lessons, things happen that change the course of this discussion. In my personal experience, this has happened countless times, both for the good and the bad. Sometimes these changes are due to faulty equipment or at times due to a more pressing interest in another topic or stimuli, whatever it is, the teachers job is to adjust to these changes and not get caught up with the “plan”.

When I was starting out, I occasionally struggled with that. It took some time for me to really embrace the idea that no matter what I do or say, if the children are intent on something else, I better just go with it. And what I realized from this is by going with the children’s flow, I would find they learned better and they remembered these lessons even years later.

One example of these sudden changes was when I ran into Mother Nature as I taught my kids about animals and bugs. As part of our Math lesson, I had them go through an investigative bug hunt. The task was for them to look for the plastic bugs and pictures of animals I had hidden around the playground and to count the number of legs these bugs had, then we were to chart this and compare which had more or less . Armed with a magnifying glass and a record sheet, we set out in search for these little critters.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies, Life Lessons, Outside the Classroom | 8 Comments

Nurturing a Teen’s Self-Esteem: Reflections learned from PBB

Last night, I caught an episode of the television show Pinoy Big Brother Teen Clash (PBB). Even from the teasers and trailers of the episode which aired throughout prime time, I had a bad feeling about what would happen in the show.

The nights episode featured the birthday parties of teens Tricia and Devon (disclaimer lang muna: sa lahat ng girls, pinakanagugustuhan kong mukha ay kay Devon, not the typical showbiz beauty pero maganda mukha niya! OT!!!). Since they are celebrating their birthdays this week, Kuya decided to give them a birthday party each. Sadly, it will be on the same day and their friends can only attend one party. Hmmm….from that pa lang na-off na ako. The idea of having to place a teenager at that position is quite an emotionally challenging experience. Nakaka-trauma kaya! Siguro kaya ako affected kasi alam ko rin naman that this is a personal issue that bothers me rin. For others, maybe this is not an issue. I’ll explain later why this triggered some emotions and negative feelings in me.

Anyway, as I had assumed (based on the trailer) hardly anyone went to Tricia’s party. Granted that she is the “unliked” teen by the others,  it was sad to see how this was played upon even more. While she was waiting for guests to arrive, for example, she heard the other side of the house celebrating as one by one, the Pinoy housemates arrived and cheered for Devon. I felt so bad for Tricia as she tried to cheer herself on despite the tears that were welling up in her eyes. I myself have been in that position many times, whispering to myself “okay lang yun”.  By the end of the episode, aamin ko na pati ako naluha. Yes, this coming from me who used to tell my own mother that she was so baduy because she was not just watchingPBB, pero naiinvolve pa talaga siya!

Now…what does this have to do about me? Well…for one, I was a teen once. A not so pretty and mega super overweight teen at that. As such, I was never the “liked” teen in class. Also, many say I look mataray and suplada because of the way I look (at least when I was younger). Because of that, I was often misunderstood and disliked. I remember how whenever class groupings had to be made, I would often be the last to be chosen. Watching the show last night reminded me of that.

I would always dismiss it and tell myself it didn’t matter. For the most part, okay lang naman talaga sa akin. Or so I thought. A teenager’s ego is quite fragile and a lot of seemingly insignificant events can leave emotional scars that may not be apparent till much later on in life. In my case, that’s true. I always thought I had resolved those feelings and chalked it up to nothing but even as a young adult, I had a lot of insecurities even at work. In fact, one time I was inadvertently left off in an email correspondence between colleagues and this triggered a lot of feelings of anxiety and depression in me.  So much so I needed help to get over it.

Some may say OA naman reaction ko. Pero sa totoo lang, a lot of those feelings are deeply rooted in my poor self-esteem formation as a teen. While I may come across as confident and boisterous, those are cover-ups for my insecurity. I don’t personally know Tricia, pero what if kaya rin siya napagkakamalang maarte at lahat dahil ito rin ang way niya to deal with her feelings?

Adolescence is perhaps one of the most tumultuous and difficult experiences one goes through in life. It is often plagued with insecurities and uncertainties about who one is and the direction one is going in their lives. While this period in life brings with it a lot of new and exciting experiences, it also brings with it challenges that are often hard to explain.

According to Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development, this is a period in which one goes through the developmental crisis known as “Identity vs. Role Confusion”.  In Britney Spears talk, at this time, a teenage girl is “not a girl, not yet a woman”. Whatever way you look at it, a teenage girl is at a crossroads of her life. She is picking up pieces of a puzzle that will complete a picture of who she is and what she is all about.

For me, last night’s experience was a painful episode in a vulnerable teens life. While she was opening an ice cream cone while talking to Patrick, you could see how pained she was that she really wanted to cry. I wonder how this will affect her self-esteem…

I have to applaud Tricia’s response to a very painful experience she had to go through. As she huddled under the blankets when the Pinoy teens arrived after the party, I heard her mutter what I would usually answer, but with less sarcasm: tapos na rin naman, wala na tayong magagawa.  She also invited her housemates to eat cake after going to the confession room and For a 15 year old, that was pretty big of her.

