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

After Oprah…

A few months ago, I wrote about Oprah’s upcoming retirement and the end of a 25-season run of her syndicated talk show. I think the end will come sometime in September this year. Just a few days ago (before my TV conked out haha!) I saw trailers in one of the local channels about the last season of the show starting it’s run this April.

Like I had said in that previous post, I had always considered Oprah as one of my greatest teachers. I think I outlined my reasons pretty well already in that article, so I won’t say it again anymore. What I will miss, however, when the show goes off the air, is how I will no longer have the anecdotes to use in class! Haha. After all, it is through her that I got to learn about people like Dr. Phil who gave me interesting things to talk about in my Clinical Psych classes, and Nate Berkus who’s ability to make even the plainest and most boring door plates look pretty (and yes, I got to use this in decorating my preschool classrooms too).

Anyway, I’m sure her show will be sorely missed by her regular viewers and I don’t doubt that she will likewise miss doing that daily. In many ways, that’s still how I feel about having left the preschool. However, I am lucky that, like Oprah, I don’t have to leave that world completely. I can be a teacher, even outside that classroom after all, right?

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

Today’s Random Snappy: Oh The Joy!

Yes, it makes me happy to know I am remembered

Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies | 0 Comments

What You See is Not Aways What You Get

Throughout the trimester, I have discussed various core concepts in human development with my students on Developmental Psychology. Because they are college students, however, I gave extra attention to the discussions on adolescent development and behavior. I appreciated how candid they were in discussing their experiences and thoughts about things going on around them. It doesn’t surprise me, however, that many of their concerns were still congruent to my concerns as an adolescent.

One thing we discussed is all about adolescent egocentrism and why people at that stage are likely to engage in extremely high risk behaviors, such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol, driving under the influence, unprotected sexual relations and the like. We talked about the biological, psychological and other factors that contribute to that. We also went on to discuss the dangers and repercussions of such behaviors. Often times, because of their sense of invinsibility (which comes from their egocentrism), they think ‘that can’t happen to me’.

I have to admit that even I tend to think that way every now and then, yes, even if I am no longer an adolescent. This is perhaps because we tend to take things for granted too often. For example, one of my biggest faults is my tendency to text or check my phone when I get stuck in traffic. I rationalize that I do this only when I am stopped, but too often a time, I catch myself driving with my phone in my hands without even thinking about it. It’s become a habit, sad to say. So it takes conscious effort to remind myself to not do it.  Once, I remember I kinda bumped into the curb (thank God it was just the curb!) because I wasn’t paying attention because I was engrossed with my phone.

Other high risk behaviors adolescents and young adults alike tend to engage in is driving under the influence (errr…yes yes yes… ) During our lectures I got to ask them what behaviors they do, even though they know it can be risky. The most common response I got from them was “I drive even if I had one or two beers/shots/drinks“. To be honest, initial thought bubble that flashed in my head was : that’s okay, as long as you’re not hilo (yes, spoken like a true margarita queen haha). Granted that we can tolerate a certain safe level of alcohol in our system, we cannot deny that it does impair us in many levels, especially in excessive amounts. For one, physically we become less inhibited and more carefree. Motor coordination and reflexes are likewise affected. On a cognitive level, our judgment is also impaired. We fail to recognize signs, focus on details and this can affect spatial reasoning. Take for example this photo:

this is a public safety awareness sign made by Toyota to drive (pardon the pun!) home an important point: driving under the influence impairs your judgment

If I were driving and I was a little too tipsy, I may assume that I could go, because the light is green, right? However, it says red. When we’re drunk, we might not notice the little details, thus leading to accidents and even death. That is but one example of impaired judgment when driving drunk.

Driving under the influence claims countless lives all over the world on a daily basis. It was funny that as I lectured on this in class, I myself was struck with that reminder to be more aware of my behaviors. I’m not going to pretend I’ve never done that, get behind the wheel after having a drink or two, I mean. I won’t make any excuses about it either. What I will do, however, is remind myself, just the way I have learned to do so when it comes to mobile texting (yes that’s what I used to call driving and texting), there is much responsibility in my fingertips: use it wisely.

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When Tweens take it Too Far

In my developmental psychology class last week, I got asked an interesting question. The student asked me why tweens (meaning 10-13 year olds) seem to be so much older now than when she was a tween herself. She went on to explain that when she was younger, she didn’t worry much about how she looked and whether she was thin enough or her breasts big enough (which actually is the typical developmental expectation). She said she noticed that the tweens now seem to be going thorough what she did when she was about 15-16.

It dawned on me that she was right. I explained that the role of modern technology and media’s influence, for example, has influenced that a lot. Take for example young teen shows now and compare them with the ones before. Very different. The tweens of today deal with much more. They are consumed with finding fat burners, getting plastic surgery, and in some cases, wanting to be pregnant because they think its cool. All misread messages.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t blame media completely. It’s a vicious cycle.And so I explained in class that as we continue to grow and change, and as the generations pass, the needs and experiences vary. When we went on to discuss the next phase of the human life, we also saw how there are changes too, like now a college degree doesn’t seem to be enough anymore, right?

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Something to Think About…

I recently attended an Open House at the Bannister Academy and I came across this sign in their campus. It got me to thinking: what would my answer be.

Hmmm…

Those who know me well will say I value outside opinion way too much. I would definitely agree. I tend to operate on the idea that if others approve of it, then its good. In the same way, I am a stickler for rules. In fact in college, I never once cut a class the way the typical college student does….with that meaning signing attendance than sneaking out. Haha.

So…this sign made me realize one thing: authenticity. How authentic a person are you?

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