29.8.11

Unlocking "The House of Seven Gables"


 As an English teacher, I  am aware that I have to update myself with new vocabulary, sentence structures and writing styles which any reading material can cater. I have to be not only a page away from my students but if possible, a library away . So here I am, trying to catch up on my reading and Nathaniel Hawthorne doesn't make it any easier.

 Yes, Hawthorne is such a pain. I was half-way through his Scarlet Letter last summer but I threw the book away from my sight after being stuck in a chapter for three weeks. Usually, three weeks is enough for me to finish three to four novels considering that I have a full time job and most importantly I have a life to live apart from reading.  However, there I was, flanked by Hawthorne's descriptive paragraphs for three boring weeks that I finally came to a conclusion that I was not ready yet for Scarlet Letter.

Being a very stubborn woman, and a competitive one if I may say (I do  love competing against myself by the way) I have given myself another attempt to finish one classic, and yes, it's Hawthorne's. It is the renowned The House of Seven Gables. Yup it's a classic and yes, it's pretty boring with all those 5-word adjectives per noun and right you are that I am out of my mind trying to finish this book. What can I do? The book seems to be innocent, easy to read as it appears so thin. It is even thinner than Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring, which I have read three times without cheating myself, yet I find myself drowned in the author's pool of words. I think I will still be able to finish another novel side by side reading this boring one.

What should I do then, given this hurdle? I will try my best until the author and his work have sapped all of the energy and motivation from me. I will then give my humble opinion and my unbiased judgment after finishing the book. I will never surrender without a fight. After all, this is not the first boring book I have ever read, or tried to.


cheater


I believe that beautiful girls don't cheat. It takes craning of the neck, widening of eyes and dislocating a vertebrae to cheat and these three don't contribute in making a girl beautiful. Habitual doing of one thing makes it permanent or if not, almost close to it. If a girl has started cheating since first grade, it is almost impossible for her to remove cheating from her system, therefore impossible to stop herself from craning her neck, widening her eyes, and abusing  her spinal column to extend to the left, or right side. It will not be a wonder if she'll grow old disfigured. Pity.

9.8.11

pink?!

That my nails needed polishing had not come across my mind until yesterday. I was walking along the winding isle of the Novaliches Bagumbong Market when I saw a stall selling nail polishes of out-of-this-world colors (in the Philippines, that is, since the colors are I think common in Korea). I then looked at my nails and I saw my left thumb nail begging to be polished as it still had the remnants of the last nail color which was silver that I had put on two months ago. Yup. I definitely had to buy a new color.






I bought the color that I thought was good for my skin tone and my current profession (I still am not sure how the college will take it once a teacher uses black nail polish so I restrain myself until I am sure enough that I am not putting a toe--or finger nails--out of the line). First look, it was peach-pink, just exactly what I was looking for because it was bright  enough to be spunky yet not too loud to be distracting.

Upon applying it this morning I have realized that the color looks pretty in the bottle but it doesn't look that adorable on my nails. It looks like old-rose pink, not even a hint of peach that I have been looking for. It's cute, yep. That's it. I guess it is what to be expected from a cheap nail paint--yes, you've read that right, paint as it looks like a paint on my fingers and it smells like one too.

Conclusion? Since I have polished my nails again, I can't see the point of trying to remove the color anymore. I will just have to stick to it as long as it sticks to my finger tips. After that, I can buy another nail polish and have my vengeance. heheh. 

8.8.11

endurance vs. patience

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He's the cause of my emotional disturbance. Having a relationship with him is like riding a roller coaster every day. One day I feel neglected. The next day, he makes me feel special. One afternoon he makes me angry without knowing. The next day he assures that he's taking things seriously despite his facade. It can be irritating at times. But I am beginning to see that I've been blessed to feel so much emotion. That though everything is topsy-turvy, I am moving—heading toward a direction. And I am not alone.

he said im pretty in this one.
a personal favorite. it's our first sweet picture


playing. hahah
you'd think that he's the serious one...wrong. ehehhe

sheesh. goofy selves again
because we're just this happy together


wasaaaaaaaaaak!!!
I will not endure him. Endurance is something I have when I am forced to do things I don't like. So I won't endure. I'll be patient instead. I pray that goes for him too.
my chipmunk and I


5.8.11

Some students don't know what they want. When you give them a lecture they don't listen. When you give them group activities, they say "again?" When you give them individual activities, they don't comply to your standards. Well guess what. My best way to teach them? Teach them how I like to be taught. At least I know what I want. Heheh.

WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD NOT DO IN GROUP REPORTS

  1. Forget the group's index card-students taking up CS and EOC under my supervision know that I put their group grades in their respective index cards. These cards are my sole basis for computation of group recitation. NO INDEX CARD NO GRADE
  2. Make fools of themselves by not showing mastery of the assigned topics-What is the report for if students only read their visual materials or handouts?
  3. Who would want to listen to a discussion that is purely lifted from a textbook? This is one of the sins students commit in class. They are obviously not prepared for the report. They try to mask it by downloading things from the net 1 hour before the presentation. And it's all sugar-coated laziness.
  4. Use visual materials that are hastily made--Teachers don't usually ask students to report immediately. I, for one, give students time to prepare from 15 minutes to one month. I abhor it when students given ample time to prepare present pieces of bond paper with undecipherable handwriting, post them on the board and force their classmates to follow what they are reporting.
  5. Use crumpled pieces of paper as guides for reporting--crumpled paper goes to the trash. I haven't found someone educated who likes keeping trash in his or her bag for eons of years. If ever I would meet someone like that I am sure I would not like him or her…just a random thought. Point is, students who use crumpled paper look like beggars to me, I am sorry for the harsh word, and they don't have a space in my classroom. Wake up everyone.

    Teachers have three reasons for assigning group reports:
  1. To ensure that students also study on their own--some students don't study unless teachers tell them
  2. For variation of discussions--some students get bored when teachers always discuss. And they don't listen. That's a fact.
  3. For students to PREPARE--which is easier: an impromptu graded recitation or prepared report where they can be assured of getting good grades if they do their jobs right?
  4. For students to practice exuding confidence(from sir Gozun)--"Students won't stay in classrooms forever. After graduating they will be talking to different kinds of people and the best preparation that they can have is speaking in class," Mr Simon Gozun shares. Need I say more?

    Whether students believe it or not, teachers don't make grades. We only calculate. How in the world will we calculate from nothing? Sorry, I won't make an effort going to a different dimension just to look for floating figures. Besides I don't have the passport to go to another galaxy. If students don't comply to my standards then I guess I will keep on getting angry…but of course I have to stop somewhere. Yup, I consider zero as my period. Peace.

4.8.11

battle gear on

My CRIM1C students haven't  failed in exceeding my expectations and I hope they would keep it up until the end of the semester. I'll be even happier if they'll maintain their good performance until they finish their course in WCC. Also, I hope by their example, they'll be able to inspire and motivate students, criminology students or not, to do well in class. Full steam ahead, crim1c.





Proud of my criminology1C Snipers.