Classroom Science Initiatives

First of all, belated congratulations go out to new part time teachers and recent graduates Rainer and Robin!

I was delaying posting about it because there was the possibility of a third one also being hired, but I guess better to get it over with before the first week of the term is out and just add to any succeeding posts whatever needs to be added if any.

@@ We had the final meeting today for the inter-campus employees’ sports fest tomorrow.

I’ll be handling dodge ball, which is one of three “fun” games along with tug of war and centipede.

There will also be another fun run tomorrow just like last Foundation day, and there is kick ball!

I’m also curious as to why the chess games were divided into a men’s division and a women’s division.

If it’s as simple as to give out more medals then I’m all for it. If it’s for the reason that just like in another other segregated sports that it’s believed that one gender has an unfair advantage over another while competing, then that I question as to its validity.

@@ I just finished reading Whoopi Goldberg’s “Book”. Surprisingly, there are several insights there that I’d like to go back and highlight, and maybe even copy here.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson May 7: Don’t use your people to build a great work; use your work to build a great people. - Jack Hyles

May 8: The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. - Theodore Roosevelt

* Wow. This I totally agree with. It’s not about knowing how to manipulate people, or how to make them fear you, but how to get them to see that you’re basically a good guy and that therefore there is an advantage to them in seeing your goals reached.

@@ May 29: The ultimate leader is one who is willing to develop people to the point that they eventually surpass him or her in knowledge and ability. - Fred A. Manske. Jr

* This goes well again with the trait of a good leader that Ms. A mentioned several years ago in one of the leadership camps. I think I’ve mentioned it here before in connection to another related lesson, but it’s worth repeating. She said a true leader has an organization that survives his departure, something student leaders are assured of since they will eventually have to graduate and not be part of the organization anymore.

So someone that long-sighted should be able to train someone who will eventually replace him, and at the same time not brainwash them into accepting just his goals and visions, but should be able to provide their own unique imprint on the organization afterwards.

Today I’ll try a theoretical exercise. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Besides, this is something that students have to learn anyway when they are presented with word problems.

Imagine a pyramid as viewed from the side. We’ll call the peak point A, of course. There are also three steps leading to the top, not including the base, so that means three lines parallel to the base along the side of the visible triangle. From bottom to top, we’ll call the points where the horizontal lines meet the right side of the triangle points B, C and D.

Doing the same for the left side, we’ll call these points E, F and G. Also, we’ll define a point between points A and G on the left side of the triangle as point H. To be clear, points B to E form the longest horizontal line, and points D to G the shortest.

Now, we’ll change the reference. Say these lines represent roads and intersections. A public vehicle starts out at point E and eventually ends up at point A, but through several routes.

The right side of the triangle is actually the central part of town, and the left side is the highway that bypasses the municipal hall and the church, but passes through the market. Before the driver of the vehicle reaches point E he already asks the passengers if anyone will get off at the church. If the answer is yes, he will travel from E to B. The church is located between points B and C. If any of his passengers say they need to go to the market, the driver will then go from point C to point F.

Before reaching point G, the driver then asks if anyone will disembark in the inner road again, so he will then travel from point G to point D, and eventually reach point A from there.

I have to go to point H. If there are passengers who have to go through all those stops, I will alight at point A and walk back from there to point H. If there are none who will go to the inner part of town, the vehicle will travel from point E to A passing through points F and G, and I will ask the driver to stop directly at point H, where I want to go.

Since the left side of the triangle is also a highway, it takes less than five minutes of travel. If there are passengers who have to stop at the points mentioned above, the horizontal lines are actually residential streets that will take around fifteen minutes to navigate. Why can’t they just have additional signboards on the vehicles to say whether they will travel the highway or the inner route and let the passengers choose which one to ride? Isn’t that less of a waste of gas, instead of catering to all passengers?

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson May 3: I make progress by having people around me who are smarted that I am and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am. - Henry Kaiser

@@ May 6: The only way in which one human being can properly attempt to influence another is by encouraging him to think for himself, instead of endeavoring to instill ready-made opinions into his head. - Sir Leslie Stephen

@@ May 28: No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the successes of those under him. - W. A. Nance

First Wednesday of the new school year. It’s 520pm and I just finished my first badminton session in six months.

It was exhilarating. We only had five games, there being only four of us, but we won in the mixed doubles, on the second, fourth and fifth games. I’m particularly proud of the fourth game, where we came back from trailing 14 points to 19 to win 25 points against 23, rallying 6 points straight.

