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...

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....

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.

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

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.