Joy that Christmas brings...

Christmas always brings something special to me. Its as if the world pauses for a moment to reflect on the year that just passed, whether its been good or not so good. But one of my favorite things is when special things happen that would not happen other times- families and friends come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. To some it might be the only time they'll ever go to church or think of doing a good deed for someone in need. To others it might be the only day that people set aside their differences and just enjoy the wonderful moment this season brings. Though it may seem strange that these things only happen on Christmas (wherein it should have been happening all the time), for me, at least it happens.

In this season, my heart and my prayers go out to families...Families who have experienced tragedy in the past year, whether a lost of a loved one, a job, their home or anything else they hold dear; families who are broken, who are in despair because of an emotional disconnect within their relationships, especially to the children that suffer from their parents separation; families who have everything in the physical but lack in their love for one another, and also for families who choose to love one another in spite of the hardships and misunderstandings. I pray that God's agape love may truly abound in this season and the rest of the year to come...because only God's love never fails... :)

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a Blessed New Year to you and your family!!!

My light bulb moment!

Usually finals week is a crazy time in a college student's life. But for us grad students, its a bit different....its more difficult! Luckily though my classes took our finals earlier than the usual schedule. I'm really glad about that...gives me more time to relax before next semester. But in preparing for one of the finals I had for my classes, I discovered something amazing...I found a new way that's effective for me to remember important points on an essay or just to see how things connect! Usually I just do the old outline since that's what we're usually taught in school, right? But for this one, I found that flowcharts or graphic organizers are much better in organizing ideas. I'm a visual learner. I need to see things as a whole to make sense of something. I'm also a kinesthetic learner. I need to do it myself so I can learn it. The act of drawing arrows, shapes and connecting lines and using colors gives a better handle on the topic at hand. Plus, its easier for me to remember things because my memory remembers things like a picture instead of just words. I have to almost picture the page in my head to remember what I have studied earlier. I wish I discovered this technique earlier, but I'm glad I didn't discover it the semester I'm finishing the credential program. So hopefully, next time, when I do my essays and other papers, I'll know what I need to get it done...a big sheet of paper, a pencil, an eraser and some colors/highlighters.

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Thanksgiving weekend was awesome! It just came at the right time after I finished writing my papers. My professors were so nice to have us stress about them before the long weekend. I was glad for them to be turned in.

This thanksgiving, it was great to have a break from all the daily school stuff that needs to be done and the house chores that need to be taken cared of...etc. This time around, my family went to my cousin's house for 3 days! We had a blast! Sometimes when we have these family get togethers, it always feels like its not enough time. So we decided to do a sleepover. Of course we had the food too! (Food is the main thing!) But it was a Filipino style of thanksgiving. Our turkey was a gift from a family friend but it was a whole one it was just pieces to the whole thing, but that was good because our main thing was the ham! It was fabulous! My cousin's wife made it with her own special recipe sauce. I had to take some home to go.

Besides the food, we played video games, like Guitar Hero and this web cam thing where you see yourself in the screen and you become a part of the game. My son loved it! But we all look really silly when you just see us plainly as it is:) We watched movies like Spiderwick Chronicles and Mummy 3. Everything went great except the last day. My son, myself and my sister got really sick. Throwing up all day and couldn't really eat well. But thank God we were all better on Sunday.

This thanksgiving was really all about the family. The times we spend with each other is priceless. Those moments are always worth remembering.

just be thankful.

