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 Lesson Plans, Preschool, Teaching Resources, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment

Teacher Made Resources: Alphabet Dress Up Cards

I was able to dig up one of my old teacher made materials just in time for our class discussion on clothing. I made this probably five or six years ago and I was amazed that it still existed!

When I first made this, what I had in mind was integrating academic concepts to a “fun” game. As such, I created a paper doll, a farmer to be exact. The goal was to dress up the farmer with articles of clothing that matched based on the letter seen on his hat. I guess you can see what I mean in the photo

Cute, don’t you think? hmmm….maybe I should patent this right about now hahaha!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Arts and Crafts, Classroom Escapades, Lesson Plans, Preschool | 2 Comments

The Seniors Tie Dye Project

For our discussion on clothing (as part of how we take care of our body) and colors, I decided to let the kids experiment on tie dying this week I started out the week with a discussion on primary and secondary colors, particularly how primary colors can mix together to make a new color. Since then my kids have been calling red, blue and yellow “magic colors” because they can become something else when mixed.

We also discussed the different types of clothing we wear and for what purpose (i.e. raincoats, aprons, gloves, socks, costumes and so on and so forth )

For a culminating activity, we made rainbow shirts!

The kids had a blast! So did teacher I was a bit worried at first about how this would have turned out, mainly because my past experiences with these activities were not very good. Luckily, my partner, Teacher Joy, had experience in this and did great in mixing the dye. I usually put too much water and I used to use vinegar instead of salt in the mixture. Plus I used to “cook” the shirts. Apparently, that was wrong! Haha!

This time, what we did was to prepare the different colors of dye then tie up the shirt and dye it section by section. Plus I squeezed out the excess dye before moving to the next color. Success! For the shirts that kinda had extra white spaces on it, we decided to use the stampers to add some flair

Again, the kids exclaimed “this was the bestest day ever, Teacher!”

We did the shirts yesterday and today, before heading home, we tried it on!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Arts and Crafts, Teacher's Corner, The Library, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments

My Concept Wall

It’s been over a month since classes started and I realized I still have not posted what my classroom concept wall looks like. With no further ado, here it is!
The caterpillar is actually a recycled one from my Toddlers days but I love it so much I decided to keep it, even if my students don’t really need it. For the calendar, I decided to up the ante by having the kids master the concepts of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

My favorite feature, however, is the reading train. My co-teacher painted that over the summer There are a series of pockets which currently hold our various word lists. An alternative I was thinking of is tracking titles of books we read throughout the month. Fun idea, huh?

Join in and jump aboard the reading train!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Lesson Plans | 1 Comment

Where does food come from?

Cooking and food-related activities are sure hits when teaching kids. It can be a little tiring for teacher though, especially since you have to keep in mind the kids safety, as well as the fact that some kids have food allergies.

One activity I enjoy doing is a food sorting game. This can tackle a wide range of topics, depending on the level of difficulty. For example, the food sorting game can focus on shapes by having kids check out what’s in their lunch boxes and grouping them together like this:

For older kids, you can have them classify it by taste (i.e. sweet, salty, bitter, sour), type (go, grow, and glow) but the most fun I have experienced was when I asked them to identify where food comes from.

What I did was had the kids bring in some of their favorite food (some brought in the real thing, while others brought photos only).  On my table, I put a plastic pig, cow, chicken, and plant/tree. We then had a taste test-slash-learning activity. After sampling some of the food, we placed them in the appropriate column. The simple ones were the obvious ones: fried chicken, eggs, milk. Fruits and vegetables were easily associated with plants as well. Burgers, hotdogs, and barbeque was a little more difficult for them, but they were able to understand it quickly. What they had a hard time grasping was that rice, bread, nuts and even chocolate came from plants. I showed them pictures of wheat fields and explained that when the plant grew, it was harvested and milled so rice could be produced. I also showed them pictures of trees like the cashew tree and other flowering plants where nuts and cacao seeds would come from.

cashew tree in Coron, Palawan

cacao tree in Bali (Photo: “cacao fruits” by Dennis Tang, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved). Cacao trees grow in different parts of the world, the largest of which is in northwestern South America. Africa and South East Asia, including the Philippines, also produce a large number of cacao plants. The irvingia gabonesis, an African tree, is an example of where chocolates come from.

The activity was not just an eye-opener for the kids, but it was also a laugh fest for us all. Some of my favorite comments during the activity:

Teacher: Where do hotdogs come from?    Kids: Doggies teacher!

