Classroom Science Initiatives

It’s the last day of the college student leader camp. Surprisingly, yesterday was a full day when my eyes did not feel heavy at all during the sessions, something that has been going on since the discussions last Monday.

I admit that in a lot of the meetings I’ve been in during the previous months since the start of the term, there have been times when I would be surprised that I would just wake up in the middle of a meeting, not even having been aware that I had closed my eyes and fallen asleep, even for an instant.

Maybe it is because there are more at stake at these talks than in any of the previous others where I was just a participant, and sometimes a forced one at that.

I guess that’s one of the advantages of email and texts, that’s it’s possible to communicate information to several people which they could read and reply to at their own leisure, without having to go through the requirement of being physically present, especially when one is just passive at a gathering and would consider the attendance a waste of time when they believe they would be more productive doing something else somewhere else.

Besides, sometimes it’s possible to infer nuances in what someone says face to face that really isn’t there, and there are those who only use those meetings to ambush people into giving answers to demands that they were not prepared for.

@@ One of the things I found out about the Integrated School, that extra curricular activity participation now form thirty percent of their grades for the past school year.

That means that students who only focus on their academics only get a maximum of seventy percent of their final grade, which means that most likely, they won’t be in the top of the class. I guess it means students are required to be well rounded.

Brother Ricky also mentioned something about having introduced into another grade school and high school campus of having a report card on values.

I wonder if there’s also a way to be able to rate student activities similarly without having to go through the highly subjective use of evaluation forms.

Even though a survey form might have the values 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) someone’s 3 (satisfactory) might only be equivalent to another person’s 2 (somewhat lacking).

And it should be better than counting number of activities or attendance.

There was no post yesterday because the administration planning filled up the first part of the day.

The second part of the day, up to past midnight actually, was at the leadership camp.

It’s a good thing that the two venues were just a few meters along the same road, although it was still a tiring walk because we are talking about the Tagaytay area, where the roads and paths go up and down, sometimes very steeply.

And, remember, I had a backpack with me filled with four days worth of clothes.

During the first part, there were farewell speeches from the people who would no longer be with us during the coming school year: Development, Information and Special Projects head Sir Chris, Integrated School principal Ms. Lily, and the marketing director. For now, the only replacement present (and got two days’ worth of preparation for the work ahead) was the new principal.

During our morning snack, that’s when I went up the road to check on the student leaders and their time with the orphans, which was the first part of their camp.

When I want back there in mid-afternoon, they were already in the middle of their session on the national situation, given by someone from the social action office of the main campus.

My session was immediately after, where I asked them first about their fundamental critique of the activities of the previous school year (which some looked at from the point of view of participants, some as organizers, some as both), and we deepened that as to what the profile of the top three and bottom three events showed in general as to the attitude of the students.

Next they had the session on faith and justice, about what was expected of them as Christian leaders in terms of responding to the needs they see around them.

Dinner was another activity, the boodle fight with arms tied, which our second speaker marvelously tied in to the story of heaven and hell being where people where strapped to their chairs in front of the dinner table, with arm long spoons bound to their arms. The only difference was that in hell, that’s where people had trouble feeding themselves, while in heaven, that’s where people happily used the long spoons to feed each other.

We had the cloud fantasy prayer after that, which I guess I’ll describe in detail tomorrow.

What can I say about the graduation that hasn’t already been said in the past years?

Well, for one thing, it was a different venue – a bit cramped, yes – and indoors, but at least for my part, just standing near the exit, I was able to shake the hands of the finishers that I wanted to congratulate. I wasn’t able to do that for the previous graduations, since, with the open venue, everyone scattered this way and that after the ceremony, and were difficult to catch.

Also, I personally could claim responsibility for the Environmental Advocacy award.

Well, technically it was the Office of Student Affairs that created that new award.

I believe no one before or since have shown as much dedication for the cause of nature as Beryl.

And just to be clear as to what I’m proud of, for today I’d like to revisit the school’s ideal graduate attributes: Lifelong Learner, Critical Thinker, Ethical Leaders, Interdisciplinary Resource Provider, Social Catalyst, Effective Communicator, Environmental Steward and Entrepreneurial Provider.

These, by the way, were made by interim president Brother Ricky three years ago.

