Sunday, June 29, 2014

Mikaela's Having Her Simple Fun


This is my first time to post a video with how my daughter spends some time with herself at home.  I was just amazed at how these past few days she has been spending a lot of time in front of the mirror curious with how she looks and smiles at herself candidly.



Ten (10) Core Life Skills Plus One (1)


Oh my I just enrolled for my dissertation.  This is the last phase of my post graduate studies in Education. This one is rather the most challenging part where i will be researching on the 10 core life skills defined by the World Health Organization (this one i happen to browse over the internet and i found it to be a two thumbs up for a research in the public school where i am currently assigned.

"Life skills include psychosocial competencies and interpersonal skills that help people
make informed decisions, solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate
effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others, and cope with managing
their lives in a healthy and productive manner."

What are these 10 core life skills?.  Let me share what I got from my research some most of it came from  from the World Health Organization.

1.  Self-awareness -  includes recognition of ‘self’, our character, our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or feel under pressure. It is often a prerequisite to effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy with others.

2.  Empathy - To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, we need to understand and care about other peoples’ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy is the ability to imagine what life is like for another person.


 3.  Critical thinking thinking is an ability to analyze information and experiences in an objective manner.  


4.  Creative Thinking -         is a novel way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four components – fluency (generating new ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality (conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas)

5.  Decision making -  helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our lives. This can have consequences for health. It can teach people how to actively make decisions about their actions in relation to healthy assessment of different options and, what effects these different decisions are likely to have.

6.  Problem-solving -   helps us to deal constructively with problems in our lives. Significant problems that are left unresolved can cause mental stress and give rise to accompanying physical strain.

7.  Interpersonal Relationship -          help us to relate in positive ways with the people we interact with. This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships, which can be of great importance to our mental and social well-being. It may mean keeping, good relations with family members, which are an important source of social support. It may also mean being able to end relationships constructively.

8.  Effective Communication -   means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means being able to express opinions and desires, and also needs and fears. And it may mean being able to ask for advice and help in a time of need.

9.  Coping with Emotions -       means involving recognizing emotions within us and others, being aware of how emotions influence behaviour and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately.

10.  Coping with Stress -    means recognizing the sources of stress in our lives, recognizing how this affects us, and acting in ways that help us control our levels of stress, by changing our environment or lifestyle and learning how to relax.

I was caught at how these skills would really help us thrive with the many challenges with life.  I would want to check these with the grade 7 students with hope that i would be able to respond as their Guidance counselor by creating activities that would fill in the gaps. Hmmm yahhh i know what you are thinking...I will be working on a lot of variables but...but I feel it...it can be done...By God's grace...:-)

Lastly,even if I will not include in my research Prayer...I will have to propose that 10 core life skills plus Prayer will bring it to perfection.  Prayer...can break walls and the impossible (by human assessment) to a reality and shall I say..."miracles do happen"What do you think?

PS...i will soon be writing modules enhancing life skills for our children...I pray that I would be able to deliver them well to help us in parenting our own children:-)

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Does Education Really Respond to the Real Needs of Students?

http://www.stgabrielsf.com/school/images/stories/EC.jpg
How much time does schools give to completing our academic life?  Quite a long time compared to the 2 day pre cana (pre wedding) seminar given to those who will be getting married.  Let me illustrate a little why I am sharing this.  The two day seminar comprises soon-to-be parents preparation to nurturing a family and raising children.  A lot of books that i read related to building family and relationships would say that there is no school that gives us the complete package of such preparation.  Yet, i realize that parenting plays a very crucial role to the kind and "quality" of children that will some day soon will live their lives too and will become parents themselves.

Obviously, the two-day pre cana seminar cannot even answer all the needs of the couple to be able to hurdle the many different concerns and issues of married life nor will it be able to emotionally, spiritually or completely prepare them for it.  So parents will have to rely on what the school has to provide what they lack.  But when our children go to school, what the program will spend more time with will be in the academics.  They will be thrown into varied mental exercises in Mathematics, English, more time in Science.  They call these subjects as the major ones.  While the minors are appropriated less time..

Oh my, our children do this from elementary to college until they finish their courses (we adults were also formed this way right?).     So when they get a job, they would realize they fall short with the most important skills such as human relations where respect, honesty, commitment,  humility, teamwork, and many other good values that they need to be "truly" human.

In my heart, I believe true education should be responsive to the real need.  We always hear from daily news issues of corruption, killing and many different forms of human rights violations.  Still our educational system has not truly responded to it.

How about reversing our educational system or balancing our educational system such that while we give mental exercises, we also give the same and ample time for formation of values ...family values supporting our very own parents that don't have enough time to give that formation since they are at work while their children are in school. Or give training on Vocation particularly including family life in it.

