Am I back?

I keep telling myself I'm going back to writing but I have never actually written anything aside from meeting notes and grocery lists. Hopefully, this new chapter of me would lead me back. I'm still making up my mind on what to do with some olders posts here if I need to delete or just leave them as is. I also have a lot of drafts here that I can't remember why I started writing about them. Maybe I'll keep those unpublished ones as is, and maybe delete or edit some old posts to give a better direction for this blog in general. That's all for now.

It's been a while since I last posted. I am now on my third school year and also in my second school as a classroom teacher. Things are very different from looking outside as a teacher-trainer and there are times when I wish I'm back to holding training sessions but I still managed to survive and do well with my classes. Glad to be back blogging.

to the classroom!

It's been a month since the classes have started but the celebration for the realization of my dream of teaching in the classroom is still nowhere in sight nor in any anticipation thereof. And so I ask, am I living for my dream or my degree? Weird, as I always know and believe, I want to teach and I want to teach in the classroom.

back to the classroom

I think my long wait is over, I hear the students' noise from here.

chasing pavements (mid diagnosis edition)

Today ends my task on administering mid-diagnostics to grade 2s and grade 3s of our project entitled Every Reader a Leader. Since the start of the school year we’ve been going around different schools around the Metro to see where the students are with regard to their reading comprehension skills. And this one “last” day didn’t bring a good one, I lost most of the data because I’ve overlooked that the Deep Freeze is activated and the back up I got on my flash drive got infected by a stubborn virus that turns every folder into an EXE. At some point it would seem inappropriate to note their mid diagnosis since they’ve done no intervention after the first diagnosis. But just the same I felt bad that something started so smooth would be gone to waste.

another school year

It's my second school year outside the classroom, so I guess I have to content myself with occasional learning/play sessions with Maica.

On June 3, I had solo run for KidSmart Early Learning Program. And for this one I really mean solo, unlike the usual learning sessions and consultation visits I had before where I run the training with a back up co-facilitator or at least a driver waiting outside; I went to and fro the training venue by myself with all the training materials and gadgets.

It was a different kind of training, the modules were modified to fit the role of the Pediatric ward nurses as "play nurses". Instead of teaching strategies and classroom management we had our discussions focused more on the importance of creative play and guided play, and on the pedagogy of using computer tools to facilitate learning. And I believe the enjoyed it, they gladly shared their usual practices as well as other Playroom session experiences and I suggested to them additional activities and recommended new approaches to make “Playroom Time” a learning experience. I also gave them supplemental activities such as worksheets and shared with them how to source these kinds or worksheets/activities to make the patients’ playroom experience more exciting and to further enhance learning.

And then I introduced to them the Young Explorer computer and the software in it; their eyes lit up like the little kids who got their Christmas wishes (just like how it goes with teacher participants). Everyone's back to childhood. Everyone's eager to see more and to play more. We spent the rest of the day exploring and playing with the software and ended it with high anticipation of the coming days using the computer with the kids.

Getting ready

School is about to start in just a few weeks and as early as now teachers are already reporting back to their schools to make the necessary preparations like lesson plans, seatworks, activites and classroom decorations. And just like them I'm also preparing for the coming school year, I'm preparing myslef for the cunduct of the I.T. Enabled Learning Management Training. It is a 5-day training for teachers that focuses on understanding how Office Productivity Tools such as MS Office, Open Office and Lotus Symphony can be integrated into Classroom Management - from enrolment database to evaluation of student performance; developing instructional materials using MS Office / Open Office / Lotus Symphony; developing assessment tools using MS Office / Open Office / Lotus Symphony; creating databases of instructional materials and student records; tracking and analyzing student performance based on data; and,understanding the role of I.T. in making immediate and informed decisions based on student data. We'll have this for 2 runs next week May 18 - 22, 2009 and the following week May 25 - 29, 2009. If you wish to be part of my class just send me a message.

gone 2.0

Whoa! It's been a great while. I almost forgot about this blog and been too busy with the social network for teachers. Which I'm actually not getting much yet because I'm not a classroom teacher for the moment. But just the same I'm keeping myself posted and preparing myself for the possibility of collaborating more with teachers and students soon. And maybe if the signs could be promising I'll spearhead that classroom 2.0 for Filipino teachers.

