National Achievement Test, Performance-Based Bonus, Performance Enhancement Incentives

     Last year, we were very devastated that our National Achievement Test (NAT) score was very low, so low that we were actually at the bottom of the rankings. Out of fifty-two schools in our division, guess what, we are in the 52nd place. These results were depressing in our part. Because at the the end of the day, the teachers will still be blamed no matter what the factors are. If there will be an execution of those who got the lowest scores, we will be in the frontline receiving the gunshots...hehehe...
    I just hate it why National Achievement Test has become the main factor in determining students achievement. Some teachers say that it doesn't matter since the test itself is questionable, given the rampant cheating of some schools and division. Before, I also had this attitude. I always say that I don't care about the result but just to do my part in teaching my students. But it DOES matter. Why? The Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) now Performance Enhancement Incentive (PEI) greatly depends on the NAT score the school gets, together with other criteria given by the Department of Education. Some schools receive as much as 35, 000 pesos while some just receive the consolation of 5000 pesos minus the tax of 500, so this makes 4,500. As of now, as far as my experience of teaching is concerned, I have never received more than 5000 as PBB.
   What struck me the most was when there was a practice of six schools for an upcoming activity in our distrcit. And at that time, PBBs were being announced. I just felt depressed when some teachers of other schools were exuberant by their PBBs whereas I and my coteachers, were just "mumoys" or "kawawas", looking pitiful at the side.  I started to question what was the  difference of our efforts compared to theirs, when in fact, if the kinds of students are to be taken account, we exert the most efforts. Their students are the "normal" students, whereas we teach "the last, the least, and the lost". And at the end of the day, they receive the most credit, while we receive persecution, just because of that goddamn National Achievement Test.
   Don't get me wrong. Please don't tell us that we were just after the money. But this PBB could mean a lot for us teachers. Every centavo that we receive isn't just spent for ourselves, but for the food we set on our tables, for the medicines we need to maintain for our loved ones or perhaps even for ourselves, for a lot of debts and loans we need to pay and many more. Our salary is all eaten up by loans here and there, and please don't blame us if we do have loans. We didn't want it. We needed it.
   Bottom line, I am not against with the National Achievement Test. I know that it has the intention of checking the extent of learning of our students. What I am against of is the fact that teachers don't receive equal incentive bonus just because of this test. The worst, some people labelled as irresponsible and incompetent teachers. Teachers teach diverse students. And I am just saddened that those teachers who teach the slow-learners, the habitual truants, the delinquents, the poor and the malnourished would be receiving less just because their students couldn't have a high score in the test. I know this is not an excuse for us not to aim for excellence, but I think all we need is consideration. We are doing our part. Though we couldn't achieve the ideal results, we are doing our best despite the odds. We are struggling yes, but we need encouragement, not persecution.

Facilitating Learning: Children's Social Interaction

    This is my second post on my discussion about elementary school children and this time, I would like to explain about their social interactions and how are these important in their development as children.

Scouting is one way in molding social interactions among children...

    Social interaction is a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals or groups who modify their actions and reactions according to the actions by their interaction partners. In other words, they are events in which people attach meaning to a situation, interpret what others are meaning and respond accordingly.
    It may also refer to the acts, actions or practices of two or more people mutually oriented towards each other's selves, that is, any behavior that tries to affect or take account of each other's subjective experiences or intentions. This means that the parties in social interaction must be aware of each other, or have each other's self in mind. This does not mean being in sight of or directly behaving toward each other. Social interaction is not defined by type of physical relation or behavior, or by physical distance. It is a matter of mutual subjective orientation toward each other. Thus, even with no physical behavior is involved, there is social interaction.
    It is seen that humans by nature are social being. They have innate drive or motive for affiliation, or the need to be with other people and to have personal relationship (Larey, 2001).
    (What an introduction about social interaction..hehehe)

    Now going to the my point, social interaction among children plays an important factor in their development. Interactions with parents, teachers and other adults introduce children to important social standards and rules. These interactions produce knowledge and respect for the social order, including its principles of organizations and legitimate authority. Furthermore, learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relationships and communications with other people.
    Albert Bandura's reciprocal determinism describes the view that human development reflects an interaction between the person, the person's behavior, and the environment which includes other persons. This sees that development is a continuous reciprocal interaction between children and their environment. The situation or environment that a child experiences will surely affect him, but his behavior is thought to affect his environment as well. The implication of this is that children are actively involved in shaping the very environment that will influence their growth and development.
    Being appropriately social requires children to interact with others, and these interactions are more likely to be harmonious if they know what their social partners are thinking and feeling and can predict how these partners will likely to behave. This links to the idea of sociability that describes the child willing to engage other in social interaction and to seek attention and approval.
    In the middle childhood stage of development, sociability among peers is the most common and noticeable social interaction that children do. Also, peer interaction may be especially important for learning to regulate aggression and for understanding principles of loyalty, equity and important foundations of moral developement (Hartup, 1992; Keller and Edelstin, 1993). It introduces children to norms that direct reciprocity, and to standards of sharing, cooperation and fairness.

     Another reason middle childhood peer groups are important is because they challenge children to develop their interaction skills. Elementary school children must work to make the peer group understand what they are thinking and feeling. They must also struggle to see the points of view that other children hold. Through such efforts toward mutual understanding, children gain in social competence, that is, their ability to achieve personal goals in social interaction, while continuing to maintain positive relationship with others throughout elementary school years.

   Moreover, social scripts or special rules about particular form of social interactions change with age, not just because the children's cognitive skills change but also simply because that these rules change from social setting to another.

 

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory: Application in Teaching and Learning Process

1. Students can learn by observation. As teachers, we need to expose our students to good role models for them to exhibit positive behavior. Observational learning can as well be applied across various subject areas. Demonstration method is perhaps the most common example in which a teacher model or demonstrate a certain skill while students learn by observe and follow. 

2. Discuss to the learners the reward and consequences of certain behaviors. This can effectively make students be driven to exhibit appropriate behaviors while reducing the occurrence of inappropriate ones.  

3. Modeling can be used to teach new behaviors. It gives another way of molding certain behaviors aside from reward and punishment. By exposing students to certain models and the consequences of their certain behavior, it provides a more efficient way for teaching new behavior.  However, the teacher has to take into account that the four important conditions exist to make modelling effective. These are attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation.

4. Teachers and parents must be an exemplar of appropriate behavior. This highlights that we teachers, together with parents and adults, first and foremost be a good role model for our students. We must be careful with our own actions since what we do, being adults, is most of the time considered right in the eyes of the students.

5. Present students with different models. We should not limit modelling to typical examples rather exposed students with a variety of other models. This way, students avoid stereotyping and labelling certain groups of people. 

LET Tips: Review/Study Strategies

...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.

4.  Speaking of time, choose which time your brain is the most optimum. If you're sleepy, go to sleep. If you still need to study, coffee is not deadly so drink. It would be futile to force yourself studying with your eyes drooping of drowsiness because nothing will be retained or stored in you brain. I am a nocturnal person but I personally think your brain is fresh at morning. This still depends on you. You can either spend the whole night studying then wake up late in the morning. Or sleep early then wake up early, I mean very early ( 4:00 AM). In my case, 2 weeks before the LET, my schedule was 9-12 MN then 4-7 AM. Then sleep again heheh...I said that I am a nocturnal animal and I don't know why but I love the thought that I am the only person awake while others are asleep...hehehe

5. You can have something to munch on while you study. Chips, chichacorn, whatever you like. Mine was peanuts, but it made my face oily so it gave me a pimple or two. But what is a single pimple if compared to become a professional teacher right? and perhaps to even  top the LET...hehe...Kidding aside, I suppose that something to munch on would make your brain more active. When I join quiz bees during student days, I chew bubblegum or a candy because according to my teacher, it activates the brain. I think this is effective because not only I won on some of the quiz bees but because I passed the LET. hehe...

6. When you study, you can jot down notes. Some students have handouts then use markers or highlights to note an important information. But personally, I think writing down would make a certain information more memorable. Some may find this tedious. But I am not saying to copy verbatim from a handout or a book the ideas you want to remember. The best way is for you to write the idea in your own words, the way you understood the concept in order to retain it in your long-term memory. I did this actually in the Prof Ed books like Facilitating Learning, Prinicples of Teaching 1 and 2, etc. If you want this to be even more effective, you can talk to yourself while you are writing it, as if your teaching yourself. During the LET, I remembered some of the answers to the questions because I pictured out my notebook, my handwriting and even to what page the answer could be found. It's like opening your notes inside your brain. You can only do this if you have written yourself the notes and not just highlighted them.

7. No man is an island, so review with your coLET-takers. Aside from it is absolutely fun, you can actually exchange ideas. You can debate for a certain LET sample question or discuss to each other principles that are difficult for you. Sometimes, the explanation of your classmate is more comprehensible compared to the explanation of the book or of your professor/lecturer.

8. This tip is a little bit not advisable but I will advise it...hehehe...Learn to sacrifice some of the topics you think would be mentally consuming for you. Don't exert too much of your energy memorizing a certain topic at the expense of not mastering other more important topics. In my case for example, I realized that there are a lot of legal foundations of education, RA 7722, RA blah blah blah....and I find this impractical to memorize all of these than to master more important topics like educational theories and philosophies. What I did was to just memorize the most important RAs like the Magna Carta, the Code of Ethics, RBEC and others. I did not memorize anymore about other RAs. It was a risk but during the LET, there was only one question on RAs but a plenty on educational theories and principles. My risk was right. hehehe...Try at your own risk...hehe

These are just some of the tips I remembered on how will you maximize you brain while studying or reviewing for the LET. During my time I was bit not afraid to take the LET. I was rather excited. But the feeling of not being scared made me scared. I thought that I was being complacent that is why I became religious in studying. To be honest, these tips were just implemented by myself about 3-2 weeks before the LET. So if you're a LET taker and you're reading this post now, don't worry, you still have time...hehehe...

P.S. A lot of readers were asking about review centers so I would give my opinions regarding this if given the time.

(image source: http://jolamble.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/teenagers-studying.jpg)

Sample Letter of Request for Instrument

Letter of Request for IDP Instrument

From: jaylord losabia [mailto:neonjl1988@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 15 August 2012 3:09 AM
To: Judith Fethney
Subject: Request for IDP

Madam Fethney:

Mabuhay!

I am a candidate for a master's degree in education, concentrating on special education, at West Visayas State University, Iloilo City, Philippines. I am currently writing my thesis about regular education teachers' attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Upon researching the literature on attitudes towards persons with disabilities and inclusion, I read about the instrument Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale and found this very relevant to my research. I also learned that the one who developed the scale, Prof. Gething, is associated with your institution.

May I ask if there is any way that I could ask Prof. Gething's permission to use the IDP instrument? I would be very grateful if I would be granted a copy of both the IDP instrument as well as the instruction and scoring manual. Your generosity will surely be of great help to my research as well as in the area of special education in my country. 

Maraming salamat po!

Respectfully yours,

Jaylord S. Losabia