Monday, March 18, 2024

Summer Workshops on Pottery!

 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

My ARMY Glow-Up Journey: BTS X ARMY Inspired Pottery and Ceramic Art

Titas of BTS and ARMY Connect PH are asking for Glow-Up stories to share with Jin when he returns. Here is a progress report on the pottery journey I set out to do last September 2023 falling under #AGU_Recreation.


Together with friends from Titas of BTS, we have had three AGU Recreation activities in November 2023; December 2023 and January 2024. The first one was in Persaro's in Ortigas; the second one was in Sonoma, Sta. Rosa Laguna and the third was in Gyud Fud UP Diliman, Quezon City. Although the first AGU Recreation activity was a session on Pabalat Art, led by Prof. Anna Marie Hernandez Bautista, it inspired us to explore hobbies we share in common. The Pabalat Art session was attended by members of the TOB Book Club Sonyeondan and the TOB Southietas tribe ( a group of TOBbies living and are based in the South of Manila and Southern Luzon.


For the Sta. Rosa and UP Diliman pocket events, we had a joint session on Pabalat and Pottery, plus watercolor painting! We were joined by new members from TOB who thoroughly enjoyed the activities. These sessions have given us an opportunity to bond and express our fangirling in creative ways. Speaking for myself, I have had the honor and privilege to meet and interact with women in my age group. We come from different backgrounds but we are ARMY. The camaraderie and friendship we share are rooted in BTS.
@titazeeh7 Pottery, pabalat and watercolor fun with Tita ARMYs. Thank you @Poochie Tablan 😊💜😊 #AGURecreation #AGUSkills #AGUMindPower #ARMYGlowUp2025 #BetterARMYsforBTS ♬ Good Day - BTS
Learning pottery alongside TOBbies makes me confident. I strive to be better at my handbuilding skills. Using the handbuilding technique, I have made pinch pots and trinket dishes. Moving up one level higher, I attempted to make a pen holder using the slabbing technique with surface decorations.


At the time, I was missing Jin so much I made a half moon and seven stars to embose on my pen holder. I am thankful to potter friends in the pottery community for helping me glaze and fire my projects as I have yet to make my own kiln (when circumstances allow). Clay, pottery and ceramic art have been therapeutic for me. A hobby that has given me the space to be calm and patient. To breathe and just be.

Right now I have more than fifty ceramics! A hobby that began as a way to relieve me off anxiety is turning out to be a small enterprise I am slowly growing and developing. Visit @silver_linings_t.zee on Instagram!

What is your Glow-Up story, ARMY? Do tell. TOB is a safe space we all share.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Online Author Talk with Scholasticans of St. Scholastica's Academy, Marikina

Among the many things we learned from the Lockdown Years in the Covid Era, it is the skill to go online for meetings, assemblies and learning sessions. When Brianna, a high school student from St. Scholastica's Academy Marikina hit me up on Messenger asking about a writing workshop, I offered to do one via online. After months of planning, it pushed through!

As a priming activity, I sent her a link to a video recording on developing character and made her a member of our Early Readers' Project on Facebook. That is why, when I met her and her club members online, they had questions prepared for me.



Of the many questions they asked, one stood out. To quote: What is the best approach in writing a story for children, the way Dr. Seuss wrote stories or Roald Dahl's?

The question shows the young writer's reading influences, her knowledge of children's literature and the desire to write her own story for children. To this question, I responded by telling them the purpose of Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl as I perceive them and my own context as a reader of their books.

While both writers put forth a world of their own in their writing, Dahl is more purposive of retelling and presenting stories of childhood experiences. Dr. Seuss makes use of riddles, word play and whimsy in his storytelling which is perfect for learning phonics, phonemes in a fun and playful manner. So I asked the student her purpose in writing a story. When the intent and purpose are determined, the path to the writing process is clearer.

As a librarian, I can't help but wish to send a feedback to the teachers, parents and librarians of St. Scholastica's Academy Marikina. They have in their midst readers who dream of writing stories for children younger than them with the hindsight of their influences on books they have read growing up. Imagine what richness in stories they can bring if they too are knowledgeable of local writers! 

Our work never ends. 

Monday, March 11, 2024

Sneak Peek! Another Book Project for Kids!

Sunday, March 10, 2024

The Lighthouse Diary #52: When there is still more to learn...

On days when teaching and coordinating the Extended Essay weighs heavily on my shoulders, I go back to the message I received from our workshop leader.  

Dear Zarah,

Congratulations, you have completed the workshop.

It has been real pleasure working with you again. You came in with a lot of knowledge and you have built so well on those foundations, seeing and making connections, appreciating how what you have been learning can be applied in your own situation.  Your Learning Journal in itself is impressive.  However much we know there is still more to learn - and we learn from each other.  So thank you too for sharing your thoughts and experience so generously too, others have and are benefiting from your thoughts and comments and advice. We said right at the beginning that the workshop is about far more than just ticking boxes, and your engagement throughout is much appreciated.

As you know, you can continue to access the workshop for 6 months so you will have more time to revisit the conversations and resources.

I wish you, your school and your students every success, enjoy telling those stories.

Do keep in touch.

With best wishes,

J
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