Wonderful Remembrance

When I graduated from college, I thought I knew everything there was to know. I sure was wrong! I had no idea what the first year of teaching was going to be like. I finished Bachelor in Secondary Education, but worked as an elementary teacher. But unlike other teachers, I was a teacher-catechist. I encountered situations I never anticipated. Even the paperwork was above and beyond! Why did I choose to be a teacher-catechist? First, I enjoy spending time with children. Second, I love learning and helping others to learn. And aside from mentioned above, it is for the money, the job security, the short days, holidays, and summers off. There were a lot of things I learned and discovered.

I remember my first year as a teacher. I entered the classroom ready to go! I enjoyed meeting the students and building relationships with them. I saw them struggle and succeed. I loved being in the classroom! I woke up each morning, excited to go to school. The hardest part of my first year, was not what happened in the classroom. The hardest part was what took place after school--the preparation.

My life consisted of two parts: at school and preparing for school. The paperwork was both overwhelming and stressful for me. Memos from the office, notes from parents, test papers to check, lesson plans, TQ and grades deadlines, seminars and trainings to attend, etc. At times, I found myself so tired and even bored for this routine, but deep inside of me there's always happiness and satisfaction for my accomplishments everyday.

If I were able to go back in time, I would do the same.

Teachers are amazing, and somewhat resemble superheroes..

Some of my pictures together with my colleagues:

Grade 5 st. Anne Recollection (2008-2009) Slideshow: Iris’s trip from Roma, Lazio, Italia to Davao, Filippine was created by TripAdvisor. See another Davao slideshow. Create a free slideshow with music from your travel photos.

Mary, the Immaculate Conception

Happy Feast Day, Mary, the Immaculate Conception!







The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain (in Latin, macula or labes, the second of these two synonymous words being the one used in the formal definition) of original sin.^[1][2] It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology. It is completely distinct from the Virginity of Mary and the virgin birth of Jesus, though it is a popular mistake to confuse them. Mary is sometimes called the Immaculata (the Immaculate One), particularly in artistic contexts.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Reflection:


Today, I wish much to visit and attend mass at St. Mary Major Basilica. This basilica, the Santa Maria Maggiore, originated from a dream Pope Liberius had in 356 A.D. when he was told in the dream by the Virgin Mary to build a church where he found snow. Miraculously, it is said that Liberius next saw snow in the summer, on August 5th, on Esquiline hill. The resulting church has also been known as the Liberian Basilica. One of the central images in the apse is a mosaic portraying the Coronation of the Virgin Mary as the "Queen of Heaven" by Jacopo Torriti.

In 1615, Pope Paul V had a marble column removed from the basilica of Roman emperors Maxentius and Constantine, and re-erected it in the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore immediately south of the basilica, and topped it with a statue of the Virgin Mary and Child. To the north of the basilica, in the Piazza dell' Esquilino, is an Egyptian obelisk erected by Pope Sixtus V in 1587, which is topped with a cross.

I am near, yet so far! that's how I feel today. Because I have all the chances to attend mass at this Basilica but due to some circumstances, I can't. My heart is aching for this longing. That instead of going to this Basilica, I must accompany my husband to attend some movements that's far from that of my interest. Maybe I am foolish, maybe I am stupid for not following what's my heart says.. But what can I do? I am in a situation that is so difficult.

Dear Mother Mary, in this very day of Your feast.. I beg your blessings and intercessions to grant me the freedom to worship my God in a way that pleases you. I ask you to help me have courage to do the thing I need to do. To be able to surpass all the trials and difficulties I have as of the moment. To see the blessings around me, and to appreciate my capabilities, and to use it for the greater glory of God. Help me to understand my purpose in life and be able to do my duty before it's late.

I thank you then for the gift of persons.. especially my family who loved me much. My friends who are always ready to help me in any ways..

Lastly dear Mary, I ask you to pray for my husband.. let his heart be soften so he will accept Jesus more fully and live a life that is worth living. Let his mind be open to the Words of God so he will see the wonder of His love.

This I pray through Jesus with the intercession of Mary, the Immaculate conception.
Amen.

Teaching is a noble job ^_^

It is my belief that before a person should enter the teaching profession they must first have a love of learning and be willing to share this passion with students. They need to truly enjoy working with a particular age group of children. They must possess a core set of beliefs that all children deserve respect and a chance to have a better life through the gift of learning. They must furthermore understand that is the responsibility of the teacher to be a child advocate. Teachers must have an understanding of the need to provide a learning environment where children feel safe, respected and challenged.

Effective teaching practices

Published on 26 February 2009 in Administration, Musings, Research and Teacher education. 7 Comments Tags: DI, effectiveness.

For a long time, we have known a lot about effective practices in teaching. Of course, there is debate about whether the specifics are exactly correct, whether some studies have been discredited, or whether the paradigm fits people’s biases. Despite these debates, some general guidelines about effective teaching can be distilled from educational research. Here is one general description of effective teaching practices. I consider it a helpful guide to explicit, systematic instruction. In the parlance I use, this set of features describes “direct instruction” (note the lower-case letters):

In general, researchers have found that when effective teachers teach well-structured subjects, they:

• Begin a lesson with a short review of previous, prerequisite learning.
• Begin a lesson with a short statement of goals.
• Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step.
• Give clear and detailed instruction and explanations.
• Provide a high level of active practice for all students.
• Ask a large number of questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students.
• Guide students during initial practice.
• Provide systematic feedback and corrections.
• Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork exercises and, where necessary, monitor students during seatwork.