Catch you again soon.

when parallel lines meet

I am happy that I was able to make the online tool work for the students and I was able to start mentoring them with their science research. On the other side of it I feel bad that I took me this long before I could figure out how to solve the problems we are having. Looking back, I hated the idea about this project being endorsed to me, not because I don't like this project but because I hate handling projects that has to be turned over in the middle of the implementation or where I was not part of the conceptualization.

chasing pavements (nth run)

I was drafting this post in my mind yesterday as we start a good day with our monitoring visits. There is no particular line up of schools but we need to prioritize meeting those who have "for pull out" status. We need to justify them and see how well or how very bad they're doing. And its a bit warmer than we first did our visit to them, the teachers are more accommodating and more excited to share about the status of the project. I have a theory for this: during summer they don't want to be disturbed because they are all busy being idle and that they hate being there in school for the summer break; and on school days they will entertain us so that they will be temporarily away from their boring routine/tasks/classes. It really not a well pondered theory but it bears a good point. (",)

Asan nga ba ako?

I'm totally lost. I am to hold a learning session for Math teachers tomorrow and it is a given fact that I am never good in Math and I guess I'll never be good at even if you put a currency sign before the numbers. Yes I did tutoring in Math for a year and did answer some math questions in Yahoo! Answers but it's completely different if I'll be handling Math teachers.

But anyway this challenge should never be avoided, and maybe--just maybe I'll get to like Math after this session.

GAME OVER

Last Monday I joined my colleagues to a badminton game in Cubao with the possibility that I could have my wall climbing while they are playing. The gym is the one that I mentioned in my blog about 2 years ago, it has eight badminton courts and on the far side it has wall climbing structure. They advised me to bring along my racket in case the wall is occupied and to maximize our court reservation of 3 hours. There were only five of us, we played doubles with a reserved player for whoever gets tired even within the set. And after more than an hour of smashing and picking shuttle cocks, we insintively decided to rest. The wall is unoccupied and the staff is just sitting on the side texting his hours away. I approached him and asked about climbing the wall which lead to talking about brigades, associations and fire alarms--he is a fellow fire fighter. To cut is short while still having a briefing to scale the wall a colleague waved at me and signaled time. We have to cut short--GAME OVER.

Gising na October na

Happy Scouting Month!

...at ito ang ilang sa aking mga inaabangan:
1 Sunrise Parade
12 KAB Frolics
18-19 JOTA/JOTI (na malamang ay kasabay ng Area I PLTC/CLTC)

at marami pang iba.


May the Great Scoutmaster be with us all!

See you at the Summit

It's Day 2 of my being OC over the new blog I have set up for the Summit participants this coming November in Malaysia. It's almost half a month now and I still can't convince myself with its look and feel, yesterday I tried placing some widgets but it end up having just two: one calendar and a countdown timer for the Summit. This morning I was able to put a link to the old blog (which we already have lost access to) and invite more authors (there are now 2: me and the other me). I really haven't done much yet but I feel very fulfilled about those little things. I enjoy being OC over it as it satisfies my creativity plus the chance for me to review some old skills. Hope before the end of today I could post another entry to it.

See you at the Summit!

NMAT

Good thing I lack some units in Math and Physics, or else I might be entering another new world for me. I've been joking about taking the NMAT and getting myself into a Med school for maybe a year now and just yesterday I fancied about searching details about it on the w3. It's pretty inviting that my mind got blown away to imagining myself as a physician to a remote village. But sorry for my rolling stone thinking, I still need some units before I can take it. For now what I need is to focus on the long list of things I'm already engaged in. Or maybe a better statement would be: I need to get something off from my list. So, I'm crossing out badminton (which I have already replaced with 2 days of dragon boat). I am limiting my fire fighting stunts to at least a day a week (which I'm required to render 2 days a week, I have a long list of alibis and please don't tell my fire chief). And then by the next semester I should be ready to go back to the classroom as a student.

Kitchen Chemistry Homework #13

While browsing the OpenCourseWare from MIT I got struck while reading this assignment. Then it came to me, I really am missing the classroom. I wish I could go back to the classroom soon.

