the product of what i learned

From the time I started web designing to now, I’d say, I have come a long way. Of course, it’s still a longer way to go before I can say that I am already a pro when it comes to web designing, but I am glad of my progress. Considering the fact that I have no formal education on this field I should be really happy with what I can do now. I taught myself how to design a web. I had computer subjects back in college but none of them were about CSS, PHP, javascript, flash, typography, and other stuff that are essential to a web design.

I love learning new stuff and I love it more to see the product of what I learned. That is why I redesigned this blog to see a product that learning and to sort of give myself a tap on the shoulder for successfully teaching myself how to create simple, clean, and pretty blog designs.

Cheers to this blog's whole new look!

I don’t mean to boast but I am truly quite proud of myself. Imagine how much more stuff I could put into my work if I would have had a formal education on web designing. All I have are perseverance and resourcefulness. I read. I research. I practice. I learn from trial and error. It can get really frustrating sometimes but when I successfully able to find a solution to something, the frustrations are easily forgotten.

And for me, the best reward for learning a new thing is that I was able to create a job for myself. My website offering pretty blog designs is doing great. I can’t say I am already earning a living from it but it is great because I get to be paid by doing what I love doing, and every time I add completed projects to my blog design portfolio, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Web designing is an interesting job, and it’s cool because I can do this job while I am at home with my son who was just born last June. So I really have no regrets leaving my teaching job last December.

teaching myself new things

For weeks now, I have been busying myself with learning HMTL, CSS, and a bit of PHP. I still have a lot to learn and I think I reached the part where it’s all too difficult for me but I am not stopping. I will continue to learn as long as I have the time. Who knows how much time I will have when my baby arrives so as long as I still don’t have a baby to spend most of my time with, I will continue to learn.

Right now, I am redesigning my blogs. It’s a way for me to practice what I learn. That’s already a big bonus of teaching myself some new things. And the good part is, I just launched my web designing website, Design Me Pretty. This website is aimed at offering design services to personal bloggers, small time netreprenuers, and work-at-home peeps who are earning form their blogs. I am not targeting to design corporate websites. I like to stay with blogs because they are much more fun to design.

I started Design Me Pretty because I want to start my long time dream to be able to provide web designing services. I want to be able to provide pretty blog designs that are unique and simply cute. So anyway, I am not expecting clients to come pouring soon because I still have a portfolio to build up but I am already open to orders just in case.

I am thinking of a special offer to give away to my first few clients. Right now, my offered rates for blog designs are already really low (among the lowest in the blog design industry—I researched) but I am willing to take 50% off for those who will place an order before the end of April.

Then there is another special offer I am thinking to offer to blogger friends because I need a few people to help me get the word out but I am not sure if there will be volunteers… Hmm…, I will have to ask around.

my first love

Teaching is my first love and I know that I will always come back to it.

At this point of my life, I feel I need to temporarily leave this profession to accommodate a new member of our family. Yes, I am pregnant!

In one of my previous posts, I expressed my desire to become a mother after being married to my husband for three years. I’ve been wanting it since we got married but for a lot of reasons, we’ve been putting it off. One was because we were not yet really settled—we’ve been moving from one city to another.  Another one was because I wanted to build a career in teaching here in Austria but the baby’s here.  At the time when I was doubtful about which one to do first, circumstances decided for me—I got pregnant and I am really very happy about it.

What happens to this blog now that I am not teaching anymore?

Well, I will still continue this blog. I’ll probably write about past experiences or future plans on teaching. And hey, a mother is a teacher too! So I don’t think I will run out of things to write about.

And to keep me busy, I will focus on my writing. I’ll do some freelance writing jobs while I’m pregnant. It’s the perfect set up for someone like me who wants to avoid all the stress of teaching but still wants something to keep her busy.

I actually already started updating all my blogs and I even created a new one. I created Being Super Mom to chronicle my pregnancy.   My blogs will give me something to do from now until my baby’s old enough to go to school. That will take some time but I know that someday, I’ll go back to teaching because like I said when it comes to professions;

Teaching is my first love and I know that I will always come back to it.

this year will be a very busy year

I haven’t updated this blog for more than a month and based on how things look like at the moment, posts will be scarce for the following months.

Remember when I told you that I have 10 groups each week? Well, that changed on the second week of this month. I now have 15 groups. One of my colleagues is at an early stage of pregnancy and because she is experiencing some difficulties, her doctor advised her not to work. Her classes are now divided between me and another teacher.

I think, 15 groups a week is not a big problem. I can handle all of these groups smoothly if they were of the same program (level) but they aren’t. These 15 groups are scattered in five different programs. I could, of course, still do 15 groups in five different programs easily if the groups in each program were in the same lesson.  So it would be like preparing 5 lesson plans and 5 set of props each week but then again, that is not the case. The groups in each program are not in the same lesson. Some are in just in second lesson of Unit 2, others are in another lesson in another unit, and etc. In short, I always have to prepare 15 lessons plans and 15 sets of props each week.

Our learning center badly needs new teachers but the problem is; the next teacher training course will only be in the summer of this year so even if there were applicants now, they won’t be able to teach until the first school semester (September 2010).  By right, I could refuse to accept the additional classes but I don’t have the heart to do that to my head teacher. If I won’t accept these classes, there’s no choice for the learning center but to let these classes go.

I am now in my third week of this unbelievable stressful work load and surprisingly, I am able to cope with it. By “cope” I mean, I am able to prepare my lesson plans and deliver them properly, I am able to prepare the props needed in each lesson, I am never late, and I am never absent from any of my classes. But my “coping” doesn’t extend to housework and blogging.  Gosh! Our flat looks like a bomb just detonated in it and I can’t even begin to think of the pile of clothes waiting to be ironed! I could go on and on about how I am lacking time for other things but this blog is supposed to be about the joy of teaching and not the woes of a housewife or the frustrations of a blogger so I will stop now.

I do love to teach even if it means that I have to stay up all night preparing props and lesson plans but sometimes I wish that things were a little bit less taxing.

salute to efren piñaflorida!

I would, of course, quote my source if I could remember where I got it but unfortunately, I can only be sure that it is from one of the innumerable blogs I came across with. I normally take note of nicely written, powerful, amusing, or interesting lines from the blogs, books, magazine, and newspapers I read and while going through my notes, I found this:

With the preponderance of rotten kids these days, I don’t think that teaching is such an ideal profession anymore.

The one who wrote this has a point. I am not sure if she (or he) is writing this in a teacher’s point of view but the part where she says that teaching is not an ideal profession is a part I can agree with. The part where she says that rotten kids are preponderant these days is also true but there are still nice kids so that sort of even things out. Having rotten kids is hardly the reason why teaching is not ideal.

Why is teaching not an ideal profession?

art.efren.penaflorida.cnnFor one thing, it is noble and that explains it all. I think we could see it better if we put ourselves into the shoes of those teachers teaching in public schools in poor countries. Those who still, even under extremely difficult situation, practice this profession.

How many teachers have decent salaries? How many teachers have decent classrooms? How many teachers teach appropriate number of children in one class? How many teachers have access to necessary teaching materials? How many teachers have a manageable number of working hours per week? How many teachers have the chance of availing further education?

Not a lot.

If you are a teacher who has all these, consider yourself very lucky. I could understand if you’ll say that teaching is indeed ideal. But if you are not, then you have my (and others’) respect for pursuing this profession.  Not all of us can be as noble as Efren Piñaflorida but I believe, and I think a lot would agree, that by being in this profession and by trying hard to make the best out of what we have, we are, in our own rights, noble.

Photo courtesy of cnn.com