NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

We are very fond of making New Year's resolutions. This is not a bad practice as long as we try our hard to keep these resolutions. Because a teacher's everyday life however is so busy, we tend to forget these resolutions. Below are my top ten resolutions for the year 2009.

• I resolve to accept that bad days will happen and that sometimes activities and lessons won't go well. I am not a perfect teacher and never will be, and that's fine.
• I will remember what it was like to be a student. I will keep this in mind on days when I feel like wringing their necks.
• I resolve to say something nice to each of my students at least once a week, if not more.
• I resolve not to let students fall through the cracks. If someone is having problems, I will make an effort to do all I can to help.
• At the same time, I will recognize that teaching is a two-way street. I will accept that after a certain point, I've done all I can, and it's the students' responsibility to get motivated and learn.
• I won't forget to take care of myself. I will eat well, exercise, and get enough sleep.
• I resolve to try new things in my classroom. I will be more creative and look for new ways to present lessons. If some of these things won't go well, I won't worry about it but I will keep trying.
• I will put more time into my own continuing education. I will read at least one article every month about teaching methods, and read at least one article a month about my area of teaching.
• I resolve to leave the classroom behind at the end of the day. I may have papers to grade, but I don't have to go home with the frustrations of a bad day. I will let myself be someone other than the teacher when I go home.
• I will get to know my fellow teachers better - give them an opportunity to vent about their classroom problems with me, offer help if I can. I will be the teacher who brings in birthday cards for all the other teachers to sign.

A CHRISTMAS POEM FOR TEACHERS

Don't Forget Jesus

Christmas is a special time

To reflect on Jesus Christ

The wonder of His lowly birth

Brings meaning to our lives

There is really no other reason

We celebrate this day

The birth of God's precious son

And the life He willingly gave

But so much seems to distract us

In the swiftness of our lives

We lose our focus in all the happenings

Not knowing, we leave out Christ

We lose sight of the true meaning

As we endlessly rush about

Trying to find that perfect gift

Seems to cloud our Savior out

We need to stop and reflect awhile

Remembering our precious Lord

His birth, His life and sacrifice

And all that He stands for

For though the world may celebrate

It seems for other reasons

Let's keep in mind that Jesus Christ

Is the true meaning of the season

ANG AKING BAYANI

One afternoon sometime in the last days of July, a first year student hesistantly approached me and handed me a note(?) written on a pink sheet of paper. At first, she was shy so I have to goad her and ask, "What can I do for you?" Then she handed me the letter and walked away hurriedly. I knew this young lady so I was amused of her behavior just then. I became curious so I read what she wrote...

Para sa akin ang aking bayani sa campus ay si Sir Carlo, kasi siy ay nagtuturo sa atin kung ano'ng tamang gagawin sa eskuwelahan. Minsan nasisilayan ko siyang pumupulot ng mga kalat na kanyang nakikita. Nasasabi ko na siya ay isang bayani dahil siya ay naging Punong-guro rin ng St. Mary's Academy.

Sa lahat na taong nakita ko, siya ay may talino at kakayahang tayo ay maging mabait. Habang siya ay Punong-guro, siya ri'y nagtuturo ng Computer III at iba pa. Kung wala siya, walang mangangalaga sa eskwelahang ito.

Ikaw ay isang bayani para sa akin. Ikaw ay matalino, at mahalaga ka sa buhay ko. Dahil ikaw ay nangangalaga ng eskwelahan ko, ikaw ang aking bayani.

I was flattered reading the letter not because I was being looked up to as a hero. I was very happy because at least one student has appreciated my effort of keeping our school clean. I was so touched by how much she put premium on such a very mundane task of picking up trash left behind by not so responsible students. This is one of the many simple things that make teaching very fulfilling.

MENTORING THE MENTORS

During the semestral break, I went to Tacloban City (last Oct. 27) for a very special purpose. I was invited by my very close friend, S. Raphael, to talk with the high school teachers of the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM), the congregation where she belongs. It was actually a three-day seminar-workshop on curriculum re-engineering, creative strategies and performance assessment. It was a hands-on exercise aimed at updating the curricula with intensive values integration and provision on how to implement and evaluate learning based on such curricula.

Basically, our main objective was to engineer a student-centered, contextualized curriculum that strikes a balance between content and values integration and that caters to the needs of students in a technology-driven environment. Our specific objectives were the following:

1. To acquaint teachers on varied ways of integrating values across the curricula
2. To know how to prepare lessons incorporating values that address social concerns
3. To familiarize various computer applications enhancing student learning experience
4. To formulate authentic student assessments/evaluations and scoring rubrics

Besides regular classroom teachers, academic heads and the different subject area coordinators were also invited to join because I felt they may also benefit from the output of the seminar. Christian Living teachers were also invited to help them in the preparation of their syllabi; however, the lesson plan proposed in the seminar did not follow the hermeneutical cycle.

There were various activities done during the in-service training. There were a number of meaning-making engagements on the school Vision-Mission statements, core values and related values and curriculum engineering. Based on the syllabus format I proposed, we went into lesson planning. My talk on creative teaching strategies focused mainly on the application of computer in teaching such as the PPT presentation, blogging and e-sites. I ended my three-day workshop with a head-breaking (according to the participants) workshop on authentic assessment, rubrics making and portfolio preparation.

I enjoyed so much my encounter with the teachers. Although most of them had difficulty at first, as the seminar went on they were able to accommodate; thus, they understood more and promised me to apply in their school and respective classes the pedagogical insights they have learned. I believed that they would in the since that S. Raphael purposely brought me there for them to accomplish something next year-some sort of teacher blackmail(?).

BIRTHDAY WISH

Last Nov. 12 was my birthday. I did not go to school then but some of my students visited me home. They brought with them food and a lot of wishes for good health...

...and many more birthdays to come. Thank you very much!