He was also the one who headed our Understanding by Design approach to curriculum building congress for three days last week in CSB, where one of the steps was making effecting ideal graduate attributes translatable to something measurable that the teacher will be grade in class.

So we had no problem at all with that first part, which is assuring our graduate attributes are good.

@@ Where am I today by the way? This morning I was in school on a last minute meeting with the leadership camp student facilitators then the extended operations council had the farewell lunch for outgoing Integrated School principal Ms. Lily.

Both the incoming and outgoing principals are here. Sadly, Sir Mel and I are the only college representatives.

Ms. Lissa and Sir Glen couldn’t make it, and I thought Ms. Jaymee was going to be here but I guess that seminar she was talking about is in another nearby retreat house.

I’ll have to revive the daily leadership lessons soon.

There were no entries for the past two days because the college faculty had our annual workshop and second recollection for the year at that time.

The workshop was held in Coco Grove in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas, the third time I’ve been to that particular stretch of beach. The first time was in the mid nineties with the Outdoor Club of Main. That wasn’t really a resort, but just a collection of huts beside the shore. We cooked our own food and all.

Second time was in January of last year with friends. We stayed at Blue Coral, as documented in the previous incarnation of this journal. That place was a broom closet compared to this one, being cramped into a space about the size of a football field.

Coco Grove was at least five football fields, if not seven or ten, as reflected by the fact that their dining area was at least four times as big as that of Blue Coral.

There were also “tree houses” that could be occupied, unlike in Blue Coral where the one tree house was free for all, and seemed to be lopsided at that.

The hut for the boys had two rooms at the back (if the side facing the parking lot is termed as the back) with their own bathrooms and two double beds each, and a dorm in front with about ten beds and two bathrooms.

The pool was also unique in that it had a sloping floor from the gutter, as if it were filled with sand, so that it was actually possible to lie down with one’s head in the gutter.

They also had a fenced in trampoline (for safety) which several of my co-teachers tried out.

On the morning of the second day we had a hike or a shuttle to the white beach, where we also had a nature walk that crossed over a hanging bridge over a creek, and returned on a see-saw bridge made of bamboo that only one person could cross at a time. That is, someone had to walk the tilted ramp to the middle then the ramp would tilt to the other side to get across.

Finally there was a zip line back to the beach, but this had a weight limit so I wasn’t able to try it.

Anyway, that was the past two days. Later we have the college graduation with the highest number of finishers so far then the school year would have officially ended.

Not that that means there’s no work to be done next week.

The following is not really part of what we’ve been taking up the past few days here in the “Developing Learning Leaders” Congress, but something that’s been stewing for some time in my mind.

Just like there are different types of students (that the teacher has to be aware of and adjust to), there are also different types of teachers, some of who have the wrong purpose in teaching.

The traditional classroom-chalkboard approach has been that the teacher lectures in front and the students listen.

There are those who take advantage of this “captive audience” to instill in these impressionable young minds that the person talking in front is someone great and should be admired.

This is either by spouting all of these trivial facts, most of which have nothing to do with the subject matter, or by listing down one’s achievements. There is also the so-called subtle approach where the one talking does not say what he has accomplished, but does everything short of wearing medals to class to show the students his greatness.

Since nowadays students aren’t exactly fearful of the teachers, and sometimes even scoff at these displays of attention deficit openly, then the teacher has to flex his authoritative muscles and retaliate by failing the student, even if it’s against the social contract supposedly expressed at the start of the term on how the students will be evaluated in the course.

Of course, this is wrong, but for this type of person who has gone into teaching, his ego is king.

There are also those who go into teaching because, after a short time trying to get jobs in the outside world, they realize that their best days were in the campus, so they go back.

They believe that in school, there is no concept of being fired for incompetence (well, there is, but only for the rare hopeless case where the student is stubborn and doesn’t learn anything).

These are the people who, even after having completed all the academic requirements, maybe by having been completely average in their classes and non-alarming to the teachers, somehow had their own ideas of how they can promote their own agenda that all throughout their school life, they keep thinking, “I will bend to what the teacher wants right now, but when I’m finished I can do whatever I want that they won’t allow me.”

Except they realize soon after entering the real world that it doesn’t work that way, and that there are in fact more severe consequences for all their foibles and self-righteousness.

