i cheated with my reward.. ssshhhh..

Finally, I’m done with my reports, but not after watching Star Trek 6 : Undiscovered Country. Hehe.. To say, I rewarded myself in advance with this one.

Back to my topic, made 3-pages and 4-pages report per child and another 2-pages for a new one. Much browsing, scanning and reading through preferences like books, notes, articles on the net, even previous reports I made for my old student and reports from other professionals forwarded to me. Tedious job we say but necessary for the child’s progress, where the child is right now, his needs and capabilities. More so, getting to know the child more and knowing where best to develop and address his skills or learning.

Finished my report at 4AM with some background music from my stored files. In the morning however, continued my reward of finishing the Star Trek movies my brother had in his computer. Watched Star Trek 8 : First Contact and Star Trek 9 : Insurrection. Great movies to watch on a break though.

tears of sadness

When we started our class, my student was talkative and was her usual self. 1o minutes into our time, she wouldn’t do the task I asked her to do. She was blabbering about the chalk, about standing up, kicked her shoes, slapped me with the book and threw the manipulative tool. Suddenly she sobbed and said something about spanking. It was about halfway on our class. I didn’t get her so I tried to appease by comforting her. She stopped for a while. Slumped on her chair, looked at me and said something inaudible again. Sobbed some more. This time she was really in tears and her eyes were red and wouldn’t stop crying. She just hugged me all those times while saying something.

I told her Nanang about it and found out that she was spanked by her older brother last night. Pitiful girl. She felt the rejection but couldn’t understand why she was beaten. She has feelings, genuine feelings. Children with mental retardation does. They just don’t know how to understand and express it appropriately.

new tambayan

I just discovered this afternoon the Boiz's new hang out place. They invited me over at their tambayan a couple of times for some soundtrip and jamming with acoustic guitars and beat box. Sad to say I hadn’t been with them for those purposes since they held it usually at night, under the stars when it is not raining or in weekdays wherein I’m not able to visit them. But this afternoon, I had finally gone with them since I still had a task to be done before I leave their place.

Guess what. Their new tambayan is in an unusual place yet nice. It was in a small parcel of land, rather a platform in the middle of the river when the water is low, enough for them to gather in a circle. Sweet. The sound of the shallow, rushing river in itself is soothing. Not to mention the music that they make. Really a nice place to relax. I wasn’t able to be with them in the river though because I was wearing a skirt and it would be impossible to scale the dike with a skirt on, even if I do it in barefoot. Maybe next time. (pardon the picture, it was taken through my camera phone)

spontaineity

I led one of the youths in crossing the Carmen bridge tonight with her eyes closed. This girl was afraid of hiking through that bridge. It is already old, around 40 or 50 years old yet still strong. We often pass there from Carmen to DiviSoria every Friday night. Tonight was an exemption since we came from our meeting. Whenever she walks through that bridge, she would always hold the railing and would walk slowly. And in a way, slowing us as well.

However, tonight, I grabbed her hands and held her close to me. Asked her to close her eyes and slowly walked straight through the bridge’s sidewalk. She did that all the way and I’m proud of her. Though there were humps along the way, she would slump a little to the side, she could feel the bridge more under her feet whenever a vehicle passes, we would stop on our track when a person passed us from the opposite direction and gave us curious looks, etc. Yet it was fulfilling. Knowing that I had led her from one end of the bridge to the other. It was quiet a long bridge by the way, estimating 80 meters.

Why did I bothered do it in the first place? I don’t know. It just came into my mind. I was suppose to scare her by teasing her and pushing her a little to the side but it was meant to be put in good use.

on its 2nd week and counting

It’s already Saturday night and I’m still sick, 2nd week now. Still got cough, colds and sore throat. My fever hadn’t surfaced back. My body still aches. Do I need to be alarmed? There are confirmed cases of swine flu victims in our city. Don’t get me wrong, I am not paranoid. I am just concerned since I’ll be facing and handling preschoolers and children with special needs and might have weak immune system. One of my new student even got fever last week and I hope she didn’t get it from me (her sister also got the fever before her). Little things that if left untreated could become alarming. Somehow, for precautionary measures, I’m taking Vitamin C medicines. Hope this’ll be enough.

mute for a day

I’m suffering from a severe sore throat today. This morning, no voice would come out of my voice box, I could only do whispers. I texted my boss early this morning that I could not attend to my classes because of this dry cough, colds and sore throat. Unknowingly, we don’t have a class because of the transport strike. Good thing. But my mother was worried this might be a case of streptococcus and she wants me to have it checked by a specialist. Bad. I haven’t had my throat checked lately. Tired of going back to my doctor who’ll only let me open my mouth, insert something then prescribe a med or answers my inquiries if I had one or two.

