Monday, December 21, 2015

Damires Hills, Iloilo

      For our Christmas party, our faculty went to Damires Hills Resort located at Janiuay, Iloilo. It was a 45-minute to an hour travel from the city of Iloilo.

     There is an entrance fee of P100 pesos per head and the cottage fee ranges from P2500-P4500 I think. The good thing is that the cottage fee is consumable to food which is quite reasonable. For me personally, food prices is a bit expensive but it tastes good. There is also service fee for every dish that you order.
     I have nothing negative to say about the environment because it is surrounded by beautiful landscaped greenery. There was a little breeze though despite this fact perhaps because of its topographic location.
     You can also enjoy a lot of amenities and outdoor activities like ziplining, ATV, swimming and canopy walk (which I loved). One comment though is that the there are spelling errors on the poem posted along canopy walk trail (sorry can't help being a teacher). At the end of the trail, there is a hanging bridge which is daunting for some but exciting at the same time.



    Now going back to our Christmas party, I honestly didn't enjoy it because I had an acid attack. I planned to eat a lot because we brought lechon (wait, there is also a corkage fee for every dish your bring inside the resort) but before we had our lunch I drank coke with an empty stomach. So I ended up limiting my lunch. Good thing the resort sells Yakult which relieved my hyperacidity.
   We went home at around 3;30 pm though if you want to stay overnight there are cottages and rooms available. Overall, I would say that Damires Hills is one fine resort in Iloilo. The swimming pool is clean, the ambiance is great, the food though a but expensive for me personally is delicious. I certainly would go back anytime.

P.S. The person in-charge at the entrance has stentorian voice which is quite intimidating and not accommodating (in our terms, daw medyo "atik"). Maybe it is just his personality...hehe. And try to peruse your chit because there are discrepancies at times especially on the entrance fee and the food you ordered. And give a tip to your service crew though there is a service charge, just a sign of your generosity.



Wednesday, November 25, 2015

English Posters: Nouns (Justice League)

         Aside from Math, I also teach English subject in my advisory class. And since I always believe that learning is more effective if a teacher tap his/her students' interests, I always see to it to include cartoon characters that my students are all familiar with.
        I made these posters for my bulletin board but they can also stand on their own as wall posters. I used Justice League heroes because I think everyone knows all its members. Who doesn't know Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, right?
 









Monday, November 2, 2015

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Math Posters: Basic Math Facts (League of Legends)

       There are students who would find Math subject an easy one. There are however who find the subject difficult. One of the reasons why Math seems to be a challenging subject is the lack of basic foundation of numeracy skills. Some students on the other hand, seem to be caught in the "counting trap". In my class specifically, I always to see to it that my students develop conceptual understanding about Math by providing concrete examples. At the same time, I want them to develop automacity in solving thus, I introduce basic Math facts.
     What are basic Math facts? Actually, these are basic facts about the four fundamental operations. Technically, these are called properties of operations but these are stated in the simplest manner for students to understand. I prepared posters about these and I also incorporated one of the most popular online games (League of Legends) to catch students' attention and interest.








Sunday, October 11, 2015

STAR Strategy


STAR is an example of an empirically validated (Maccini & Hughes, 2000; Maccini & Ruhl, 2000) first-letter mnemonic that can help students recall the sequential steps from familiar words used to help solve word problems involving integer numbers.

The steps for STAR include:
Search the word problem;
Translate the problem;
Answer the problem; and
Review the solution

Below is an example of a structured worksheet using STAR strategy in solving word problem:
Objective: Solve 2- to 3- step word problems involving whole numbers (BEC PELC II. A.1.2)

Problem: Mr. Cruz had P4,500. He spent P2,500 for food; P750 for transportation; and P275 for other expenses and divided the rest among his 5 brothers. How much was the share of each?

Strategy Questions:
S-earch the word problem
a.    Read the problem carefully
b.    Ask yourself questions: "What do I know? What do I need to find?"
c.    Write down the facts:
·         Mr. Cruz had P4,500.
·         He spent P2,500 for food
·         P750 for transportation
·         P275 for other expenses
·         He divided the rest among his 5 brothers
I need to find share of each brother.

T-ranslate the words into an equation in picture form.

P2,500-food
P750-transportation
P275- other expenses
n=divided among 5 brothers

A-nswer the problem
If I add all Mr. Cruz’s expenses and subtract the sum from his original money, I can get the amount that was shared by his five brothers and divide this by 5.
Mr. Cruz’s expenses: P2,500 + P750 + P275 = P3,525
P4,500 - P3,525=P975
P975 ÷ 5 = P195
Each brother receives P195.