Source: Rosenshine, B. , & Stevens, R. (1986). Teaching functions. In M. C. Whittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 376-391). New York: Macmillan.

Teaching is my passion! I love teaching... as far as my experience is concern, I find it worth remembering. A part of my life that I always cherish. I may not be the best teacher in my group, not maybe the favorite teacher by my students but surely I imparted a part of what I am and of what I have to them. I am not practicing my profession as of the moment, but I know by heart one day, I'll be teaching again.

To my fellow teachers, I salute you all.. for teaching is truly a noble job, maybe you'll find it so routinary, so tiring or whatever at this very moment... but believe me, one day whenever you'll quit teaching, you'll miss all that routine, that files of test papers, that stressful lesson plan deadlines, that TQ corrections and other paper works and even that noise of your students that sometimes annoys you much and puts you to the limit... all these, you will miss!

A simple friendly message:

"Do your best when you are still in your teaching profession"

Here are some of my students photos:

Thank you for visiting my blog:

-iris-

Living A Life of Purpose: Let's be inspired :Saint Christine of Bolsena

Living A Life of Purpose: Let's be inspired :Saint Christine of Bolsena: Bouquet: You shall know the Spirit of truth, because He will dwell with you, ...

Living A Life of Purpose: Let's be inspired :Saint Christine of Bolsena

Living A Life of Purpose: Let's be inspired :Saint Christine of Bolsena: Bouquet: You shall know the Spirit of truth, because He will dwell with you, ...

Let's be inspired :Saint Christine of Bolsena

Bouquet: You shall know the Spirit of truth, because He will dwell with you,

and be in you. St. John 14:17

SAINT CHRISTINA

Virgin and Martyr
(†ca. 300)

Saint Christina was the daughter of a rich and powerful magistrate named Urban. Her father, who was deep in the practices of paganism, had a number of golden idols. His young daughter broke them, then distributed the pieces among the poor. Infuriated by this act, Urban became the persecutor of his own daughter. He had her whipped with rods and thrown into a dungeon. Christina remained unshaken in her faith. Her tormentor brought her forth to have her body torn by iron hooks, then fastened to a rack beneath which a fire was kindled. But God watched over His servant and turned the flames back toward the onlookers, several of whom perished.

The torments to which this young girl was subjected would seem as difficult to devise as to imagine; but God was beside her at all times. After a heavy stone was attached to her neck, Saint Christina was thrown into the lake of Bolsena, but was rescued by an Angel and seen wearing a stole and walking on the water, accompanied by several Angels. Her father, hearing she was still alive, died suddenly amid atrocious sufferings. A new judge succeeded him, a cruel pagan experienced in persecuting the Christians. He tried to win her by reminding her of her nobility, suggesting she was in serious error. Her reply infuriated him: “Christ, whom you despise, will tear me out of your hands!” Then Saint Christina suffered the most inhuman torments. The second judge also was struck down by divine justice. A third one named Julian, succeeded him. “Magician!” he cried, “adore the gods, or I will put you to death!” She survived a raging furnace, after remaining in it for five days. Serpents and vipers thrown into her prison did not touch her, but killed the magician who had brought them there. She sent them away in the name of Christ, after restoring the unfortunate magician to life; he was converted and thanked the God of Christina and the Saint. Then her tongue was cut out.

The Saint prayed to be allowed to finish her course. When she was pierced with arrows, she gained the martyr’s crown at Tyro, a city which formerly stood on an island in the lake of Bolsena in Italy, but has since been swallowed up by the waters. Her relics are now at Palermo in Sicily. Her tomb was discovered in the 19^th century at Bolsena, marked with an inscription dating from the 10^th century.

Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 9.

I was struck with the life of this little girl who suffered much to defend her faith. Never I thought before, that I'll be seeing such Holy places like this of Bolsena!!... a great privilege that many people wish to have. thanks God, thanks St. Christine! I pray that I may have the same courage with that of St. Christine. I pray that I may live my life to the fullness of its purpose, thanks for your inspiration... dear St. Christine! Pray for me and for all whom in need of your prayers. To God be the glory, for ever and ever. Amen

My first visit in Bolsena was one of a kind, a memorable one!

When I say memorable, it actually doesn't have to be the best experience. The reason why I say this is because....well let me just share my story.

My husband and I were on our way to Bolsena for a short summer vacation, way back July of 2010. We were running like 2 hours behind schedule and had only some cookies and a bottle of mineral water with us. We were on our way to reach the city before 5 to find any B&B or if not a good campsite to put our tent. Anyway, when we got to Montefiascone about maybe 40 minutes before the city of Bolsena we lost our way. We kept on asking the correct direction. A bit late, so we decided to pick up the speed to catch up on a little time. Finally we arrived though a little dark but was able to manage the tent and rested well in the night. For two long days we enjoyed swimming at the lake and forgot to visit the whole city. Bad mistake! we missed a lot of things... like visiting the Basilica of St. Christine, the famous castle, wine tasting etc.. After 3 days, we're ready to return in Rome. But since I was curious about what's in the city of Bolsena, I convince my husband to drop me at the Basilica. Fortunately, I was able to pray and visit the catacomb of St. Christine and so with the Miraculous Altar where the miracle of Transubstantiation happened according to Tradition. We were able to visit also the old castle with its narrow passage.

Tired but satisfied with our trip... then, I softly said to myself, " I'll be back in this place".. Truly, we visited again and again this place. And still longing to be back again and to have another one more memorable experience in this city called, " The City of Miracles".

Here are some of our photos: