My Heart Sings

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Blogging Again! I Miss This SOOOOOO Much, Hello Again, World!




Owning a blog allows you to share your passion, interests, and just anything that pops up in your mind. The best part, no doubt, in blogging is when other people appreciate your work – becoming loyal followers of your blog, engaging in your posts, and even sharing them on social media. 


And as we begin 2018, am telling the world and friends too that YES, am soooooo back!


xoxo,

Mommy Mai

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Sun Life Launches Three Digital Financial Literacy Initiatives

Boosting its efforts to make financial literacy accessible to Filipinos, Sun Life offers three free online resources to help many learn and plan for their future. Together, they provide a three-step push for individuals and families towards achieving their dreams: attend the Brighter Life Institute, begin their journey with the My Future Fund Calculator, and connect with the #SINAG online journalism contest. 

“Nowadays, Filipinos are more empowered in taking charge of their finances. They are turning to online resources to help them understand financial concepts and manage their money. Given our expertise and experience, we want to be their go-to partner as they progress in their financial journey,” declared Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa. 


Attend the Brighter Life Institute Open for enrollment since 2014, the award-winning Brighter Life Institute or BLI is an organized learning program inspired by MOOCs (massive online open courses). 


For this year, BLI rolls out the Moving Up module – a set of lessons which aim to teach families basic financial planning practices and the value of honest conversations about money, even to one’s children. 


 

The Moving Up module takes its cue from Sun Life’s ‘Money For Life’ philosophy, which shows a holistic journey through four different life stages. With lessons spanning from creating a household budget to preparing for future milestones such as a college education, BLI’s latest offering can now be accessed via http://brighterlife.com.ph/bli-moving-up/ .

Begin your journey with the My Future Fund Calculator

For a glimpse of how an insurance-with-savings product can help in reaching one’s dreams on time, the My Future Fund Calculator is available via bit.ly/myfuturecalculator. Just set a target date, choose a My Future Fund nearest the target date, and pair it with a suitable Sun Life variable life insurance product.
My Future Fund is perfect for families who are preparing for a specific purpose, like a college education or owning their own home.
What’s more, users of the My Future Calculator can get a chance to win P25,000 cash when they share it on Facebook and subscribe to Brighter Life Institute through the Plan 4 Your Fam, Win a Future Fund promo. Full mechanics here.
Connect with #SINAG online journalism contest
Now on its fourth year, #SINAG invites Filipino bloggers and online journalists to be part of Sun Life’s financial literacy advocacy by sharing and posting about their insights and experiences on money management.
From securing their future to learning about financial instruments, #SINAG is a valuable compilation of life stories and advice from writers who also believe in the benefit of being financially prepared.
Interested writers can send a link of their entry to editor@brighterlife.com.ph. Full contest mechanics can be found here. Clueless on where to start? The Brighter Life Institute and the My Future Fund Calculator are good jump-off points to select a #SINAG-worthy entry.
For updates on Brighter Life Institute, My Future Fund Calculator, and #SINAG, follow us on social media via @sunlifeph.
Originally posted HERE.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Language and English Teachers: These Fun Games Should Make Your Students Speak

Photo Credit: FusionYear Books

Sharing this beautiful piece from Edutopia...

1. Who's Telling the Truth?

Have each student write three facts about themselves that nobody in the class knows on a piece of paper. Make sure each student includes his/her name on the top of the paper. Collect the sheets of paper and bring three students to the front of the room. Read aloud one of the facts that is true for one of the students in the front of the room. The class then proceeds to question the students in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth, and who is lying. Each student is allowed to ask one question to one of the three students. After a round of questioning, the students predict who is telling the truth.

2. Taboo Variations

Variation #1: Create a PowerPoint presentation with each slide containing a noun. Have one student come to the front of the room and sit with his/her back to the PowerPoint. The students in the class should take turns describing the words for the student in the front of the room to guess.

Variation #2: Separate the students into groups of 4/5. Place a pile of cards with random nouns in the center of the group. Have students take turns describing the nouns for their group members to guess. The group member who guesses correctly keeps the card in an attempt to have the most cards at the end of the game.

Variation #3 (Advanced speakers): Separate the class into two teams. Students are given a word to describe to their teammates, in addition to a list of words that they cannot use in their description. Each student should have 2-3 minutes to see how many words his/her teammates can guess.