R-eview the Solution
a.    Reread the problem
b.    Ask yourself questions: "Does the answer make sense? Why?"
c.    Check the answer
I checked my answer.

When I multiplied P195 by 5 and added the product to the total of Mr. Cruz’s expenses, I got P4500 which is Mr. Cruz’s total amount.

P.S. I also made posters about STAR Strategy that teachers could post in their walls. I hope you would find these useful.




Sunday, October 4, 2015

World Teachers' Day Celebration 2015

         Teachers Day celebration is a day in our school when students get the chance to show their gratitude and appreciation to their teachers. We usually do these on October 1 to 5 since the World Teachers Month Celebration starts from September 5 to October 5. It is nice to have this occasion but I feel a bit silly sometimes because the ambiance in this celebration is quite sentimental..hehe.. Anyway, this celebration makes me and the rest of the teachers inspired to pursue our profession despite the stress and hardships we face everyday. It is nice to have the feeling that all our efforts are not forgotten and not taken for granted.
         What makes the occasion special for me is the idea that students make efforts to give you gifts and flowers to make you special on this day. I know that my students are poor and are not from well-off families and they could not afford to buy expensive gifts. However, I find it touching to receive flowers whom they have bought out of their meager allowance. It is not the price or what kind of gifts that I received. It is really the thought that counts.
         Some students said sorry because they weren't able to give me something for Teachers' Day. And I said to them that they do not owe me an apology. I am always thankful to be a teacher and everything that I do to them is not something to be repaid.  But I always tell that if there is any best gift that they could give to me is for them to be good students, to be diligent and to pursue their dreams so that all our efforts will not put into waste.
     Bottom line of my reflection this Teacher's Day, sometimes as teachers, we expect our students to be perfect. If given the chance, we want to have the ideal students, the ones how won in competitions, the ones who have cooperative parents who can give you gifts, the ones who don't smell bad, etc..hehehe. However, teaching in my school where students are very diverse, I realize that my students may not be the most intelligent (we don't win a lot..hehe), the most well-mannered or the most appealing, But who I am to complain about these imperfections? We ourselves are not perfect teaches in the first place but students accept us no matter what. If they accept our imperfections as teachers, we perhaps might as well accept theirs. And together, we learn form each other, and grow.

     Anyway, here are the snapshots of our Teachers' Day Celebration in our school...


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

LET Tips: Review/Study Strategies (REPOST)



...Hello there..long time no post aye?...I still am doing my thesis which will be the most groundbreaking and most controversial thesis in the history of education....hahaa...It has been two years since I started conceptualizing and doing this thesis of mine and thankfully I am about at 75% of it. Some of you may wonder why it has taken me almost two years to do my thesis and I already have explained it on my previous post. Anyway, sloth has visited me again so I wanted to have a hiatus for a night from doing my usual tasks. So aside form watching TV and Facebook-ing, I decided to update this blog since LET again is just around the corner.
     According to my blog stats, my post on LET Tips has received a lot of comments and page views. I then thought that why not make another post about this but this time, on my own personal experiences on reviewing and studying my LET notes. Again, you may or may not apply my tips. If you find these useful to you, apply it. If not, then create your own strategy that best fits your personality and thinking style..

1. Have the TOS (Table of Specifications) for LET. Take note that EED and SED and their corresponding majors have different TOS. You may ask your dean or the PRC for a copy or you may check online for available e-versions. Why is the TOS important? Of course, TOS will give you the parameters on the things you need to study and review. This would also give you the information on which topics you need to be focusing on. You don't want to waste your time and energy on topics that would even not be in the exam.

2. Prepare your long-term time frame/schedule. This still depends on you. On my personal experience, I prepared which topics I would be studying each week and how many days would I dedicate studying these topics. Again, refer to the TOS. Don't focus a whole week on just Gen Ed only or Prof Ed or Major. In a week for example, you have to have an allocated topics for both the Gen Ed and Prof Ed including the Major Subjects.