You made me very happy that day.

Editorial - QUALITY CONTROL

The following is an Editorial that came out Dec. 27, 2008 in Philippine Star. I am posting it in my blog because it talks about quality education in the country (or the lack of it).

The country needs more educational institutions. But it doesn’t need more schools that provide substandard education. The Commission on Higher Education, alarmed by a surge in the opening of new colleges and universities by local government units, has asked the Department of the Interior and Local Government for help. CHED and DILG officials have forged an agreement imposing a moratorium on the opening of new colleges and universities by LGUs.

CHED officials have noted that local government councils simply issue resolutions authorizing the establishment of colleges and universities. This is in response to an ever-growing demand for higher education, especially for courses that offer good prospects for finding jobs overseas. But there is so much more to offering higher education than opening a school. The high failing rate in various professional licensure examinations is a manifestation of the problem. Over the past decades, the quality of Philippine education has deteriorated so much, and the problem has not been sufficiently contained.

While the lack of classrooms and school buildings has contributed to the problem, there are other factors that must be addressed to improve the quality of education. The use of substandard textbooks in public schools — a problem caused by corruption and incompetence — must be stopped. Poor pay especially in public schools has driven many of the country’s best teachers to find jobs overseas. That loss has taken a steep toll on the quality of education.

Lacking teachers, many schools have been forced to hire even people without the required qualifications for the job. A number of these teachers cannot even detect factual and grammatical errors in government-issued substandard textbooks. Many teachers lack English proficiency as well as competence in mathematics and science, and the lack rubs off on their students. Computers are sitting idle in many public schools because there aren’t enough teachers with proper training in information and communication technology.

Several programs are now underway, most of which are supported by the private sector, to raise the competence of a core group of teachers, who can in turn train other teachers all over the country. The skills upgrading cannot happen overnight. Until the level of competence of teachers can be raised, local governments should leave the business of higher education to educators. - (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

"VISITATION OF THE GODS"

We had our ESC/FAPE certification today, November 22. It is a Saturday but all of the school community including some parents are sweating it out with Ma'am Pearly, S. Agnes and Ma'am Flor. All in all the experience was indeed very educational, though the preparation really tested the very ends of our patience.

The certifiers arrived quite early barely missing the first period. After introducing themselves to us and the teachers, they went right away to observing classes. English I, Math I and Chemistry were the subjects being observed. The feedback after the observation was very favorable. It was heart warming after all the efforts that the teacher had made just to perfect the implementation of the RVM pedagogy.

Afterwards, the trio went around visiting some of our facilities. There were a lot of comments for the Science laboratory in as much as we lack one more; However, what we lack for the Science laboratory we amply compensated in the Library, Speech laboratory, the Computer laboratory, the Guidance and the CL office. Facilities-wise, Mrs. Quinones was impressed, she even suggested why not raise the tuition fee to compensate for what the school is providing her students.

In the afternoon, interviews with the members of the school community were conducted. All were excited and were looking forward to really meeting the certifiers up close and personal. In the middle of the interview though, I lost my cool because some first year students were very noisy-I went to the extent of boxing one. That was borne out of frustration. Some of our students just could not really contained their foolishness and stupidity. Everything went well though.

Things were all finished at around four in the afternoon. Amidst gusty winds and sudden heavy downpour, the certifiers left equally fulfilled as we do feel this afternoon!

WHAT MAKES LIFE AS A TEACHER FRUSTRATING

I have been teaching for almost ten years. All the while I thought that this is really my vocation-it is here where I feel I belong. However, this year (SY 2008-09) is my all time low as a teacher. Never in my ten years of teaching have I been so challenged leading to so much frustrations and feelings of utter helplessness and bewilderment. What have I done wrong? Or what good have I not done well that I deserve to feel this way. I AM SO FRUSTRATED WITH TEACHING THIS YEAR. I have quite a number of reasons to wit.

ARE THE STUDENTS GETTING DUMBER AND MORE STUPID?
This year, I made it a pact with my soul that I have to instill even a semblance of discipline among the students. I have observed that our students' behavior has deteriorated from worse several years ago to worst this year. Though they have been reciting like morons and headless corpse the school's vision, its real meaning doesn't sink in at all in their meager gray matters. They do not seem to understand at all where our vision is supposed to bring them, of what the vision is supposed to mold them to be. So pathetic...and what a waste of both time and effort.

HAVE THE STUDENTS' FEELING BEEN NUMBED BY TOO MUCH PAIN IN THE FAMILY?
Observing our students, I come to a conclusion that most of them have a sad family and a very less supportive relations. I may be wrong but the way our students are misbehaving in school is a blatant and blunt display of how repressive and oppressive their families are. I cannot imagine where most of our students are coming from! Most of them do not know the difference between clean and dirty that they can consume their snacks in total abandon of the garbage and trash all around drowning them in an endless ocean of kalat.

HAVE THE STUDENTS BEEN GETTING A BAD EXAMPLE FROM US TEACHERS AND THEIR PARENTS?
If this be true, then I might as well resign from teaching and die. But I am quite sure that in our own little ways and in all our gargantuan efforts, the teachers have been trying their best to be of good example to our students. Sometimes though, our teachers do feel down and may have started showing not so favorable actions and behaviors to our students. But these students (if they only have been thinking) would have had understood that the very cause of their teachers losing their cool is they themselves. Ito na kasi ang mahirap sa mga manhid at mga bobong estudyante. Talaga ngang hindi makakaintindi. Tatanga-tanga...tanga naman talaga. Or are the parents the culprit? No comment.