Moving on, however, the episode taught me an important lesson as a teacher What is this? Well, it reminded me about my role in nurturing a child and teen’s self-esteem. Sometimes it’s easy to overlook this. Here are some tips on how to nurture a child (or teens) self-esteem:

1. Give them constant affirmation for the good they do. By recognizing their strengths and highlighting their accomplishments, they can feel better about themselves. This will also help build their self-image.
2. Focus on the positive, not the negative! Rather than saying “sayang may two mistakes ka, perfect na sana e!” say “great job! you almost got it all!” .  Although to be fair, pointing out the two mistakes can be a form of challenging them to do better. Be careful in using it.
3. When punishing or reprimanding them, focus on the negative behavior and not the individual. Many times we unintentionally say ang tigas talaga ng ulo mo, no? or you’re such a bad girl (for younger kids). Rather than saying that, try using words like “what you did is bad” or “Your behavior is unacceptable”.
4. For teachers, when making groups in class, try counting-off or assigning groups rather than leaving the students to pick their own group mates. This is what I’m most guilty of. I often let my students pick teams and I have had times when there is someone that the class does not like and she is left alone. Once, in fact, I had to intervene because no one wanted this girl in their groups and the girl ended up in tears.
5. Provide opportunities for success rather than defeat. This does not mean, however, that he/she should not be challenged to push themselves further.

I am looking forward to tonight’s episode. I want to see how Kuya processes this (I sure hope meron!) and how he will turn this into a learning experience for everyone involved. By the way, hats off to some of the teenternationals who showed concern towards Tricia. I don’t know who said it but after the party, one of them commented that “it’s like they don’t even care”. Let’s see how this transforms these teens not just to be winners in this reality show but to actually become winners in life.

PS: please excuse the grammar and taglish nature of this post emotional issue here!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Outside the Classroom | 0 Comments

Summer’s Last Hurrah

I looked at the calendar and was amazed to see the date: May 15. That means half the summer is gone!!! I can’t believe how quickly time flies and in a few short weeks, students all over the Philippines will be going back to the daily grind of classes, homework, tests, and so on and so forth.

Before the summer ends, there is enough time for a last hurrah!

Whether it be taking piano lessons, attending an arts and crafts class or exploring a new sport, this will allow children to explore their other strengths and weaknesses. Through these activities, children can also learn how to engage with others, become more disciplined and become more self-confident.

As a child, I remember having summer’s full of different activities, all of which have contributed to who I am today. One of  those I remember most were summer camps. I loved going to those camps and through it, I learned to be self-reliant and to get along with other children better. I never took piano lessons or any other musical instrument though, mainly because much as I wanted to, music was not in my cards. Although I am not yet a parent, I am a strong believer in all these different activities that help develop a child not just cognitively but in all other aspects as well.

These activities need not to be just a summer thing. For example, piano lessons can be year-round. Similarly, sports program can be a consistent extra-curricular event. Keeping a good balance between school work and after-school activities is important in building a child’s self esteem.

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Outside the Classroom, Teacher's Corner | 0 Comments

MTV Emerge

MTV Emerge offers talented young Filipinos a new and exciting opportunity to hone their craft. By simply registering and uploading their profiles, photos and original music to the official site during the submission period, these future music legends have to chance to be voted as one of the 7 emerging bands which will win a one-year recording contract with Jeepney Music, mentorship under Black Eyed Peas’ star and fellow Pinoy Apl.d.Ap. More than just the contract is a package that will help them break into both local and foreign music scenes. This  includes artist management and promotion, digital distribution of 3-6 songs and a strategic marketing plan to help them become the next music stars from the Philippines.

This  Jeepney Music, and Department of Tourism collaboration is definitely a wonderful opportunity for young dreamers of the Philippines. Through this venture, the winners will have so many opportunities for learning that they will not find in any classroom or university, even if they take music as their major. In many ways, this is the epitome of what learning from outside the four walls of a classroom is, right?

I have a few favorites who are in the running for the chance to win the grand prize. It sure is difficult to pick just one to vote for but one that I personally voted for is that of Rapnophobia, entitled God Bless Philippines. This young group does have a lot of talent!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Outside the Classroom | 2 Comments

Dine with PAWS.

Before Bubba came to my life, I did not care much about animals. For me, they were just insignificant creatures. However, as Bubba worked his magic on me, I started realizing that they were not insignificant at all. In fact, Bubba has taught me a lot of important life lessons, many of which I’ve written about here and here.

This is why when I read about the charity dinner PAWS is organizing, I knew immediately I wanted to take him. It sounds like a fun event that Bubba and I will definitely get to enjoy. Plus it helps raise funds and awareness for the plight of many of the unwanted, abandoned and abused animals that PAWS helps protect.