When freedom is given, it is vulnerable to abuse… This is what I have learned today from my advisory class. I blame myself for being so nice to them that they forgot how to become students in my class. Probably they were thinking that I am simply their friend that’s why they answer back as if they are talking to their pal and that they can refuse from doing class activities because they just don’t feel like performing it.

I hated it because I was not able to control my emotions. I cried in front of my students because I was very mad… In fact, they already have reached the limits of my patience.

Now, I dread entering their class because I am reminded of my failure to impose discipline in the class… because I was not successful in managing the classroom… because I felt I was not fit for this profession…

I would like to share this music video from Fall Out Boy depicting the life of those people in war-torn places. Too bad children are among the defenseless victims of this kind of hostility.

I am not an African to know what it takes to be in such a situation because right now here in Mindanao, Philippines, a lot of kids suffer from the same conflict. Please let us stop this violence. Let's live in peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ovEALzER14

It is a need of a person to be accepted… to be loved. And being recognized as a person existing in someone else's life space is indeed a source of great joy.

I just went out from one of my science classes (which also happened to be my advisory class) and I can say that I was really glad after my encounter with my children. I'm happy because for the first time I felt that they love me as their teacher.

When I first entered my advisory class, the section St. Teresa, I couldn't help but compare them from my previous year's advisory class, which coincidentally named as section St. Therese (They are two different saints but almost have the same name.). Why? Because I was very close to the 1-BOINKS (as I call the St. Therese people) and they are to me. I used to think then that nobody would ever be closer to me than them. 1-Boink is my first ever advisory class. Therefore, they are special. They are completely different from my St. Teresa now.

Indeed, my class now is different… and special in their own way. At first they seemed to be so distant… but not until today… And I am growing in love with them (like how I was and is still now with my 1-Boinks).

One of my students now just asked me if I'm still going to teach in my present school after this school year. When I answered, "I still have to think about it," his classmates replied unanimously that I should. I told them that it depends if they behave well this school year. However, they answered I should stay because they won't allow me to go… and hearing this made my heart leap in joy. I never really imagined that as early as this, they are already that attached to me.

Then I remembered my previous students (the boinks) because before I left their school last school year, they were telling me that I should stay and teach in their school so that I could still become their teacher in their physics class. They begged that I stay for three more years for them. They wanted me to be there until they graduate in high school. I was then thinking of staying for them but I have to leave the school for some reasons… I then thought it's a decision that I'd regret… Fortunately, it's not. Because I found new reason to be happy… I found a new family with my Teresas.

One problem that I have now is how to be patient with my students who has nothing to do with the class but chat with seatmates, roam around and transfer sits and do all the things that could disrupt the teaching-learning process. I really don't know if the problem is with me or it is with some of these students...

Well, I have one student who has ADHD-autism... and I understand if he is inattentive in class... But with the others, being nice to them isn't the way. Scolding them wouldn't also work... I am really having a headache with them... What approach should I use? Is becoming strict the mechanism that I have to utilize?

Gosh, they are driving me crazy! I am enjoying their class... It's just that i want it to become a little quiet...

source: www.ahajokes.com

Activation Energy: The useful quantity of energy available in one cup of coffee.

Atomic Theory: A mythological explanation of the nature of matter, first proposed by the ancient Greeks, and now thoroughly discredited by modern computer simulation. Attempts to verify the theory by modern computer simulation have failed. Instead, it has been demonstrated repeatedly that computer outputs depend upon the color of the programmer's eyes, or occasionally upon the month of his or her birth. This apparent astrological connection, at last, vindicates the alchemist's view of astrology as the mother of all science.

Bacon, Roger: An English friar who dabbled in science and made experimentation fashionable. Bacon was the first science popularizer to make it big on the banquet and talk-show circuit, and his books even outsold the fad diets of the period.

Biological Science: A contradiction in terms.

Bunsen Burner: A device invented by Robert Bunsen (1811-1899) for brewing coffee in the laboratory, thereby enabling the chemist to be poisoned without having to go all the way to the company cafeteria.

Butyl: An unpleasant-sounding word denoting an unpleasant-smelling alcohol.

CAI: Acronym for "Computer-Aided Instruction". The modern system of training professional scientists without ever exposing them to the hazards and expense of laboratory work. Graduates of CAI-based programs are very good at simulated research.