THE SAD REALITY OF STUDENTS' ENGLISH

I used to teach English, until last April when I got the hang of it and decided that this year I will teach English IV no more. One of the reasons why I lasted long teaching English is the satisfaction I get at the end of the year when I got to peruse over well-written portfolios of some of the best writing outputs in English from students. I rested from handling English IV because I want to give others the same experience I always get-the euphoria, the high-when I realized at the end how I succeeded as a teacher, looking and reading at some of the best literary works submitted to me by my students. Unfortunately, this may not be the case this year for my English teachers. The English proficiency of our students, both oral and written, is discouraging, frustrating and down-right wrong!

CONTENT. One measure of how good a student is in English, is the content of what one talks about and what one writes about. Sadly, most students today talk of things very nonsensical-others are even stupid-when asked to speak or write about a topic. Most topics written usually are childish which are expounded in an equally childish manner. The levels of comprehension of the English language by our students is very low. They have not developed the higher order thinking skills yet. This is sad but we teachers I think are also to blame.

ORGANIZATION. Students' written outputs today do not have organization. Is it because they are not taught how to organize? Or simply, is thought organization so difficult to understand? I think both. Listen or better, read student written speeches or compositions. Do they make sense? Chances are, only a few. Thought organization may be improved through practice. If we ask our students to talk more in English, write more in English, they will definitely improved.

MECHANICS. Most students fail in English mechanics. Blatantly, they have not been taught well in their younger years of the grammar and syntax of the language. Furthermore, and surprisingly, some English teachers do not know how to teach mechanics too. And sealing off the coffin's lid, the infuential text English. Du i nid 2 elbr8?

STUDENTS' PERSONAL BLOGS

In one of the education journal articles that I have read, an English teacher recommended personal blogging among his students. He gave several good reasons, some of which I am going to cite, but he also cautioned that a personal blog may also be a way for students to go against others, the school, the community and even the country as a whole. (Definitely, this sounds a little bit absurd.) Well, as to my experience, asking students to create and maintain their own personal blogs is both fulfilling and frustrating.

Creating and more so, maintaining a personal blog improve the student's knowledge about himself. This does not stop at what he knows and how he manipulates the language, but really a knowledge of himself as a person. It serves as one Johari's window. Because writing is introspective, posting something, anything in one's blog requires reflective thinking. Reflection and introspection help the students know more themselves as a person, as a student and as a Filipino.

The downside of blogging however is quite a number though. One there is, is difficulty of manipulating the language to suit individual special needs depending upon the situation and occasion. Several students find it very difficulty to express themselves using the English language. It is not that they do not have anything to say, but it has to do with how to express what they feel in grammatically correct and structurally acceptable syntax.

Isn't it therefore, that blogging may help improve the students' reflective thinking and written communicative skill if they keep on blogging? This may be a sound judgment following Thorndike's law o exercise-the more you keep on doing one thing, the more that you become good at doing that thing!

ONE HAPPY TEACHER IN OUR MIDST

...IN FAITH, OF EXCELLENCE, FOR SERVICE

What happened?
I was an accidental teacher—so they said. Eight years ago, I was asked to substitute for a Biology class in St. Mary’s Academy, Dalaguete, Cebu. The Biology teacher, who happened to be my close friend, got married. I taught for about two months and for the next school year, got hired to teach Technology and Livelihood Education. I fell in love with my new work; thus, I opted to take up 18 Education units to equip me more for my newfound love. After seven years of teaching and at the same time studying, I earned my Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Management. Today I am an accidental teacher no more. I am…a teacher.

Why did it happen?
I am a teacher today and it happens all for a reason. Fourteen years ago, I was a promising young doctor. Armed with zeal and idealism, I went home to Dalaguete only to be humbled by the realization that most patients could not afford the high costs of medical service and medicines. The tall order, therefore, was patient education rather than patient treatment and rehabilitation. I had to educate people how not to get sick and I thought the best person to start was with the young, the children. I became a teacher because I wanted to. I am a medical doctor by profession but by will and choice, I am today a teacher by vocation.

What could this mean?
Because I willed to become a teacher, the meaning of this is all so clear—I have a mission to fulfill. However, this mission was not apparent to me then. I thought I chose to be a teacher only to educate my students how not to get sick. I thought I chose to be a teacher only to educate my students. I realized I was wrong when I knew more Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo and the humble servanthood of this valiant woman. My being a teacher is God’s fulfillment in me of Mother Ignacia’s values of faith, excellence and service. My life today and my being a teacher is a call for me to a mission of faith, excellence and service.

What is the implication of this?
I am a teacher called to a mission of faith, excellence and service—Mother Ignacia’s core values. I believed in God the way every other Catholic does. I excelled in many things the way a ruthless competitor does. I served the way every other person does, expecting something in return. All these I was and I did before, not so unlike any other ordinary person. Nevertheless today, because I am a Marian-Ignacian teacher, I struggle to live an exemplary life of faith and prayer. I sacrifice a lot in the name of integrity, competence and discipline. I literally breathed with the poor, the weak and the unprivileged. I live and lead a simple life today. I am a teacher called to a mission…one happy teacher in faith, of excellence and for service.

EDUCATION - Keystone to Freedom and Progress?

Former Education Secretary, Raul Roco once said, “Pag ikaw’y may edukasyon, para kang nakasandal sa pader.”

Why? What is education? Unfortunately, we Filipinos today have a wrong notion of what real education is. If our point of education is to land a job and work abroad as caregivers, then we might as well be not educated at all. If our point of education is merely to find gainful employment which more regrettably is where our current educational system now is predicated, then we might us well not go to school and turn these once very noble edifices of learning into what? Markets? Trading places? Or maybe not as worse, vocational schools?

The point of education is not just to enable students to work; it is to enable students to THINK. The point of education is not just to impart skills; it is to IMPART VISION. The point of education is not just to prepare the student to face the “outside world.” The point of education is to EDUCATE.

