Wanted: Mom and Dad

I didn't  really consider myself a lucky, fat and normal kid growing up. Well, I was and I am still fat, okay. Studying in a private school where most of my schoolmates are children of a certain doctor or an attorney or a councilor or any professional-sounding individual like engineer, nurse, midwife and so on- while I am a daughter of two government employees. Well, they don't have titles, their names don't start with Arch., Engr., Dr., or Atty. so I must have a reason to feel really inferior to my classmates.

What I didn't realize at that time was that I was beyond privileged and extremely lucky because unlike some of my classmates who turned out to be spoiled brats, constant bullies, and young parents, I was normal- because I have a complete family. I have a mom and a dad, and sometimes, it's all that really matters and that could spell a huge difference in a child's life.

So my mom went on a five-day seminar at Subic this week, and this is the first time in my entire existence that I am bringing myself to admit that I really missed her. It just feels incomplete not having her around in our house for four days. Well, it's not like this is the first time my parents went on a seminar. Our (my siblings and I) entire childhood was almost filled with our memories of us sending dad to the airport or fetching him, of mom going to different places to attend some seminar, of both of them being out of town at the same time, leaving us with our Lola or aunts.

I've found out that during one of the lowest points of your life, when your entire life flashes before your eyes, when your reminisce the better times you had, when all you worry about the chains of your bicycle getting misaligned while driving or what your Lola would buy for merienda, -- you learn to appreciate the little things that seemed trivial at first.

This week, I came up with 10 reasons why I don't want mom to be out again:

1. No delicious breakfast.
2. No wake-up call to get my lazy ass off the bed and do some household chores. Even if most of the time she would wake me up just to ask questions that we both know she knows the answer for.
3. No delicious dinner.
4. No groceries.
5. She's the only person in the house who knows where everything is. Sugar, coffee, flashlight, hammer.....
6. I can tell her things I cannot tell Dad because I am really, really scared.
7. I can annoy her constantly and convince her to buy me stuff I should be paying myself.
8. My dog loves her.
9. She provides a sense of comfort and warmth inside the house.
10. She talks a lot.

Consequently, I also made 10 reasons why I'll miss dad when he's out:

1. The plants will die.
2. My dog really loves him.
3. I can ask for money without being audited.
4. He brings a sense of security and authority in the house.
5. TV bonding.
6. I will miss his questions/requests about computers or internet.
7. He really makes eating fruits and vegetables look a lot of fun.
8. His temper......
9. He doesn't really say much, but his words are very, very on point.
10. His intellectual sense of humor.

So there. If you are a parent and you come across this post through some random act of wizardry or anything like that, I just ought to tell you one thing ( as a teacher, ehem, and as a child), go spend quality time with your child/ren as often as you can. When I say quality, that doesn't mean going to Disneyland or some amusement park, sometimes, a simple break from your busy work to ask how their day went and actually listening to their response, verbal or not, could make a lot of difference in their lives. Children never needed all those fancy gadgets and expensive shoes or dress, they need YOU, and you alone. They need you as their mothers and fathers, not you as the bank manager or the lawyer. They need you to make them feel wanted. They need you to make them feel you miss them or you love them, and that is something IPads, a pair of Jordan breds or new clothes can do. Your children needs constant affirmation and reassurance that it is perfectly okay to have mistakes as long as you learn from it and not dwell on it.

And if by any chance you are a child, a son or a daughter, regardless of how young or how old you are, always be grateful for your parent/s. Show them your gratitude by studying or working hard to make them happy. I hope we all live up to how we were raised by our parents. I hope we make them proud of who and what we have become at this point of our lives, and who and what we will become in the years to come. I hope we all come to realize that they did what they can, gave what they have and lost what they once had, in order for us to have a better life than theirs.

Angels and God

March 10. Fifteen years ago, our parents left us in the house.The sun was almost setting, as my ditse was  preparing snacks for the three of us. Her old 3315 cellphone rang, and the next thing I heard was: "Ano? Bakit wala na siya?", 'I must be dreaming", I thought to myself upon hearing my older sister cry like a baby again. But apparently, everything is real. She shook me and said, "wala na si Daddy Pole", and we both cried, mourning the death of the only grandfather we know. He was supposed to turn a year older four days before his death.

March 14. I was feeling really awful from the amount of work we had that week, I just really wanted to sleep all day and  hibernate probably; but I have to get up and take a Final exam that I only know of hours before the scheduled date. 'Lord, bahala Ka na ha.' I said to myself as I was trying to remember the very few lessons I know this semester.

