Why oh why am I blogging when I have a lesson plan and another assignment to finish and need to wake up at 6:30am tomorrow?
Let me tell you what's been on my mind. While I should be feeling way burnt out from all this school, I'm actually thinking about stuff I want to learn and/or brush up on. I want to brush up on my Spanish so I can add it to my resume. Many of the students as well as teacher assistants in Special Ed are Spanish-speaking. It would be nice if I could join in on conversations, no?
I also want to learn how to tune a piano. How weird and random is that? Although that's something I've been wanting to learn for a while. Maybe because I'm too lazy to call a piano tuner to tune our piano at home.
A new thing I want to do is teach piano. (Which is really weird coz my own piano teacher predicted that I would teach piano one day. Of course I thought she was nuts when she told me that. I was 12.) Which means I need to relearn all those minor details such as measures, quarter notes and half notes, trills and triplets, rests and 4/4 time - stuff I've sorta skipped doing since I stopped taking lessons over ten years ago. I am inspired to teach piano after attending a god-awful piano recital in which my god-daughter was the best player (of course. Heh). Everyone else, including the teacher, stunk. It was really embarrassing. They broke every single rule my own piano teacher taught me. One that absolutely shocked me was the these kids were reading their music instead of having memorized it. Memorizing the songs was a must when I was a student, so that we could then concentrate on playing with feeeeeeling instead of being too busy reading the notes as we played. Anyways, yun lang. This is the random shit I muse about when I really should be finishing work that's due tomorrow. *Sigh*
(2:11am)
OKAY, I will have approximately 4 hours sleep tonight. Not good. Here's taste of tomorrow's lesson. How anal can I get! (Don't answer that:P)
Instructional Sequence of Events (All Learners)
1. Student teacher will call the learners to find a seat at the table for Story Time.
2. Student teacher will introduce the book, Close Your Eyes, a story about a little tiger who doesn’t want to sleep.
3. Student teacher will talk about the tiger and identify its furry stripes, whiskers, and the sound it makes.
4. The student teacher will read the story aloud to the class.
5. With verbal prompt, (and additional physical prompt to hand or arm if necessary) learners will point out objects and colors shown in the course of the book.
6. With verbal prompt, learners will verbally identify objects and colors shown in the course of the book.
7. At the end of the story, the student teacher and learners will discuss all the objects that the tiger liked (clouds, trees, birds).
8. Student teacher will then tell the learners that they will make their own picture with some of these objects.
9. Student teacher will distribute the materials to be used for the art activity.
10. Student teacher will show the class an example of what they will make.
11. Student teacher will ask the learners to find the green grass on the example.
12. Student teacher will give each learner the green grass that they will paste on their paper.
13. Student teacher will repeat steps 11 and 12 for each object the learners will paste.
Update 11/16: I'm not sick anymore! Yay!
Lady Jane (T. Ruby Flores, 1999, United States, 2:48)
Iso Mahal (Barbara Malaran, 1998, USA, color, video, sound, 4 minutes)
I Have No Regrets (Barbara Malaran, 1997, USA, color, video, sound, 4 minutes)
Trauma Room, Sickness Series No. One ( Ernest Concepcion, 1997, Philippines, video, 2 minutes)
Pinay Undercover (Margarita Alcantara Tan, 1997, United States, 5 minutes)
And some surprise additions if time allows!
*Where? Why at Sumisigaw silly!. Here's the info:
The Greenwich School, at 116 West 11th Street between 6th Ave and 7th Ave, NYC
Our workshop is at 4:30 but the event starts at 1pm! See you there!!
Thanks for the suggestion about Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum, J. I'm still searching for sample of their stuff on the web...
Tomorrow's sched? Purely social. Well with a mix of Arki in there of course. There's no escaping it. First meeting S. at APA for lunch, and then merienda with Bamboo Girl herself! We're screening a documentary she did a few years back at the festival this weekend. She needs to give me the tape so we just decided to make a catch up session. Fun, fun, fun!
Meaningless rant #2: The World Wide WEB is not enough. Crazy thing to say considering that here you are, reading this WEBlog on the (uh, hello) Web. Right?
The truth is, it is exhilarating to meet people face to face. To hear their voice, see their face, and listen to what they have say not just through their words, but through their facial expression, tone of voice, and body language. More than the words itself, those things can sometimes say a lot more. Know what I mean?
And that concludes our meaningless rants of the week. Please return to your regularly programmed lives. Thank you.
