blue room

It was WOW! I was so right in my predictions that Slumdog Millionaire will rip all the major awards: Best Picture, Directing, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Musical Score, Original Song, etc. And I believe the movie deserves all of it. I was right with the acting awards too: Best Actress Kate Winslet for The Reader, Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona, and Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger (posthumous) for The Dark Knight. All of them I have predicted except for Best Actor Sean Penn for Milk, which was a pleasant surprise (mainly because I didn’t have a bet for best actor and I haven’t seen Penn’s acting for Milk). All I knew was that Brad Pitt won’t win it. And I was right again. I never thought Hugh Jackman would make a great host.  I didn’t know Wolverine could sing and dance either and I was glad he did coz he really can. And he was sooooo handsome too (without the beard). 

All in all it was a great show and I was happy with the results. The best thing about it is that I got to watch it at the comforts of our own living room (whilst vegging around) coz there are no classes today (Monday) because it’s a national holiday (People Power Revolution Anniversary). And still at best is that tomorrow is another no-school-or-work local holiday coz it’s the Cebu City Charter Day celebration. I really could get used to these holidays.

The bad thing is that my Internet connection at home has been totally crappy lately.

> Why is it that when you give instructions to your students, their first instinct is to ask it back? (Ex. Teacher: “Get one-fourth sheet of paper.” Students: “One-fourth, Ma’am?”)

> Why do students NEVER read the instructions carefully when you tell them to read the instructions carefully?

> Why do students NEVER listen when you ask them to listen?

> How come a student has answers on all questions on the quiz when he arrived in class only by the time you gave the last question?

> How come a student can answer the questions on a quiz in his regular seat but not when you change seating arrangements? Are the answers written on the chair?

> Why do students give the answers for Set B when you’ve given him Set A questions? Is he answering for his seatmate?

> How come students can perform laboratory exercises but not be able to answer when asked about the same concepts in the lecture?

> Why do students ask how they got a failing grade when they didn’t pass any of the quizzes and exams?

> Why is it that when you give assignments/homeworks, they always submit the same answers/solutions (including spacing, commas, symbols, etc.)?

WHY…? HOW COME…?

I was writing notes on the board in one of my Computer Fundamentals class so my back was to my students when I heard the following:

Student A: “Mag-quiz ta, Ma’am?”

Just when I was about to answer…

Student B: “Ha? Mag-quiz ta?”

Student C: “Nganu mag-quiz man ta nga wa pa man tay na discuss?”

Student D: “Ma’am, di lang gud ta mag-quiz kay bag-o pa man ta nag-exam nya wa pa man tay na-discuss?!” (in a very unrespectful tone)

All that were said even before I could utter a single word! Wa nako na-take so walk out na lang ako beauty.

{gotta go with the craze…lol…this could be totally random.}

1. I’m a coffee addict. I can never get through the day without coffee.

2. I’m a fiction book junkie. I collect books, mostly from sale (yes, I’m cheap).

3. I hate having to pass by Booksale ‘coz I can’t keep myself from getting in and buying sale books no matter how broke I am.

4. My favorite author is Anne Tyler ‘coz I love her writing style but I’m currently hooked to John Irving. I also love legal thriller authors like John Grisham, Steve Martini, Richard North Patterson, and Scott Turow.

5. I’m a multitasker! I can’t just check papers, I also have to watch movies and eat at the same time. I’m more efficient that way.

6. Math is what I do best.

7. I can play the church organ even if I’m not musically inclined because reading musical notes is just like doing math (fractions, addition, subtraction, etc.).

8. I collect mugs and puzzles (rubik’s cube, pyramix, megamix), too.

9. My style is usually “organized chaos”. I believe that if everything is in the table (or drawer), then anything can be found. This explains my oh-so messy desk and drawer.

10. I’m always mistaken for a student (which has its pros and cons).

11. I’m Papa’s girl. My father said that I have inherited everything (good or not) from him.

12. I’m a morning person. I can easily give a 3-4 hour lecture in the morning even if I’m repeating the lecture over and over…but I can’t do that in the afternoon.

