Versace on the Floor: Wearing Versace While Teaching High School Students

Once in a while, I wear clothes to school that reflect my true personality, usually just opting for my usual Ralph Lauren and Lacoste shirts since their designs are "school friendly".

So today, I decided to wear my Moschino shirt with the big red flower and the tagpi tagpi design - which one teacher aptly described as - "something that a pre-school pupil would draw".
 One time, I wore my other Moschino shirt with bright sky blue print and cursive text on it and I remember, one of the school heads, the one who's always serious, make a compliment on it!
And I remember during Valentine's week when I wore my pink Paul Smith hand-painted flower shirt which included some embroidered flowers as well - and some of the teachers said - "instead of bringing flowers, I wore the flowers!".
My students' wide-eyed reactions to the clothes when I enter the classroom are just as amusing and the cute comments they make which I reply with a curt thank you - careful not to draw too much attention to it and just proceed with the lesson.
At least once in a while, the kids can see that clothes they see in couture fashion shows can actually be worn in a school setting - if you just find a confident cool person to wear it without being too self-conscious.
Frankly, I can't wait to wear my fully embroidered Paul Smith shirts or my tattered Junya Watanabe's "poverty look" collection but maybe when my students are really comfortable with me na.
 When they have fully accepted the fact that teachers, and not only runway models or celebrities, can also don couture fashion pieces.
I'm also still waiting for the right moment to wear Versace!
Wearing Versace while teaching high school students concepts like poverty and war and conflict - haute couture meets social realism. I'm sure that's par for course in all Ivy League uni's.....

My Gratitude to My Great Chemistry Teacher, Ma'm Evelyn!

After more than 30 years, I was finally able to personally thank one of the best teachers I had in my learning years.

These are the Ariza sisters, Helen and Evelyn and both are teachers.

In the middle, Miss Evelyn Ariza, is my first year high school Science teacher way back when Madonna was still a virgin, Borderline was the song that would get all of us rushing to the dance floor during the soirees.

Anyhow, Ms. Ariza has since got married and she's Evelyn Ariza Cimafranca now and last night, her son, all grown up already, was part of the violin section of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

See how life plays out!

I finally got to thank her for being such an excellent teacher because she taught us the periodic table, including the useless information of atomic number and atomic mass of each element (JOKE!), so that when I transferred to another high school later on, I was way ahead of my peers in Chemistry class since I already knew those things.

In other words, I kicked-a**!!

And she also taught us how to use the bunsen burner and how to handle the test tube when there are chemicals in them - which was very useful when I did my Chemistry lab in UP much later on.

Because in UP, the teachers don't assist you. Bahala kayo sa buhay niyo sa lab! Here's the experiment, read it, do it! And the teacher just leaves the classroom. Nakakaloka!

It felt really good to finally thank her after all these years. The truth is, teaching the periodic table, if handled by a lousy teacher can be pretty traumatic for students.

Up to now, I have adult friends who don't know how to balance a simple chemical equation and they shudder at the experience they had.

And the great thing now is we're peers! Of course, she has 35 years of solid teaching experience on her sleeve while I am still a neophyte =)

When Underachieving Yet Bright Students Use Their Gifts, the Results are Spectacular!

As a teacher, I am hard on students whom I feel have so much to give but are underachieving.

I am teaching a research subject kasi and the subject needs someone who's talented in writing and in analysis.

Some of my students don't have both, but they work hard and give good work, so I reward them amply.

But there are some, who are very good in both, but are reckless with their gifts - and that quietly pisses me off!

So these past two terms, I have subtly found a way to motivate these gifted but underachieving students to give their best.

Mind you, it's not easy! Clever students are the hardest ones to get through to - and since they are rich kids, it makes the work doubly harder.

How do you motivate a kid to study and do well in school when his or her allowance is already 1000 pesos a day?

Para que pa mag-aral? Mayaman naman si Papa!

But because I know what they are capable of, my job is to let them produce the best output that they can possibly give!

Sayang naman ang mga gifts nila if mabubulok lang.

I felt I have given enough time and advices to the hard workers, now I felt it was time to polish the underperforming diamonds!

And the results have been positive!

Two of them just submitted their work today, 4 days ahead of the deadline!! (They usually submit very late before!!!)

And my God, I browsed through their papers and their work was brilliant! I wanted to cry for joy right then and there!

Finally, I got through them!

I also read an excerpt of the work of the most talented writer in my lower batch - and her work was of exceptionally high quality - parang nilampaso nya ang competition!!

My simple joy is just to see my brightest students do brilliant work and to see that some of them have risen to the occasion has made my teaching days worthwhile.

I am now looking forward to see everyone's work over the weekend, and I hope some of them will give me their best work yet!

Holy Week 2017 Thoughts: Taking Care of the Oppressed

I asked Laura and Dylan if they had any idea what they were doing and they said they didn't.

I told them I didn't really like what Palm Sunday signified because it shows one of the fatal weaknesses of men - and it's a pattern of behavior that has been exhibited all throughout history.

I explained to them that the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus so warmly, expecting him to thwart the reign of the Roman empire, and when that didn't happen, in a dramatic turnaround, they turned their backs on him and wanted him crucified.

When Jesus was being persecuted and ridiculed, none of them came to his defense or aid.

It takes a very brave person to turn against popular sentiment. We saw that happen when the Jews were being persecuted in Europe. A few brave people hid them from the Nazis knowing very well, that if they were discovered, they would pay for their offense dearly.

Today, the Syrian refugees who have nowhere to go are being turned away by their European neighbors and are caught in the crossfire between government and rebel forces.

Even in my own country, everyone has to be labeled either for the Yellow group or the Duterte group, which I find very simplistic. There have been so many political machinations on both sides, I have decided to just not listen anymore and just concentrate on the work that I can contribute to the society.

Movie Review: A Heart as Big as a 'Lion'

I've always thought that people who adopted children will surely go to heaven because it's such a noble thing to do. Taking care of your own flesh and blood is hard enough, but taking care of someone who has no blood relations to you and having to deal with all the complications of raising a child - shows how big your heart is.

The foster mother in the Oscar-nominated movie, Lion, played by Nicole Kidman, is one such person. Living in relative comfort in Hobart, Tasmania, she and her husband adopted two young boys from India and took care of them like they were their own.

This is, by far, Nicole's most restrained performance because for movies like this, it would have been very easy to go through the MMK route and have fountains of tears.

However, be sure to bring a box of tissues when you watch the movie, because it's a tearjerker with such wonderful performances from the two kids in the first half of the movie.

If you still plan to watch the movie, spoiler alert, coming up.

I only started crying though towards the end of the movie - in the reunion scene which was built up wonderfully by the accompanying music and the beautiful cinematography - and it does help that Dev Patel, who played Saroo, the lost boy, is such a sensitive actor.

I think that because Saroo's brother died that same night he was left in the train station, that his life had to go through a circuitous route so that he could return safely to his mother and sister, even if it took more than two decades to happen.

I also thought that revealing his brother's death at the end of the movie was pure genius, because it added to the emotional baggage you had to carry while watching the whole movie. At least now you know that his brother didn't have to worry and carry the burden of losing his younger brother in a train station. Ironically, his accidental death saved him.

The reunion of Saroo with his mother also wouldn't have happened without Google Earth - and it also couldn't have happened earlier since he was too young when he disappeared and only knew snatches of information, which is normal for most five year olds.

In the scene where the two "mothers" met, I was a mess. Just the thought that these two women took care of this wonderful boy - a man now - at different times in his life - makes you feel that there are still good people within our midst.