RESPECT, CONSIDERATION & INTEGRITY

I am wearing a knit shirt from Oxygen, G2000 white shirt,F&H bow tie,
Memo black trousers and Xianniao eyeglasses.

I have been part of the teaching force for almost 5 years now. Two gratifying school years in elementary level and another three years in collegiate level. I would say that one of the most satisfying aspects of teaching at the college or university level may be found in the mentoring relationship that faculty members can develop with their students. It has been observed that student relationships with members of the faculty is regarded by most students as the most vital aspect of the quality of their college experience.

Being a mentor with young individuals bring forth self satisfaction to the teacher. I firmly believe that to establish a mentoring relationship a teacher must eradicate most of the boundaries/stigma between educator learner relationship, because a good learning process can only be achieve through lectures, social activities and glimpses into each other's personal lives. And yet, despite this closeness and sharing, the teacher does remain a teacher and the student a student. The teacher maintains certain evaluative responsibilities and the student continues to be dependent on the mentor's guidance and approval. Therefore respect must be the foundation of this or any other type of relationships, may it be mentoring relationship or professional relationship.

Maybe you might already asking yourself by now, whats with the sudden change of direction of our today's post? Well after spending a fun afternoon with friends (one of which is my colleague) I am sadden by his story of how some students can be a little inconsiderate & impudent. And it got me thinking...What are appropriate student & teacher boundaries? Is there a necessary limit to the verbal,  personal, or even social interaction that may be experienced between student and teacher without compromising their academic & professional responsibilities? How should one handle verbal or social overtures made by a student? What can we do, as individuals, as professionals, and as institutions to help ensure that appropriate student-teacher boundaries are maintained?

Most students nowadays believes that being frank & vocal with how & what they feel at the moment, suggests being assertive. They forget to analyze the situation, study the action they need to execute and most importantly organize the words they want/need to say. Resulting in the damage of three general positive  principles, which are central in building and maintaining harmonious relationships. These concepts are respect, consideration, and integrity. We must be reminded that there's a thin line between being outspoken and being uncouth. Some students think it’s OK to interact with teachers the same way they interact with their friends or peers. These students get into all kinds of trouble at school because of it.

It is necessary that we both respect the boundaries needed to exist between a student and a teacher, because there are load of things a student can do at home that he can’t do in school. The maintenance of healthy boundaries is not only something that teachers need to do in their own relationships with students. We also need to prepare ourselves to monitor our personal boundaries & other people's boundaries. We can help  our students develop this awareness by exploring this issue as a part of their training and by modeling appropriate professional behavior in our own relationships with them. Finally, we can help develop institutional guidelines and policies that reflect a commitment to the maintenance of appropriate student-teacher boundaries.

Relationship might be the most complicated subject to teach, yet it is the most rewarding topic on Earth. Develop a relationship to produce intellectual sparks and lightning—and fan those flames for the benefit of yourself, classmates, the instructor and all whom you will eventually meet along your journey.

BEING SINGLE BY CHOICE ROCKS

I am wearing Wharton white dress shirt, Memo black trousers, knit vest from Gap, F & H striped bow tie and Adidas Superstar II.

I am not entirely sure why most men hate it when asked by their loved ones “what are you thinking?” I used to be asked by that line quite a bit, actually, and I never really got  to answer with a straight face. But I think most men feel invaded. Men are, by and large, more “emotionally contained” than women are. Men use "joke-speak" to mask their real emotions. Men evolved the ability to contain their feelings, sometimes even from themselves! So we are not as comfortable sharing our intimate world because we feel our words might backfire on us. In an effort to break the cycle let me share something intimate about relationships.

A wise young friend once said: "It takes half the time you dated someone to fully get over them." It's like a math solution of what known as romance equation, the unwritten rule that implies that - if you went out with the person for, let's say three years, it means that you got 18 months to get over with that person until you finally get back in the game. That just doesn't sound right, noh?!

Some people want a help-mate, someone who will build a family and share their moral code. Others want a soul-mate, someone with whom they can share their deepest needs and feelings. Others seek a mind-mate, someone with whom they can exchange ideas and fulfill their ambitions. And some want a play-mate, someone who will go adventuring with them, either intellectually or physically. Living in a town where everyone's dying to couple up, sometime there's nothing better than being out of the relationship. In most cases being single is just what a person needs. You have more time for yourself - to sleep as long as you want; to go for a long walk alone and lose yourself with the faces and places; and of course do weird stuffs that a loved one might not approve of. But the best part of being single is having adequate time to catch up with your close friends. And discover with them that there is something thrilling about varying the pace of life. It's really important to be unattached for a while and get to know this new you.

There are times we need to stop and look who we are and appreciate how far we have come and less attention on how far we still need to go. Freeing oneself of everything we've been holding on is crucial to send us on our new path...the right path. I needed to make a choice and I choose me! Because when I am truly single, I step to quite a different tune.

SMART CASUAL MONDAY

"Smart Casual" dressing  is a middle ground between business formal wear and street wear. It is a loosely defined dress code, casual, yet smart enough to conform to the particular standards of certain social groups.The whole idea behind "smart casual" outfits is to make the employees more relaxed and to allow them to better express themselves. This is all to make them more productive and happy at their workplace.

As a college instructor, there’s not a lot of pressure on me to dress up. If anything, it’s just the opposite. For one thing, I interact regularly with younger people and besides wearing business attire can be daunting and boring sometimes. Yet, there are days that  I want to set the sartorial bar high and express myself in a more corporate dress code. Days I just want to violate my bohemian standards of dressing.  It's a great thing that there's enough smart casual pieces in my "treasure trove" that I can incorporate in  my  day to day dressing to enjoy  my work in a more conservative yet stylish manner. Rule of the thumb: When you dress to impress, make sure that your confidence shows not only in your gait but in how you carry your business attire, as well.