13. I eat all the time. As long as there is food, I am happy.

14. I like going to the mall alone, just to unwind.

15. Spongebob Squarepants is my favorite cartoons and I think that its humor is really for adults, not kids.

16. I don’t like milk but I love milkshakes and milk candies.

17. I can remember things that happened a long time ago, as far as when I was 2 years old, but not what happened last week.

18. Sometimes I know the answer to some trivia but I can’t recall how I learned them. This makes me get top spots in tests/exams where the coverage is very general (like entrance exams), even if I’m not top in class.

19. I always suffer of a very bad case of sinusitis, and sometimes migraine.

20. I used to be very very shy as a kid. I never spoke unless I have to, but now I’m as talkative as a bee.

21. I love listening to classical music, especially piano concertos.

22. I don’t know how to throw a hissy fit, even when I’m actually boiling with rage deep inside. Most of the time I just either walk out or be silent.

23. Total silence from me is never a good sign. It usually means I’m furious, sad, or frustrated.

24. I am so organized with the presention slides I use for my lectures, not with everything else.

25. I tend to talk a lot and keep going when I’m nervous.

This is going to be the first of a series of entries about my accounts of the perks of being a teacher. I want to document those hilarious, agonizing, eye-rolling, eyebrow raising, and those simply jaw-dropping moments inside the classroom, which usually involves a lot of stupidity and close-to-complete absence of common sense (perhaps it’s not so common afterall).

Ok, here it goes…

————-oOOo————

In one of my Probability and Statistics class, I was explaining about measures of central tendency. Right after explaining the formula for mean, median, and mode and how to use them and giving sample computations I asked the class, “Any questions?”

Then a student raised a hand and asked, “Ma’am, unsaon pag-compute sa Median?”

Toinks! Unsa man diay to ang ako gi-explain bag-o lang? Diin ka man tawn namayabas oi?

————-oOOo————

In a laboratory class, I uploaded (in the COMMON folder) a set of instructions numbered 1 to 10 for my students to follow telling them to follow the instructions step-by-step and never to skip any.

Then a student asked, “Asa mi magsugod, Ma’am?”

I don’t know, maybe at step no. 10?!

————-oOOo————-

In another software laboratory class…

I uploaded my instructions in the COMMON folder (a network directory accessible by everyone in class) and all the files my students need for their lab activity. I told them to browse over the instructions and if something is not clear they just ask me.

Then a student asked, “Ma’am, kami mubuhat ani?”

Well, I’m not sure…MOST LIKELY coz you’re in this class. Basta sure ko nga dili ako kay ako ako man ang titser!

————–oOOo————-

Sometimes COLLEGE students just make me wonder how they got here…

My sister is throwing me out of the house. Can you believe that? She actually wanted me to go out today, go to the mall or something (wherever I want daw basta out of our room). Why? Because she said she’s going to concentrate on studying her lessons for tomorrow’s prefinal exams, and apparently she can’t concentrate when I’m around. OK, so why the sudden determination to study? I’m guessing she got very low midterm grades (she didn’t show me her grades for the first time). That’s what she gets for being late all the time (despite my nagging her to get up and hurry) and for reading manga instead of lessons. She is trying to get an average of 4.5 (with no grade less than 4.0 in any one course) for this semester coz I gave her a quite nice incentive. Our agreement is that, if she gets an academic scholarship for next sem (based on her grades for this sem), I’m going to allow her to stay with me here in Cebu for the summer (she doesn’t want to go home coz she gets bored there) plus I’m going to pay for Japanese language lessons she really want to take (I think due to her being an anime and manga fan). So that’s why she’s getting serious with school work. As the one financing her tuition fees, of course I want her to get the scholarship (big savings for me) but at the same time I’m partly (teeny weeny itsy bitsy microscopic only) hoping she wouldn’t so I wouldn’t have to keep my promise to her for this summer (coz summer means famine for us faculty with so few students and so few summer load). Hahay! I guess I’m gonna have to start saving now, huh?!