Posted by Teacher Ria in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Halloween Costumes and Prom Themes

I recently had a funny conversation with my brother about school events. He’s a senior now and so while taking entrance examinations to various colleges are at the forefront of what he is doing, he still can’t help but get caught up in the excitement of ending high school. I say it’s funny because I always used to think it would be us girls who would be so caught up in it, but in all honesty, he seems even more excited about these things compared to our sister, who just went with whatever came her way with regards to these things.

Anyway, one thing we talked about were costumes and outfits for the various events he’ll be attending in the next few months…from Halloween parties to Graduation Ball, and of course, the quintessential marker of high school, prom night. Since their theme is Hollywood glam, I told him he should go as one of those mafia people, complete with the dark suits and hats, and one of those top cigars hanging from his lips.  He said he wanted something more Oscar-ish, though. Hehe.

So cute, don’t you think? Anyway, that conversation suddenly made me realize that the school year is indeed going by sooooo quickly. It dawned on me that this week I have to submit my preschoolers’ narratives and plan out our Halloween program as well. Then it isn’t going to be long before it’s Christmas then Moving Up Day then….oh, I’ll be out of a job. Haha

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies | 0 Comments

Thanks for Showing Your Real Love!

It’s been a week since I launched my support for the Real Love Campaign for the benefit of Kythe Foundation. Thank you to all those who dropped by and joined, or perhaps simply liked the Real Love Facebook Page. I wish I could give all 10 of you who joined my contest a prize, but I can only pick one…and the winner is:

Being a psychologist myself, I know how important resilience is to recovery so I’m glad echertweena recognized the value of this too. Also, it’s not enough that we “like” the Facebook page…we all need to get together to raise awareness for the disease.

Congratulations to the winner and to all who supported the cause, a big, big THANK YOU!!!

Posted by Teacher Ria in Featured, Reflections, Teacher's Corner | 2 Comments

I Teach Because They Taught Me Well

Happy World Teachers Day!

Every now and then, I still find myself questioning why and how I happened to fall into teaching. I still haven’t figured out the answer to that, but every time I find myself questioning just that, I am reminded that whatever the reason may be, I am just so lucky to have been given the opportunity to be among the ranks of those who are called ‘teacher’, and while I may be (and perhaps always will be) an Accidental Teacher, I am grateful that I am able to heed the call to do what it is I do.

Today I’d like to take pause and honor all the teachers that have paved the way for my own path, because in my heart of hearts, I know I wouldn’t be here if not for what I’ve gained through them.

Perhaps the teacher I owe most of who I am today is Teacher Chona. It was she who recognized early warning signs of dyslexia in me and went through great lengths to help me overcome that looming learning disability. While it may come to hinder me every now and then, I believe that her support and insights as early as then made learning, and yes, even excelling, a possibility for me.

Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies | 11 Comments

Show Your Real Love!

I think it is no secret, especially to those who read my blogs a lot, that my Lolo is my hero. It has been 14 years since we lost him, and though the pain and sadness of not having him around has faded, it never really goes away. Although he was diagnosed initially with emphysema, he eventually succumbed to cancer in 1996. Our family has had a long history of battling this deadly disease, which claims so many lives yearly. Even my mom had her own uterine cancer scare a few years back after she had given birth to my youngest brother and in all honesty, this is also why my personal PCOS related woes kinda scare me to the highest heavens all the time things don’t go well health wise. In my head I do know prevention is better than cure, which is actually why I opted to get myself vaccinated against HPV, which is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer, but right now, I’m butting heads with my doctor because of it hehe.

I realized that one thing that helped my family a lot get through all those cancer scares and difficulties was the fact that we had a good support system to lean on. However, not everyone has that. This is why when I was invited by Ms. Janette Toral to support the Real Love Campaign for the benefit of Kythe Foundation, an organization that provides support and psychosocial services for children with cancer, I did not hesitate to include it as one of my personal advocacies.

The Real Love Campaign is led by Unilever Foodsolutions. You too are invited to support the cause by simply “liking” their official Facebook Page. By just clicking on that “like” button, you help make a difference. How? For every 1,000 “Like” entries until it reaches 10,000 fans, Unilever Foodsolutions will donate 1,000 sandwiches to the different Kythe partner hospitals.  Not bad, right? (SO CLICK NOW!!! hehe)

You can also support the cause by buying a special Team Manila Shirt (especially designed for this campaign) for only Php 550. The shirt comes in both mens and womens sizes.

You can also WIN one of these limited edition shirts by simply supporting my little contest here in The Accidental Teacher The mechanics are simple. Just complete the statement:  “I will share my love to the kids of Kythe by____________”. Post your answer in the comment section below and on October 10, 2010,  one lucky winner will take home the special Team Manila shirt Winners, however, must be Philippine residents only.

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

Little Changes, Big Impact

In the last few months, I have been working on making little changes in my behavior that I would like to believe will make a big impact on my profession as a teacher. For a long time (perhaps because I have gotten so used to the daily grind of teaching), I take some things for granted and become too lax in planning ahead, mainly because I am able to rely on my past preparations and experiences anyway. However, I realized that I can do so much better if I just made little changes along the way. What changes might this be, one may wonder. Well, for one, I have made it a point to be more careful about the way I manage my time. I try to make it a point to be in class a few minutes before I’m supposed to so that I don’t have to feel rushed and all sweaty when I come in because I have enough time to do that beforehand. Secondly, I consciously make an effort to check attendance and recognize those who exert extra effort to get to know me (and allow me to get to know them better) by their names. Because I often have almost 120 students a trimester at the minimum, I find it almost impossible to memorize names, but now I am really trying. I think it makes an impact on the students as well. Lastly, I am working hard at no longer cramming and being lax about my students’ grades. I still have to work on a better document management system though, mainly because I tend to get too lazy to segregate my students’ work per class every meeting. I tend to just put them together in one pile, which often ends up with all of them getting mixed together. I think by being more cautious about this, grading will be easier. Also, this will definitely allow me to manage my time (whatever little time I have for this task!) better. These little steps will definitely make a big impact down the line. What about you, any other suggestions? Feel free to drop me a line

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