Now that this semester is almost over, what's next? Beside registering for next semester's classes, the holidays! I just can't wait! I love family gatherings and all the fun and food we get to share. The best part about this holiday season is I have most of the hard work done before thanksgiving! yey!!!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for so many things. First, I thank God for my wonderful family. My husband, Steve, is so supportive in all that I'm doing in school. Of course, our situation is not ideal (sometimes he forgets that I have deadlines for school, a little reminder always helps keep the ball rolling) but I'm just blessed that he has released me to go to school, which of course, takes an extra toll on him because he has to do more things when he's at home. I'm blessed that he has such a servant's heart in just being willing to help, even if it means telling me to go to bed (because I tend to force myself to stay awake even if I'm exhausted just so that I can finish my work...especially school work!) I am also thankful for my little Big Man, Jeremiah aka Jet. He is a joy to my heart. During my times in writing my papers, he would just come to me and wanna hug and kiss me and play a little bit. Honestly, it takes a good chunk of my time when he does, but I go play with him and love on him because it actually gives me a break, relieves my stress and makes him know that he is loved and important to me (more than any homework). I thank God for my parents, they have been really helping me out extra when I have to do school stuff and my husband is at work. Like today, my dad just took out my little boy. They're hanging out at the different stores and just having a great time. The other day, they went out for a walk and stayed a little bit longer at the park nearby, that was just great for both of them :) My mom is so sweet because she asks me if there's any special dish I want her to prepare for me. I love it when she cooks all that Filipino food...yummy! Thanks mom! Lastly, I thank God for Him! Without God I wouldn't know where I would be today. Only by his grace and strength can I do all the crazy things I'm doing. Today, I just had to focus on the fact that God called me to go to Vanguard for the Credential Program and to be a teacher. So, if he did that, he will also provide the wisdom, the resources and the strength to do it (Philippians 2:13). Thank you Lord! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I'm actually learning something!

Finally, I could breathe.....haaaaa....This past week was super hectic. I have been the paper-making machine! yeah! This week wrote 2 papers for 2 classes. Again, I had to deal with my issue on taking care of my son while writing the papers...its doable but its very challenging. What did I learn from all this hectic paper-writing: better time management. But seriously, I feel that I've done my best...so I think I'll be ok. All I wanna do is relax.

All in all, this paper writing process was very helpful to me as a future teacher. It really taught me to know what is important in teaching, especially in California where a good chunk of the students are ELL students (English Language Learner). I learned so many thing in writing these papers. I learned that teachers need to consider the background cultural norms of the student because that cultural influence does a lot when it comes to language acquisition. Lucky for the student if he/she speaks both languages because he/she would have 2 ways to go about solving a problem or trying to explain something. Also, I learned that when teaching a language, the basic skills of communication must be taught in an integrated way, not the traditional separated method. This means that reading, writing, speaking and listening all go together when learning a language, because the end goal is not perfect grammar, its effective communication. (I'm giving you a gist of what I wrote on my paper...LOL) Lastly, its important for teachers to be involved in some form of group wherein you help each other in your teaching methods, observe each other's implementation of those plans and give constructive feedback on how to refine your teaching skills. I hope when its my turn to be a teacher, I will be able to implement all that I've learned, of course at the proper time.

GOING FOR THE CHALLENGE

Ok....a little breather would be nice...This week means double time. Two papers due on the same day! I'm excited for Thanksgiving.

The past week, I decided to take one the challenge of getting two credentials!!! One in Multiple Subject (which was part of my original plan) and one in Single Subject, emphasis on Math (the new decision)...crazy, i know. I was informed that I only had one extra class to take (which is a total of one weekend...just ONE WEEKEND in ONE SEMESTER! Thats amazing! (the only thing is I need to take another CSET exam for Math...a whoppin' total of 3 subtests). I really decided to go for the challenge because it would open up a wider access on jobs. Plus, I can make the most of having had higher level math classes in high school, which I was teased for by my friends (up to this day). To make the long story short, I basically didn't go with them to New York because I decided to go to "Math Camp"...it was worth it, I got a 4 on my AP Calculus. So to make a first move on this new decision, I actually had a lovely chat with Kimberly in her office (she's our credential analyst in the Grad. Ed. Dept.). I just updated her of my decision to also go through with the Single Subject Credential as well. She further confirmed that i would have to only take the one class and CSET. I left her office feeling so excited that I made the right decision. It would have been such a bummer if I didn't know that I could've done just a little more work to do get a second credential and didn't do it :( but now I am!! Also, I actually went online today to check on CSET test dates. I'm hoping to do all the CSET exams in the Summer (which by that time I will have just given birth to my second child! I am totally out of mind...) I also checked out and emailed UCI's Free CSET Test Preparation Course for CSET Subtest Math I, II & III. Hopefully, I'll get a response from them.