This may or may not be in preparation for the employees’ inter-campus sports fest on Saturday.

I know I’ve been recommended as the tournament director for dodge ball, but other than that I’m not sure if I’ll play.

@@ It’s pathetic when a student comes up with all these sorts of different excuses as for several terms – in fact YEARS of being in school - to why he did not do enough effort to pass a class, and it’s even worse when he uses the tragedy that befalls a close friend of his, such as a death in the family of that friend, to that list. It’s chronic laziness and blame-passing already.

How can someone live with himself not doing any work, relying on sweet talk and expecting to gain a diploma out of it?

Is this a future scam artist or con artist in the making, who will rely on others’ mercy and gullibility to get by in life?

@@ We are starting a new program this year, which is PROVE, or Pooled Resource of Volunteers for Events under the Student Council. This is for those who want to start early on serving their fellow students, and find out the workings of events logistics even though they don’t have any position yet or are an officer in any of the student organizations.

We already have a head start on promoting this even though they are supposed to be part of the recruitment week, which means that even the other organizations are allowed to campaign for members already.

With this we hope to increase student participation not only in attending the events but also in planning and execution, especially among the freshmen and sophomores who may have ideas of being council officers one day.

@@ Am finally finished with all the DLL entries of April. I have only three days to catch up all of May, which is not likely.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson May 1: The best leaders train leaders while they are leading. - Anonymous

@@ May 2: When you change your world for the better, you have positioned yourself perfectly to change the world of those around you. - Zig Ziglar

@@ May 27: Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. - Daniel 12:3 NIV

Unfortunately, even though it was the noteworthy first day of the new school year yesterday, there was no post.

What did I do? First there was syllabus preparation, followed by a Student Affairs meeting, next to which was a teaching demo, sneaked after was a quick lunch, then my first class for the term, some academic advising hitches, then I had to leave the campus for master’s degree studies.

So, despite my not having wanted it so, there turned out to be no time to write and post at all.

Anyway, I’m making up for that now. I have a lot of topics lined up already for the next few days.

@@ First of all, since the middle of last week, I have been in contact with my friend Chat on the possibility of buying her old Mac, as it seems to me to be that time again for switching laptops.

Sadly, she was busy last weekend so I didn’t get to meet with her to discuss it, among other things possible to do since I would be there. This is definitely a topic that I will be updating on here as it happens.

@@ Next topic is rumors. They’re nasty. What’s worse is when people act on rumors without confirming if they’re true or not, when the person that could be asked is approachable.

Even more deplorable is someone who admits to be reacting to a rumor in a formal document, and doesn’t say anything about having tried any verification on having heard of a potential official action of a person in position, but goes on about defending one’s self against the rumor.

It’s also typical of guilty people accused of something to turn the tables around, stand on their supposedly moral high ground and exact action from others, to divert attention from their own erroneous actions.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 29: All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. - Psalm 25: 10, 21 NIV

@@ April 30: Father, I ask You to help me develop and maintain a standard of truth and integrity. Strengthen me as I strive to be more like Jesus sincere, honest and trustworthy. Thank You that You will uphold me as I reach for your standards. In Jesus’ Name.

@@ May 26: A healthy sense of humor enables us to laugh with people and not at them. And we know that a good laugh is healthy, both physically and emotionally. - Zig Ziglar

* Filipinos are known to possess this, although sometimes I think it crosses the line, and becomes laughing AT people and their miseries. There’s a term for that after all, “happiness at the misfortune of others”.

It was the last day of the faculty workshops before the start of classes for college on Monday.

Sadly, it looked like some reality TV show where there were fewer and fewer participants as the days went on.

It was a bit embarrassing to today’s speaker that he expected there to be at least twice as many more attendees than there actually were. I don’t know if non-last-minute excuses are allowed.

@@ Last night we were at the home of one of our graduates from two years ago, and the one who give the valedictory address, Lahaina, who will be leaving the country to study abroad on June 3.

I was able to meet several of our other graduates there: Roy (of course, who just lives on the next street in San Jose Village), AJ, Joey, Carmen, Josh, Italy and Cedric.

I had just a short time to talk to them, and I regret that, wishing to know more about how they are now.

Perhaps there will be another venue, hopefully in the school, maybe during foundation week.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 25: In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time. - Robert Collier

* This is otherwise known as learning from your mistakes, at least for the second part.

The first part is just a rehash of every cloud has a silver lining, although it seems that some people have a difficult time seeing that in every bad situation, regardless how it’s been overcome.