Ignorance comes not without a price. A lot has been clamoring for the high cost of education. I say, “Try ignorance. Can you afford the price of ignorance?” The problem why we Filipinos have not been totally liberated from the bondage of all which ail humankind is simply because most of us are ignorant. Sadly, we flaunt our literacy rate to be one of the highest in the world. But what kind of literacy are we talking about here? If we are almost all educated, then why do most of us are still poor and self-indulging from the crumbs of government officials who vulgarly parade there PhD degrees? All of us are literate because we have been to school once but most of us are functionally illiterate because we have not been taught how to think. Instead, we have been schooled in institutions which skilled us with all the tricks in the bag on how to be mediocre, on how to short-changed others, on how to make money easier by cheating, on how to live life to die a lot much faster than I can deliver this speech. Have we been taught how to think like human beings should do?

Education is liberating only, and only if it equates to functional literacy. I say, “You have been educated in the real sense. Why will you be able to proudly say now that you are free?”

I would like to go beyond what your traditional school taught you how to define freedom. According to what I learn from the school which teaches how to think, freedom is eternal happiness. Am I talking eschatological or something metaphysical here? Yes and yes to both.

When education becomes a way of liberating oneself from the burdens of what ail humankind and thus results to pleasure and joy, then education has served its purpose. Let us talk about poverty. The paucity of needs to sustain life and the worsening of our living conditions may be multi-factorial; thus, must not only be blamed to the President of this power-hungry nation. What really is the main reason of poverty which prevents us from enjoying life with much pleasure and joy? Simply, ignorance-the powerlessness to think! Most of us haven’t thought that we are not supposed to be poor. Most of us haven’t thought that we are supposed to be ruled by fair laws and not by unfair lawmakers. Most of us haven’t thought that we are not just to pray for food but to work for food. Most of us haven’t thought how to think at all! All because we have not been educated in the real sense. We are poor now and we will continue to wallow in poverty and misery if we will not think. Only then will education serve its purpose of freeing us from whatever ails humankind and consequently bringing us life full of pleasure and joy. May I not serve to bother your conscience now though. Education indeed can be the key to freedom; however, man in order to be totally free must get rid of himself from the quagmires of poverty. He has to think.

Poverty is the sole reason why we will not progress. Poverty, in fact, is the absence of progress. In order for the whole nation to progress, every citizen should be living in a condition worthy of human dignity. No segment of society should be left out. Yes, I believe this can be done by education for education is to impart vision not just skills. A truly educated person thinks of the future, has a vision of his future and works for the attainment of this future. Education therefore, makes one goal-oriented. Again, we would like to believe that ours is a country of literate Filipinos. But how come we are not progressive? How come still majority of us Filipinos live below the poverty line? How come dirty and sick children still roamed around city streets? How come women still sell themselves for even a few dollars less? How come fathers still left there families to work abroad? How come only a few managed to make it with life in this country? “We are educated,” I say, but why are we poor?

I don’t want to burden your heavy hearts now with more rhetoric. I have made my points clear. I believe and I will die with this belief that education indeed is the key to freedom, and that freedom is imperative for progress; but if we still cling on to that notion of education for work and not education for life, then we might as well die buried in stone slabs. For instead of a solid wall to lean on according to Secretary Raul Roco, the wall will come crashing heavily on our heads to make us think that education is there to educate! It would be too late to realize, for we will have been dead by then. In pace requiescat!

MY PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

…that scientific theory should be extrapolated and proven true in life’s greatest atrocities;
…that mathematical calculation should equate the poor and the oppressed with those basking in opulence;
…that language and the spoken words should break the silence of the dumb and set them free.

Because the world outside the four walls of the school is one humongous laboratory teeming with God’s living creation, it is my dream that once my students are out of the narrow confines of the school corridors, these young minds will have realized that real life is lived outside by real people in a more than surreal world.

…open their eyes and make them see that not a single scientific theory can ever justify the pains and irreverent losses of life in treacherous killings and senseless war;
…open their minds and make them realize that not a single mathematical logic can ever equate the poor and the opulent;
…open their ears and make them hear that not a single spoken language can ever set free the dumbfounded;
…open their eyes and open their ears and make them realize what real life is.

To accomplish these, I must do the following:
I will blind my students with prudence to make them see the repercussions tomorrow of their actions today;
I will flood them with temperance to make them rein and take hold of their passions and dispassions;
I will have them gain fortitude to make them win life’s seemingly intractable battles;
I will treat them with justice to make them deal fairly with themselves, their neighbors and God;
I will skill them with sound cognition, manual dexterity and unwavering determination for real life is not for the imbecile, the lazy and the indecisive.

These tall orders I set on myself can only be realized in holistic development and integral formation of my students. These can only be done in an environment that puts premium on diversity, in an atmosphere that encourages students to fail and redefine failures to become vehicles of success.

My instructional approach therefore should simulate real outside world. Team building and cooperation among students and teachers are not just encouraged but are must in order for all to have a full grasp of real life situations. The teacher becomes a facilitator of learning, a co-partner in the pedagogical process. In no way will he permeate sarcasm and cast doubts in the minds of the students.

Learning is structured and modular to fit in the core of my tasks. In the center of the educative process is the student. The curricula, school activities, classroom discussions and lesson plans are designed to insure total transformation of the students into Marian leaders molded from the harmonious intermarriage of global and scientific pedantry and the time-tested Christian virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.

My instructional supervisory behavior revolves around collaborative decision making for a more cohesive and efficient organization. I have to maintain a highly motivated group of pedagogues acting as my co-equals by satisfying not only their basic wants for maintenance but rather indemnifying their autonomy and actualization needs. The spirit of collegiality, openness and friendly bantering of ideas and opinions permeates the organizational climate because of two way communication. My leadership style is eclectic – facilitative and transformative. I draw inspirations from Nehemiah, the biblical figure who rebuilt the fallen walls of Jerusalem in just fifty-two days which originally was built for more than a hundred years. Institutional changes move subtly from contentment before the issue of change is raised to chaos when the answers of the problem come then ultimately to self-renewal when confusions are settled.

