Roxas City Accessory Finds

I know its Philippine Fashion Week and I should be posting the PFW event that I attended the other day but I just want to insert this personal post of one of my "finds" during my one week stay at Roxas City. Yes, I have been out of town because I attended a major work related event with my students (being their teacher companion, coach, and trainer and all) last week at Roxas City. This is one of the major reasons why October has been a super busy month for me in real life so my online life (which means blogging!) had to be slightly pushed back on the shelf. Like I've mentioned before, I'm a Teacher by Day and Blogger by Night. So my day job comes first. All of the hard work (me and my students'!) paid off as we emerged victors of the event and our school snagged the Top award in Academics and Athletics. We give all praise and glory to God coz we definitely know we wouldn't have arrived this far if it weren't for His favor and grace to our school. 

Of course despite being very busy as a teacher there, the fashion blogger in me couldn't help checking out the stuff being sold at Capiz Gymnasium, Roxas City where all the pasalubongs or local souvenirs can be bought. Besides the traditional t-shirts with "Roxas City" imprinted on it, I found myself fascinated with all the locally made products being sold there. It was very hard to resist but I ended up buying a few! Here are some of the stuff that you can see and buy there at very affordable prices!!!

Kindly look for this stall at Capiz Gymnasium at Roxas City for cool souvenirs!

Very affordable earrings being sold there! I SUPER LOVE the capis earrings!
Wanna know how much? Punta kayo dun and buy na to find out! hihi!

I'm thinking that this would look great with candles!
Or would this float on water? It would definitely look pretty floating on a pool of water!

Novel Christmas Tree Decors!
They would definitely look pretty and delicate like snowflakes on your Christmas Tree this Holidays!

Other cool knick knacks such as jewelry cases, picture frames, and Christmas decors all made in Capis and in the Philippines!

The christmas angels look sooo cute! Love the colors!

Of course I ended up buying several of these coz they were TOO pretty to NOT buy!
Plus these are perfect gifts that I can give to my kikay friends! hehe..
My bestfriend and coteacher bought the ONLY gold one though.. >__<
But I was able to buy 2 sets of the three other colors. 

So Coffeeholics, doncha think these are pretty? And all of this from Roxas City! This is just one of the few Roxas City related posts that I will be blogging about.  And for my coffeeholic readers, IF given a choice, which colored capiz earring do you prefer -- transparent, blue, or red? I'm cookin' something so let this be a poll of sorts. Do let me know! Oh and if you have been to Roxas City as well, do share your experiences with us!

Now segway is over, back to PFW fever!

Mwah, 

Celebrating World Teachers' Day | Galileo Enrichment Learning Program Giveaway

World Teachers' Day is on October 5 and would you believe that I had no idea about it! UNESCO started the annual World Teachers' Day October 5, 1994 and has continued the tradition since then. If you visit the World Teachers' Day website, listed there are several ways on how you can celebrate this event. You can also share your photos at their site on how you celebrated World Teachers' Day. You can also send an e-card to teachers on their site. Here in the Philippines, I know that some give their teachers gifts such as flowers, chocolates, or a hand made card by their students. I know this coz I remember getting them when I was teaching preschool almost 8 years ago as my first teaching job. But I tend to forget the date so I was caught by surprise yesterday.

I only found out when several people messaged me or tweeted me a greeting. I thought it was a joke or a prank but I was later convinced when some parents greeted me. You have to forgive me though coz I haven't been online that much lately. The recent typhoons wreaked havoc on our internet at home and was only able to have it up and running like last night. So yeah, I was totally clueless! So basically I ended up "celebrating" World Teachers' Day by doing what all teachers are supposed to do -- teach! hihi. I was also quite caught up guiding one of my students in knitting an Afghan. I'm also teaching some students in the Needles and Thread craft (crochet, knitting, embroidery, and cross-stitch).

Photo Credit here.

But seriously, I love being a teacher! Even though I'm now also exploring the world of blogging and writing, teaching has always been my passion. I must admit that one of the main reasons why I got into teaching was because of MY teachers while I was still in high school. They were not there just to teach me concepts and help me in my learning but they were also there to teach me many other things that could not be learned from text books. One thing that really struck me was the way they showed that they really cared! I was quite close to one of my teachers during high school and I valued very much the advice that he gave me, the short stories with moral lessons that he would share in the morning, and the way he treated each student that showed how much he personally cared about our lives. My mom was a elementary public school teacher as well. I saw her passion, love, concern, and dedication to her students by doing things that are over and beyond "the call of duty" so to speak. I remember how she shelled out her own money and asked help from other people so that all the students in her class would have a seat and a table! All of this inspired me to try my best to be like them now that I'm a teacher myself. I want my students to enjoy their high school life the same way I enjoyed mine. I know the journey to absolutely achieve that isn't easy but I am giving my best! I hope that by truly caring for each student will help make a difference or at least inspire them as much as my own teachers inspired me. I've been a teacher for 8 years already and LOVING IT! So I just want to give a shout out to all the teachers out there! Happy World Teachers' Day!