Cavendish: A variety of pipe tobacco that is reputed to produce remarkably clear thought processes, and thereby leads to major scientific discoveries; hence, the name of a British research laboratory where the tobacco is smoked in abundance.

Chemical: A substance that:
1. An organic chemist turns into a foul odor;
2. an analytical chemist turns into a procedure;
3. a physical chemist turns into a straight line;
4. a biochemist turns into a helix;
5. a chemical engineer turns into a profit.

Chemical Engineering: The practice of doing for a profit what an organic chemist only does for fun.

Chromatography: (From Gr. chromo [color] + graphos [writing]) The practice of submitting manuscripts for publication with the original figures drawn in non-reproducing blue ink.

Clinical Testing: The use of humans as guinea pigs. (See also PHARMACOLOGY and TOXICOLOGY)

Compound: To make worse, as in: 1) A fracture; 2) the mutual adulteration of two or more elements.

Computer Resources: The major item of any budget, allowing for the acquisition of any capital equipment that is obsolete before the purchase request is released.

Eigen Function: The use to which an eigen is put.

En: The universal bidentate ligand used by coordination chemists. For years, efforts were made to use ethylene-diamine for this purpose, but chemists were unable to squeeze all the letters between the corners of the octahedron diagram. The timely invention of en in 1947 revolutionized the science.

Evaporation Allowance: The volume of alcohol that the graduate students can drink in a year's time.

Exhaustive Methylation: A marathon event in which the participants methylate until they drop from exhaustion.

First Order Reaction: The reaction that occurs first, not always the one desired. For example, the formation of brown gunk in an organic prep.

Flame Test: Trial by fire. Genetic Engineering: A recent attempt to formalize what engineers have been doing informally all along.

Grignard: A fictitious class of compounds often found on organic exams and never in real life.

Inorganic Chemistry: That which is left over after the organic, analytical, and physical chemists get through picking over the periodic table.

Mercury: (From L. Mercurius, the swift messenger of the gods) Element No. 80, so named because of the speed of which one of its compounds (calomel, Hg2Cl2) goes through the human digestive tract. The element is perhaps misnamed, because the gods probably would not be pleased by the physiological message so delivered.

Monomer: One mer. (Compare POLYMER).

Natural Product: A substance that earns organic chemists fame and glory when they manage to systhesize it with great difficulty, while Nature gets no credit for making it with great ease.

Organic Chemistry: The practice of transmuting vile substances into publications.

Partition Function: The function of a partition is to protect the lab supervisor from shrapnel produced in laboratory explosions.

Pass/Fail: An attempt by professional educators to replace the traditional academic grading system with a binary one that can be handled by a large digital computer.

Pharmacology: The use of rabbits and dogs as guinea pigs. (See also CLINICAL TESTING, TOXICOLOGY).

Physical Chemistry: The pitiful attempt to apply y=mx+b to everything in the universe.

Pilot Plant: A modest facility used for confirming design errors before they are built into a costly, full-scale production facility.

Polymer: Many mers. (Compare MONOMERS).

Prelims: (From L. pre [before] + limbo [oblivion]) An obligatory ritual practiced by graduate students just before the granting of a Ph.D. (if the gods are appeased) or an M.S. (if they aren't).

Publish or Perish: The imposed, involuntary choice between fame and oblivion, neither of which is handled gracefully by most faculty members.

Purple Passion: A deadly libation prepared by mixing equal volumes of grape juice and lab alcohol.

Quantum Mechanics: A crew kept on the payroll to repair quantums, which decay frequently to the ground state.

Rate Equations: (Verb phrase) To give a grade or a ranking to a formula based on its utility and applicability. H=E, for example, applies to everything everywhere, and therefore rates an A. pV=nRT, on the other hand, is good only for nonexistent gases and thus receives only a D+, but this grade can be changed to a B- if enough empirical virial coefficients are added.

Research: (Irregular noun) That which I do for the benefit of humanity, you do for the money, he does to hog all the glory.

Sagan: The international unit of humility.

Scientific Method: The widely held philosophy that a theory can never be proved, only disproved, and that all attempts to explain anything are therefore futile.

SI: Acronym for "Systeme Infernelle".

Spectrophotometry: A long word used mainly to intimidate freshman nonmajors.

