Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades | 0 Comments

Teachers Goals this Trimester

This coming school year is bound to be a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. I can feel it already. But like any roller coaster ride (being someone who loves these kinds of rides, that is) there is that feeling of excitement and anticipation, and a bit of dread, in the pit of my stomach. At the end of the day, however, I know that this ride is going to be a good one. Like the roller coaster, there are more exciting parts, some that you kinda fear (like the sudden dips and in my case, the hanging upside down), and the feeling of comfort and accomplishment at the end of the ride.

This year I am facing a new challenge. One that I never thought I would. This would entail me doing the one thing I’ve always hated the most: research. While I have always hated it, deep down inside I know that I have the ability to do it and to think along the scholarly, intellectual lines that I keep running away from. Sure I don’t expect it to be fun, but in the end, I suppose I can say it was a great ride. I’m lucky too that going on this ride seems to not be sooo very difficult because of the support and encouragement I am receiving from people around me. I don’t even have to get a loan or to  check city payday advances or what not…after all, tuition can be so expensive, right?

And so because of that, I have to make some changes in the way I handle my time and my classes in order to really get things done.

So this term I aim to:

• give more relevant examinations that measure and assess learning without necessarily resorting to too many essays.
• avoid putting off checking papers and grading them so they don’t pile up
• work on more efficient time management
• stop cramming!!!
• oh…and on another note, I really wish I can really work on getting to memorize my students names quicker!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me, ayt?

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades | 0 Comments

Random Snappies: Teacher Goes Back To School

Because I have given up my preschool job, I have had so much time to do nothing. Literally. Well, yeah, I was supposed to do a lot of work over the month and or so that classes in college had let out, but I think I really needed the break and so it was good that I was able to take a long enough hiatus from the daily grind.

Now, however, its back to school. And I realized….I SOOO MISS THE DAY TO DAY OF PRESCHOOL!! Haha…during the summer we usually decorate our classrooms and stuff, and I didn’t get that done this year so when I was asked to help decorate the psychology departments bulletin board, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I tried my best to keep it “grown-up” and scholarly but…I guess there’s no way to get rid of the bright and shiny preschool teacher in me. My partner in crime in this task also happened to be a former preschool teacher so I guess we can’t do anything about the bright sunshiney preschooley vibe we went with. MWAHAHA. To be fair, it does add a little life to the seriousness of the room Lookit…it’s sooo cute

It isn’t done yet, but it’s still cute! Will post the updated version next week when I finish it. GAAAWD I MISS PRESCHOOL.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Random Snappies | 0 Comments

Random Snappies: Goodbye Friendster!

Recently I (and I guess the rest of the Friendster social networking community haha) got the notice that the old site was being closed down and revamped to a new platform. Like many other users, I decided to log on and check what was still there.

Oh it was like a trip down memory lane! I came across photos and testimonials, friends I haven’t heard from in, like forever, and so on and so forth. One of the photos I found there was this one:

It was that of a trip two of my best college friends and I took way back in 2007 to Bangkok. Despite that being a difficult period of my life, that was one of the most fun trips I had ever taken in my life. We capped of the trip with an evening at the 360 bar of the Hilton hotel where we probably spent more for the evening than we did for all other meals combined haha. When I shared the photo on Facebook, my friend said, do you remember how we messed with that cab driver that brought us home from the Hilton? haha. It was soooo funny because the cab driver was trying to hit on us and was asking our names and stuff. We said we were, errr…Lindsay, Christina and Britney. Yes, named after the pop singers haha. At that time they were all the rage (well, before they kinda went off course and got in trouble with the law and had to be confined into california treatment centers and in jail, etcetera etcetera). In any case, it was fun pretending that evening!

Have you logged on to your Friendster account? What memories did you find there???

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Reflections | 0 Comments

More Things I’ll Miss this Coming School Year

The other day I started dusting off my old syllabi and materials for class (no, I’m not working yet, but getting ready to do so haha! I am still enjoying the last few days of my I-refuse-to-work vacation, after all!) and came across a pile of old preschool books that I realized I will not be using anymore. Sigh. It got me to thinking of the things I’ll be missing as the school year opens….

I will surely miss….

• little girls in pigtails and big giant headbands
• the sound of pure laughter coming from the belly
• the sight of little boys with eyes as wide as a deer caught in headlights (or more like a bear caught in one of those off-road ATV Lights) as teacher catches them doing something they shouldn’t be doing
• singing off-key and dancing with two left feet (errr…maybe I won’t miss this much!)
• hugs, hugs, huuuuugs…..

sigh…there’s really so much I’m going to be missing come June.

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies | 0 Comments

Bravehearts Tour of Hope 2011: Going the Xtra Mile against Cervical Cancer

Last year I shared about how, for my 30th birthday, a good doctor friend of mine gave me a gift that would last a lifetime: the gift of protection against cervical cancer.  This year, Bravehearts, a non-profit organization initially led by the Cervical Cancer Prevention Network (CECAP), continues it’s advocacy of raising awareness on cervical cancer prevention with the Tour of Hope 2011: Going the Xtra Mile against Cervical Cancer

On May 28, the Tour of Hope cyclists will once again head off on their bicycles to raise awareness for this worthy cause.

As a blogger, I would also like to participate in raising awareness by reminding my readers of the importance of prevention. When I went to get my own vaccination (errr…yes, the first one was free as a gift from my friend but the rest I had to pay for haha), I did complain that it was expensive, but when I really think about it, it was all worth it. After all, coming from a family with a history of cancer and reproductive health problems ups my risk for cancer, I might as well do something about it, right? So I strongly urge you to consider this as well.

