The One When I Tasted the Rainbow

Last Sunday, in between doing my thesis and watching my Sunday afternoon guilt trip (The Buzz), I found some time to make these in the kitchen:

Rainbow cupcakes!

I loved how the colors produced a psychedelic effect when the cupcakes were baked!

If you could only eat it right off your computer screen...

These would be great to make for a kid's birthday party! Happy crafting!

The One When Kindergarteners Made A Statement

Statement shirts, that is! To celebrate Earth Day, my kindergarten students made statement shirts on saving the Earth. Here's what some of them have come up with:

They wore these to school when the paints have dried and the shirts re-washed. Happy Earth Day...and happy crafting!

The One When I Went Korean

This is a long overdue post. The day before the EARCOS weekend, I made this Korean dish for lunch. I actually saw a Korean student of mine bring this to school once. It's actually just a simple dish of tuna and rice wrapped in seaweed. What made it so intriguing to me was how compact it was. It was a perfect lunch-on-the-go meal. If one is driving, he/she can literally hold the steering wheel with one hand and eat this meal with the other.

After class, I asked his mom how she made the dish. She gladly taught me how to make it. The next day, she sent the actual seaweed packs she used to make the dish! You could just imagine how thankful I was since I could not find these particular seaweed packs in any supermarket. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask the name of the dish and I couldn't read the Korean name on the pack. Hence, I always refer to this dish as the "Korean seaweed dish." Hehehe!

First, season some rice with salt and drizzle sesame oil. Set aside.

Next, drain the tuna and mix it with a little mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper. You can also use ground beef or pork instead. Stir fry the ground meat first.

The seaweed pack comes with a triangular frame. Place some rice in the frame. Make sure the rice is placed tightly so that when the frame is taken out, the rice holds its shape.

Top the rice with some of the tuna mixture.

Lastly, top it all off with another layer of rice.

This is the seaweed pack.

Take one of the seaweed packets and lay the triangular frame on top. Remove the frame. The rice and tuna layers should hold their shape.

The next step is to simply gather the ends of the seaweed packet and fold over the edges to form a triangle.

Seal the edges of the packet with a sticker (Yes, the sticker is included in the pack!).

If you can't find the exact seaweed packets, I guess you can always use the regular rectangular ones in the grocery. You can just layer the tuna and rice and fold the seaweed into a square or a rectangle.

I can't say enough how convenient it is as a lunch-on-the-go meal because it literally is! It's a filling meal without the hassle of lunchboxes and plastic utensils. How cool is that? :)

The One About Made by You Monday

Notice the updated sidebar? I participated in Skip to My Lou's Made by You Monday! Look for craft project number 178! :)

The One About EARCOS 2010

Last March 26-28, I attended the EARCOS Teachers' Conference at the International School Manila (ISM). The conference was attended by teachers and other educational professionals from international school in Asia. Keynote addresses were given by really good education professionals (I love Taylor Mali!) and there were lots of concurrent workshops to choose from. Prior to that weekend, I spent three afternoons agonizing over what seminars to go to because all seemed really good.

Here are photos I took of ISM:

Starbucks, anyone? :)

The crafts fair and welcome reception

I was able to attend nine workshops in three days:

1. The Teaching Share: How to Help Students Reflect on Their Work and Wrap Up a Day's Reading and Writing Workshop (Maggie Moon)

2. Emotional Rooms: How to Create Classrooms that are Uplifting for the Spirit (2 sessions by John Joseph)

3. Assessment with the Brain in Mind (John Joseph)

4. Strong Readers/Strong Writers: Making Deep Connections (Jane Kurtz)

5. The Reality of Fashion Design and TV (Aries Lagat, winner of Project Runway Philippines Season 1)

6. School-wide Behavior Management (Dawn Dinwiddie)

7. Preventing Teacher Burnout (Pascale Thomas)

8. Classroom Literacy Techniques: Phonemic Awareness and Multisensory Approaches (Amy Narayan/Julie Schneller)

I was also able to reunite with my friends and former colleagues from Cebu International School.

I used to work closely with Becca because she used to be the first grade ESL teacher when I handled first grade students at Cebu International School (CIS).

Verlyn is the Mandarin teacher at CIS.

With Ces (Grade 2), Darlene (Kindergarten 1), and Michelle (Grade 5), all missed friends from CIS

It felt great learning something new practically every hour and catching up with friends as well. All in all, it was a tiring weekend but nonetheless fun and productive. :)