Though my dreams, my visions seemed afar but a flicker of hope shines through. Gargantuan they may be, but I have to surmount the challenges and face the odds of the tasks in hand. Inspired by the humble servanthood of Mother Ignacia and the fiat of the Virgin Mother, I know I can and I more than know that I will and I should.

EXTRA CHALLENGE - Religio, Mores, Cultura

I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of You.

After this summer, I will be a graduate of De la Salle University, Manila—albeit unofficially. When I go home, I impose upon myself the challenge to live up to the Lasallian spirituality of faith, of ardent zeal to teach and of community. This imposition, however, is in no way a moral obligation which demands public censure when abandoned in unjustifiable oblivion. This apparently compelling act is a humble response to the Lasallian challenge of right relation with God, the right relation with my fellow men and women, and the right appreciation of my tradition.

Religio. John Baptist de la Salle’s faith in God is beyond question. When he “declassed” himself to live and lead a frugal life in order to be with the poor, demanded immense faith in God’s ultimate plan for him. I don’t know. Yet he persisted. Call it a blind faith but faith after all is blind. When I decided to rest from hospital practice, I blindly followed my heart which led me to a small Catholic high school in our place. I am a doctor by profession but by taking the risk eight years ago, I am now a teacher by vocation. I don’t know. Where would this lead me? I asked myself eight years ago. Now, I know. By taking a blind leap of faith, I found my Faith. Religio.

Mores. John Baptist de la Salle’s love for his fellow men and women is beyond question. When he “denounced” his priestly title (not the function) to become a brother, he showed to us all how he valued human relation next to God. From this extraordinary regard for his fellowmen sprang forth a unique brotherhood which brought to us a distinctive kind of Christ-centered education—the De la Salle schools. I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of You. I may have stopped listening heart beats with the stethoscope but in the process won the many innocent hearts of my students and their parents. With John’s inspiration, I hope to be instrumental in the success of whomever I have met and become a brother to. Mores.

Cultura. John Baptist de la Salle’s faith in God and his love for his fellowmen were all geared towards a true spirit of community. He preserved tradition but he was not traditional. He adhered to convention but he was not conventional. He revolutionized education yet he was not revolutionary. He preserved tradition; he adhered to convention and he revolutionized education all for the spirit of true community. He envisioned an almost perfect community where conventions were adhered to and traditions preserved for the future of humanity. I adore in all things, the will of God, in my regard. I am not John and never will I become him but with his humbling experience with God, I believed that in my own simple ways I can help preserve traditions and make life more bearable for all. I can do this by becoming one of the best Christian educators I can be. I have to live and conduct myself as one good model of Christian virtues. I am not perfect but with John de la Salle’s inspiration and example, I am more challenged to work hard to getting close to perfect. Nobody is perfect. Cultura.

Religio, Mores, Cultura. When I go home next month, it will not be a welcome of much pomp and pageantry because I have graduated from the premier university—the De la Salle University, Manila. When I go home next month, it will be of renewed vigor and spirit to accomplish the extra challenges which I have kindly imposed upon myself. Call me not a masochist for I am not. These self-imposed challenges of right relation with God, the right relation with my fellow men and women, and the right appreciation of my tradition fail dismally in comparison to what St. John Baptist de la Salle have done and have gone through. This self-imposed challenge is my humble response to a call for a unique spirituality that hinges on the spirit of faith, ardent pedagogical zeal and true community. Only then when I will have faced and won the challenges can I call myself a true blooded green archer for now I am not. Religio, Mores, Cultura.

Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!

(This was written three years ago, on my last summer in La Salle)

PEDAGOGY OF THE HEART (VI)

The teacher as steward of the educative process can only be a liberating force if he touches not just the minds but the hearts of the students as well. Because of the deterioration of the basic education system in the Philippines, there is really a need for all teachers to reconsider shifting pedagogical paradigms-from mere spoon feeder of garbage to political agents of permanent human liberation. May we be the new breed of stewards entrusted with young minds and hearts hungry for knowledge that will create a surge of moral regeneration, that will boost some high to catatonic slumbering self-esteems that will have our future graduates wagering high stakes in global economy. According to Einstein, education is an opportunity for us all to enjoy life. We have only but one life to live but the lives we touch, the minds we nurture and the hearts we taught how to make a difference are a multitude. Let us therefore be the best teacher-stewards of our students for the greatest teacher of us all is Himself the best steward of all.

PEDAGOGY OF THE HEART (V)

PARADIGM SHIFT: PROBLEM-POSING PEDAGOGY

Every shy and small step of a student, however, may lead this young innocent heart to his freedom (in eschatological sense) when the teachers today make a paradigm shift in the art of teaching - from banking to problem-posing pedagogy. This archetypal pedagogical shift not only nurtures the mind but also touches the heart. This is the kind of teacher stewardship that respects and nurtures the giftedness in the student to promote the growth of his person and the community where he belongs. The student becomes a co-equal in the pursuit of knowledge. He has the freedom to control the assimilation of facts and to engage in creating knowledge out of observed realities; hence, it deepens the student's inherent curiousity into a tool of inquiry. The teacher creates possibilities and paves the way for the production of knowledge. He does not force learning but manufactures knowledge through active dialogue with the student. This requires critical consciousness from the student for him to construct knowledge through consciously relating with the real world and what is happening around him. He develops awareness of societal realities and sees the world as a reality in the process of transformation leading him to help the world transform so in new directions. When the teacher touches the heart of his student, it carries out that human vocation of transforming reality rather than adapting to it.

