Productivity books

Here is a list of books on productivity and time management. I got this from a newsletter from TQ

365 Ways to Save Time
Lucy H. Hedrick

Awaken The Giant Within
Anthony Robbins

Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcom Gladwell

Clean Up Your Act!
Dianna Booher

Daily Reflections For Highly Effective People
Stephen R. Covey

Discovering Your Soul's Purpose
Mark Thurston

Do It! Let's Get Off Our Buts
John-Roger & Peter McWilliams

Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway
Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

First Things First
Stephen R. Covey/A. Roger Merrill/Rebecc

Get Organized
Donald H. Weiss

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
David Allen

Giant Steps
Anthony Robbins

How To Get Control Of Your Time And Your Life
Alan Lakein

How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie

If you haven't got the time to do it right, when will you find time to do it?
Jeffrey J. Mayer

In Search of Excellence
Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman,

Life's Little Instruction Book
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
Peter F. Drucker

Managing For Results
Peter F. Drucker

Meditations From The Road
M. Scott Peck, M.D.

Never Confuse a Memo with Reality
Richard A. Moran

Positive Thinking Every Day
Norman Vincent Peale

Practical Time Management
Marion E. Haynes

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
Set Godin

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question
John Miller

Strategy Of The Dolphin
Dudley Lynch and Paul L. Kordis

Success-Cybernetics
U.S. Andersen

The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management
Hyrum W. Smith CEO, Franklin Quest Co.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen R. Covey

The 90 Minute Hour
Jay Conrad Levinson

The Be Happy Attitudes
Robert H. Schuller

The Bell Curve
Richard J. Herrnstein & Charles Murray

The Magic Of Thinking Big
David J. Schwartz, PH.D.

The Mind of the Strategist
Kenichi Ohmae

The One Minute Manager
Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. & Specer Johnson

The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey
Kenneth Blanchard/William Oncken, Jr. Hal

The One Minute Sales Person
Spencer Johnson, M.D.

The Opportunity in Every Problem
Scott L. Taylor

The Organized Executive
Stephanie Winston

The Personal Efficiency Program
Kerry Gleeson

The Peter Principle Why Things Always Go Wrong
Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull

The Portable Do It!
John-Roger & Peter McWilliams

The Portable MBA
Eliza G.C. Collins Mary Anne Devanna

The Power Of Positive Thinking
Norman Vincent Peale

The Psychology of Winning
Dr. Denis Waitley

The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?
Rick Warren

The Strategy Game
Craig R. Hickman

The Time Trap
Alec Mackenzie

The Tipping Point
Malcolm Gladwell

The Two Income Trap
Elizabeth Warren, Amelia Warren Tyagi

The Winner Within
Pat Riley

Think And Grow Rich
Dennis Kimbro and Napoleon Hill

Thinking Better
David Lewis, Ph. D. and James Greene, M.

Time Management for Dummies
Jeffrey J. Mayer

Time Management For Unmanageable People
Ann McGee-Cooper & Duane Trammell

Time Management Made Easy
Peter Turla and Kathleeen L. Hawkins

Time Management: Conquering The Clock
Barrie Hopson & Mike Scally

Time Tactics Of Very Successful People
B. Eugene Griessman

Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!
Robert H. Schuller

Unlimited Power
Anthony Robbins

Using Time Management To Get More Done
Lauren R. Januz & Kim M. Magon

Winning With People : Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time
John C. Maxwell

Work A 4-Hour Day
Arthur K. Robertson & William Proctor

Working Smart
Michael LeBoeuf, Ph. D

You Don't Have To Go Home From Work Exhausted!
Ann McGee-Cooper & Duane Trammell and

Cheesecake day

My students left my classroom happy. Frank McCourt ( author of Teacher Man) is right. There are two things to get through teenagers. First is food, and Second, topics on sex. Today, I saw a sudden change in my kids as soon as they placed their fork in their mouths and tasted the blueberry and strawberry cheesecake I made for them. I did a demo on making cheesecakes in all my three classes. It left me really tired at the end of the day.However, it was worth it. I was able to teach them something they can readily prepare and at the same time it saved me some headaches and stress. Students were all quiet as they savor their snacks. They did all their assignments with no complain. Their homework is to prepare it during the weekend and bring to class comment from parent whether on paper or a post on our class blogsite ( which is still in the infancy stage). Today is really a piece of heaven for me. Makes me feel grateful to God for making me a teacher.

Welcoming 2006

This picture of the sunrise inspires me to do better this year. I am not big on making resolutions but this year, I just resolved to make smarter choices and make my life more meaningful. Happy New Year! Happy New Beginning!

New Year at Vero Beach, Florida

My husband and I celebrated New Year differently this year. We went to the beach and watched the sunrise on Jan.1, 2006.

Corned Beef

Last Christmas, My mother-in-law prepared English Boiled Dinner for our Main Dish. She used Corned beef brisket. It was pretty much like our "nilagang baka" (A Philippine Dish). It was served in big chunks after being boiled in a crock pot for close to 3 hours. She added potatoes, the seasoning that came with the packet, carrots and cabbage. We were able to take home some of the leftovers and I made it into sauteed corned beef. I recycled it and it yielded good results. I flaked the big chunk using a fork and sauteed with garlic and onions. This is so much better than the canned ones. I ate it for breakfast with egg and sinangag. It reminded me of "cornsilog".