3. Descriptive Drawing Activity

Pair up the students and give them each a picture face down. They must describe the picture for their partner to draw.

4. Comic Strip Descriptions

Give each student a portion of a comic strip. Without showing their pictures to one another, the students should attempt to describe their image, and put the comic strip into the correct order. After about ten minutes, the students can predict the order, show one another their portion, and see if they were correct!

5. "Secret" Word

Students are given a random topic, and a random word completely unrelated to the topic. The student must hide the word in their speech, without the other students in the class guessing their "secret" word. The other students in the class must listen carefully to the speech, in an attempt to discover the secret word.

6. Debates

Give each student a piece of paper with “agree” written on one side, and “disagree” on the other side. Read aloud a controversial statement, and have each students hold up his/her paper stating whether they agree or disagree. Choose one student from each side to explain his/her position and participate in a short debate.

7. Impromptu Speaking

Split the class into two teams, and use a list of impromptu speaking topics. Have each student choose a number, and respond to the statement without preparation. The student must continue speaking for 45 seconds when the teacher calls out "stop." As the student is speaking, the other team listens for any hesitation, grammatical mistakes or vocabulary mistakes. If the other team can correctly identify an error, they get a point.

8. Desert Island Activity

Give each student a piece of paper and tell him or her to draw an item. Any item. Tell the students that they have been stranded on a desert island, and only half of the class can survive and continue to inhabit the desert island. The student's goal is to convince the class that they should survive. The hard part is that the only thing they have is an item that was drawn a few minutes earlier by a classmate on the piece of paper.

9. Storytelling Activity

Bring four students to the front of the classroom. Three students should sit down in a row, and one of the students should stand behind them acting as a controller. The controller should have a stack of cards in his hand containing nouns. The controller will hand a noun to one of the three students who will start to tell a story. The student will continue telling the story until the controller decides to hand another noun to another student who will then take over the story.

10. Two Truths, One Lie

Each student should write three facts about themselves on a piece of paper. Two of the facts should be the truth, and one should be a lie. Students read aloud the facts, and give the other students a chance to question them and decide which statement is a lie.

11. True/False Storytelling

Give each student a piece of paper with either the word “true” or “false.” Each student should tell the class a story, and the class must guess whether the story is the truth, or a lie. To add to the activity, you can allow the other students to question the student telling the story.

12. I Have Never…

All students in the class should start holding five fingers in the air (this number can be adjusted depending on how many students are in the class). The student who begins the activity will tell the class one thing that he/she has NEVER done. The students who have done that activity should put a finger down, and tell the class a story about this activity.

Thanks, EdutopiaContinue to inspire teachers around the globe!

Saturday, July 8, 2017

JUST IN: New CBCP President: Archbishop Romulo Valles, D.D.



The new CBCP president is Davao Archbishop Romulo G. Valles, D.D.

The Archbishop of Davao, said to be close to President Rodrigo Duterte who is also from Davao, is the new president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), replacing Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.
His excellency Romulo Valles, who baptized Duterte’s latest grandchild Stonefish Duterte-Carpio in March. 

The CBCP presidency is perhaps the best gift to the Davao prelate who will be celebrating his 66th birthday on July 10, Monday.
Congrats, MOST REV. ROMULO G. VALLES!
Happy birthday, too!!!

For CBCP's new vice president and eight regional members of its Permanent Council, let us wait for the official list from CBCP News, the official n
ews service of CBCP media office.

Monday, May 29, 2017

WONDER WOMAN 2017 – Rise of the Warrior - Official Movie Trailer

The most famous American girl superhero is back! The newest Wonder Wonder film is up for release on your favorite movie theatres. Gal Gadot plays the lead role as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman while Chris Pine plays Steve Trevor, a U.S. Army Air Service captain, who is also the love interest of Diana. Other casts include Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, and Elena Anaya.

Distributed by Warner Bros.Pictures, this 4th installment of the film was directed by Patty Jenkins and written by Heinberg, Zack Snyder, and Jason Fuchs. On May 15, the film was already released in Shanghai. It is scheduled to out on U.S. cinemas this June 2.

Watch this Wonder Woman - Rise of the Warrior - [Official Movie Trailer]



Click here for more info about the film.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Just IN: Ariana Grande's Concert in Manchester Explosion


Ariana Grande Concert Explosion



Ariana Grande is "Okay" following the blast at her Manchester Arena concert in which several people were killed, a representative for the pop star told Variety.