PEDAGOGY OF THE HEART (IV)

TEACHER-TRAP: BANKING PEDAGOGY

Every young students today falls a hapless victim to a teacher-trap of wrong stewardship. Although a sad fact, most students today sit in a class of banking pedagogy. Practiced by most teachers, this lackluster art of teaching grossly violates the student's humanity because it does not acknowledge his creative faculty. The teacher inside the classroom is the only all-knowing person and no one else. The moronic icon loads the student with all the facts, with all the knowledge he thinks the student must memorize without the latter being critically conscious about them. In this imbecilic exercise, the teacher suffocates the child's natural active curiosity and invalidly assesses learning by asking the student to recite like endless litany what garbage gets in the latter's young mind-withdrawing garbage from the empty mental vault. The student becomes a passive learner and the teacher (presumably thinking he is intelligent) assumes the role...of a mere spoon feeder. This is false stewardship because the teacher treats the student as an object in a system of knowledge. It wrongly portrays the world as static, finished and unchangeable; thus, it mirrors the dominating structure of an oppressive society.

PEDAGOGY OF THE HEART (III)

CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP

The deteriorating basic education system in the country has its toll ultimately on the psycho-spiritual frames of mind and economic potentials of the soon to be many Filipino graduates in higher education. Moral degeneration unfortunately has crept on almost every young Filipino's innocent mind. As if in demented stupor, phlegmatic personalities due to functional illiteracy have lowered some more every young Filipino's self-esteem. Sadly, in the global market, every Filipino graduate has been relegated to a mere spectator status, not the major player. All these things will continue to haunt every young Filipino child who goes to school because of the teachers' failure to live out stewardship based on Christian tenets.

PEDAGOGY OF THE HEART (II)

THE TEACHER AS STEWARD

A teacher engaged in the art of teaching is the steward of such a noble profession. Such art deals with real people - students intrinsically with emotions capable of reacting to any outside stimulus. Hence, an expert pedagogue is a morally good and emotionally stable person relating with young minds and hearts. Short of punning, a teacher being a steward of young minds and hearts must therefore engage in the practice of sound stewardship. This is generally manifested as the teacher disposing responsibly his time and talent for the love of his students. It is also evident if the teacher makes himself available for service where and when needed beyond what is expected generously, freely and voluntarily. This is also apparent when he respects and nurtures the giftedness in his students to promote the growth of persons and the community. Lastly, stewardship is reaching out to the least of the students tirelessly so that all may enjoy fullness of life in Jesus Christ. Only then can the educative process be a liberating force and a profitable venture as how Einstein believed it to be.

PEDAGOGY OF THE HEART (I)

THE CHALLENGE TO THE TEACHER AS STEWARD
A Political Praxis for Permanent Human Liberation

Nobody is more correct when the Man of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, once said,

"Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs."

Einstein believed that the educative process is a human force of liberation. Education was even wrongly touted to be the all-solution to the vicious cycle of poverty that forever haunts the Third World countries such as the Philippines. Erroneously, because the Philippines remains poor however she vulgarly flaunts her seemingly very high rate of literacy. The country is not graduating quality professionals, rather than mediocre peons drowned in the global competitiveness which now characterizes the new economy. Anybody though does not have to be a genius to surmise that there is really something wrong with the country's basic education system. Has the art of teaching deplorably become artless? There is therefore a call for a new pedagogy. The teacher as steward of the educative process can only be a liberating force if he touches not just the minds but the hearts of the students as well. (End of Part I)

ELECTRONIC GROUP SITES

e-SITE AND HOW IT AFFECTS LEARNING

I am a part time faculty member in our local community college, the University of the Visayas. One of the courses I am handling is Educational Technology I. Because of the very nature of the course, I required my students to sign up to an electronic group site that I prepared for them. I got mixed feelings afterwards.

What is the benefit of being a member to a group site? There are I think four, namely:

1. Increased learning by the student to the mastery level - Being the site moderator, I can fully upload files that I think will help my students better understand the course. Learning, therefore, is not limited only to what is in the textbook but rather, additional reading materials are readily available to the students should they wish to read some more. Students can even upload their own readings promoting sharing and cooperation among them.


2. Increased teaching efficiency without additional cost - Because of the nature of the Web, pictures, graphs, tables, presentations and even videos that complement topics discussed inside the classroom can be made freely available to all site members. Long distance teaching and teleconferencing can even be made possible if in case the teacher will not be physically available inside the classroom.


3. Decreased time taken for the students to obtain desired learning objectives - Obviously because the site takes into consideration the multiple intelligence and the learning style of the students, knowledge acquisition among them will be shorter. Students learn at their own pace; thus, making learning more efficient as compared if when the teacher dictates the pace of learning.


4. Reduced educational cost without affecting educational quality - Students may just log inside the site to read rather than photocopy all the notes made by the teacher. Course requirements may just also be uploaded to save money from printing all those encoded projects.

EVALUATION - FORMATIVE OR SUMMATIVE?

WHEN SHOULD A WRITTEN QUIZ BE GIVEN AND WHY?

There are times that when I sit down to observe a class (usually on informal visits), the students have nothing to do but answer a quiz. What is the nature of this quiz? Is this summative or formative?

It should always be that after a lesson the teacher has to evaluate whether the learning objectives were met. The teacher has to assess all three objectives-cognitive, affective and psychomotor. This evaluation must have been formative for its main objective is to determine whether learning took place. Unfortunately, only the cognitive aspect is evaluated!

So how do we consider a thirty-item test which is given neither as a periodic or quarterly exam? Can this be formative too? Mostly teachers give long exams which correspond to topics taken in one unit. Is this summative in nature? Let us remember, however, that before such a test the students have already been evaluated after every daily lesson; although, the latter is obviously formative, isn't it that a unit exam (in the guise of being summative), redundant in nature to a periodic exam or quarterly exam.