Last Day of School

These are my first block students. We were having our last day party. This group is very challenging. Teaching them is like learning to dance to a different tune. It was a little rough at first but everything straightened out as we got to know each other more and more each day. I got my evaluation from them too today. It made me laugh, cry and reflect on my teaching. There were so many realizations I got from their comments. I would say I felt good as a teacher. Majority of them said that the one thing they will remember in class is how I treated them with respect and the others commented on how I made learning fun. One activity that they really liked though is when I recorded their roleplays and made it into a movie. It was a different experience for them because they saw themselves act onscreen. They also got to watch other classes' presentations. The more successful they felt with each activity I let them do, our relationship as teacher and student also improved. Honestly, I have counted the days...and I really looked forward to this day but after the last student hugged me and wished me a Merry Christmas, I started to miss them.

My Nutrition Class

My class just finished preparing their chicken recipe. This was one of their favorite labs. Everybody was happy with the result.

Keeping In Touch with DCANS '87

I've never been so excited checking my emails until recently. I have been trying to keep in touch with my dear friends from high school and it always brings happiness to hear from them. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that the people I grew up with are all successful in their respective fields. I hope we can all re-connect if it's possible. We're nearing our silver anniversary already as a batch. It's really exciting...can't explain the feeling.

How to keep stress at bay

Teaching is not an easy job. It may be ranked as one of the most stressful jobs nowadays. As a teacher, I have always been on the lookout on how I can de-stress myself. The problem starts on my being very critical of myself and on the way I do things. You would think that I am a control freak. I worry too and feel very anxious about a lot of things. However, all these traits are not helping me any on my goal to have a happy and fulfilled life. Oftentimes, I feel like I don't enjoy life at all. There are mornings that I still dread going to work because going to school is like going to my prison cell. This past week, I did some changes on how I think and it really helped me a lot. I am less stressed and I feel happier. What I do is that I usually pause everytime I feel the stress pains in my abdomen and just breathe. I try to force myself to think that everything is going to be okay because I am doing my best. All I need to ask myself is whether I am doing what I think I am supposed to do and if my answer is "yes" then I just leave it at that. Knowing too that all this is temporary is also a lot of help for me. I am still trying to practice what they call as just living in the now. Everytime I catch myself dreading the future, I just go back and focus on the NOW. All these little steps had helped me a lot lately.

My greatest problem

Lately, I have been analyzing the way I am doing things. I have observed that I am always busy but I don't accomplish much. I usually choose the easy and urgent tasks and not have enough time to the tasks that will have more impact on my life overall. It is common to find myself feeling guilty doing things that are not necessarily important. My productivity is low these days in terms of grading and putting grades in the computer. However, I am less stressed and makes me feel I am enjoying my life. I hope to find the right balance so I can finish everything that I need to do and still find time to smell the roses.

Blue Ridge Parkway

This was taken at Blue Ridge Parkway. The place is awesome and very relaxing. I felt recharged. I needed this break to have some inspiration for the coming weeks and months. I don't know why teaching has been this stressful. I've got to find the balance soon. I might frequent this place if situations don't change.

Prayer Plant

These are low-growing marantas used as house plants. Grannie (David's grandma) gave it to me as an early birthday gift. These plants are populary called prayer plants because they tend to fold their leaves together at night.  

Some more pictures from the indian village. 

These are some of the examples of what is inside the Indian village. They are showing how they used to make masks and finger weaving 

Indian Village in Cherokee, North Carolina

This was an authentic replica of a cherokee Indian town of 1750. You will see life as it was carried on 200 years ago. Ancient arts of the red man such as basket weaving, wood carving, finger weaving, pottery, weapon making and cooking 

Bernina Sewing Machine

This is my new Bernina Activa 220. I got this after attending some beginning sewing class. I might include sewing next semester and I really want to be able to teach it with justice. I am enjoying the class and I am enjoying Bernina a lot. It is so easy to sew. I think everyone just have to find something to keep one's sanity these days. Some say that sewing is therapeutic. I cannot say much about the machine yet but so far I am very satisfied. 

Learning Mac

I am now using the new apple laptop computer that the school district issued to us. It is like learning to drive with a stick shift. It is basically similar to PC but I have to learn the different menus, icons and commands. This project of the Cobb County School District is a very remarkable one. I believe that this will make a difference in the way I present my lessons. The Ilife software is so awesome. I really feel so techy. Whew, with all the training that I am going into, i might shift my directions into Instructional Technology. Technology used to frighten me and give me a feeling of insecurity. I thought that it is only reserved for certain people who are really good at it. Well, as I was able to accomplish one task after another using my computer, I develop more confidence. This laptop is also one of the reasons why I am blogging. During the laptop training, Mr. Alan November, the guest speaker, introduced the idea of using blogs in the classroom. As a teacher, I will be able to post assignments, sites and announcements on my blog where students can access it. The possibilities are endless. It just blows my mind.

Gilas project

Great news for students in the Philippines. The Gilas project which aims to provide free internet access to high schools with computers should really be supported. It will definitely help the Philippines to prepare its students to be competitive globally.

Getting Started

Today is the birthday of this blog. I am literally a newbie to blogging. I am excited to start working on this and make it worth my time and the time of everyone who's going to drop by. I particularly intended to have this site as a source of information for my Family and Consumer Classes. This will include a lot of topics and links to resources about Child Development, Nutrition and Wellness, Family, Clothing and Textiles, Interior Decoration and Consumer Science. Feel free to send comments and suggestions. By the way, I am thanking Manang for all the help. Her work inspired me to create this.