SSIS Blog : A Knight's Tale

What I Wish for this Year
By. NESSA ALMI P. BORINGOT

Happy 2017!

This year is definitely going to be awesome because it’s a new life for everyone. But still, I would like to share to you my wishes for my country, my school, my family, and myself.

For the country, I wish that the war on drugs would no longer cause the loss of lives. Surely, there are others ways to do this. I wish that the Filipinos would be nicer to each other. Let us pray and help those people who lost their loved ones in the crackdown.

I noticed that students in SSIS are really helpful people. I transferred in SSIS last year and my classmates treated me well. All the people in this school are helping each other. I just hope that everyone in school will continue to support each other.

For my family, I pray for more blessings. Each member of my family are loved and I hope that this love will always be there. I also pray for other families that they may find happiness and contentment.

For myself, I wish that 2017 will be a good one. I will continue to do my best in school, to be a good daughter to my parents and a loving sister to my sibling, and, as they say in school – Quant Je Puis, to be the best that I can be.

Valiant Knights

Maneuvering the Mind

By Caroline V. Hernandez

Imagine cortisol slowly creeping into the brain matter. It gradually weakens the neurons like a predator chasing its prey. And finally, cortisol wins, leaving the neurons for dead, and making the brain susceptible to stress and other negativities.

This is what happens when stress takes its toll. Stress releases cortisol, which when accumulated in high levels is detrimental to the brain. Good news is, though the neurons are weakened, they can still recover, the harm done by stress can still be reversed.

Rick Hanson, a US based psychologist suggested the H-E-A-L method in one of his videos. H-E-A-L is a 20 second simple moment to condition the mind to overcome its negative bias.

H-E-A-L.

H is for HAVE A GREAT EXPERIENCE. “The brain is very good at remembering bad experiences,” says Rick Hanson, “because our ancestors pay a lot of attention to the bad situations they have survived and they remember it forever”. Thus, to counter the negative reactions, one has to focus on experiencing the positives, such that if one wants more confidence, one has to have more accomplishments and if one wants to be more loving, one has to make acts of compassion and kindness. These things do not have to be big, small things can happen, an instance that will make you feel a little wanted, a little appreciated. It could be a good kick at football, a free pizza, or a girl who smiled at you.

E is for ENRICHING THE EXPERIENCE. Make the good experience count. If you do something better, if you do something different, you will begin to feel better and more confident. The “kick” that you get from these positive experiences can make a difference in your brain and in your life.

A is for ABSORB IT. Let the good experience sink into you, let it weave into your system. Bit by bit, knead these resources into the fabric of your brain. If the positive experience is already there, there will be no more space for the negativities to occur.

L is for LINK IT. Link those experiences with something else, something you want to achieve and it will give you inner strength. The good kick? You can connect it with your lifelong dream of becoming a professional football player. As Rick Hanson said, “The mind can change the brain, but you have to have something experiential to achieve a positive mental state.”

In a nutshell, one has to work on taking control of his/her brain. Train your mind to focus on the positive. You may begin with this. Imagine those neurons finally recovering from stress. Imagine them finally HEALed.

(This article is written during the cliniquing for NSPC qualifiers for Feature Writing held at Tagaytay City, January 25, 2016.)

Caroline Hernandez
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The Six Values Teachers Need
By AlumKnight Janis Ynnozenzia Faith D. Amorado

Every year, new teachers graduate from college and start doing teaching jobs. Some teachers do this because they love teaching, while others do this to earn money. Whatever reason they have for going into this profession, they encounter the same trials and struggles, some noisy and rowdy students, deadlines, stress and many more. These things make teaching not only a test of a teacher’s mental aspect but also their social, physical, and emotional aspects. This is why teachers must always come prepare with a set of values to overcome these things. These are six values for every situation and aspects.

Confidence is the first value because this job tests your ability to cope with different kinds of students and situations. Some students are well-behaved and are model students, but others can be noisy, rowdy, disrespectful and arrogant. If you are an adviser of a class, it is your job to handle any conflict or problem in class. Sometimes when you are teaching and giving out an assignment or task, some students complain a lot or don’t pay attention to your lesson at all. That’s why you need to have confidence to stand up for yourself and to let them know that you are serious. You also need confidence so that you can believe in your skills as a teacher and so that you can have confidence in your students.