Me holding a drawing of me that one of my students made during my birthday.

So of course to commemorate this event, I am giving away a FREE 2-WEEK SCHOLARSHIP coupon of the MATH or ENGLISH Enrichment Program from Galileo Enrichment Learning Program.

I learned about Galileo Enrichment Learning Program at the Blogapalooza event held by wheninmanila.com last month. They caught my interest when they mentioned that they would be hosting the Singapore Math Learning Festival this October 8. (The tickets to the Festival are already SOLD OUT though!) I wasn't able to register and now I wish I had since one of the sessions was about "Making Geometry Easy with Singapore Math" which would have really been handy in my classroom. Anyway, the Galileo Enrichment Learning Program and its centers aim to help EMPOWER LEARNERS by PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES for learning enrichment that will make them INDEPENDENT, LIFE-LONG LEARNER. They make learning sound so much fun and present it in such a way to capture the interest of the learner. They use a new and different way of learning to capture the interest and inspire mastery to the students! Isn't that awesome? Who doesn't want to h

This Coupon entitles you to a Free 2-Week Scholarship of the
Math or English Enrichment Program!
Coupon is valid only until December 31, 2011
You have to call up the Galileo Head Office to set center appointment.

Anyway, since I don't have my own kids yet, I decided that the best thing that I can do is give it away to you guys! The mechanics are very simple:

1. You must be a follower of my blog. 

2. You must LIKE Galileo Enrichment Learning Facebook Fanpage.

3. Tweet about this giveaway tagging me and  @GalileoEnrichment. (optional)

4. Post on the comment box below your name, GFC, FB, and email address. 

I will pick out the winner on October 26. This Giveaway is open to Metro Manila Residents only. Please check out Galileo Enrichment Facebook and follow them on Twitter to be updated! So Coffeeholics, if you know anyone who might be interested in Galileo Enrichment Learning Program, do please share this to them. This time, let's spread the joy of learning to others! Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week!

MWAH,

NCTQ Survey for Teachers about Teacher Preparation

I remember the first day of teaching as a preschool teacher. As a UPD FLCD graduate (that's Family Life and Child Development!), I was thrilled and terrified during my first day. I'm proud of my school and how they trained me, but seeing the real thing turned my whole self cold. Maybe it was the thought that I would be in charge of those cute darlings and figure out how to capture their attention, their interest, and instill a love of learning. Oh I survived the first day, and the succeeding days after and now I have a barrel full of funny stories of  my teaching experience and the things I had to do to improve myself. But I swear there were times I wished that I had known more about certain things before I started teaching. I bet you dear teachers also had moments like that!

Photo credit:http://teacherofenglishchile2010.blogspot.com/ 

Well, here's the good news! Someone cares and would like to hear YOUR opinion about this matter. The National Council on Teacher Quality is a research and policy group that works to ensure that each child has an effective teacher. They just recently launched a national review of preparation programs last January in the States. But nothing beats first hand information -- they want to hear from YOU! Yes, even you my dear Filipino coffeeholic teachers can participate in this survey. They would like to hear what YOU have to say in this matter. They would like to know how ready teachers feel on their first day of class. Do they value their teacher preparation programs? What do aspiring teachers need to know about the programs they are considering? These are some of the questions that aim to be answered in the survey. NCTQ will be using the results to make sure that the forthcoming National Review provides the information teachers need.

Answering the survey is easy! I already took it and it was easy breezy! It only took me around 10 minutes or less. I'm glad to be given an opportunity to be part of the "solution" to this issue. Don't you wanna be one too? So pls don't be shy and do click this link to the NCTQ Teacher Prep Survey and make your opinions known! And as a token of gratitude, NCTQ will be holding a drawing for the next two weeks for anyone who completes this brief survey. Everyday, they will be choosing TWO respondents to give $25 Amazon.com gift cards! Its a daily draw my dear teachers! It would be awesome if you could participate in the survey! I already answered it and now I hope I win as well! 

To my dear coffeeholics out there who aren't a teacher, well don't you want to help a fellow teacher out? Spread the word and share this to your friends who happen to be a teacher. You may forward this link to them: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/teacherprepsurvey. For more info, do kindly check out the NCTQ website and facebook.

So coffeeholics! How about you? Do you still remember your first day of work? How did you feel? Did you feel that you were prepared enough to take on the job? Do share! Mwah!