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

Unexpected Surprises

I love you Teacher!

Today I woke up feeling a wee bit under the weather and with very little inspiration in my heart. Add to that, tired eyes from another sleepless night compounded by endless palpitations that was driving me nuts. I don’t really know what it was, but I just knew I was starting things off on the wrong foot. Before leaving for work, I posted a message on my Plurk page saying that I was feeling a bit emotionally, physically and mentally tired and that I could really use a hug, which my Plurk buddies readily gave. However, I still found myself wishing for something more. Like I said, I don’t really know where it was coming from, but I just felt soooo zapped of all positive energy in me and I was feeling kinda low.

Just before classes started, I checked on my Facebook page and saw a wall post from a friend who was wishing me well because of my earlier messages and I quickly sent back a reply before beginning circle time which said: “i am okay thank you very much i could use a hug and some positive energy, but im fine see you later”. Just as I logged off from my mobile connection, one of my little kiddos suddenly came up to me and just threw his arms around me and gave me a loooong squeeze and said, “I love you, Teacher”.

*heart melts*

I wasn’t really expecting it and when it happened, all I could think of was how amazing it is to work with kids. We kinda think it is us giving something to them and touching their lives to make a difference, but the truth is, often times, it’s the other way around. Today my heart was full of joy because of that unexpected surprise.

This is truly one of the priceless joys of preschool teaching.

If you found this post interesting, informative and educational, feel free to take home my notes by subscribing here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Featured, Reflections, Teacher's Corner | 3 Comments

Missing my Little Cara-tot

I would be lying if I said I don’t have class favorites.

Let me qualify that statement: I have kids who I feel more connected to compared to others, but this does not mean I don’t treat my kids equally. Some of them just have the uncanny ability of tugging at my heartstrings. To be fair, I keep my emotions in check when I work with the children in class, and I make sure to have my partner tell me if she feels I am paying too much attention to one over the other.

The thing is, as hard as I try not to get attached to some other kids, I can’t help but fall for some of them. Perhaps it’s because of a certain need they have, or a difficulty we worked through together, or simply because he or she is simply adorable and can make me laugh, whatever it is, some of them creep slowly into my heart and stay there for a long, long time.

Cara was one of those little kids who touched my heart and has stayed there despite the fact that she has been gone for the past two school years already.

I guess what made Cara so special to me was that she was in the first class I taught after returning from my two year retirement from preschool teaching and she was one of my biggest success stories ever! She transformed from a very clingy (yes, with matching cry, kick and may-I-throw-you-a-tantrum daily) little girl who refused to talk to anyone except her cousin Rafa and her nanny to a confident and sociable child in a few months. At first she would not allow me to hold her and would really cry if her yaya was asked to wait in the nanny area already.

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

When Students Grow Up

fellow bloggers with SM Winema Project Head, Sharon Yu…

yes…she used to be my student!

One of the most rewarding things for me as a teacher is seeing my kids grow up to become their own people. Over the years I have received updates from parents bubbling with pride over their child’s latest accomplishments and every time I get these messages, I feel a surge of pride rush in me. Even though I know a lot has happened since they were in my class, I can’t help but feel I am part of that growth and progress as well, even just a little bit.

In the past two years, my very first preschoolers have graduated from elementary school and are now in high school. It’s amazing how quickly time flies and in my head, I still think of them as the little kids I used to carry around!

My college kids have graduated too. I guess that’s even stranger for me than having the little ones grow up! For one, a guy from the very first class I taught in the university is now my colleague in the department. More than that, he’s a very accomplished researcher. I also have found myself “working” with former students in a totally different capacity now. Since I have gotten into this blogging thing, I have run in to two former students from an advertising/marketing class I once taught. The last time I saw one of them, we had a long talk about the movie Inception and about Psychology. And you know what, for some reason, I felt so tongue-tied and clueless all of a sudden!!!

In any case, seeing them grow up has truly been a testament to why I do this job

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

Seniors Class Here I Come!

Just a few more days and classes officially open! Here are some photos of the school’s face lift.