3. Prepare your daily schedule. I know some of those who take the LET review full-time while others review in-betweens because they are employed. I myself managed my schedule during my preparation for LET since I was a full time tutor from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM. This however is not an excuse for you not to study and review. Again, allocate which three parts of LET will you be studying in a certain time. For instance, if you dedicate 6 hours of your day studying (e.g. 6:00 PM to 12:00 MN), then always  make sure that you reach the quota of 6 hours a day. You may have 2 hours for Gen.Ed, 2 hours for Prof Ed and 2 hours for the Major. Now, if you think you're too tired not to review in a certain time, make sure to make up the hours that you failed to study. If you're too sleepy at 11:00-12:00 MN, make up that 1 hour lost by allocating extra hour the day after perhaps early in the morning or extending your study time from 6 to 7 hours.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Preparation of Instructional Materials: C-V-C Bottles

    Let me just share to you some of the instructional materials that my students and I prepare during our class. This is C-V-C bottle made form recycled bleach (Zonrox) bottle. This is intended to teach basic words for young students and to develop their phonics.
   Please watch out because I would also start  posting some pictures of our projects. I hope teachers and students would get ideas from our projects and will apply them in their own classrooms.
   So here it is, hope you can apply this also in your classroom teaching...




Monday, September 7, 2015

Teaching in College and Elementary Students


     It has been a semester since I started college teaching in my alma mater. And I actually find it funny that my teaching jobs are all in the schools where I graduated from. This moonlighting stint of mine started when I posted a labor day rant about my “insufficient income” and how I desired to have another job (because 75 percent of my income is all eaten up by a loan, hay…family problems). 

     Apparently and perhaps I would say fortunately, the dean, who was my former teacher, saw my post and suggested me that I would apply as a part-time instructor in the university. I was happy then because it was answered prayer in my part. Of course, I have gone through all the SOPs of applying and I was glad that I was given two courses to teach.

    I was quite inspired teaching college students because I thought that I could share a lot to them. In fact, I wrote this blog for college students and soon-to-be teachers in the hopes of inspiring them and at the same time help them top the LET. And also perhaps the main reason why I was hired is to “inspire” education students in my college who I once was. This time however, I would be sharing my thoughts not only online but to real students face-to-face. 

    On the first weeks of my teaching, all things went well perhaps because this was just a getting-to-know stage. I think that my students are all smart and enthusiastic. As time goes by, I gradually find teaching college students challenging. And I couldn’t help comparing students in elementary (where I primarily teach) and in college.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Sample MTAP Questions Grade 2


    Hello! I would be sharing some sample questions for parents, teachers and students who prepare for the annual Metrobank-DepEd-MTAP Math Competition. These are not the actual questions but hopefully would help them practice and train for the competition. Credits are given to the author of the questions specifically from MTAP (Mathematics Teachers Association of the Philippines).

1. Jannah spent 2/3 hour doing her homework. How much minutes did she spend doing her homework?
2. A baker bought 16 kg of flour. He used 2/4 of the flour to make cookies. How much flour did he use?
3. My numerator is 2 less than my denominator. I am more than 1/2. What fractions can I be?
4. Liza has P120. She spent 1.2 of it on school materials and 1.3 of what remained on merienda. How much money had she left?
5. Liza sold 125 flowers in the morning and 260 flowers in the afternoon. If she had 500 flowers, how many flowers were not sold?
6. A factory manufactured 3652 dolls in January. 880 fewer dolls were manufactured in February than in January. What was the total number of dolls manufactured in two months?
7. John has 356 stickers. He had 36 more stickers than Janine. Andrew had 43 fewer stickers than Janine. How many stickers did Andrew have?

Saturday, August 8, 2015

LOST ASUS ZENFONE 5

   This day, I lost one of the most important things any person should have---my phone. I use this almost all the time, from texting, for playing, to reading and even for praying (I have a rosary app in my phone).