After all, a lot of our children will go into married life and so when they become parents, they would be more confident to face the many challenges  confronting married individuals or formation of children.  So they won't say anymore that they were like thrown into a vast ocean with the options "swim or die".  Oh my ...  Old as I was when I got married, I still felt that way with my age, how much more with those teens that just got pregnant and call their situations "accident" and so they just have to swim or leave the responsibility of child - rearing to their own parents.

Hmmm this is something that we could reflect upon..:-)  Have a happy day everyone...God bless us all:-)


Monday, June 23, 2014

Then and Now ...at Home:-)


When i was single, i maintained a very neat small house.  When I arrived home, i felt i could just hop on the couch when i was tired and just stretched my body, breathed really deep that i sometimes dozed off to sleep.  When I woke up i  turned on the stove, heated some food at the fridge or bought food at the nearest carenderia.  I then turned ON the television set and watched some favorite programs while I ate my dinner.  After that, I delayed washing plates and allowed myself to surf the net or read some books.  I slept sometimes very late or very early when I was so tired.

I had my single life like that. But not now.  Hmmm when I get home, I would immediately see something different the moment i enter the door. Toys are everywhere, plates and glasses on the table plus a dusty floor.  The first time i realized that this time is very different, I wanted to scream since I was so tired from work and i knew that it is never the same.  Yet when i saw how my baby looks at me and my husband misses me during the day ...or it may be the other way around hahhaha.  I miss them so much.  I thought the mess is nothing compared to the fun and joy they bring in my life...

I may not have such an orderly house at the moment. But I feel overjoyed at the love and the ray of God's sun every single day despite the many challenges that I encountered:-)  Thank you dear God:-)



Praying...for Students:-)

http://www.teacherswhopray.org/your-legal-rights/
Let me share about what my friend teacher shared a while ago.  She said straight that she prayed for her students the previous day.  She has seen how her students have been bombarded by angry words from different teachers so to reverse what she wanted to do, she prayed over them. And I responded "what you did was beautiful".  

I should have added "that should be what teachers do for their students".  I was touched.  That is something that I rarely do.  I was simply reminded that when I pray, I would make it a commitment to pray for them.  This time, other than doing it silently, I will make them hear my prayers for them.

If I would do that I may influence them in the following:
1.  value prayer being a student
2.  To embrace the contents of prayer
3.  Live, commit and be true with life and being alive

...More than anything...embrace God and His power in our life.

Wow...I am being reminded through my friend to commit to prayer...to pray not only for my family and mention other people in our lives but to particularly mention ...my students...

I thank my friend Candice for dropping by at the Guidance office for such a brief beautiful sharing...:-)  God bless her wonderful ...beautiful heart:-)...Amen.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

There is Light...There is Hope:-)

https://www.behance.net/gallery/154422/Light-of-Hope

I watched X-Men the other day...hmm with the permission of my dear husband.  It's one of my favorite movies ever since.  And I was able to capture the line stated by the older Charles to the younger one "Just because someone has fallen does not mean they have no chance at getting up".  I do hope i stated that right.  Why am I sharing this?  I just met four people that have become signs of God's hope for me today.

First was my professor whom i approached for the reason that i have lost all my notes and that i was full of fear i might not be able to answer the questions during my exam.  She just told me to browse the net and look into anything that i could read about the topic.  That was quite a relief since that was what i did for the past days already.  I felt so relaxed after that.  Thank you God for that expression of hope.

Second was I met one of the Canteen's staffs that i thought i accidentally talk with after years not seeing her.  She expressed that she could not have a baby.  While conversing with her, I surprised myself sharing that she could expect so much from God's provision.  "God is so generous.  The strong and deep faith of man is God's weakness. And the thing that He could not resist and could not do is to stop loving us".

Truly I said that line with deep conviction.  I felt His presence wanting to be felt by that person through me as His instrument.  I have almost forgotten being an instrument.  Hmmm that experience was a great comeback.

I met the third person when I was about to go out of the canteen.  He was asking me where I am now working and how i have been doing.  As I was answering him, I remember how swift and natural I was and the peaceful feeling that where I am is where I should be.  I strongly felt that hope and light.

I met the last person when I was about to walk out of the campus, right in front of the Chapel (place of worship).  He was my colleague in the previous school where I worked for 10 years.  It was great recalling the many sacrifices, graces and growth in ourselves despite the many challenges.

Yes there is light...there is hope.  Like Wolverine from movie X-men when he almost drowned at the end part of the movie yet was saved and ...I assume X-men series continues after that...Hmmm Light...hope ...that is how i feel right now...And i move on with head up high to the heavens...:-) Amen