Last November 16, 2008 (wow that’s two month’s ago!), we went to Tagaytay (just the Specialists) so that we can simply relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Our first stop was at Jing’s house for breakfast.  We coerced Jing and her family to make some yummy breakfast for us. We had rice (of course), scrambled eggs, hot dogs, spam, and fish.  If any of you want some free conversational English lessons, you can invite us to have a meal with you as well.  Hehe.

Before we headed to our destinations, we took some time to pose in front of Jing’s relative’s house.  It was a perfect day because the clouds above kept the weather cool, but soon disappeared as the day progressed.  Where am I?  I’m taking the pictures!

Our first destination was at a coffee shop called Bag of Beans and had our lunch there.  We met a talking parrot there.  If you like a forest blending into the city ambiance, this is the place to go.  It’s small and modest place, but the food is good.

Then we headed to People’s Palace in the Sky, an abandoned building set atop the highest point in Tagaytay.  It’s a beautiful location with lots of potential, but since the Marcos regime has been toppled, no one has taken good care of it.  What a shame!  The location is so perfect.

We were surrounded by fog.

We ended up at the beautiful Sonia’s Garden; Carmen knows Sonia, and we had an opportunity to meet the owner and visionary of the garden and two of her eager dogs.  Whenever I heard Tagaytay before, someone always made a reference to Sonia’s Garden.  She was a very pleasant woman.

We strolled, took pictures, shared stories, and ate some delicious cookies freshly baked in one of their establishments.  Yummy!  Our trip was a mellow one, and it was a great day to relax with the AIEP Specialists.

I love the Internet! It has everything you need and want. If you opted to work at home, as long as you have a personal computer and an Internet connection, you don’t even need to leave the house. For that matter, you don’t even need to take a shower, haha!

I can’t imagine how I would live my life without the Internet, just like I can’t survive without my cellphone. How could we work or even communicate with people?

I just wish that the speed was faster here in the office. I like going to the Korean Internet Cafe, 168, because their connection is super duper fast! I love it! I can open ten windows at a time without anything slowing down.

I wish I still had my old laptop from before so I could search for a Wifi signal wherever I am. Now I’m thinking if I will buy a new one in the future…hmmmm….

The Internet is the second greatest invention in the world, next to the PC, which of course, without the latter, the former would not exist.

Halloween Party 2008

It’s that time of the year again folks when you need to go to the supermarket to buy assorted confectionaries, to give to those children who will knock on your door or window or ring your door bell and say, “Trick or Treat!”

Don’t you just find these children adorable, dressed in different costumes, from ghosts and goblins to superheroes? On October 31, you will see them running around in a frenzy, excited to get their free sugar rush, holding either a plastic bag or the typical orange Jack-o-Lantern.

Halloween is one of my favorite American holidays. It’s autumn in New York at this time; leaves are scattered all over the ground in assorted shades of yellow, orange, and green. The wind blows these leaves in the air, creating a beautiful scene in the suburbs. I love the sound leaves make when you step on a crisp one.

Oh, I forgot I’m in Manila. To console my homesick heart, I remind myself that our country was and is still influenced by American culture, and so, we continue to celebrate Halloween, year after year, and this year is no exception.

This year, I will be joining the Halloween party of *American Institute for English Proficiency (AIEP) where I have been working as an English Specialist for a little over a year now. In essence, I get paid talking and spending time with students and I have fun doing this at the same time. We don’t only teach English grammar and writing, like most English schools, but we also help our students to speak with fluency, to hold their head up high with confidence, and most importantly, to think for themselves.

I’m really looking forward to this party next week! I already have a costume. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go to last year’s party because I was out of town with my family. I know everyone who will be at the party will have a great time getting to know each other. We will eat, drink, talk, laugh, sing and dance the night away! In AIEP, we don’t only value education; we believe developing strong relationships is key in order to improve communication skills. Our students come from different educational, professional, and racial backgrounds, but our common ground is we all speak in English.

*American Institute for English Proficiency (AIEP) is located at 6772 Ayala Avenue, Suite 610

Makati City, Philippines 1226. Our offices is in The Manila Bank Center, Corner Paseo de Roxas Please.