“Patience is a virtue” is what everyone says. This is true because it is very important in dealing with stressful deadlines or in staying calm in a situation. Some students can really get in your nerves or can be really hard to teach. You need to be patient so that you can keep teaching the problematic students until they understand your lesson. If some students continue to be a disruption to the entire class, instead of letting out your anger, you send that students to the guidance office and move on with your class. You also need patient for the long hours of checking papers and making tests.

The third value is discipline because you need to know how to control your students or else they won’t take you seriously. Discipline is a borderline between guidance and punishment because you let them know that what they did is wrong with seriousness rather than anger. This way, they won’t hold any hard feelings and will know that their actions will be punishable in the future. You can also use discipline for yourself so that you can focus on important tasks and manage yourself well. It is important to be able to focus because this job can keep you busy with the endless workload.

The fourth value is punctuality because time management is important. Teachers have a really busy schedule because they teach in many classes, handle some extra tasks, and check papers, and so on. Even though a lot needs to be done, if you finish some work early, then you can still have time for other things or for relaxing. You should be punctual also because it is bad to come in late for the classes you are teaching and this can disrupts your schedule for your class, thus wasting valuable academic time. You need to balance your time well so that you can decide how to use it. There will be times when you need to sacrifice time for the self to have time for others.
Commitment is the fifth value because if you love your job, then you could work happily and efficiently and overcome the problems you encounter. This can help you stay focused and determined on your goals and you do a better job while teaching. Without this value, your job will be more stressful and tiring because you have no energy and no drive. Some teachers just want to relax more since they lack commitment. Remember that your attitude could affect the way you teach and the performance and motivation of the students. You might lack so much energy and commitment to the point that your discussions could become boring and dull.

The final value is respect because if you show them that you have authority and that you are in charge, they pay better attention in class and follow the rules. Although not all students may participate in class there will be less noise, rowdiness, and trouble. This is important also because you need to respect your students so that they will respect you as well. In this way, your students will come to like and accept you by being considerate yet firm. It is also important to have the respect of your colleagues and superiors so that you will have a stress free and happy workplace. Most important is to respect yourself so that you can do what you think is best and you can stand up for your rights.
All of these values are important in their own way yet better when together. They are all important so that you have confidence in yourself, are patient for blessings and opportunities, can improve discipline, be punctual to better organize your time, be committed to your goals, and have the respect of the people around you. Just love your job, do what you can, and pray to God so that you can serve as an inspiration and guide for your students. You are now prepared to the challenges that may come and can be successful in what you do.

Valiant Knights

SSIS: Where Students Learn Beyond Boundaries

With the prevalence of technology, SSIS makes it possible for the students to learn beyond boundaries, to cross cultural borders, and to break communication barriers. Through video-conference, some learners met their counterparts from other parts of the globe.

Crossing Cultural Boundaries - Unity Over Diversity
By: ANNIKA GRACE D. ASI

Last August 28, 2016, a milestone was achieved by the stidents from 7th to 9th Grade by being the first batch to be able to hold dialogue through video conferencing. These selected students were chosen to represent the school an country to talk about their points of views while tackling the topics of faith, values, and community. This video conference was especially designed for the students to interact with other people from another country and to be able to learn from one another. Through this conference, the students were able to learn how diverse the Indian religion is yet, they are still united. In the course of discussion about values and beliefs, some students shared the Filipino traditions like the feast day of our saints. Students also shared how unity is seen in the country where Typhoon Yolanda hit the country yet our fellow countrymen got up and went on with their lives by helping one another. The students also learned that we don't have to agree on things to give respect. This dialogue did not only help the students learn about the differences and similarities of the cultures, traditions, and beliefs but also embedded in their minds that no matter who we talk to, we should always think of them as an equal-without prejudice, bias, and judgment.

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www.stonyhurst.edu.ph/batangas

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Stonyhurst Southville International School - Top School in Batangas - Enrique Gil, Liza Soberano join Southville Family Top School in Batangas