Teacher: Where does bacon come from?   Kids: The freezer!

My all time favorite:

Teacher: Where does a burger come from? Kids: (in unison) Jollibee!!!!

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies, Lesson Plans | 0 Comments

Dangers over the counter

I am a self-confessed over-the-counter junkie. I am the type of person who would pop a pill at the first sign of a cold or to treat even small aches and pains. However, now that I am getting older, I can’t help but think about what this does to my body. While the relief is almost instantaneous, it can have long term consequences that may affect my future. This is why it scares me that so many over-the-counter medications are being abused nowadays. From oral antibiotics to analgesics, even weight loss pills and supposed natural/herbal supplements, these pills are being passed around like it’s candy. It doesn’t help that many of the celebrities around have made taking these pills cool and interesting.

I think one way we teachers can help address this problem is by including topics like prescription drug use and abuse in our health classes. Although I may not be able to do this for my preschoolers, I sure can address this in my college classroom. A good venue, for example, is in my abnormal psychology classes where I talk about eating disorders and addictions. I don’t have a set lesson plan in mind yet, but I think it would be a good addition to the lesson. Any suggestions?

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Arts and Crafts, Classroom Escapades, Lesson Plans, Teaching Resources | 0 Comments

What’s Inside My Body?

Today was a super fun day with the Seniors of Playschool! Thanks to a friend of mine who suggested making one of those cut-out standees, I was able to make learning about the body a more enjoyable and meaningful experience for my preschoolers.

Because my students are Seniors, and especially since most of them were from my class last school year as Juniors, we have progressed from naming the visible parts of our body to the internal parts.We also talked about what it does for the body. For example, we talked about what happens to food when it goes to the tummy and how our body gets rid of excess waste. As a follow up, we will be reading Taro Gami’s book “Everybody Poops”.

So today I tried my best to make a replica of a human body. Pardon me if the dimensions and locations are not 100% accurate, but I used one of the school books to guide me

After creating the model, we took photos with our standee

Posted by Teacher Ria in Multimedia Center, Teacher's Corner, Teaching Resources, The Library | 2 Comments

Learning Position Words on P.E. Day

One of the highlights of this week in the Seniors Class was P.E. Day. However, rather than it being a typical P.E. day, I decided to integrate vocabulary building into the activity. Keeping in mind the song “Going on a Bear Hunt”, the kids and I played games that let us go over, under, through and around things!

The kids had a blast! I guess I can say I did too…even though I was dripping with sweat the whole time through since it was quite a warm day. I was huffing and puffing my way through it too, especially since I know I’m not very fit nowadays! The activity was quite a workout! Admittedly,  activities like these sure can beat even the best weight loss supplements in the market! Maybe I should do a little more of these and soon I’d see results…imagine that…teaching kids plus losing weight! Woot!

Anyway, for those not familiar with the song “Going on a Bear Hunt” , here’s how it goes (it comes in different ways, but here’s what I often use)

Going on A Bear Hunt
I’m going on a bear hunt
I’m not afraid!
What’s that?
Tall grass!
Can’t  go under it,
Can’t go over it.
I guess we will have to through it!
Whew!

I’m going on a bear hunt
I’m not afraid!
What’s that?
It’s a great big tree
Can’t  go under it,
Can’t go through it.
I guess we will have to climb over it!
Whew!

I’m going on a bear hunt
I’m not afraid!
What’s that?
It’s a bridge
Can’t  go under it,
Can’t go through it.
I guess we will have to walk over it!
Whew!

I’m going on a bear hunt.
I’m not afraid.
What’s that?
It’s a river!
Can’t go over it
Can’t go under it?
I guess we will have to swim through it!
Whew!

I’m going on a bear hunt.
I’m not afraid.
What’s that?
It’s a deep dark cave!
Can’t go over it
Can’t  go under it
I think we are going to have to go in it.
Shh!

I feel something furry!!
It has a big nose!!
What’s that??? (pause)

IT IS A BEAR!!!!

Run out of the cave
Swim back through the river
Climb back over the tree
Go into the house and slam the door. BAM!!
I wasn’t afraid. Were you?

Check out You Tube too, there are lots of fun versions of it. This is my favorite:

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Posted by Teacher Ria in The Library | 0 Comments

Giving credit where it’s due

In the past few days, I have been thinking about the constructs of being fair, integrity and justice. Strange as this may seem, it is through teaching kids that I am reminded of these. Because of their innocence and bright-eyed optimism, I am reminded to not be jaded and to be open minded about things around us.