   
    Hay I lost in when I rode a jeepney back home. I wasn't expecting to lose it since it was a Saturday and I was having a relaxing time watching TV. But all of a sudden, my principal texted to me get something from the school because the report will be needed on Monday (talk about being an outstanding teacher..tsk tsk..) So hesitantly, I  jumped straight out of my bed and went to school even without taking a bath. Anyway, our school is considerably near to my house though I need to walk about 15 minutes to get there. Of course I bought my phone and an umbrella because the weather that time was rainy. I also wore a jacket just to hide my "house clothes". Since my android phone was quite big (about 5.5 inches), I didn't want to put it my shorts because the pocket was too loose. So I decided to just place it in the pocket of my jacket and I walked my way to school.
    I got the needed papers and when I was to go back home, the sky seemed to get darker and I was afraid that if I still walk, the pertinent papers would get wet. So I decided to ride in a jeepney, which I seldom do. I actually felt that my phone was still on my pocket before I rode into the jeepney. However, after several steps after I jumped off from the jeepney, I felt that my phone wasn't in the pocket anymore. Hay to make this story short, after all the things I did, (calling the phone, chasing the jeepney, looking for the driver, etc), I didn't get my phone back. Because if the person who actually found it was honest enough to return it, he or she could have contacted the number in my phone since it has no security features. I was quite sad not because the phone was pricey, I was sad because I have lots of pictures there especially with my students. Some of them I was able to upload through Facebook, but most of them I did not. I was also saddened by the idea that honest people are just rare nowadays. Because if I found a phone myself, I would have returned it to the owner.
   Anyway, to save my self from this negativity, I just moved on and try to buy a new one. To be honest, I blame my principal, because if he didn't ask me to get the papers pronto, that Saturday could have been a relaxing day rather than a very stressful one....and the fact that it was Saturday, which is not an official day for me to go back to school...hay....

P.S.If you are the one who found my phone, because I believe that through my gallery you would have known that the owner was a teacher, I hope that God will give what you deserve. I may have lost something and you may have earned, but I believe in karma, what comes around goes around...

Sunday, August 2, 2015

There Are Real People Who Read This Blog

    I just recently browsed some of the unread messages in my Facebook account. And to my surprise, these messages came from people who actually have read my blog, asking for queries, or just expressing their gratitude about my posts. I as quite guilty that I was not able to reply to them, however, their messages inspire me to post more. May I just take this opportunity to post their messages so as to acknowledge that I really am thankful that they have stumbled upon my blog. Rest assured that these will motivate me to post more often "as if there are someone out there" who might, just might read, this humble blog. Again, thank you very much for your warm messages.
P.S. I didn't edit these...hehehe







This became a topnotcher....









Sunday, July 19, 2015

I Am a Bad Teacher

     I was quite fortunate that this school year, there were some good things that happened to me professionally. First, I was able continue my part-time stint as a college instructor in my alma mater. I have passed through the SOPs of the hiring process, so hopefully no one would question my teaching post. This was quite a nice experience for me now that I am teaching in college because I would be able to discriminate teaching younger to more mature students. Most of all, I would be able to share what I know in education and LET-related topics that I initially started here in my blog. This time, I would not just be posting but rather be “teaching” and discussing these for real to college students. My worries however, is that my teaching approach would be different most especially on dealing unwanted behaviors from my students. Since my students are in college, and I assume that they are at the “right” age, I hold quite a high respect to them. I assume I don’t need to reprimand them because they know already what they are doing. They may as well reject or accept what I will say to them, since they have perhaps already established their personal beliefs and principles. I am just hopeful, very hopeful, that they would not mistake my respect for weakness.
     Second, my application for reclassification from being a Teacher I to Teacher III has been approved. I am just happy that in my five years as a teacher, I would be promoted to the next stage of my position.  Most of all, I am ecstatic not for the title, but for the increase in my salary of course…hehehe….I may sound too shallow but practically saying, I really need the raise since the loan that I had eats up almost seventy-percent of my monthly salary…hehehe…I just have to wait for my appointment and I pray that it would not take too long. (They say that it would take very long since a lot are in the waiting list to become Teacher III. I’m just hoping that we will be ranked since I’m quite confident about my credentials..hehehe..but some say it is seniority basis, and if this is the case...hay I dunno when will I have my appointment.)
     This school year, I am quite discouraged because of the change in leadership in my school. I think my philosophy as a teacher is quite in clash with some people. You know, as teachers, the school head would ask something from us to be accomplished, and I have no problems with it as an obedient teacher. Yet, I have this belief, that my priority is always and will forever be my STUDENTS. Between being a subordinate and a teacher, my being a teacher manifests most of the time. Sometimes, they would ask me to accomplish reports and do certain tasks in the office, and I am quite uncomfortable being asked about this while I’m still doing my classes. Not because I am “lazy” or “disobedient”, but I don’t want to leave my students hanging in the middle of nowhere. You know the teacher’s effort to capture and maintain the student’s momentum with the lesson and all of a sudden this will come to a halt and be disrupted because you were asked to do something in the office, this is quite frustrating for the teacher and the students. This is the reason why when I am being summoned in the office, I most of the time answer that I will do or come after I finish my class. Hay…however, this has been given a bad meaning of insubordination in my part. I am just a bit saddened by the idea that I am implied as bad teacher because I prioritize my students’ learning than an order from the superior. That while some teachers would stay at the office and are not teaching their students are commended as good teachers because they obey their superior, while I who would dedicatedly teach my learners and be implied as the disobedient one.
     As a teacher, I sometimes command and ask my students to do an errand. But if that student couldn’t immediately attend to my errand because he was studying or doing a learning task, would that be disobedience on the part of the student??? Hell NO!!!! But in my case, I was chastised because I was doing the most fundamental task of being a teacher: to TEACH and make students LEARN.
     Let me make myself clear. I am not saying that I do not recognize authority, nor I refuse a task or an order given by the superiors. In fact, when I am tasked to finish a report, I do it as efficiently as possible, even bringing my work at home.  I also have such a high regard and respect to the authority.  I am just saddened by the idea that prioritizing my learners first before an order from a superior is tantamount to being a bad teacher. The school head at the end of the day, would still has the last word and would rate and evaluate the performance of a teacher (and honestly, I am not worried, or to blatantly say it, I don’t care). And to save me from any conflicts which I find unhealthy personally and professionally, I just have to adjust. Obey before complain as the cliché of some of the teachers goes. Perhaps I just have “to have to leave my students and give them seat works to immediately attend to the superior’s needs”.