So my first exam, which happened to be practical thing was really really bad and I felt like the dumbest person in the world for not being able to answer/perform all those activities correctly even if I consider myself a 'computer literate', but it turned out I really wasn't.

I immediately proceeded to my next class and hurriedly made a project due for submission in an hour, but yeah, I didn't make it so I just wished and prayed that our professor would still allow me to pass the requirement the following meeting. But God (and my angels, I presume), gave me something more!

During our late lunch, my classmates were thinking of skipping the last class because we have not reviewed yet while I was hoping for a miracle that our professor would not make it because he missed it or something like that.

An hour before the exam, we went back to the college and I sheepishly asked one of my classmates if she could lend me a book, which she willingly did and we even had some sort of a peer review. I was just staring at the book, trying to absorb and make sense of what I am reading when our professor came and asked us to transfer to another room.

I was not really confident in  taking the exam, but I just asked for His guidance and told Him I'll just answer what I know. It took us about three hours to finish the grueling examination, my hands are aching, my head feels heavy, my eyes are itchy and I  really really feel sleepy.

So with a very heavy heart, I went home. Thinking what might happen with my exams, then I thought how my dad would react once he knows how I've been doing in this masteral course. I thought of how I'll be able to comply with the requirements. I thought of not enrolling the following semester because every semester that I am working and studying at the same time becomes harder that it was before. I thought that this is the perfect recipe for being a failure again.

The following week is yet another stressful week. Forms, checking, preparation for graduation and other requirements and all the tasks that a teacher faces every single day made me occupied and brought all the stress it could.

But God has always His way of surprising us in the midst of overwhelming situations. His assurance of everything is unbelievable and His blessings come when we least expect it. I know You sent your angels to guide me in taking that very last exam which I did not expect to pass, but You gave me wisdom to answer and remind me of the things I almost forgot. I owe  this to you, Lord. Without you,  Daddy Pole, Inang Pita, Lola Barang and all the angels you've given me, I know this would not be possible.

Between endings and beginnings

Life is cycle of endings and beginnings. For one thing to begin, another must end. 17 days before the month ends, I should really be happy now, I should be excited to pack my things, leave the school and wait for what lies ahead. But I am not.

I never thought that leaving would be this hard, that even just the thought of giving my farewell message to my pupils would scare the hell out of me, that even how much I try to avoid confronting my feelings, there'll come a point that I have to face anxiety, fear, sadness and happiness all at the same time.

And that small space between endings and beginnings is what hurts the most- saying goodbyes, wishing them all the best, encouraging them to make all their dreams come true, no matter how silly it may seem for others.

That small space between endings and beginnings, where each hug is tighter, each step away from one another is heavier, where each tear is both happy and sad, where each word takes heartbeats to say, and where we come to realize that it might be the last time to see each other.

March 26, you'll be my first elementary graduates, I couldn't be any prouder of what we have achieved together. No matter how much I try to avoid saying my goodbye messages despite your constant prodding, I know when that day comes, I will be the happiest (and the saddest) teacher in the world. I am happy because on that day, you will make your parents proud. I am happy because despite my half-hearted acceptance of being a Grade 6 adviser because of your batch's known reputation, you all have proven me and other people wrong. I am happy because you've made me a part of your life, and you've trusted me with some of your secrets. I am happy because I am genuinely happy for sixty three young children who wants nothing but love, understanding, time and acceptance, marching along the halls of your second home.

And that small space between endings and beginnings is what hurts the most. #

Short Lesson about the Degrees of Adjectives

Here's a short video-clip about the degrees of adjectives that we can use to facilitate classroom instruction. This is one of our outputs in our AE713. I hope this is not bad for a beginner. Haha.

Technology and Teachers: An Inseparable Connection

Yesterday, I just had the biggest demonstration teaching in this lifetime yet. It was nerve-wracking and fun at the same time because I get to see how the system goes-- to which my co-teacher-applicant commented: "Akala natin pag nakapasa tayo ng LET ok na lahat, dadaan pa pala tayo sa butas ng karayom magka-item lang sa public.", she is a volunteer teacher. 

Rolls of cartolina, cartoon characters, and large bags--
a typical teacher-applicant's loot for demo teaching. 

Technology and Teachers have an inseparable connection. I only knew and confirmed about that demo on the night of March 5, 18 hours before the demo. I hurriedly prepared all the materials I need. Thanks to technology, it has made the pain of doing overnight visual-aids more bearable. 