Of course, genius me forgot to take photos of my own classroom hehehe! Will update that soon. I’m kinda looking forward to the new school year (I say ‘kinda’ because I’m still struggling with the having to wake up early part!) because I will be handling the seniors class (4′s and 5′s) again. It will be the first time since around 2006, if I remember correctly, for me to handle the older kids again. Much as the younger toddlers and juniors are a lot of fun to work with, I like the fact that the seniors are so much more independent and conversational. I love listening to the banter they exchange, plus they are really developing their own personalities more distinctly at that age. They’re more concrete in expressing their emotions and ideas, which is a joy for me.  They’re also able to translate this to actions, words and drawings more effectively too. Their drawings and artworks are so endearing too! In fact,  I love receiving their little personalized gifts such as drawings and notes from them. These are things I always cherish and till now, I keep them in a box. The last thing I’m looking forward to this school year is the fact that many of my kids from last year will be coming back, so that should be a blast! So for now, Teacher Ria is counting down the days till Wednesday, the first day of school!

If you found this post interesting, informative and educational, feel free to take home my notes by subscribing here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections | 0 Comments

Sight-seeing in the SLEX

Last night I was stuck in the expressway-slash-parking lot for ages. The normal short drive from work, which takes less than half an hour if I leave school after 9 pm, took over two and a half hours. I wiled away the time on my mobile phone writing notes and what-not. But I could only do that for so long, so I began sight-seeing. Well, billboard seeing that is! Normally I don’t get to look at them much since I am driving, so I usually just get a glance.

Anyway, last night I was amazed at the sheer number of billboards there are. It’s like every hundred meters has one! From shoes, cough medicines, internet providers and beauty/cosmetology centers (whether for an acne skin product or various treatments). While I think our government has to start regulating these billboards in the name of safety (especially in EDSA where the billboards can be so mesmerizing, especially those with bright lights and are animated), I was glad for once that they were there to keep my entertained throughout my painfully long trip.

If you found this post interesting, informative and educational, feel free to take home my notes by subscribing here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections | 4 Comments

A lesson from the first day of class

I made it through the first day of class! Well, the first two days should I say. Yesterday we started a new term and I’m slowly trying to get back to the daily grind. The first day is always testy for me, no matter how many times I’ve done this before. I always manage to get all anxious and antsy. Lucky for me, three of my four classes have students I have taught before, so this calmed my nerves a bit.

On the other hand, the last class is a totally new bunch of students, and to top it off, they’re from the College of Engineering. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I always seem to have the wrong perceptions of them. For example, I always assumed that engineering students were good at math and had good drawing skills. Today, my students struggled through a simple drawing activity and one even jokingly said that if it were a cad drawing or a computer assisted task, they’d get it done in no time! Plus apparently math is not always an inherent talent for these students! At the end of the session, I guess it was me who was reminded of a lesson: don’t make assumptions because in as much as clothing is not one size fits all, so are these preconceived notions I have.

If you found this post interesting, informative and educational, feel free to take home my notes by subscribing here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections | 2 Comments

Thesis Shmesis

If there’s one thing I regret in my life, it’s not being able to do my thesis. There. I said it.

I do regret giving up on it and letting it overpower me. I know deep inside that if push came to shove, I can muster something up but it really isn’t something of interest to me. I know it is hard to do but not impossible. However, without the drive, it is pointless.

Every once in a while, however, I think about what perhaps can motivate me to do it. Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that if only I get one of those nice, handy netbooks will inspire me to write but in reality, I know it will just be a distraction.

So…what will motivate me to do it? Perhaps finding something that makes sense to me? Right now, nothing comes to mind yet

If you found this post interesting, informative and educational, feel free to take home my notes by subscribing here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections | 0 Comments

Teacher’s on break!

After the ten long months, teacher is officially taking a two-week break!!!

I love teaching a lot but now that I’ve gotten older, it’s kinda hard to keep up with the little kids.  Running after them and goofing around isn’t as easy as it used to be! Now I contend with back aches all the time and my patience has gotten much shorter than it used to be. I think even the kids notice my aging as they ask about white hairs they notice or lines on my face and even the veins that are more prominent now in my hands. I’m starting to feel that I need to lather on all sorts of wrinkle creams and anti-aging ointments to keep myself from looking older! Nonetheless, I still enjoy it a whole lot. I honestly think too that being with these young kids have kept me young emotionally. I remember a time when I resigned from teaching preschool because I wanted to focus more on graduate studies and during that time, I felt so old! It was like I wasn’t laughing enough and seeing the joy of life as much.

I have to admit, though, that much as I will always love teaching, I can only squeeze in a year or two more of teaching little kids. After that perhaps I have to move on to a different kind of working with kids. We’ll see where that goes. In the meantime, I’m going on vacation. No pay nga lang. Hehe!

If you found this post interesting, informative and educational, feel free to take home my notes by subscribing here.