Spectroscope: A disgusting-looking instrument used by medical specialists to probe and examine the spectrum.

Toxicology: The wholesale slaughter of white rats bred especially for that purpose. (See also CLINICAL TESTING, PHARMACOLOGY).

X-Ray Diffraction: An occupational disorder common among physicians, caused by reading X-ray pictures in darkened rooms for prolonged periods. The condition is readily cured by a greater reliance on blood chemistries; the lab results are just as inconclusive as the X-rays, but are easier to read.

Ytterbium: A rare and inconsequential element, named after the village of Ytterby, Sweden (not to be confused with Iturbi, the late pianist and film personality, who was actually Spanish, not Swedish). Ytterbium is used mainly to fill block 70 in the periodic table. Iturbi was used mainly to play Jane Powell's father.

i like this poem...

LIFE IN A FISH BOWL

I still couldn't believe I'm already in my final year in college. Today's my first day as a senior student. It was like yesterday when I first entered NDMU. I was so new to the institution then. I was so afraid that I may not be able to cope up with the college life. But here I am now after seven semesters (that includes six regular semesters and one summer classes) of being enrolled in this institution, still surviving. I just wish I can still make it this year.

Still, I have the same fears as a student. Will I survive in my observation and student teaching subjects? Will I be able to pass our peer teaching? Will I survive with my "quite stiff" schedule? Can I live up with the things that are expected of me as a senior education student?

What I have now is a prayer. I just hope I can make it with His guidance and help.

My summer vacation will end soon. Next week, the classes for the first semester of my fourth year in college will start already. Though I find my break too short, I could say that this is one of the best summer vacations I have had. If you'd ask me why, I'd say it's because of the people that I've met these past few months with the travels I had. I guess the gift of friendship is the best thing that I got this summer. I really am blessed to have met friends from my trip to Cebu City (for Pathways Youth Conference and Democracy Summer Fest) and Maguindano (for ELSA Young Leaders Camp). Also, I'm glad I have come across some people who have become my pals and have a chance of getting to know more about some acquaintances through my side trips in Davao City, Sarangani and GenSan City.

Overjoyed with what I have gained this summer, I tried to look for a poem about friendship that could inspire me. Surprisingly, I found a poem which I can relate to and  I believe perfectly describes me and what I used to feel before I've found some of my friends this vacation.

The Dummy

by Michael Mack

In that forgotten part of town
Where wasted hopes and dreams abound,
A wrinkled man with life near end,
In hopes to have at least one friend,
Fashioned bits of wood and things
And made a dummy run by strings.

He sat alone for hours on end,
Conversing with his only friend
And found delight within the fact
That he controlled it's every act.
He told it how he never had
A chance, since all his luck was bad
Although he'd tried so to succeed -
The dummy nodded and agreed.

And how his journeys in romance
Had never given him a chance,
And wasn't it a crying shame
That he was always held to blame
When everyone knew, oh so well,
That life is but a living Hell,
Controlled by lust and power and greed?
The dummy nodded and agreed.

With patience that would rival saints,
That dummy sat through all complaints
And, with each little expert tug,
He'd droop his head or bow or shrug
And give some comfort to the man
Who held his lifelines in his hand
And helped to fill a lonely need
When he just nodded and agreed.

Senility increased with time
As did the old man's phantomime,
And feverish fingers pulled with glee
The dummy's dance of misery.
They never left each other's side
Until the day both stopped and died.
We found them lying, hand in hand,
The dummy - and his wooden friend.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

- Mark Twain-

Since I want become really happy today and forget the not-so-good things that happened to me earlier I will try to laugh and make other people laugh with me... I hope you will enjoy this… and maybe relate with it... I got this from Funny.com.

Men are from Mars, Women from Venus RECEIVED FROM AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR:

You know the book Men are from Mars, Women from Venus? Well, here's a prime example of that. This assignment was actually turned in by two of my English students: Rebecca (last name deleted) and Gary (last name deleted).

English 44A

SMU

Creative Writing

Prof. Miller

In class Assignment for Wednesday:

Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached. And now, the Assignment as submitted by

Rebecca & Gary:

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far...". But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for physically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel", Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?", she pondered wistfully.

Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu-udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu-udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.

Asshole.

Bitch.