@@ April 26: The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you’re really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. - Richard M. Nixon

@@ May 22: Natural talent, intelligence, a wonderful education none of these guarantees success. Something else is needed: the sensitivity to understand what other people want and the willingness to give it to them. - John Luther

* Maybe this is only success in business, or in entertainment. I don’t know how this translates to success in sports, where it’s really human achievement beyond expectations that counts.

It’s the third day of the college faculty workshops. The various schools gave their sample syllabus using the new format.

I hope that in this implementation the students will be up to the challenge and make us proud.

@@ A new type of update today! Finally, last night I was able to add to my book collection again after having finished off two books in the past month or so (“Red Thunder” and “The Golden Globe” both by John Varley). This is where I am thankful for user-edited information sites because they give more details than sometimes about an author’s works and other related books even than the writer’s official site, which is mostly hype anyway.

I’ll get back to that one, but what’s the new book? “Dave Barry Talks Back” by, of course, Dave Barry.

And I was able to buy it in a new mall – well, new in the sense that I’ve only ever been there just once before.

It was Walter Mart at Crossing. This stems from a quirk I have that if I have to buy something, I’d rather do it at places where I would logically get off public transportation and get on the next one, instead of having to go out of my way or get off and on the bus or jeep between my normal stops.

For this excursion, all I had to do was get off a little further down the road from where I usually ride, which the vehicles I take on the next leg of the journey passes through anyway.

@@ Going back to what I was saying earlier about fan-written pages about books, it helps a lot if the book turns out to be part of a series and I don’t remember the details of what had happened in the previous book if it has been quite some time since I last read it.

This is why if ever I buy the nth book in a series, most of the time I have to reread the previous books in order so that the events are fresh in my memory, or if I know the book is a series before I buy it (which is rare nowadays), I wait until I’ve completed it before reading.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 25: In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time. - Robert Collier

@@ April 26: The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you’re really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. - Richard M. Nixon

@@ May 21: The intellectual definition of leadership is the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose, and the character which will inspire confidence. - Anonymous

This was typed up yesterday and was supposed to have been put up yesterday, but circumstances up to the late evening conspired against making that so.

@@ Birthday greetings go out to my last living brother yesterday; too busy to post about it at the time.

Strangely enough, today’s post will be all expounding on the three DLL’s below.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 23: The ability to concentrate is essential in a leader; the constant exercise of this ability makes him a disciplined human being, enabling him to simplify a problem, to discover the essentials upon which all actions must be based and the details which are unimportant. - Anonymous

@@ April 24: Don’t get a big head when you win or get down in the dumps when you lose. Keep things in perspective. Success is not forever, and failure isn’t fatal. - Ken Blanchard

* This would be great if everyone remembered this. But sadly, there’s also a saying that when you do something good, everyone forgets, but when you do something bad, everyone remembers. And it’s not just others.

Some people can’t forgive themselves their past mistakes, and belittle their own achievements.

Sure humility is one of the beatitudes, but not to the point that it cripples you from doing anything.

The important thing is to learn from the past, both the mistakes and the positive things.

@@ May 19: The only difference between a big shot and a little shot is that a big shot is just a little shot that kept on shooting. - Zig Ziglar

* This goes along well with the lesson from April 23 above. Some people have the attitude of crossing that bridge when they get to it, even when it’s something that they have never done in their lives. It’s funny when some students say to their teachers that they’ll practice getting along with people they don’t like but have to work with when they are already working, but right now they want to do the requirements with their friends.

Or that they’ll practice decent dressing after graduation, but right now they want to be known as fashionable, even when it means giving the school a bad reputation.

When the school officials tell them to repeat certain tasks, it’s not to make things difficult for them, but to make them cultivate the habit that will impress their bosses when they do land a job, so that they will keep that job. If they only learn those habits after being threatened with the loss of employment, it’s too late.

It was the Freshman Orientation today. I would like to give a warm shout out of thanks to all the leadership camp attendees who worked on it.

This was the culmination of their almost three weeks of effort. Special appreciation goes out to Eya, president of TINIG, for the great hosting job and overall dedication, Tina, president of LYC for huge amount of effort put into the games, Winston president of YFC and his crew for their great stage design, and Cathy and her crew for the work done on the student guide.

I would also like to thank the speakers: Brother Richy, Ms. Cielo, Ms. Jayme, Ms. Karen, Ms. H (who was dragged into it at the last minute), Sir Albert, Sir Mel and Engineer Leland.

