A teacher is like a tree.

I did this page for some of my most favorite people in the world.  I worked with this bunch for, give or take, a couple of years.  I have a lot of love and respect for these people.  Some of us have already moved on, and of the original eight people in this pic, only half of us are left.  But even with the group we have now, it seems we are just one big happy family where we just keep adding people and nobody really leaves (at least in my heart).  The journaling is heartfelt, though probably riddled with mistakes, since I just winged it (and I haven't written anything like this in a long while).

 Journaling:  A teacher is like a tree.  It gives nourishment to flowers, fruits, & seeds, and provides them with what they need to thrive one day on their own.  And though the thought of it hurts, it knows it has to someday let go.  Its branches are extensive - because in order to teach, one must not only grow in one direction... one must branch out and grow in so many different ways.  Though what you see above ground, majestic it may be, is not all that it is - its roots are deep as well.  One must be grounded in one's values & beliefs.  It's important to remember that one teaches not only by what is said or done within the confines of the classroom, but by the way that one lives his life.  A tree continues to grow - the process of learning is a lifelong endeavor... it never stops.  A tree is strong and tough - able to withstand whatever challenges the world around it may throw from time to time.  It gives of itself with the purpose of allowing others to grow.

This layout is based on the sketch for challenge #4 on the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  This is my second entry.

Materials:  Cardstock (Mint Fancy Papers), patterned paper (All About Scrapbooking), die-cut cardstock (K & Company), stamps (Martha Stewart Crafts), ink pad (Fiskars), black brown pen (Dong-A), letter stickers, metallic glitter pen, & trim (All About Scrapbooking), Glossy Accents, others - heart punch and lace.

Summer of oh-six

I started this scrapbook a long long time... dunno... maybe two or three years ago. It still isn't finished :( Actually, when I got started, it was two or three days of working on it non-stop. It was mostly a chronological accounting of events in the Field Biology elective we (Nino, Lhen and I) taught in the summer of 2006. And when I got to the very end of the class, I still had a bunch of pictures I wanted to include. Like maybe a page about the students, the stuff we did outside the class, a class calendar/schedule, funny pages (like outtakes). But I just lost my momentum and I let the album sit untouched for a very long time. Then, I think it might have been some time last year, I took to making a couple more pages, which are the pictures I have on here. I sure would like to finish this project soon and have it stay in school where prospective students would like to see what goes on in the class. And the teachers could laugh about all the fun and silly things that happened that summer.

More school stuff

BEFORE

AFTER

The sign outside our faculty room looked a little worse for wear. It was a bit dusty and dilapidated, and was actually already covered up. So I used my Slice cutter for the letters (I <3 -="-" a="a" after="after" ago.="ago." all="all" amazon="amazon" an="an" and="and" base="base" be="be" biology="biology" black="black" br="br" cardstock="cardstock" coordinated="coordinated" course="course" cut="cut" elective="elective" from="from" green="green" had="had" i="i" in="in" is="is" it="it" last="last" left="left" letters="letters" life="life" my="my" nbsp="nbsp" of="of" on="on" over="over" papers="papers" part="part" patterned="patterned" purchased="purchased" school="school" set="set" slice="slice" stash.="stash." study="study" taught="taught" the="the" to="to" were="were" which="which" while="while" year.="year.">

PS. Sorry for the cluttered desk. Had just finished making the sign when I took the pic.

School start up blues

Once the school year started, it was tough finding the time for this blog. It's been about two months and almost a week since the last post. Everything else takes a backseat to work, it seems. Although I did take some time to meet with a couple of friends whom I haven't seen in a long, long time. Ernest who just recently got engaged, since maybe two years ago, and Lani (my high school roommate) since nearly twenty years ago! It's been fun catching up and I'd like to think that I will go out of my way to meet up with friends despite the busy work sched. So back to work again. Here are some back to school stuff that I embellished (1) the front cover for the information cards I made for each class that I handle, and (2) my record book for this school year. I started doing these kinds of things a couple of years ago. It helps me de-stress. :)