Saturday, November 9th, 1pm to 10pm
Sumisigaw: Common Ground
sumisigaw (soo.me.see.gow) v.t. 1. screaming. 2. shouting
1st Annual Filipina/o and Filipino/a American Youth Festival
At the Greenwich School 116 West 11th Street and 6th Ave. Greenwich Village, New York City
Children Under 10 yrs: Free // Students & Seniors: $5 // General Admn. $10
Filipino Youth Organizations from the Tri-State Area collaborate to
produce the upcoming youth festival centered on the themes of
building community and bridging the gaps between Filipinos, Filipino
Americans and all communities of color. Using art, education, and
celebration as foundations we aim to find Common Ground.
Performances By: Balangay, Chris Campos, Deep Foundation, Faith
Santilla, Hanalei Ramos, High Resolution, Ian Carandang, Illiterate,
Johanna Almiron, Kadena, Kinding Sindaw, Mambola, Maritess the
Magician, Nilikha, Pintados, and many more! Workshops Topics
include: Folktale Storytelling, Philippine Folk Games, Creative
Writing, Filipino Women: HerStory 101, Women and War,
Intergenerational Relationships, the Prison Industrial Complex,
Taking Direct Action, the Philippine-American War, Know Your Rights
for Immigrant Youth and Adults, Philippine Indigenous Music, Dance
and Eskrima Presentations, and Filipino Film Screenings!
Participants Include: Ani Asia Books, Arkipelago, Arkipelago Books,
Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Desis Rising Up and
Moving, the Desi Reel Newz Project, FAHSI, Filipino Workers Center
of Philippine Forum, Gabriela Network NY/NJ, Hunter College-Asian
American Studies Program, International Filipino Organization,
Justice 4 Youth Coalition, NY Jobs with Justice, PinoyWear, Prison
Moratorium Project, Radio Pinoy, SoulFire Media, among many others!
Registration for the festival is $5 youth/students/seniors, and $10
for Adults. All performances, film screenings, panels, workshops,
seminars and the Festival Fair are free with Festival registration.
To reserve your ticket in advance, volunteer, get more information,
directions and a complete festival schedule, email
sumisigaw@yahoo.com or call (212) 741.6806.
This festival is funded
in part by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Peace Development
Fund, Resist, and individual donors and organizations.
Introductory Comment: The setting is in the classroom during lunch time. Five learners are seated around the table eating their lunch. A has refused to finish his usual lunch of granola bars. A cup of juice and a plate with peas are also on the table in front of him. The teacher has just turned his chair around to talk to him.
Observation: A is wearing a plaid shirt and maroon corduroy overalls. His chair faces away from the table. The teacher is seated across from him and she holds his arms. She says, “You are sitting like this because you have not taken a bite of your food. When you take a bite, you can sit with your friends again.” She pauses and looks at him. She puts the bar in his left hand. He puts the bar to his mouth biting a small piece. She says, “That is not a real bite.” She takes his hand with the bar and moves it toward his mouth. She lets go and he takes a bigger bite. She says, “That’s better.” She turns his chair around to face the table again. She gives him a wipey when he finishes his bar. There is a cup of juice unfinished. He wipes his face once, and then tries to wipe the crumbs off his pants. She says, “You can wipe of the crumbs from your pants after you finish.” The teacher walks away to get some napkins for another student. A does not say a word. He takes one pea and eats it. He takes another and eats it. He takes about 10 more peas and eats it. I silently direct the teacher’s attention to A. She puts more peas on his plate. He takes 4 more pieces. She says, “Very good A.” The teacher assistant says, “Now that deserves clapping!” The whole class claps. The staff says, “Yay!” A puts a pea down and makes a crying or whimpering sound.
Comments, Impressions:
After this observation, the teacher said that I should observe more often because it produces miracles. Since September, A has only eaten dry foods with struggle with me or the teacher. Lately he has been able to finish a whole granola bar which was a huge step for him. Last week, the teacher moved meal time to a later time and he finished 2 granola bars without resistance. I have come to realize that if I don’t prod him or leave him alone with his food; he will eventually eat it by himself. The less attention he gets during mealtime, the more he will eat. I realized during this intervention, he was doing fine, up until the staff praised him. Regarding the clapping, A has learned to clap every time he is praised. Lately he has been doing it too much so we have discouraged him from clapping every time he does something good. Since eating the peas was a very big deal for him and the staff, we made an exception. I’m not sure why he cried, but it probably has something to do with the over-attention. Also, he used to cry “on cue” whenever food was presented to him—perhaps it was a delayed reaction?
May 2000 June 2000 July 2000 August 2000 September 2000 October 2000 November 2000 December 2000 January 2001 February 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001 December 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 December 2006