A blast on Monday night at the concert left an unknown number of people dead and injured, police said.


Police said they were responding to reports of an explosion and that there were a number of confirmed casualties and others injured.


"We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming," concert-goer Catherine Macfarlane told Reuters.


"It was a huge explosion -- you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out."


Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe, opened in 1995 and has a capacity for 21,000 people, according to its website. It is a popular concert and sporting venue.


A spokesman for Ariana Grande's record label said that the singer was "okay". A video posted on Twitter showed fans screaming and running out of the venue.


Britain is on its second-highest alert level of "severe" meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.


Original Post at Telegraph.Co.UK


UPDATES from The Guardian:


The US department of homeland security has issued a statement saying it is “closely monitoring the situation at Manchester Arena” and that there could be “increased security” in public places and music events in the US:

We are working with our foreign counterparts to obtain additional information about the cause of the reported explosion as well as the extent of injuries and fatalities.

US citizens in the area should heed direction from local authorities and maintain security awareness. We encourage any affected US citizens who need assistance to contact the US embassy in London and follow department of state guidance.

At this time, we have no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving music venues in the United States. However, the public may experience increased security in and around public places and events as officials take additional precautions.

We stand ready to assist our friends and allies in the UK in all ways necessary as they investigate and recover from this incident.


Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this incident.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

You Would Believe How the Frog Was Killed!



Food for thought:

– Put a frog in a vessel of water and start heating the water.
– As the temperature of the water rises, the frog is able to adjust its body temperature accordingly.
– The frog keeps on adjusting with an increase in temperature.
– Just when the water is about to reach boiling point, the frog is not able to adjust anymore.
– At that point, the frog decides to jump out.
– The frog tries to jump but is unable to do so, because it lost all its strength in adjusting the water temperature.
– Very soon the frog dies.

What killed the frog?

Many of us would say the boiling water. But the truth is what killed the frog was its own inability to decide when it had to jump out.

We all need to adjust to people and situations, but we need to be sure when we need to adjust and when we need to confront/face or even consciously move out/ on.


There are times when we need to face the situation and take the appropriate action. Fight it & do it with all your honesty, sincerity, and all your might!

On the other side, if you are 110% sure that environment is beyond control or the objective is not providing adequate incentive. Leave your ego, quit and move on to more productive cause in life.

Not only this will avoid your unnecessary suffering, this make you a better and balanced leader of your life and task in hand

So, decide when to adjust and move on.

Let us know your thoughts, fellas!

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Pixar's Cars 3 Movie Trailer



The third installment of a well-loved animated film, Cars, is set to be shown on the big screen this coming June 16, 2017. Produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is directed by Brian Fee.

After being trounced in many races by hightech racer Jackson Storm, many begin to wonder if the famous Lightning McQueen will retire from racing after he endures a terrible crash. With help from race technician Cruz Ramirez and some other friends, he begins training to attempt a comeback in the Florida 500.

See this Cars 3 Animated Film Official trailer and have a glimpse on what to expect on this upcoming movie sequel.


The soundtrack will be a blend of rock/pop songs along with Randy Newman's score (similar to the original Cars soundtrack). It features the song "Ride" by ZZ Ward and Gary Clark Jr.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

LOOK: Top 13 Miss Universe 2016

Steve Harvey announced the following ladies who made it to Top 13. 

Miss Kenya
Miss Indonesia
Miss U.S.A
Miss Mexico
Miss Peru
Miss Panama
Miss Colombia 
Miss Philippines
Miss Canada
Miss Brazil
Miss France
Miss Haiti
Miss Thailand

Congrats, ladies. 

P.S. Love you, lucky number 8!  :) Go #MaxineMedina!

Tweet and Retweet please... use these hashtags:  


Earlier while watching ABS-CBN's "Umagang Kay Ganda" ...

Maxine Medina: 'Stay with me, ako na ang bahala!

"Mga kababayan, ito na po, sana makagawa na naman tayo ng another history sa Pilipinas. Stay with me, ako na po ang bahala," she added.  "Mas lalakas po ang loob ko kung maririnig ko kayong mag-cheer."

She ate banana and slept for four hours ... good enough to make her oh so ready! :)

(Steve Harvey's so cool when he said,  "Was that a death threat?" -- that is after having a quick convo with Miss Colombia. Crowd yelled and applauded.)

Congrats, Miss France! Miss Universe 2016 :)