So even if I'm super busy already...I know somehow at the end this program, it will all be worth it, not just for me personally, but especially for my future students.

Cyberspace and Compliments

This week is a super hectic one! For our "Teaching in Multi-Cultural Setting" (EDUC315) class we actually didn't meet on campus, instead, we had a live chat. The class was divided into 3 groups and we each had our chat rooms to log on using moodle.vanguard.edu. We discussed the chapter we just read for the week. It was very insightful to read some of the comments the members in group wrote out. We had 2 people in our group that were already teachers so we had a lot of questions for them on how they develop themselves professionally. Some of the comments were really funny though...just random thoughts going into cyberspace. After the chat, the next day we received an email from our professor saying that it was actually graded! I got pretty nervous for a second because he said that our grades were based on how much we put in to the online conversations and the quality of those entries. I had to check my grade right away...and what a relief!!! I got a 100% on that assignment!!! Praise God! So overall, I really liked that activity because I actually was at my cousin's house during that time and immediately after my chat we had dinner and celebrated my nephew's birthday :) good times.

In addition to all the craziness, I had to prepare for my LCL weekend class (Language, Culture & Linguistics). I usually get really frantic in getting ready because the reading required for the class is overwhelming for me. At some point, the class got an email from our professor and she mentioned the class would continue to meet a week later than scheduled! I'm not gonna lie...but I got excited! That gives me another week to work on stuff for the class. But I just needed to make sure, so I emailed her to confirm. Then, she emailed me back and I realized I was wrong and kind of sad that we're gonna have our class on the regular schedule. (But the great thing was that she pushed back our due date for the paper...yey!) So in this emailing back and forth with my professor, she actually emailed me a compliment! She mentioned how she enjoys reading the essays I write (talk about adding more pressure on myself!). I told her it was just a miracle from God. But then she responds by saying that I have many strengths and I explained to her my situation at home with my little almost-two year old and other family and church responsibilities. I was surprised to have her email me back again (knowing that she's a real busy person and for her to take the time to email me was a pretty big deal). She says that she totally understands my situation because she went through it herself (having children while going to graduate school). I was truly blessed for the many encouraging words she said in that email. I was very teary-eyed about it.

Overall, though this week is super-stressful...I'm just glad to have family and friends and school support to just keep going.

Hello, my name is...

Hi Everyone! I'm Ligaya Wills. A little bit of background about me: I'm so blessed to be the wife of a wonderful husband (Steve) and the mom of an adorably clever almost-2-year old boy (Jeremiah aka Jet). We are expecting to have our second child next summer! So between now and then, I have the credential program to keep me productive (notice I didn't use the word "busy" because in this way, I am purposefuly doing things rather than just finding things to fill my schedule, which is a very easy thing to do).

Moving along into my education career, I prayerfully chose Vanguard University--not just because its where I got my B.A. in Communications but--for many reasons. I had a friend that went through the program and she said that she got a lot out of it. It really prepared her to be an effective teacher. Financially, the program was the most reasonable because after getting credentials I can easily return for a few more classes to get my M.A. in Education. That was very appealing to me. Also, I knew that the Vanguard professors and staff were committed to support me and to see me fulfill the call that God has placed in my heart in reaching the next generation; going through the classes confirmed my expectations of what this experience was going to be. Not only do the professors equip us with the right knowledge, tools and connections, but most importantly they impart to us a heart to serve, to nurture and to mentor our students and their families.

I'm very thankful for God opening this door for my preparation into being a teacher. Because this step is a career change for me, I tend to be a little nervous on how prepared I'm going to be when I face my first day in class in 1 year and a half. But I know that after going through Vanguard's credential program, I will be equipped and enthused to teach my first lesson and the lessons after that.