Unscheduled post number 2

Just my luck, a sick day is also a DepEd-cancelled class day.

Teacher Perk number 14: DepEd cancels classes when the weather is bad...

Of course, most of us use the day to either do errands or catch up.  Even if we wanted to sleep all day, when an idea for class hits you, you don't rest until you've written it out (or typed it up).  The class even plays itself out inside your head!


Rainy Day Things you can do by yourself (me-time for teacher) or with your kids.

• I was up very early today, and at this time I had already sent out all the rainy day online, off-campus work. Stumbled upon a site called 750 Words, which encourages you to write 750 words a day. It's very similar to Julia Cameron's Morning Pages in The Artists' Way, and if I'm not mistaken, that's what inspired it.  It's daunting, at first.  It gets easier after a few minutes, once you get into mind-dump mode.  It actually counts words. This is also the first site I've seen that includes statistics: like state of mind while writing, frequently used words, it even reminds me that I type, on the average, 21 words per minute. 
• Make something out of clay.  Make clay out of flour, water, salt.  A little oil makes it more malleable.  Flatten with a rolling pin (or wine bottle if that's what you have) before toasting in the oven.  Otherwise, it'll bubble up.  Paint; then coat with fixative or clear nail polish to make it nice and glossy.
• De-clutter.  Then give away stuff: Toys to friends or the Loyola Heights Toy Library.  Upcycle old clothes or turn them into Chinese jack stones (since you can't find those anymore).
• Clear out book shelf of books-you've-read-but-are-unattached-to.  Then swap with friends. 
• Bake. I try to. I fail, but I try. 
• Upcycle magazines.  I have these magazines that have the kind of art I like, and the paper (thickness, texture, matte-ness) is great.  After I read the useful and informative articles, I take a metal ruler and line it up against the spine, and use a cutter (regular box cutter with an adjustable blade to cut the spine out.  Just keep the cutter blade lat against the ruler, and cut in light long strokes, over and over, until the blade runs smoothly against the ruler and the friction is gone.
• I fold the magazine into envelopes, or make scratch paper sketch pads with the some of the pages.  Luckily, this magazine uses a light-colored font.  I draw right on the page even when there is type on them.
• You can make your gift bags out of them, too.
• Read and Roll! 
• Read a story, then roll one with your kids. You start, then they add.  At school our rolling story circle only has 1 rule: Nobody dies before 2 rounds are completed.
• If you have a Filipino-language challenged learner, the rolling story (in Filipino, or any other language they're learning) makes for a good review tool.  It encourages the child to think in the particular language.  You can translate as you go along, too.  When we did this in the first week of school, the kids asked to do a second story!