Visit our interactive website at www.aiepro.org or Email: info@aiepro.org

You may also contact us via:

Phone: +63 (2) 893-1566

Mobile: +63 (0917) 850-3456

Telefax: +63 (2) 893-1566

US Phone: +1 (702) 987-3141

Have you ever experienced being a teacher’s pet? What is a teacher’s pet? A teacher’s pet is a teacher’s favorite student.

When I was younger, I always thought that it was unfair when teachers and students became close to each other. Maybe I was jealous or maybe I thought that these students got higher grades or better treatment than the other students, but I felt that it just wasn’t right.

Well… that was then…and now I finally understand why, now that I’m an educator myself.

It’s hard not to become close to some students after spending time getting to know each other.

I love teaching and some students have become very special to me. One of them is the older sister I’ve never had. Her name is Kaye. She was one of my one on one students and I really miss her. She’s very busy being a businesswoman and a mother and she travels a lot outside the country. We haven’t seen each other for a few months now, but we do try to keep in touch. We even went to Seoul together last March and that trip was so fun and amazing!

We met with another one on one student of mine, Moo and his friends, who live in Seoul.I miss them both but regardless of distance and time, both of them will always be special to me.

Today is September 5, 2008, and it’s a Friday. It was raining earlier but now it stopped. Regardless of the strange and uncomfortable weather lately, today is a beautiful day. Maybe for you, today is just an ordinary day, but for me, today is a very special day.

It’s my first year anniversary here at AIEP. Wow…time flies when you’re having fun… I can’t believe I’ve been here for one year already; I feel as if it was only yesterday that I started working here.

I was doing the same thing last year what I’m doing exactly right now…writing. I started out as a writer first before I became a teacher. Actually, everyone was writing, not only me. We had many writing projects at that time. Chris trained and mentored me first for three months before I started teaching students. I also observed Migs and Neysa…how they taught C Cubed, Grammar and Writing class and One on One tutorials. It was tough and I thought I couldn’t do it…teaching three kinds of classes, but somehow, I was able to do it, thanks to all of you guys You stretched and stretched and stretched me until I felt pain and it was uncomfortable, but after some time, I just got used to it, and I became more flexible than I’ve ever been before.

It’s been quite a journey so far…I’ve taught 44 students for one on one tutorials…(yes, I have an attendance list so I’ve kept count) For me, this is the hardest kind of class to teach. As a specialist, you have to assess the needs and wants of each student; you cannot teach each student the same way. The youngest student I had is 11 years old and the oldest is in her 60’s (she does not want me to divulge her actual age, haha…but I do know how old she is :p) The nationalities also abound: Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Italian, Spanish, German, Persian, etc.

Whoever said teaching is easy? Teaching in itself is a challenging endeavor. What more teaching English to students of different nationalities, cultures, and personalities? Believe me, it’s difficult but you learn from your mistakes, more so actually than from your accomplishments. I’m not a perfect teacher, but I know I did the best of what I knew at the time I was teaching.

Even though teaching one on one is the most difficult class to teach, it’s actually the most rewarding. I’ve become very close to most of my one on one students: we hang-out together, spend time together, eat, drink, party and laugh together. I’ve even experienced traveling outside the Philippines with two of my one on one students and they are both very dear to my heart…I miss them so much. We became really good friends…

Grammar and Writing class is the second hardest class to teach, because I don’t really consider myself as a grammarian. Not only that, it’s also time consuming- before, during, and after the class. You have to prepare lesson plans and check grammar tests and written assignments. The best thing to hear though is when even just one student will come up to me and say, “Thank you Mia. I’ve learned so much from you.” Then it’s all worth it

Finally, C Cubed class. This is the easiest to teach among the three but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to teach it in general. This class also changed me as a person. It helped me improve in the three C’s: Critical Thinking, Conversation Fluency, and Confidence Building. I see the world now in a different way. I analyze everything and everyone, sometimes, a little too much, haha. I’m still doing the modules in my head even when I’m not at work: What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?…My life is like a rollercoaster…going up and down, right and left, exciting and scary at the same time….Should I do it or not? Etc…

No matter what class I teach, one thing will always remain the same: I am constantly growing and improving as a teacher and as a person Let’s see where else the journey of an English Specialist takes me

To be continued…..