My most favorite teaching materials are the four books in the True Stories series by Sandra Heyer. They contain short, interesting tales that students enjoy reading and discussing. Even I am amused with these books and I know all their contents by heart.
The first in the set is Very Easy True Stories, and it is meant for beginner readers. The book tells the stories in simplified sentences with corresponding pictures, but these stories can mostly be found on the internet if you want to dig in further. One of my favorites in this book is “Shopping Day,” which talks about a penguin in Japan trained to buy fish for his humans.
I tried to find Rara on the net but failed, until in a forum I found out that if I googled Lala the Penguin instead of Rara, I will even find videos! The name of the penguin is indeed Lala, but is pronounced Rara in Japanese.
Here’s Lala (or Rara, whatever you like) on one Shopping Day:
Here’s additional information about Lala/Rara written at the back of the book, in the “For the Teacher” section:
Rara’s owners often took their pet penguin on the quarter-mile walk to the local fish market. When Rara began disappearing occassionally, his owners discovered that Rara was going to the market on his own.
The owner of the fish shop keeps track of Rara’s purchases and sends a bill to his owners. She says that Rara eats only the freshest fish. Mackerel and sardines are his favorites.
Cute, isn’t he? It cracks me up that Lala-slash-Rara’s backpack is also a penguin.
I want to include these books in my future family library (they can be purchased online,) and would love to see my future children learning while having fun with them.
And speaking of books…
My only nephew Sam is going to attend school next June, and I feel quite excited. Already I am looking for nice books to give him for his birthday, also in June. I prefer giving him books and workbooks rather than toys, and although that makes me a pretty boring aunt, I’m hoping he’d learn to appreciate them. In my childhood, I distinctly remember the colorful pages of my books Thumbelina and The Emperor’s New Clothes, which I read countless times. Thanks to my mother who worked all the hours that God sent when she was abroad to buy me those classics.
Thumbelina has got a Facebook account, too. (And she's grown taller than my thumb.)
Two Saturdays ago I, together with three other teachers and our respective students went on an educational trip, sponsored by the mission seminary where I work part time. Our first stop was a Nestle ice cream factory, where our students—one Brazillian, one Korean, and two Indonesian priests—got to choose whatever kind and flavor they liked, and got to practice their English in transacting with the poor, rattled cashier. Who wouldn’t be, when your customers talk at the same time in a confusion of accents.
Next was the Malacanang Palace, the residence of the President of this country, but we were not allowed to enter. Gone were the days when the common people were free to just walk in and look around, and maybe catch the president and have a chat.
We then proceeded to the National Shrine of St. Michael and the Archangels, the pictures of which I posted here.
After that, we went to the historical Intramuros for our appointment at the Light and Sound Museum that I had been aching to go to for a long time. Pardon the dark pictures (well, the whole place was dark.) For 100 pesos, you can get an hour-long journey from the pre-colonial Philippines up to Aguinaldo’s declaration of independence, with special attention and a considerable amount of time devoted to Jose Rizal. The story is presented with dramatic voice-overs, dialogues, moving mannequins, sculptures, dioramas, and lcd screens.
Of course, I couldn’t resist getting this picture taken:
HEY JEALOUSY!
I recently discovered Gin Blossoms and had fallen in love. This is me trying to sing Hey Jealousy although I couldn’t hit the low notes.
I’m really very busy but I’m taking the time to post this because I’m totally crazy about this 5-year-old who always makes my day. Her name’s Da Hyeon.
She still has very little English, but we manage to have fun. Every week I teach her different questions and answers and she often surprises me by throwing back the questions she has learned. One day when she picked up the phone….
Kring………
Da Hyeon: Teacher Kat-Katrina!!! (with authority)
Kat: Er……Yes?
Da Hyeon: Watta dey today?
Kat: Oh.. (surprised) Today is Monday.
Da Hyeon: Belly, belly good….Teacher!!!
Kat: Yes?
Da Hyeon: Al you peeling good?
Kat: Yes, I’m feeling good.
Da Hyeon: Teacher Kat-Katrina belly, belly, belly good!
Kat: Thank you very much!
Da Hyeon: Yoll we-come!
Oh cuteness!
Here’s the beginning part of one of our classes:
My Blog Friends:
I’m going away, taking a break, not blogging or bloghopping because Decembers are always so darn busy. Sorry for the tags I haven’t done, and for not visiting your blogs yet.
Sure, this video will show the world how terribly crooked my teeth are, and just how tiny my voice is, how incredibly cluttered my cubicle is, and how I sing nursery rhymes to my little kid students, but I think I don’t mind. Besides, I can’t write much, I’m reading Twilight—yay!
This is how my job works—eight hours of sitting down and talking, but I love it so much.
