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)