Yesterday morning though, it was only a mild sore throat due to my cough and cold. Because the youths were there and the band was complete. I couldn’t resist and grabbed the bass guitar while doing some vocals with the coarse voice I had.

No one else to blame but me. Not the wheather, not my job, and certainly not the boys. Hehe..

Good thing there is text messaging nowadays or else I had to call my school and force my voice to come out so the other end would hear me. Didn’t even consider going out of the house. How would I tell the public utility vehicle driver where I’d be going, where I wanted to be stopped, etc. I had considered writing my destination and having the driver read it. But why bother. I wonder also if they know how to read sign language, they’ll probably laugh at me and fellow commuters eyeing on me. Oh well. This area would probably be a challenge for the deaf and the mute as well.

am I in or out?

Heard one of the preschoolers sung this song yesterday. Upon prodding her who sung that song, I had to search it in the net. Here it is;

You could change your hair,
You could change your clothes.
You could change your mind,
It’s just the way it goes.
You could say goodbye and you could say hello.
But you’ll always find your way back home.
You could change your style,
You could change your jeans.
You could learn to fly,
And you could chase your dreams.
You can laugh or cry,
Like everybody knows.
You’ll always find your way back home.

It’s just the chorus part of You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home’ and that’s what she sang. She told me that it is a Hannah Montana song, I got curious. Was wondering why this 5-year old girl is watching a tv series for teens. Is television really that unrestricted anymore that when a household got a cable connection they could just leave their children unattended in front of it and watch whatever is available on the tube unsupervised?

Can’t really relate to this. I’m not a tv freak, nor am I a television addict. Only opens our television to watch the news or any useful, educational programs on television. We don’t have a cable connection as well.

Or is it just the fact that I’m so behind with what’s in and acceptable with the society that I reacted immediately without even finding out and delving into the topic or issue at hand to understand the things they do and why they do it. Or is it because Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus doesn’t interest me at all. Whatever.

I could only hope these kids would feed their young, sponge-like minds with useful and good things.

not a lost cause

Had a talk with one of the preschooler parent after my afternoon class today. It started when my MR student approached her toddler and played with him. From then, we caught up on anything. She shared how her sister-in-law of 22 years old stayed at their home for 2 days then ran away to Zamboanga to reunite with her boyfriend. Her disappointment with her sister-in-law could be traced in her face. She respected her, gave her space, tried to understand her wants and wimps but she disrespected them by running away. She was angry and worried.

She didn’t know that I’m involve with the youths.

Our conversation led us to discuss about the youths situations nowadays. Their activities, their behavior and the norm that was once unacceptable. She shared that she sometimes sees older elementary students on the next school adjacent to us walking in the sidewalk holding each other’s hands. She worries about her preschool daughter. She and her husband’s in their 40’s now. When her daughter reaches teenager, will she be proud to bring her mother to social events? She wonders.

Teenagers, young adults.. Times have really changed. Society shaped them and fed them things. Things they ought to learn and those that they shouldn’t have learned early on. Things that were supposed to be good but inappropriately practiced. Rebels, teenagers eager to grow up but still lacks knowledge and wisdom about their self, the world they are in and everything in it. Still looking for their niche in this society.

We could help them by understanding them and being with them. Letting them know that somebody still cares and accepts them for who they are. They are worth the effort.

How about you, how do you see them?

preschoolers do amuse us at times

Let me share with you what happened to 2 of the preschoolers in class the other day. Take note: they are preschoolers, 5 and 6 years old.

It started when we had our circle time and sang the Barney song “I love you, you love me.. We’re one happy family..” First, we had them in a circle. Then we asked them to pair off with their classmates, with the kid beside them. Ivy paired off with Jules and did the song with actions. On our succeeding activities, they would wait for each other, helping each other with the worksheets, sharing their snacks, even held hands on plays and while running around. Hhmmm.. Smells fishy?? Their classmates even teased them. Haha.. Before we ended our class, they sort of had a quarrel and declared that they are not friends anymore. Yesterday though, they forgot what happened the previous day. Hehe..

How sweet..

my day..

Had a good time today despite the stress of work. Transformer the movie was nice. Didn’t had ice cream though, maybe next time. Hehe..

To my friends, relatives and family who greeted me today, THANK YOU SO MUCH. ^_^