Going back to what I’ve been doing the past few days, I’m glad that there’s now a way to translate the pure intention of imparting knowledge and skills into a system that weeds out those who aren’t in the profession for the true and noble reasons people first volunteered for the job.

Am not in school today, as mentioned yesterday, because of the Developing Learning Leaders Congress in CSB.

This will be until Wednesday. What I forgot to mention yesterday is that it’s actually the first time for me to enter their hotel, although before there have been several invitations for years to try their lunch buffet.

All their banquet halls are on the second floor, and they have relatively low ceilings compared to the reception areas used for weddings in some hotels. The one we used yesterday morning was actually three small function rooms with removable partitions.

In the afternoon, since we represented tertiary education, we were moved to a smaller function room while those handling basic education stayed in the big room. I would thought it would be the other way around, but I guess there are more delegates for them.

Since there are apparently computers provided for the participants to used, lined up along one wall of the session hall, we didn’t bring our laptops anymore like we did yesterday (we brought three).

@@ Wow, it is true what the character of Raul Julia (best known for playing Gomez Addams in the “Addams Family” movie) said in the film “The Rookie” with Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen (now there’s an obscure Hollywood reference for my perceived audience).

“You can’t choose your family but you can choose your friends.” And because of this, some people do not want to believe that they could make a mistake in choosing their friends.

This goes to the point where they even defend their companions against their parents, even the parents who would also fight for them figuratively and maybe literally to the death.

Or maybe, they know that their personalities are so warped and that most people won’t accept them that when they find someone who will hang around with them, they know that it is something that should be held on to more than their own flesh and blood.

Again, I go back to the analogy of child pornographers. They are few, they are persecuted, but it doesn’t mean that when they encourage each other, that what they are doing it is right.

@@ It’s also funny how there are some people who are so into having titles only for themselves, and there are those who are obsessed with being part of as many privileged sounding groups as possible.

So if they could gather with at least one other person for a common purpose, suddenly they’re the “core group”.

It’s not what you say you are or what you say you do, but what you actually do and if it is right. Just because you call yourself the “Christ-centered team” doesn’t mean anything you do is right.

Today’s start for the three-day Developing Learning Leaders Congress of all the district schools in the north part of the country started out in a bad way.

The emcee had poor enunciation. How cringe-worthy is it when you have to pray “Our Fodder who art in heaven, hallowed be dye name” and pronounces “faith”, already projected on the screen for everyone to follow, as “fate”.

Then she told everyone to sit down after the prayer then stand up again for the national anthem.

Thankfully, that was the only negative part of the day, as the speakers - Bro. Armin, Bro. Dodo, Dr. Quebengco and Bro. Ricky - made up for that small gaffe immensely.

We also met the new principal for the integrated school, me for the first time.

Apparently, he’s the brother-in-law of one of our graduates from last year, Roberta.

Instead of a folio, the souvenir kit was a three ring binder. It was almost empty, but during the progression of the day, we were given the relevant handouts as the topics were presented. What was annoying though was hat during this time there would be the sounds of binders being closed, a sound as sharp as someone clapping once, repeating every few seconds from somewhere in the room.

I noticed though that when Brother Kenneth arrived, he had a full binder. I guess he would be allowed to have all of the handouts in advance, being president and all.

I also found out about the five schools or philosophies of teaching: Perennialism, Essentialism, Behaviorism, Progressivism, and Existentialism.

And all the participants were told to line up around the hall according to our scores to a survey telling us which of the five we unconsciously subscribe in, from supposedly the most teacher-centered to the most learner-centered.

I was surprised to find myself in one side of the room while everyone else from school was at the other end.

Good thing there was a sixth school of thought introduced by Brother Ricky that of cognitive field experimentalism, which I think is a merging of several schools of thought.

Well, I have to be up early tomorrow for the second day of the sessions.

There is a party today for ROTARACT, who swept the recent Student Guild Awards in garnering best student organization, best student leader for their president Amlyn Rey and best faculty adviser for Miss Nesse.

@@ I was telling the leadership camp core yesterday about the irony that there are students who put in a lot of effort but are still worried at the end of the term that they are failing, while there are those who put in less than the minimum requirement, and yet they still believe or hope that they will eventually pass.

Maybe next term I’ll have the class standing posted given at the end of each period so the slackers will not have any illusion about what they need to do to get a grade of one-point-zero. And they have to be told that just because they’ve reached that point (sixty percent, at least) that it doesn’t mean they can stop attending afterwards until the end of the term.