That started out as a random thought that came to mind as I drove to school but later on today, I read a Plurk thread from a friend celebrating the quick service he got when getting his NBI clearance and other government issued cards. I jokingly replied: “it’s a PGMA legacy”, a sarcastic throwback at the television ads touting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s legacy.

I will admit: every single time I see those ads, it riles me up. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how her people have the audacity to claim such things.

But then all emotions and disdain for a leader that I dislike aside, I realize that when credit is due, it must be given. Perhaps right now I don’t appreciate it, but maybe somewhere in her administration, she did something right.

While it is hard to see the benefits of the Arroyo administration, more so to appreciate it, it should be done. In the same manner, all the failures must not be overlooked. Although books on public policy and politics aren’t really up my alley, it would be interesting to check out Beating the Odds, a book that takes a look at the state of policy making, decision-making and action-taking in the last nine years under PGMA’s rule. The book gives readers a close-up analysis of several key issues surrounding the country and how the President responded to these challenges.

One of the biggest issues the Presidency faced is the growing budget deficit that continues to debilitate our economy. While issues of corruption and endless evidences of funds gone awry, such as the ZTE broadband deal and the infamous Le Cirque dinner will always haunt her legacy, the book will give readers a look into how she was able to make positive strides in the economic growth of the country.

Another issue tackled by the book is the Mindanao Peace Process and concerns surrounding it. Through her leadership, she was able to forge talks with Moro rebels that contributed to ceasefire agreements that still are in place today. She likewise tried to make strides towards the rehabilitation of war-torn Mindanao.

Other issues tackled in the book include terrorism, threats to her leadership by attempted coup d’etats, the SARS outbreak, and increasing drug threats.

The book promises to be an insightful look at what it is like to be the Chief Executive of a nation and how the Philippine beauracracy works. Readers of this book will likely see a new side of the presidency, governance and our country and perhaps be more aware of the nitty-gritty details of the job.

As for me, I will try not to smirk anymore at the legacy commercials, but I’m not really promising much. I will, however, recognize that when credit is due, to GMA or anyone else in her governance, it should be given.

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Multimedia Center, Teaching Resources | 0 Comments

Lessons from the Karate Kid

I was able to catch an early screening of the Karate Kid and I loved it a lot! I don’t really remember much of the first three installments of the film, but this last one was a blast

As usual, the teacher in me got to thinking about how I can use the film in my class. What really struck me about the film is that it is really more than just a story of karate (or should I say kung fu) but it’s a story about patience, perseverance and courage in the face of anything. On a personal level, it reminded me of the value of being centered and tapping into “quiet energy”. Another thing I was able to appreciate in the film is the reminder that life should be a balancing act between work and play.

The Karate Kid definitely has earned it’s rightful place in Teacher Ria’s shelf of movies to use when teaching class, particularly for leadership and self-development Read more of my review on Karate Kid here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Multimedia Center | 0 Comments

No more Bio channel :-(

In recent months one of my favorite discoveries on television was the Bio Channel. From biographies of celebrities to shows like Intervention, Hoarders and I Survived, I spent countless hours watching the channel, even when though a lot of the episodes kept getting rerun and rerun. However, since Nat Geo has been having Air Crash Investigation and Seconds from Disaster on a lot, I’ve been switching back and forth.

After several days of hiatus from my Bio fix, I punched in the numbers 1-5-4 to catch up. It was a feature on LL Cool J, but I wasn’t very interested so I channel surfed. I told myself I’d go back later on because there was a feature on Sarah Jessica Parker. It slipped my mind to go back but when I finally did, I was shocked at what I saw: E16: service is curently scrambled. And it now reads Star Gold.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! They took away my Bio channel!!! In the short run I had with it, I was able to get a lot of insights for my various psychology classes so it was really sad when I discovered it was gone. I hope it was just transferred and I just haven’t found it, but I haven’t received any updates from Sky. If you know where it is, do let me know please!!!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Teacher's Corner, Teaching Resources, The Library | 0 Comments

Books for the Preschool Classroom: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

One of my favorite kiddie books is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s vibrant colors and cute drawings always bring a smile to my face. My kids love it too! It teaches a whole range of concepts from sequencing, days of the week, and in this case, even colors I made this poster a few school years’ ago and it’s still one of my favorite classroom decorations till now

There are a lot of video adaptations of the story on You Tube,  which my kids also love. We were lucky two years ago because right after discussing the story, we chanced upon a real live caterpillar in our school garden and we actually took care of it until it hatched into a butterfly! Talk about a hands-on learning experience! Read about it here.