I was just wondering because quizzes are really supposed to be formative in nature and never summative. I always find it a waste of time giving long exams as summative evaluation because a periodic or quarterly exam does the same-quantify learning. Teachers may instead opt for an authentic task to evaluate learning rather than give a long quiz that is clearly to the teacher summative in nature and thus, a repition of the periodic or quarter exam.

Worst, if the long exam is just to feign lack of willingness to prepare one good lesson!

CONCEPT MAPPING AS DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

Most of the time I hear that concept maps are used to evaluate learning. Unknown to some teachers, a concept map is indeed a good diagnostic tool for determining prior knowledge of the students to the concepts still to be taken up.

If the pedagogy one adopts is constructivist, it is imperative that the teacher has to build new knowledge on the previous one. The teacher in order to activate prior knowledge will most likely just throw a question about the concept to be discussed. Based on the students right or wrong responses, he will build upon his lesson; however, this may be an invalid way of eliciting prior knowledge.

If the students have language deficiency and thus cannot express himself much orally, a concept map of the topic still to be discussed may be helpful.

CURRICULUM MAPPING

WHEN IS IT BEST DONE

However well a teacher plans his lesson, there will always be a time that a good plan may not be carried out successfully in the classroom. There is a number of reasons why such preparation goes awry. A good teacher, however, does not just stop at a lesson that has gone wrong. He should ask himself questions-what went wrong that such a good intention went bad. A teacher should reflect on what happens to his teaching everyday.

In reflecting what has transpired inside the classroom, it is a good practice to mark the lesson plan for the day with comments on what really transpired, what did not happen, the reasons why it did not happen, what are the good things that have happened and what are the things done or taught which have not been included in the plan. This is curriculum mapping.

Inasmuch as the map will be used for planning the curriculum for the next school year, when is curriculum mapping best done? To my opinion, it is best done weekly. The subject teacher must do the mapping every week for all the subjects he is teaching. Furthermore, a quarterly curriculum mapping by discipline should also be done. Such will give a twofold effect: (1) Teachers are able to share best practices that they may use in their future lessons, and (2) Intensive curriculum map will be done and curriculum re-engineering for the next school year will be a lot easier.

THE HURRIED CHILD

ARE PARENTS CURRICULUM EXPERTS?

Let me get this straight. I am a high school teacher and curriculum engineer. Today is the start of the school year 2008-2009. Except for some glitches, classes were able to start well on time. When I met my counterpart from the elementary department, she blurted out that a parent decided to withdraw her child and transfer him to another school. We cannot argue with the parent because,inapparently, they know best. When I asked what was the reason she would transfer her child, the mother had answered, "The lesson is not very 'intensive'."

Whatever the parent meant by "intensive", definitely she is after the best for her child. But who should determine what is best for the child...or for this matter, the student? Isn't it that we are suppose to follow a learning continuum (as prepared by the congregational education ministry) and the PELC (by the DepEd) in planning and preparing what to teach. The curricular content-skill and concept-should be based on the prescribed minimum requirements set by the government. It is very sad that our parents thought that if we teach algebra in Kindergarten or genetics in Grade III, they are getting their money's worth.

The school, after consultation with the parents, should decide solely on what to teach. We should let our students learn at a pace that suites each one best. Please, let us not "hurry" our children. Sige dali, sige dali dayun wala hinoon kauli.

IN TOUCH WITH ONE'S SPIRITUALITY

"ROOM TO READ"

In one episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show the topic was about getting in touch with our own spirituality-that is the longing for something more in life. One guest then was John Wood. He worked for Microsoft before and was used to life of comfort and abundance. To escape from the rigors of work, he decided to take a vacation in Nepal one day. There he met one government official working for the Nepalese Department of Education.

John was very interested of the plight of the young Nepalese students that he asked the official to show him one of the local grade schools in the place. The school was delapidated and the library had only eight books that to him were not for the young students at all. He promised to help the school and send books; however, to his dismay, the official told him that every foreigner who had visited them promised the same but did not fulfill them. This saddened John.

When he went back home, John resigned from Microsoft and with his connections started soliciting for both financial help and books to be sent to Nepal. The rest is history. His foundation today-Room to Read-has helped a lot of schools from developing countries. He was able to establish several libraries and continued donating books to them. He admitted that today definitely he is earning less, but the satisfaction he has is more than what he had before when he was earning so much from Microsoft.

HIGH COST OF EDUCATION

I have once read a line that goes something like, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." There is no doubt as to the wisdom of this adage. Indeed quality education is expensive. Why should it be?

Quality education, first and foremost, demands quality teaching, and quality teaching in return demands quality teachers. I may be blunt with this but only a few education graduates-elementary or high school-are capable of teaching well. Teachers who have just passed the LET still need to be trained in the art of teaching well. Obviously, trainings for such intent cost some money.

There is also today a "migration" of good teachers abroad in search of that proverbial greener pasture. We cannot blame these teachers. What an ordinary teacher earns today is as much as what a utility worker of any refutable business company takes home for his family. It's sad really. So as for good teachers not to leave school, they should be paid well; thus, the increase in tuition fee.

I just hope that people will also be considerate of the plight of private schools and the reasons why they have to increase the tuition fees.

WRITING A CHARACTER ANALYSIS

"DESPERATE PATRIOTISM"

A lot has been said of how useful portfolio assessment is. I attended a preservice seminar-workshop in our local college yesterday (being a part time faculty member), and the facilitator talked about portfolio under her topic on alternative assessment. I talked to a fellow participant and I told her that I have portfolios of my senior English class. She said that she would like to see some and hopefully ask for one.