The job isn’t over yet, as there is a lot of information that has to be brought out to the non-freshmen as well, such as the new ID policy and dress code, the plans for the centennial, and the routine interview at the guidance office.

It’s also interesting to note that this far ahead the registrar’s office has already planned out the make up sessions to be set due to the holidays of the first term.

@@ So many theoretical (not so much really, just don’t want to go into particulars, dangerously close to being sightless items) situations I want to discuss, that I have learned, but I think I’ll pass them up for when I have more space.

I can say this right now though: “Transformers: Revenge” would have been a better title for the sequel than “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”.

And I’m not sure about how I feel that the main human in the cast is now set up as being the target of the warring camps, because of some “knowledge” he accidentally acquired. Just wanting to kill him because he killed Megatron isn’t enough? I may have a different definition of revenge then.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 21: The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things to endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur. - Vince Lombardi

@@ April 22: In any situation, ask yourself: What strengths do I possess that can contribute towards accomplishing something in this situation? Then follow through. - Anonymous

@@ May 18: The things I do, The things I say, Will lead some person aright or astray. So the things we do should be the best, and the things we say should be to bless. - Cal Stargel

First post in seven days! My excuse is that I haven’t been in school since Tuesday last week.

And unlike the past years, this one is different in that it’s not as if just because there are no classes I’m just sitting at home doing nothing when not planning a vacation.

@@ The time has been spent on books and movies, mostly. I’ve just finished reading the very great “Red Thunder” by John Varley on a backyard built rocket to Mars (that on-line I found out now has two sequels), and am now reading his “The Golden Globe”.

In the film department, I’ve gone out of my way to watch “X Men Origins: Wolverine”, “Star Trek” and “Crank: High Voltage”. Yes, I know one seems to be out of place with the others.

But it does seem to be a great year to be a science fiction fan, or of literally mindless action.

@@ And, not surprisingly, out of all those days, there was enough time for something to rant about.

I recently called the credit companies to tell them to take me off the “call” list for their promotions.

I talked to human operators, and the conversation was recorded, so I guess it must be true.

But they somehow found a loophole. I got a call from one of them again, but not about something they were offering me to charge to my credit card, but to get ANOTHER card.

And it’s not like the previous ones where it’s mailed to your home, and you have to call them to have it activated after having read and accepted the terms and conditions.

This time, when you agree to have it mailed to you, it’s already activated, then you get to read the terms and conditions.

Some people just want to take advantage of others’ confusion over verbal tactics instead of making the print too small for them to see, even for a termination fee.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 19: The greatest things in the world have been done by those who systematized their work and organized their time. - Orison Sweet Marden

@@ April 20: Input influences outlook, outlook influences output, and output determines outcome. - Anonymous

@@ May 11: Two things are bad for the heart running up stairs and running down people. - Bernard Baruch

First of all, congratulations to former College Student Council president Cedric who apparently, effortlessly, got his practicum at Pepsi just by referral; no submission of curriculum vitae needed, no prior appearance or interview. Now that’s sass.

@@ Today is also the start of the yearly Eco-camp for college students. It will run until Friday.

It is being held in the school, for the third time since it was initiated, I think. Longtime readers of this journal will know why I have backed down from participating, and not just because it means three more nights away from home.

I actually only went home last night for the first time since Monday last week, and it wasn’t a good experience at that, so yes, more time away from home equals the better.

But back to my original topic: from what I was able to see of the Eco-camp facilitators earlier, it seems to be not the same bunch as what was there a few years ago.

Maybe because of the advanced age of the head of the institute for the environment he won’t be showing up until the last day, and by then his impact would have lessened.

I could visit them every once in a while the next few days; we’ll see. I’d also like to try it out if they have any rappelling cliffs just like before, and river treks.

@@ Today is also the second day of the preparation of the new student leaders for the freshmen orientation, as well as submitting their final general plan of action for the new school year.

Apparently, what they had worked on yesterday was not saved, so someone else is consolidating their schedules again into one big file. Thankfully they had to resubmit what they presented yesterday anyway, because most of them did not have the ideal graduate attributes targeted.

So between now and May 18, we will only be going to school infrequently, I hope.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson April 15: The quest quotient has always excited me more than the intelligence quotient. - Eugene Wilson

@@ April 18: Productivity comes from commitment, not from authority. - W.L. Gore

@@ May 5: Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. - Sam Wilson