Posted by Teacher Ria in The Library | 0 Comments

Books for the Classroom: William’s Doll

When I first started this blog, I wanted offer various resources and materials that would be helpful to teachers like me. I haven’t really had time to focus on that but starting today (especially since a new school year is starting, I will try to be more consistent with that! Hence, here is a new category that will fall under the library section of this blog, Books for the Classroom

The storybook William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow is a great book to use in class when talking about gender roles and breaking stereotypes attached to it, especially if you have kids who like playing with toys that appear to be gender inappropriate.

The story tells of a little boy named William who asks his mother to give him a doll. Given that he is a boy, his father tried to encourage him to play with trains and other toys for boys, but much as he liked these toys, he still asked for a doll. Finally his grandmother conceded and gave him a doll and when asked why he wanted a doll, William replied that it would be so he can practice being a father.

I’ve used this story several times in my teaching career, and I have even extended the use of this to my college classrooms where I teach social psychology. It is a good way of looking at socially accepted norms and allowing kids to feel accepted despite being “different”.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Teaching Resources, Tips and Tricks, Toys and Playthings | 0 Comments

Homemade Face Paint

Whenever I host or help out in kiddie parties, I notice that the activities that gain the most attention are face painting and tattooing. While finding affordable temporary tattoos that are hypoallergenic and of good quality is relatively easy, finding the face paint is not as easy.

I’ve tried several homemade recipes for face paint. Some are quite simple to make and use common household ingredients such as night cream, corn starch, corn syrup and food coloring. So far, however, I can’t find one that offers the same consistency as that of store bought face paint. Plus the food coloring seems to stain the skin and clothing.

Do you have a good homemade face paint recipe you can share? If so, please leave me a comment

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

Summer Camp and other Fun Learning Places

As a child one thing I liked to do a lot of was go to summer camp. It was mostly Bible camp but they were great learning experiences. Nowadays, kids have more options like The Apprentice Doctor Premedical Camp where aspiring doctors can immerse themselves in a summer program learning the basics of medicine. The medical camp is is a week-long program  that allows high school students to get a feel for the profession and to learn from experts in the field.  The program will be held on August2-6 in Tampa, Florida. The enrollment fee of $750 is inclusive of learning materials and necessary medical supplies.

I would have loved to go to a camp like this when I was younger, at least as early as then I would have known medicine is not for me. It took me until I was in my sophomore year of college to realize that! However, by going to a camp like this, students can test the waters and make better informed decisions.

As I mentioned, summer camps are great venues for learning, be it with a formal program as mentioned before or a more loose and unstructured one, such as band camp (images of the film American Pie just popped in my head!!!) like the fictional Disney Camp Rock. These programs give students a chance to hone their skills, explore their strengths and weaknesses and more importantly, learn very important life skills that will allow them to be better individuals. It is an enriching opportunity wherein they have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

Besides learning in summer camp, I believe camps are a great place to build friendships. In fact, one of my really, really good friends is a friend from camp when I was younger. Granted that we were also classmates, it wasn’t till camp that we really got to know each other well.

Other fun learning places for the summer include a parent’s hometown or country (such as the case of my nephews who come to the Philippines to learn about their heritage during the summer) and local museums and libraries.

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

On Make-Believing and Pretend Play

As a child, I never once imagined I would become a teacher. If you had asked me what my ambition was, I would have answered it differently every single time, but not once do I recall saying I wanted to teach. I would play dress up and pretend I would be my future self: from my mom’s white blazers as lab coats to lugging around her leather briefcase in pretense that I was a lawyer, I did it all. I even wore tutu’s that were too small for me and imagined I would become a prima ballerina! Whatever it was, I was allowed to explore and try them out. Pretend play and make believe are important learning tools for children that should be harnessed and encouraged. Be it playing with a Barbie doll or wearing high heels, these should not be criticized, limited or ridiculed.

What if it’s a boy who wants to play with a doll, you might ask? Well, the typical response is an adamant “NO!”, right? However, check out the story WILLIAM’S DOLL by Charlotte Zolotow and you might have a new take on it

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