Did you know…

• Cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer worldwide
• Over 80% of cases occur in developing countries including the Philippines.
• More than 7,000 new cases are reported annually in the Philippines
• Every day, 12 Filipinas die of cervical cancer.
• Cervical cancer is caused by a common and easily transmittable virus known as the  Human papilloma virus or HPV
• Vaccination and regular screening can help prevent the onset of Cervical Cancer
• At it’s early stages, Cervical Cancer shows no signs or symptoms
• Women of all ages, race and SES are at-risk of infection

(facts and figures collated from various sources, some of which from press releases and the internet)

For more information check out  www.Xoutcervicalcancer.com.ph.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Multimedia Center, Teaching Resources, Toys and Playthings | 1 Comment

Over-gadgeted Kids

A few days ago, I was in one of those gadget stores in a mall and I saw a kid, about three or four years old if I’m not mistaken, pull her mom to the displays and say, ” Mama, buy ipod touch“. A few minutes later, she walked out of the store with her very own “toy”.

Hmmm…some parents would frown upon such a behavior, but for me (okay, I may not be a mom, but… ) I think it CAN be a good thing. Granted it isn’t ALWAYS a good thing, I think it has limitless potentials. When my fellow teacher friends and I were discussing it, we talked about how different it is not to educate young kids. We now have so many modern ways of teaching the basic academic competencies, many of which were unavailable when we were starting out.

As I have said many times over in this blog alone, modern technology continues to evolve and new gadgets will continue to be invented. We can’t fight that, and so the best thing we can do is not just over-gadget our kids, but to make sure we find the potential of each of these gadgets to do good for our kids. Maybe I think that way because in a way, my mom indulged me with gadgets as well, but to be honest, it was through those gadgets that I learned many, many things.

Some guidelines, I think, that can be helpful are the following:

• set a “gadget schedule”  which allows you to monitor the amount of time spent on such activities
• enroll your kids in more “active” activities, such as sports and the like so they have alternative activities too.
• utilize the gadgets as educational tools by downloading educational apps and ebooks
• monitor, monitor, monitor their activities on the gadgets

Have fun

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Summer Fun Activities

One of the most difficult things to do during the summer break is to keep kids entertained. Sure there are lots of activities they can do, but many times, the weather makes it almost impossible to entice the kids out of their rooms, right? Or at least away from the television haha. Sometimes even the kids enrolled in our summer program get soooo super lazy to do anything because of the heat. I noticed, however, that the younger children are more easily swayed when it comes to doing activities especially if it’s fun and games.

Here are a few suggestions on how to get kids to beat the lazy summer blues away:

• Go on a nature walk. A few days ago we were walking by the park and we saw the village maintenance people cutting the grass with their weed whackers and clearing up fallen leaves with those shindaiwa blowers. We were able to talk about how plants grow, pick some leaves and flowers up for hand made paper and even talk about the senses with a discussion on how they liked (or disliked) the smell of fresh cut grass
• Do a recycling project. Use old juice boxes or milk cartons to make bird feeders, for example. During the summer it is  a good time to do some home cleaning after all.
• Avoid TOO MUCH ACADEMIC TASKS. Errr..it’s summer. Maybe the formal reading, writing and math tasks can be lessened a little bit, at least until about two weeks before summer ends. Let’s not forget that play is still important, right?

Any other suggestions? Maybe next time I can come up with a list of things to do…but it’s summer and teacher is on vacay too haha

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Rodrick Rules: The Diary of a Wimpy Kid returns to Cinemas

It’s been a long, hot summer for many and I’m sure right about now kids around the city are getting bored and restless, looking for something fun to do. Well, a quick trip to the movies will surely be one way to beat the summer heat.

Returning to the theaters this summer are the familiar characters from last years “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. This year, the kids have grown a little bigger and are facing new challenges. Based on Jeff Kinney’s novel of the same title, the story gives viewers a refreshing look at brotherhood and family, allowing us to once more, appreciate the true meaning of family.

The movie opened last April 23 and is still showing in cinemas around the city. I enjoyed the movie immensely and it was such a good laugh It definitely is a fun and entertaining film to catch

The teacher in me appreciated how the film can allow us to understand the dynamics of sibling relationships even further and as always, this is a film that will make its way to my repertoire of learning materials.

“Diary of  A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” is brought to viewers by 20^th Century Fox and is distributed by Warner Bros.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Random Thoughts of Summer….

The other day I was sitting in my garden hammock (I was so wishing I had one of those wooden swing sets instead of just a hammock, haha) and I was just thinking about this coming school year and all….

sigh.

Yes, this is me thinking whether my decision to have left the preschool was right or not for me. In my heart of hearts, I know it is right, but there’s a little part of me that still is scared about what lies ahead….

At the end of the day however, I would like to believe that despite my being unsure, everything will fall into place.

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Kids SHOULD be Kids

I have written about this topic several times already but in the wake of the whole Jan Jan incident and the controversial Mc Donalds commercial, I feel it is once more relevant to talk about keeping kids kids. In my developmental psychology class, we discussed this topic at great length and I was surprised at how one of my students said Miss, I can’t believe that my little sister has problems and concerns that I did not even think about until I was in high school!.  All I could say is that she was so right.

There have been so many changes in the way we view and treat children now. We allow them many things that were not allowed in our time. Just take a look at children’s clothing nowadays! One of my pet peeves really are the heels for kids, as I said in a previous post. To be fair, however, there are MANY, MANY clothing companies that still have very age-appropriate apparel for children of all ages.

We also tend to expose children to behaviors and tasks that are not necessarily age appropriate. This is also true about the academic demands we place on them. For one, we expect them to read even before they are ready to. I had so many problems with parents in my preschool about this for the entire 12 years I was teaching! It also gets to me when parents expect children to not be playful and restless and to sit through class for looooong hours. Um…kids, remember?

Sigh. Let’s let kids be kids.

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