I could hardly imagine how I would go about without an internet connection, a computer and a printer for that would mean I would have to draw (which is something I am bad at) all the pictures and images needed for my demo, that would also mean I would have to painstakingly write the most legible way possible even if I am half-asleep, that would mean I would have to take longer hours and probably give up sleep (which I cannot afford) just to finish all my visual materials. 

Our generation is fortunate enough to have these technological devices within our reach. If we are luckier, we might not need these cartolinas anymore, but just project the presentation of our lessons using an LCD projector and a laptop.

Technology and Teachers have an inseparable connection. I can still vividly recall our Educational Technology I subject (which I thought was just about computers, projectors and every possible 'machine' that is used in education) where a lot of paper, pen, pencils and tears were wasted because I am trying (very, very hard) to copy Ma'am Vi's computer-font like lettering, and yes, in the end, I just cried because I realized this is something I am bad at-again, hence, the tears.

I can also remember how my cooperating teacher and I computed for grades facing two giant calculators and recording the same to the class record, but upon entering the teaching profession, I've forgotten how to compute manually because the first school that I've worked for has an automated grading system where I would just enter the raw scores and they will compute by themselves. Haha!

Technology and Teachers have an inseparable connection. A teacher may be effective, but that does not mean that he is also efficient. In these times, where children typically spend more time on their phones, gadgets, laptops and computers, a teacher must be skilled to maximize the use of different technological tools. For as long as the human needs continuously increases, there will be more of these tools in the future.

3.....

.......minsan love triangle, 

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.......

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.....minsan bilang ng link ng blog ng mga classmate mo para pasok sa banga yung blog mo sa AE713.

ICT Integration in the Philippines: Bridging Gaps, Crossing Boundaries and Building Futures

Fifteen years ago, Computer classes were conducted with huge books and huge computers. The moment you missed your precious diskette at home would mean you would not have the privilege of using the computer to perform tedious MS DOS activities on a black and white screen. It was a process of numbers and letters, black and white, type and command, inserting and ejecting. The Computer teacher is like a god who knows every little thing about those machines stored in a very cold room, and students- well, are like students, trying to follow every little thing the teacher said, typing letter by letter, staring at the screen every once in a while to make sure you got the instructions correctly.

Fifteen years seems like a very short time. For some, it is just the start of something, a coming of age, a revolution, puberty, a stage of experimenting and discovering. However, in technological perspective, fifteen years is more than enough to change the landscape of information, communication and technology altogether.

‘Computers’  was originally a job title used to describe human beings, predominantly women, whose job was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs (Kopplin, 2002).

Issues of efficiency and reliability surfaced, and people searched for ways to have a definite mechanism to save time, energy and guarantee reliable and accurate results, therefore, the computer revolution began. From abacus, Napier’s bones, EDVAC, ENIAC, Pascaline and now, the supercomputers, the simple aim of computing large numbers has transcended to address the ever-growing human needs of productivity, efficiency, accuracy and reliability (Wolfe, 2005).

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to information-handling tools that are used to generate, store, process, distribute and share information. The use ICT in education is obviously not a new rally for the protection and promotion of life. There are many evidences that the use of ICT in education provides positive pedagogical, social and economic benefits (Marcial, 2012).

  ICT in education has at least four stages: emerging stage which means awareness, applying stage which means learning, infusing stage which means the use and integration into the curriculum, and transforming stage which means innovative learning by developing new ways of teaching-learning using ICT. For developed countries, ICT in education is undeniably has produced significant positive impact. ICT is changing the developed world’s attitudes and approaches to education” (Loxley, 2004). 

In a study on the ICT Integration in Southeast Asian Nations presented in the Tsukuba International Conference in Japan, it showed that Cambodia, People’s Democratic Republic of Lao, Myanmar and Timor Leste are on the first stage of ICT integration while Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are on the infusing stage and Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei are already in the fourth stage, which is the transforming stage (Maftuh, 2011) .Results showed that although the country is in the infusing stage of ICT integration, we still lag behind our counterparts in the group because of the huge rural-urban gap. That means, ICT integration in the urban areas are evident, but most rural areas are still on the process of integration ICT. 

In 1996, DepED embarked on a 10-Year Modernization Program (1996-2005) that introduced use of information technology in the improvement of the teaching and learning process, educational management and operations. This program was supported by other government agencies and the private sector. Previous to the adoption of this policy, DepED introduced the use of radio broadcast in education in the 1960s and educational television in the 1970s. Through the support of Channel 4, the Tulong Aral program of the 1980s was the first major initiative that combined the use of radio and television in public basic education (Ronda, 2012).