@@ Related to the previous topic, Brother Noel, facilitator of the college senior retreats, told us about an incentive he gives so that the students always attend.

He says that those who have perfect attendance are assured of a grade of 1.0 already.

What, he says, makes the students strive for more than that? Because if their classmates find out their grade in his class is only that much, then they will look down on him or her as having passed only based on attendance, not on having learned anything from the class, or so can be believed.

I don’t know how this can be reconciled though with the Commission on Higher Education edict that attendance should not be included in the grading system.

It looks like a loophole or a technicality, because it’s not really in the grading system.

Also, something he forgot to mention is that is it an agreement with the students that not having perfect attendance, their grade will now be based on the exams etc. alone?

It is strict that students cannot appeal if they have only one absence, or one late?

Is this better than my idea about telling the students that every time there is no one absent in the class, that they will have no exercise for the day, or will have an exercise that is double in points?

Or can these concepts work in conjunction?

I didn’t think there would still be college students who have to speak out the words when they are reading a text, but apparently, that’s a bad habit that 9 units of English can’t eradicate. Besides, proper reading skills were first tackled in grade schools, weren’t they? At least, that’s the case with good schools.

@@ For now, because I just got a great shirt, I’ll talk about some of the good ones I’ve gotten lately.

Most recent I got a shirt with the map of the country on it. At least it’s still in the same vein as the patriotic prints that have been circulating lately, but not with the flag as taken for an emblem by a boxer or a rapper who died.

It’s part of the SK2 selection by the way. Of course I had to find one that fits me.

I have also found two shirts of the Ocean Blue label, one green and one blue that are simple in design, not with any skulls or rebellious overtones, and no fierce animals either that are supposed to depict the wearer’s attitude.

This shop, by the way, sadly available only in the province in the southwest or in QC, is my newest favorite shop, having replaced Page Jeans in terms of nearness.

In Page Jeans, shirts I particularly like I buy more than one of. Like the one with the old style movie camera with film reels on it with the words “Coming Soon”.

I didn’t expect it to be too liked though, that one of my Communication Arts students, Kyle, who saw the same great shots in the movie “Contact” that I appreciated, expressed wanting one around the same time as his birthday.

So I just gave my extra one to him, and it was even suggested that we wear the shirt on the same day.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 10: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. – Psalm 1: 1,2 NIV

@@ April 11: What better goals can a person set for himself than to follow the advice of virtuous parents, good books and teachers, wonderful friends and the inspiring teaching of Christ. – Emerson Roy West

@@ April 17: It would be better to abandon our over-rapid development of the intellect and to aim rather at training the heart and the affections. – Victor Hugo

First of all, belated happy birthday yesterday to my best friend from college, Nolan!

It was the distribution of report cards last Wednesday. It was held at the pergola.

This means that all the teachers and their coordinators were there, instead of parents having to go to different classrooms. Also, I heard, because of the lack of ventilation, the parents didn’t really stay long unless really called for.

@@ Now there’s another memo (electronically sent, actually) saying that as part of the energy conservation drive of the school, now vehicles entering the school don’t have to pass by the IS or LC1 building, which means it’s back to the old traffic route from before the grade school building was built.

I don’t think it’s really a question of wasting a lot of gas going all the way around, but really of keeping a close eye on no jams at the intersection nearest the gate.

@@ It was supposedly the last day of the “Little House” cafeteria yesterday.

But since the new concessionaire won’t be able to move in until next week (I think, not sure) then the old food servers have agreed to stay until at least the end of the week.

Although, from what I heard, there are now no spoons and forks there earlier.

I wouldn’t know, I already prepared for the contingency by buying my lunch outside before riding the shuttle earlier, and will probably continue to do so until tomorrow. Who knows, maybe even plates will be missing next time.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 8: A man learns only by two things: one is reading and the other is association with smarter people. – Will Rogers

* Let me just clarify here that hanging out with more educated people does not necessarily mean they are smarter. I’d rather learn from a woodsman or a carpenter.

@@ April 9: You are the same today that you are going to be five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read. – Charles Jones

@@ April 16: your attitude is either your best friend or your worst enemy, your greatest asset or you greatest liability. – John C. Maxwell