Kitchen Chemistry Homework #13

Homework Questions:
1. What makes learning fun?
2.Do you remember better if you learn out of a book or through "hands on learning"
3.How much chemistry did your students really learn?
4.Do you think that they remembered anything that you taught them?
5.How are you going to get the students through the experiment without any mishaps?
6.Have you adequately prepared to answer all of the potential questions?
7.Would you like to teach the class next year?

D Day!

While browsing my dashboard I found this link that intrigues me, its says Drawing Day. I clicked on the link and there I found another kind of event to promote art and more advocacies in the process. Drawing Day is a worldwide drawing event encouraging everyone to drop everything and draw for the sake of art. Too bad i can't even grip the pencil well now.

Last night is my first official sleep over at the headquarters, I got my new duty schedule. Anticipating there'll be no fire alarms, I thought the long wait of my new set of color pencil will come to an end. I have a lot of subjects in my mind as I force my stuff into my so-called jump kit: hanging bunkers and trousers, helmets, boots, the shack, the tanker, people working, pedestrians, the lamp post, the list is never ending. As soon as I reached the hq, I unpacked my sleeping bag (no, it's not inside my jump kit, I hand carried it Ü), laid out all my provisions, sat on the sleeping bag then I said to myself, yes I will start with my fire boots. So I got up and picked up my trousers (which already has my boots in it to facilitate efficient donning). I stared blankly at my boots then I realized I wish to draw something else, I also realized that I don't like my boots and that I want another brand (well, I'm saving for it now and that's another story). Again I stared blankly, glanced at my stuff, packed them back and wished everyone good night.

Murphy Brown

I was reading the threads in pinoy fire & rescue when i run across an entry about murphy's law on ems, the last one reads:

The Law of EMS Educators: Those who can't do, teach.
The Law of EMS Evaluators: Those who can neither do nor teach, evaluate

I'm dumbstruck! I used to be a teacher and now I'm part of the evaluation.
Natanga ko, grabe. Babalik na ko sa classroom! hehehehehe


Here's the rest:
MURPHY'S LAW OF EMS
1. Sick people don't pregnant dog
2. Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round, any variation is a bad thing.
3. The more equipment you see on an EMT's belt, the newer they are.
4. All bleeding stops....eventually.
5. All people will eventually die, no matter what you do.
6. If the child is quiet, BE SCARED.
7. Always follow the rules. but be wise enough not to..sometimes.
8. If the patient starts to vomit in the rig, try to hold the head to the side with the least difficult cleanable equipment.
9. If someone is to die by chemical hazards, electrical shocks or other on-scene dangers it should be the patient, not you.
10. No EMT should be more drunk than the patient.
11. There will always be problems and solutions.
12. You can't cure stupidity.
13. If it's wet and sticky and not yours, LEAVE IT ALONE!
14. God always protects Fools and Drunks
15. You are bound to get a call either during dinner, while you are taking a nuts , or at 2 in the morning.
16. The severity of the injury(s) is directly proportional to the difficulty in accessing, as well as the weight of the patient.
17. Make sure the rookie EMT knows that gMED PATCHh is a radio term, and not a medicated bandage.
18. "Paramedics save lives; EMT's save Paramedics.
19. EMS is extended periods of intense boredom, interupted by occasional moments of sheer terror.
20. Every Emergency has three phases PANIC, FEAR, AND REMORSE.
21. If you drop the baby, pick it up.
22. If you don't have it.improvise
23. Newbies are always looking for action.
24. Make sure all your equipment WORK!
25. When a pregnant woman says "The baby is coming", you'd darn well better believe her.
26. When a patient says "I think I am going to die" he is probably right.

National Flag Day

I am a Filipino
I pledge my allegiance
To the flag of the Philippines
And to the country it represents
With honor, justice and freedom
Put in motion by one people
For God
for the People,
for Nature and
for the Country.

The flag should be displayed in all government buildings, official residences, public plazas, and schools every day throughout the year. The days from May 28 (National Flag Day) to June 12 (Independence Day) are designated as flag days, during which all government offices, business establishments, and private homes are also encouraged to display the flag.

anxious overspill

I'm still not ready for Friday's training sessions. It's been almost three weeks that I'm preparing myself for it but things just can't sink in to my senses. Just yesterday one of our managers approached me and told me that I'll only be assisting in the training since I have never handled it before nor watched the training itself. I was relieved about it but I still continue doing my preparation in case someone among the participants ask.