When Ferdie got home he handed me a white envelope saying “You have a letter from your son.”
And I just knew. I jumped around the house, giggling like a schoolgirl who has just received a generic reply from the Backstreet Boys fans club, while clutching the white World Vision envelope to my chest. Ferdie looked at me like I was mad.
I’ve already seen the letters some of my friends have received , and I knew that what I’ve got in my hands was the first letter of my sponsored child, Romnick. I hurriedly opened it and was very pleased to see his neat handwriting. This is what the letter said:
Dear Sponsor,
Magandang araw po sa inyo. Ako po si Romnick _________, Nonoy po ang tawag nila sa akin, panglima sa magkakapatid at kasalukuyang nag-aaral dito po malapit sa amin. Mahilig po akong makipaglaro sa aking mga kaibigan at masaya po akong pumapasok sa school. Kumakain rin po ako ng gulay at isda. Paborito kong kulay ay pula. May pangarap po ako, gusto ko pong maging pulis balang araw. Nagpapasalamat po ako na isa po ako sa mga nakasama sa sponsorship program ng World Vision.
Maraming salamat po sa inyo.
Ang inyong sponsored child,
Romnick
I read and reread his letter and felt overcome with a different kind of happiness. And I told myself, I’m gonna help you reach your dream Romnick, no matter what it takes.
Actually, last month was pretty tough for me, financially speaking, and World Vision had to repeatedly remind me that my 450-peso pledge was overdue. I had to give some extra money for my family, and an old friend came to me needing money very badly. I gave them what they needed had nothing left for Romnick, or even for myself. So, last month I broke one of my general rules in life, and that is to never borrow money.
Now, things are getting better. I have another teaching commitment starting tomorrow until April, which will double my current income. The family’s okay, and I have paid for my debt, have sent money for Romnick, and though I haven’t heard anything from the friend who owed me yet, I’m sure he’s gonna return what he borrowed when he’s ready . Money is gonna be flowing smoothly again, and that makes me think of a very old kindergarten maxim “When you give, you will receive.”
I watched Imbestigador last night and all of their exposes in that episode were sex-related. There was this 38-year-old guy who was living with a 13-year old girl. From Tarlac, the suspect Abraham (whose last name I can’t remember) took the girl, Grace, to Subic, and they lived together in a small, one-room house.
Grace sent her mother a text message saying she wanted to go home, as Abraham is hurting her. Imbestigador found the house they were living in, and arrested Abraham who will now be charged with corruption of minor and another case for the physical injury he had put upon Grace.
The second case was that of the bar-slash-whorehouse in Caloocan City. It was hidden, with no signage, and the way to get in was through a dark staircase. On the second floor, drinks are served and women are offered. The third floor is divided to several small rooms where the prostitutes carry out the ulitimate service. The price of a woman and a room is a mere 150 pesos.
Whenever raids like these are aired on TV, the prostitutes are often referred to as the ones SAVED in the operation. There are almost always some minors, and all of them have the same sad story of being forced into that kind of work. But I honestly think some of these women choose this profession, and I don’t doubt that some would go back to their old ways after all those DSWD counselling sessions.
This made me think of the severity of prostitution in this country, and the legalization of it makes sense to me. Religion and morality aside, a legal but regulated flesh trade can have its advantages.
If prostitution were a recognized industry, then perhaps we would hear less of those “I was promised a decent job in the city and then was brought to this whorehouse and I didn’t have any other choice” stories. Those who want to be prostitutes, can be prostitutes. Of course, only those of legal age can be allowed to be sex workers. I also think that maybe one person should not be allowed to engage in the flesh trade for a long time. Perhaps a year or two is the maximum limit.
They will be paid wages according to labor laws, so we won’t hear much of those news about women giving their bodies for thirty pesos or something like that. Their wages will be subject to tax, as well as the income of recognized brothels, which is more revenue for the government.
Owners of these brothels must follow strict health and sanitation procedures, and their women must also be regularly tested for sexually-transmitted diseases. Thorough safe-sex procedures must be practiced at all times. Underground operations, especially those employing minors, will of course be dealt with accordingly.
This is just my opinion. I’ll look into the cases of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, and other jurisdictions were prostitution is legal and see if I change my mind.
STEPS
As I was on a bus going to Makati, the conductor put on a STEPS concert on the DVD player. To those who don’t know, STEPS is a pop group made up of three women and two men, and they managed to have several hits in the late ninetees until 2001. What made this group click was their easy aerobics-like dance steps, and children/pre-teens form a big part of their fan base.
As I was watching, I couldn’t help but chuckle and think “My future children are so gonna make fun of me when they see this thing of my era.” I actually liked a couple of their songs, like The Way You Make Me Feel, One For Sorrow, Last Thing On My Mind, and this one’s my ultimate favorite:
