My Top 5 Strengths

I went to the website to take the strengths finder test and I apparently took it already. My top 5 strengths were restorative, positivity, developer, input and achiever. I was guessing I took this test my freshman year probably for Intro to Spiritual Formation class, so I decided to take it again and I got...

1. Developer- seeing the potential in others
2. Responsibility- taking ownership for anything you commit to, follow it through completion, utterly dependable, your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.
3. Focus- clear destination is needed, a lot of goal setting, impatient with delays, obstacles anything that may wander you off to where you wanna go or do; keep everyone on point
4. Positivity- generous with praise, quick to smile, always on the lookout for the positive in the situation, lighthearted
5. Futuristic- the future fascinates you, pulls you forward into tomorrow, a dreamer, vision

It's crazy how these strengths describe me for the most part, especially developer, positivity and futuristic. I have to admit, it's exciting thinking how I'm going to integrate my strengths during teaching. As a developer, seeing the best in my students will produce confidence, motivation and hope for my students and their parents as well. Responsibility, will help me stay on task and be determined with lesson planning, due dates, meetings, conferences etc (this goes for focus as well). Positivity will always be part of who I am. This just comes naturally to me and it can brighten up my students days (or anyone in general) =D. Thinking about my future (futuristic), will continue to give me hope and motivate me to keep moving forward; not only for teaching but also for my involvement in the youth ministry in my church and the other areas of my life. 

=D

Couple of weeks ago, I was doing morning meeting with the kids. We finished going over the calendar, the weather, and counting down the number of days of school they've been in. Next thing I had to do was "morning message" which is broken down into 1) greeting sentence, 2) calendar sentence, 3) special sentence, and 4) rhyming sentence. I got up from the heart-shaped chair by the calendar, to the easel fo rthis part. However, there were different posters and books about the five senses on the easel, and it took up space. I thought to myself "There's going to be an awckward silence if I don't hurry up and set this easel up to write on the big note pad"! So I decided to ask them "Friends, who can tell me what the five senses are"? Next thing I heard were little voices singing "(*Bingo song* We use our senses everyday to help us learn and play. See, hear, smell, touch, taste( x3) we used them everyday... HOORAY"! My heart melted and I couldn't help but smile and join with them as well. I was getting the easel ready. Instead of multiple single anwers, I got a whole song sung to me! By the time they were done, so was the easel. This was definitely a teaching moment! It felt pretty good and I was glad that we all worked together as a team...atleast that's what I felt like :D.

Make Sure You Read the Book Beforehand!

Blog Entry # 2


This past Friday (Feb. 17th) my teacher was absent again. The kids, including myself wore our pajamas since it was “Rockland Reading Day/Pajama Day”. Other teachers wore their pajamas as well and since it was Friday, the day before winter recess it felt pretty good to start it off by wearing comfortable clothes =D. Anyways, I picked out a book called The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln. I skimmed through it before the kids came into the room, and it seemed like a funny book. “The kids are going to get a laugh at this” I said to myself. And since that week we were learning about presidents I figured that book was “just right”. Little did I know that skimming it wasn’t enough. The pics below is a summary of the book. Check them out and tell me what’s wrong in the book? You’ll be surprised!

Book Cover: The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln

He was teased because of his appearance.

Parents sent him to “A camp for kids who looked like things"

This is what other kids looked like.

no comment -____-

Yikes! Did you catch it? And this is a children’s book!!!!??? It didn’t hit me until I read that page out loud to the kids. When I said “Dickie” one of the girls asked “What’s his name”?! I played it off as if I didn’t notice this and said “Dickie!” Girl: “What?” Me: "His name is Dickie" (and I smiled). Later on the sub saw that one of the boys who decided to choose this book to read independently was going around the classroom showing this page to some of the students. Yeah... he knows his stuff. What was my lesson learned? Make sure you read the book first before you read it out loud and next time, make sure any inappropriate book is out of reach of children! Thank God my teacher wasn’t there! The sub, TA and I shockingly laughed it off. Good thing that one of my strengths is “Positivity”. I tried to stay as positive as I can when I read that last page. Phheewww!!

Teacher Will Be Absent?.... YES!

Blog Entry #1: 

On February 2nd my teacher was absent. Beforehand, she gave me the daily schedule and told me that even though there was going to be a substitute, she wanted me to facilitate the whole day. Me? Be in charge of the whole day? YESSS!! lol. Instead of being nervous I was actually looking forward to it! And when that day came, it felt good to be in charge of the class. Even though the kids were a little active (as usual), it went pretty smooth! One thing that stood out to me that day was how well the kids know Friday’s daily schedule. The teacher gave me a different one than the usual, so when I explained the daily schedule and transitioned from one thing to another, the kids kept saying “No, that’s not what we do next! We don’t have this..we don’t have that”. Even though I explained to them that Mrs. Teichmann gave me a schedule to follow and that we were going to follow it still, it didn’t seem to stick in their brains. It got to a point where the sub had to say something to the kids. I even told them “We are following it because I said so”. Yep! I learned the whole tough love technique from my teacher. Sometimes, its needed :D.

Show Me Your Muscles!

Couple of Fridays ago an unforgettable incident happened. My teacher was absent and the sub and I were the only ones in charge. It was “choice of centers” time and as I was walking around I heard the sub say “Oh! You’re showing your muscles”! I didn’t really paid much attention to it. It was kind of like a “you heard it and brushed it off your shoulders” moment. Five seconds later Lanie, one of the little girls said “Ms. Miranda! Gio wants to show you something”! Gio is the “cutie-pie” from the class. I turned around and all I saw was Gio standing still, looking at me with his fluffed, pink cheeks. He was blushing! I said “What do you need to show me Gio”? Two seconds later, he flexed his arms up and kissed his muscles! HOW CUTE! I couldn’t help but laugh and said “Gio you’re so silly”! What a moment...

From Fear to Peace

I can still remember the thoughts that were ramping in my mind before coming back to school this semester. Thoughts about student teaching "What if I don't get a good teacher? What if I don't do so well? What if my lessons are not that good?" were constantly on my mind yet I was unconsciously letting fear creep up in my heart. There were other things that I worried about as well such as facing change: returning to school to live in a single room without my roommate who has been with me since freshman year, no longer leading the dance team on campus, and helping my friend lead a small group. What good was done by me worrying? Absolutely nothing. My prayers, and leaving all my worries to God while placing my faith in Him, resulted in peace. Yes, peace. Was it easy? Nope! But when that day finally came to meet my cooperating teacher, a big load came off my shoulders! Mrs. Teichmann turned out to be a very nice, helpful, optimistic, "chill" person :). As the days went by, I began to settle in, got comfortable in the class, with my students and teacher. Little by little my worries began to fade. From fear to peace, God still held me by my hand and walked with me "One step at a time". And now I can say that despite of the exhaustion and tedious work, I really enjoy working with my Kindergartners! Thank you God!     

 ***Proverbs 3:5***