In the Five-Year Information and Communication Technology for Education Strategic Plan proposed by DepED to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it aims to achieve the curricular goals outlined in BEC through ICT where students, teachers, school managers and administrators should achieve a certain level of competence in the use of ICT in the following six areas: basic operations and concepts; social, ethical and human issues; ICT for Producing;  ICT for Communicating; ICT for Researching and ICT for Problem-solving (UNESCO, 2009).

In fact, in the recent K to 12 system adapted by the Department of Education, one of the salient features of the program is to equip the K to 12 learner with information, media and technology skills through the technical-vocational courses offered in the junior and senior high school programs of the new curriculum (DepED, 2012).

In policy, ICT in Philippine Education is a big thrust towards the development of a world-class and globally competitive curriculum, however, in practice, as showed in the study of Maftu, although the Philippines is in the third stage of the curriculum integration, the country still needs to bridge the gap between urban and rural communities to fully implement the program. While most schools in urban areas like Metro Manila can easily infuse ICT in the curriculum because of available materials, competent teachers and proximity to training centers, there are many public schools in the barrios that still have no electricity to supply power to computers needed to achieve ICT awareness (Valerio, 2014). 

However, with the help of private sectors, such as publishing companies, producing ICT –skilled graduates will not be too far-fetched. Especially with the advent of technological tools like tablet, smart notebooks and the like. In a report published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the leading textbook publishing houses in the Philippines, Vibal, has tied-up with Microsoft and the Department of Education to produce e-textbooks that come in a handy tablet to ‘revolutionize and maximize classroom instruction’ (Santos, 2012).

Bibliography

DepED. (2012, November 27). The K to 12 Basic Education Program. Retrieved from Official Gazette of the Philippines: http://www.gov.ph/k-12/#about

Kopplin, J. (2002). An Illustrated History of Computers Part I. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from Department of Computer Science, Kent State University: http://www.cs.kent.edu/~rothstei/10051/History.htm

Loxley, W. (2004). Asian Development Bank Publications. Retrieved from Asian Development Bank: http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28989/ict-education-training.pdf

Maftuh, B. (2011). Center for Reasearch on International Cooperation in Educational Development. Retrieved from Center for Reasearch on International Cooperation in Educational Development - University of Tsukuba: http://www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec/apec2011/19-20/06_BunyaminMaftuh-paper.pdf

Marcial, D. E. (2012). ICT in Teacher Education in Region 7: Benchmarking, Training, Technology Development, and Evaluation towards Innovative Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from Learning Is Fun!: http://www.davemarcial.net/phernet-ict4ted.html

Ronda, R. A. (2012, July 26). DepEd to use ICT to enhance K to 12 basic curriculum. The Philippine Star.

Santos, M. A. (2012, March 14). When Digital Classrooms Become A Reality. Philippine Daily Inquirer.

UNESCO. (2009). Planipolis. Retrieved from A portal of education plans and policies from UNESCO Member States providing a single entry to documents from various official sources.: http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Philippines/Philippines_ICT4E_Strategic_Plan.pdf

Valerio, A. P. (2014, June 30). DevEx News. Retrieved from A media platform for the global development community: https://www.devex.com/news/the-link-between-electricity-and-education-83789

Wolfe, V. F. (2005). History of Computers. Retrieved from Department of Computer Science, University of Rhode Island: http://homepage.cs.uri.edu/faculty/wolfe/book/Readings/Reading03.htm

Metamorphose

Disclaimer: If you've been following this blog since God-knows-when, you've probably read a lot of my rants and random babbles about how my university life went. I've actually 'abandoned' this site for quite some time, well, 2-3 years I guess. Right after college, I realized that blogging (or having a stable internet connection is a luxury, and having the inspiration to write interesting stories and entries is a miracle). But hey, it's 2015, almost 3 years after my last post (which is actually an SEO-thing). And so, Limitless came to my mind, because I just feel like my life has undergone so many changes, yet, it still the same..(wait, that wasn't related).

So yeah, LIMITLESS. Because I'd like to think that we are all limitless. Borrowing from Mace in That Thing Called Tadhana (which is my new favorite Pinoy movie now), "na-u-unlearn ba yun? siguro pwede kang kalawangin, pero hindi mo pwedeng ma-unlearn yun",