This morning, I went through one portfolio and started reading some artifacts. My attention got caught in a character analysis of Brutus in "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. The student wrote that Brutus may have good intentions but his way of achieving that end was not at all acceptable. (Sounds like the end does not justify the means.) Brutus was for the good of Rome, but the people saw only his role in the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Through his reflection, the student was able to see Brutus in Trillanes, one of the leaders of the failed coup attempt against Pres. Arroyo. Being an intelligent student, he was able to compare well Brutus with Trillanes. What struck me most, however, is this line: Their (referring to the Magdalo soldiers) vainly rebellious act is a desperate patriotism.

I do not want to say that I did not read the character analysis when it was submitted. It was only this morning, though, that I realized how much my student has had gone through in stringing words that did not just sound poetic but were very apt to that particular sad past of Philippine politics. I liked so much his words that indeed he was right to include the character analysis as one of his showcase portfolio artifacts. Definitely, the rest of the critical essay reads more than sensibly well!

INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

LISTENING AND SUGGESTING

In the course of my role as an instructional leader, I have come to realize the importance of listening before giving suggestions. In any classroom observation, we cannot disregard the need for a pre-observation conference. During this time, listening is very important to level expectations; however, I find listening as important during the post-evaluation conference.

Before making any comment (which as much as possible is constructive) listen first to what the teacher being observed has to say about the classroom engagement that has just taken place. Let him talk freely, and redirect him as to how he could have improved much better his performance and consequently, the students' reactions.

Teachers appreciate a principal who suggests ways on how the lesson may be improved next time. This must be done, though, after listening how the teacher himself assesses his performance based primarily on the students' reaction and understanding of the concepts and acquisition of the skills targeted for that particular lesson.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE SYLLABUS

We cannot question the importance of a functional syllabus in quality instruction. It plays a major role in graduating quality and world class professionals. Unfortunately, not a good number of teachers know how to prepare one. I have this funny and equally sad experience that when teachers are asked to prepare a syllabus, they either ask a prepared syllabus from book companies of the textbook they intend to use or write one based on the lessons of the book that they have ordered and to be used for the in-coming school year.

The teacher or group of teachers in a disicipline should prepare the syllabus themselves based on the minimum learning competencies set by the Dept. of Education and the learning continuum of the education ministry of the congregation (in the case of private sectarian schools). Only then can instruction be truly considered a reflection of the Vision-Mission statements of the school.

UNCHECKED QUIZZES

WHAT ARE QUIZZES REALLY FOR?

There are two general ways of assessing learning - the traditional and the alternative. Most teachers opt for the traditional paper and pencil test after student engagement to supposedly evaluate learning. This brings me back to what happened yesterday.

When we were preparing the faculty room for the in-coming school year, a newly hired teacher saw unchecked quizzes in one of the old teachers drawers. I was disappointed and at the same time embarassed of what she discovered. Clearly, the teacher was at fault and I am partly to blame.

Sometimes teachers give quizzes for the sake of giving them without at all thinking of how the results could be used to further make instruction better. Short quizzes given after each lesson is supposed to be formative and never summative in nature; however, some teachers do insist and make short quizzes summative. This can be but primarily short quizzes after each lesson should evaluate how much students have understood, which in turn is a reflection of how well the teacher engages the class in the meaning-making exercise.

Unchecked quizzes only speaks of how naive a teacher is. He is not just wasting time giving the exam but he is indeed unfair to the students and to the rest of the school stakeholders and definitely that include myself. The damage has been done. I hope it still can be undone.

VALUES INTEGRATION II

HOW TO INTEGRATE VALUES

Yes, we know what to integrate and where to integrate. Our next problem now is how to integrate. This is indeed a problem because this is easier said than done. Values integration across the curriculum entails too much creativity on the part of the teacher. Let me talk about the daily lesson plan. In the standards of learning alone (SOL), the value/s integrated must already be very clear. In the learning content, the core value and the related value must also be articulated well together with the identification of the social orientation which reflects back to the affective SOL.

As prescribed by FAPE, there must be an introduction of the lesson, followed by interaction and then integration. In the integration part (which talks about the value/s), there should be:

• Integration across the discipline
• Core value integration
• Related value/s integration
• Reflection
• Biblical text identification

The reflection part and the biblical text identification strengthen values integration in as much as both are reflective in nature. The student goes into some sort of reflection to be able to relate the lesson of the day to real life situations and social problems.

Values integration indeed is not easy. But because we are for excellence, then it is imperative that we have to work for it. Good luck!

PREVENTING UNWANTED BEHAVIOR

Most of us teachers have lost our cool inside the classroom. This is very unfortunate and does not speak well of our classroom management skills. Why do students misbehave? Because we allow them to. Before everything gets out of control, the first thing any teacher has to do is assert authority inside the classroom; however, this is easier said than done.

How does one assert authority inside the classroom? There is only one sure way a teacher can successfully assert authority inside the class - prepare the lesson well and be the best teacher your students ever know. Once they know that you are a good teacher and honestly is working for them learning inside the class, definitely the first step towards classroom discipline has been clearly won.

VALUES INTEGRATION

Catholic schools have always been in the forefront of values integration. Everywhere and anywhere you go, you will hear curriculum managers and school administrators advocating integration of values across the curriculum. Questions, however, pop in the minds of teachers: What values to integrate? Where to integrate?

WHAT TO INTEGRATE
There are so many values that a teacher has to teach the students. So, which among them should be taught? The CORE VALUES which should have been clearly reflected in the Vision-Mission statements and that should have been the charisms of the congregtaional patron/patroness or founder/foundress. Unfortunately, some have not identified them! It is, therefore, imperative for a school to identify the core values she likes her students to live out and also to enumerate the related values under them.

WHERE TO INTEGRATE
Yes, we knew what to integrate; however, we do not know where really to integrate. Values should be integrated across the curriculum. From their identification from the congregational Vision-Mission statements, the core values should be articulated down to the focal points and essential questions (the syllabus), then to the periodic course outline (PCO), to the daily lesson plan, until the tasks that will assist learning.