ariellalisan.org – Homeward Bound

IT TAKES a community to rear a child.

That speaks for how great a responsibility it is to equip a child with knowledge, skills, and attitudes he will need when he becomes a grown man or woman.

I’ve realized just recently that becoming a parent is a gigantic role. Not that I am already one…uhm, aren’t teachers considered second parents?

I’d just like to share how I feel right now about being a classroom adviser. It’s a first for me and I find it challenging. If in last two-and-a-half months, I was still trying to familiarize myself to the roles and responsibilities, this time I can feel how important it is to get my eyes open to my students’ behavior and what messages these behaviors mean.

I FEEL nostalgic each time I turn on my office computer. Thanks to our computer laboratory  in-charge, I now have the sleekest computer on my office desk.

Computers are valued for their memory. Well, mine is valued for the many memories associated with it. Every time I look at my computer, I can always recall the first time I created a PowerPoint Presentation, almost ten years ago. Haha.

Seriously, Ms. Christine Gay N. Tolentino finally decided to give me a computer unit, so I won’t have to bother her time and time again to be allowed to use the computer room for my online activities. Right at my desk, I can now surf the web.

SOMETIMES WORK can be boring. Sometimes we have to do something out of the ordinary to break the monotony. Sometimes, it really has to be different that you don’t know what reactions you’d get after doing it.

I don’t crack jokes in the classroom. That would be the last thing I would do, given my inadeptness in throwing punch lines. Joking is made extra difficult by my strict demeanor. People would always expect me to speak of serious stuff. So, my jokes always get unlikely responses.

My students working on their concept map

AFTER TEACHING for over a year, I have realized that one of the most important tasks of a teacher is assessment. During our annual performance evaluation, I have always emphasized that I need more training on developing and using authentic assessment techniques as well as interpreting results and utilizing them in planning future learning activities.

About a month ago, I was sent to a Professional Development Program at the University of the Philippines-National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP-NISMED) for a training on the Backward Design Process in creating Unit Plans with focus on enduring understanding.

IT’S BEEN sooooo looooong since I last posted here because I took my vacation seriously. And I tell you, my summer was one of my most memorable.

Just what did I do this summer of 2009?

After my students’ graduation day, I wanted to make my family feel that I am really LIVING WITH THEM, I spent a few days at home, did the cooking, played with my nephews and nieces (there’s abunch of them), and, you know, just lingered around. In the afternoon, I would bike, and at times, jog to the beach to get rid of the fats I have accumulated from graduation treats and birthday parties. On the beach, I would watch the sun as it sets down the horizon and the sea waves as they rush to the shore.