Thank you Caloy for the Suman...hehe...one of the days he needed to stay because of unfinished seatwork...
     On the brighter side, what made my day was the fact that one of the most naughty and the most crybaby students that I had sent me Suman Latik (a delicious local delicacy of sticky rice topped with sweetened coconut meat). I totally didn’t expect it since I scolded him a lot when I was his teacher. He gave this to me through his granny and when I asked why he had to send me this gift, his granny told me that he remembered that I also have once given him food most of the times. He might have also remembered that I jokingly told him that when he graduates, he must not forget to give me snacks.  I was quite ecstatic that my students recall my “goodness” to them. It affirms my belief that my worth as a teacher is never limited neither on the opinion of other people nor of my superiors. My worth as a teacher is how my students see and appreciate me as their teacher, how I have helped and inspired them, in one way or another, develop their potentials and grow as a person. It made me feel that maybe I am not that “bad” teacher after all.


P.S. Please enlighten me. Am I being a bad teacher if I prioritize my students first before a superior’s order? If you’re a teacher, a school head, a supervisor, a superintendent or the DepEd secretary (as if he can read this…hehehe), please comment and enlighten me.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Curriculum Development


What is Curriculum?
Traditional Point of View
Progressive Point of View
·         a body of subjects or subject matter prepared by the teachers for the students to learn
·         should consist only of knowledge which comes from disciplines which is the sole source
·         the total learning experiences of the individual
·         experiences in the classroom which are planned and enacted by the teacher, and also learned by the students

In general, the curriculum defines: (a) WHY; (b) WHAT; (c) WHEN; (d) WHERE; (e) HOW; and (f) WITH WHOM to learn.

Curriculum Development-the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating curriculum

Models of Curriculum Development
TYLER MODEL
·         recommends that curriculum planners identify general objectives by gathering data from three sources: a) the learners; b) contemporary life outside the school; and c)subject matter
·         after identifying numerous general objectives, the planners refine them by filtering them through two screens: the philosophical screen and the psychological screen
·         the general objectives that successfully pass through the two screens become what are now popularly known as instructional objectives
SAYLOR, ALEXANDER, AND LEWIS MODEL
·         adopt an administrative approach to curriculum development
·         educational goals and objectives is influenced by (a) external forces, including legal requirements, research data, professional associations, and state guidelines; and (b) bases of curriculum, such as society, learners, and knowledge
·         curriculum developers then choose the combinations of curriculum design, implementation strategies, and evaluation procedures that are calculated to maximize the attainment of goals; review feedback from the plan in effect through instruction; and re-plan the elements of the curriculum as indicated by the data
·         provision for systematic feedback during each step in the curriculum system—and from students in each instructional situation
TABA MODEL
·         curriculum should be designed by the teachers rather than handed down by higher authority
·         teachers should begin the process by creating specific teaching-learning units for their students in their schools rather than by engaging initially in creating a general curriculum design
·         curriculum workers start with the specifics and build up to a general design
OLIVA MODEL
·         offers a faculty a process for the complete development of a school’s curriculum
·         recognized the needs of students in particular communities are not always the same as the general needs of students throughout the society
·         a faculty can fashion a plan:
a)     for the curriculum of an area and design ways in which it will be carried out through instruction
b)     to develop school-wide interdisciplinary programs that cut across areas of specialization such as career education, guidance, and class activities
c)     for a faculty to focus on the curricular components of the model to make programmatic decisions.
to allow a faculty to concentrate on the instructional components

Reference: Bilbao, P.P., Lucido, P.I., Iringan, T.C., Javier, R.B. (2008). Curriculum development. QC: Lorimar Publishing

Sunday, June 21, 2015

First Day of School

    This school year perhaps is one of the years which I have the most number of students. I currently have fifty students in my enrollment, four of which are re-entries while two are transferees.
     This serves me a challenge since I would be handling fifty different personalities and attitudes. I also had the problem with my armchairs since I initially have only forty-three. This means I lack seven more chairs to accommodate my students.
     On the first day of school, I got the vibe that this school year would be quite challenging. I notice that most of my students these year, especially the boys are "tiny" sixth graders, who based on my experience, are more restless and energetic. And I was right. hehehe...Hay.. They talk and tease a lot, not to mention that they have the tendency to roam around the classroom. Anyway, I also had quite a number of "big boys", most of them are over-aged. Hopefully I could utilize them and their maturity to help me control the naughtiness of the small ones. My girls on their other hand, were mostly "well behaved" and hopefully they would until the rest of the year.
    This year, I also am a bit frustrated knowing that I have the most teaching loads in the intermediate grade as compared to my other co-teachers. I have three coordinatorship, but it seems these were not given consideration. Hay, I can only complain but at the end of the day, I can do nothing about it. I just have to think that my focus is my students though I felt unfair about the distribution of loads. (FYI, in public schools, whether a teacher has the most or least load, the salary is still constant, as compared to private schools in which more loads mean more salary). The more that I think about it, the more I get frustrated. So better for me to just accept and just to think that what I do is of service to my students. I love teaching but if there is one thing I hate about, it is to deal with my colleagues and the feeling that you are not heard being a young teacher.
   Though I may have qualms about my status as a teacher in the eyes of my colleagues, I still am excited about this school year. My students are the main reason why I teach, and I plan to just focus on them. I am excited what dramas and laughs we will share together, and their backstories and life problems. Hopefully, I could give them a school year that they will treasure for the rest of their lives.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Brigada Eskwela: My Anime-Inspired Classroom

    It was a week after Brigada Eswkela 2015 that I decided to have a rigidon of my classroom. I didn't initially planned it since I am quite lazy due to the extreme heat of the summer, not to mention that the electrical line in my room is broken (I can't use the electric fan).
    As a teacher, I always believe that the physical structuring of the classroom greatly affects the learning of our students. A disorganized, untidy and congested classroom makes not a conducive learning environment. At the same time, as teachers, our classroom is our office. As much as possible, we want our workplace to be comfortable and quite homey for us. This makes our work efficient and less stressful amidst the tons of works we do everyday.
    Recently, the Department of Education released guidelines for classrooms. I don't know if there was a memo or something but I always hear these "guidelines" from the principals and other teachers. According to them, rooms should be painted with candle-light cream or light raw sienna. Other colors are not advisable. Second, bulletin boards and posters inside the classroom should be minimized if not removed. They wanted to make the room with less of these to avoid "distractions". Third, chairs should all face the chalkboard, so the use of other arrangements, like forming a U, chairs facing each other etc are not advisable. And wait, curtains are also not allowed.
    For me, these guidelines limit teachers to be creative with their classrooms. I know that there are colors which are not good for classroom uses but I think teachers should be given the freedom to design his or her classroom. I also am not a fan of rooms without anything on the walls. The bulletin boards reflect both the teacher and students' efforts to make the room lively and fun. That learning is "not boring". Frankly, the only place that I remember where pictures or anything on the walls are not allowed is the psychiatric ward, and our students are not pyschos right? I quite agree with the arrangement of chairs that it should be facing the chalkboard. I find the U-shaped arrangement where students face each other distracting. Students would have the chance to talk or do facial signals, thus would not listen to the teacher. However, sitting/chair arrangement should be flexible with respect to the objective or the activity of the day's lesson. About the curtains, I love having them in the classroom. It enhances the physical appearance of the classroom and at the same time regulates the amount of light in the classroom.
    Here are some snapshots in my classroom. As you can see, I am an otaku so you can see elements of anime 360 degrees...hehe...Obviously, you see some violations about the above-stated guidelines..and I don't care...hehehe



Hello Natsu!!!


Hi Alice!!!