The Challenge of Teaching for Quality

(Address at the 2019 World Teachers Day Celebrations, Limketkai Atrium, Cagayan de Oro City)

Sec. Leonor Magtolis Briones Department of Education

October 5, 2019

Today, I greet our more than 900,000 teachers and school leaders in the Department of Education (DepEd), our teachers in the private schools, teachers in higher education, and our retired teachers, a very happy National and World Teachers’ Day.

I will start with the good news.

With the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) completing its study on benchmarking of salaries of government personnel, we anticipate that the promised new round of salary increase for all employees of government will be announced by the Office of the President or its authorized representative soon.

But this is not all that our public school teachers can look forward to.  DepEd, under my direction, is working to secure the support of DBM for the expansion of Teacher positions. We are proposing to add to the present Teacher 1, Teacher 2, and Teacher 3 positions the new positions of Teacher 4, Teacher 5, Teacher 6 and Teacher 7, with their corresponding higher salary grades. Expanding the teaching positions will allow our T1, T2 and T3 teachers, comprising more than 90 percent of our teaching force, greater opportunity for promotion with the corresponding increase in salary levels.

But the good news comes with a challenge. As we increase the salaries and improve the terms of employment of our public school teachers, we expect our teachers to be the driving force to raise the quality of the country’s basic education.

Today, education quality is our biggest concern. While investing in education has produced major gains in access to education, the evidence is clear that the quality of our learning outcomes leaves much to be desired.

We administer large scale assessment of learning outcomes through the standardized National Achievement Test (NAT) for Grade 6, Grade 10, and Grade 12. The average results in all subject areas and 21st century skills are mostly at low proficiency levels. Low proficiency means our learners are on average only able to correctly answer between three to five questions for every 10 questions in NAT.

This is the cumulation of our education system since the foundation of our Department on June 23, 1898. I have announced in our budget hearings that even as we address the remaining gaps in access, we have shifted the focus of our reform agenda to education quality.

The standards of quality have changed. The 21st century and the fourth industrial revolution have brought rapid changes in the world. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots have transformed institutions like education. AI also changed the way people learn since educational materials are becoming accessible to all through smart devices and computers.These have also brought changes in the expectations for learning outcomes among our students. For example, in reading, as various sources and types of information become available to our students through information technology, it is no longer enough that our students are able to read and comprehend continuous text in textbooks. They must now be able to read, comprehend, compare, analyze, process, and integrate from multiple text sources not only in printed format, but also from unlimited digital sources.

In the OECD PISA international test that we joined for the first time in its 2018 round, the test for reading involves being able to read fluently, locate information, understand, and evaluate and reflect. Evaluating and reflecting requires being able to:

Assess the quality and credibility of information, that is, whether the information is valid, up-to-date, accurate and/or unbiased.

Reflect on content and form, that is, the quality and style of writing.

Detect and handle conflict, that is, being aware of and able to assess information that contradict each other.

In Math and Science, it is no longer enough to know the mathematical operations or the science concepts. Our students are now being tested for their ability to apply these in the context of real-world situations. In math, this requires being able to “use mathematical concepts, procedures, facts and tools to describe, explain and predict phenomena”. In science, it requires being able to explain phenomena scientifically, evaluate and design scientific inquiry, interpret data and evidence, and draw appropriate scientific conclusions.

This is what 21st century skills in the K to 12 curriculum is all about. It is not enough for our students to master concepts and subject matter. They also need to have digital literacy, and have the skills for problem solving and critical thinking.

In our country, there are already classrooms that are ready for the 21st century. I have visited classrooms in Taguig and Batangas, in which every learner is equipped with an iMac computer, with access to learning resources such as e-books.

But the question is, have our teachers kept pace with the changes in teaching required for the 21st century, so that in turn our students will be able to keep pace with changes in the required standards of quality? Have our teacher education institutions kept pace with the needed pre-service preparations for teachers in the 21st century? Have our in-service training kept pace with the professional development needed by teachers of the 21st century?

The challenge is for our teachers to be able to think of new and innovative ways of teaching. An example of this is Dr. Ensalada; he fuses IP culture with how he teaches Math. In other countries, teachers are using technology to enhance teaching such as through gamification – using concepts and theories in games for education – and playful learning. Also, other countries have started teaching learners how to create games, enhancing their creativity and problem-solving skills.

The learners today are very different from the learners before. Generation Z, learners born from 1997 onwards, are anxious because they know a lot of things. This is due to the influx of information and data that are very accessible to these learners. They are concerned about what is happening on our planet, and what the future holds for them. With this, we need to understand what is happening with our learners. We need to listen to them. Other countries have already started using neuroscience to understand what the learners feel, what part of their brain works when doing specific tasks, and how they learn.

How is the Department responding to the herculean task of rising from the reality of low education quality? The focus in the past has been in changing the curriculum through K to 12, and in upgrading the learning environment through new school buildings and modernizing facilities. But these are not enough.

The battle for quality basic education will be fought and won at our classrooms, by our teachers. Ultimately, it is in the classrooms where the day-to-day learning of our students happen. I have worked from day one to support our teachers through policy and program reforms. For instance, alongside our initiative to expand the Teachers positions is our ongoing transformation of the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), whereby we are integrating the professional development program and aligning it to the career progression and promotion system for teachers.

The new professional development program will start in 2020. This new professional development program, aligned with expanded promotion opportunities, will have a built-in process for teachers to be able to translate their own learning into classroom teaching improvements. The new professional development program will empower our teachers to make transformative reforms in classroom instruction for quality.

There is much work to be done. The fight for quality will require no less than a national movement, with our teachers at the forefront.

Our Teachers’ Day national theme this year, “Gurong Pilipino: Handa sa Makabagong Pagbabago”, as well as the global theme, “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession”, are very apt for the biggest challenge that our basic education system faces today. On this World and National Teachers’ Day, I reach out to all our teachers and school leaders, seek your support, to renew everyone’s commitment and motivation for an all-out effort for education quality.

Magandang hapon, at mabuhay ang mga guro ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon.

(Transcription courtesy of  Usec Diosdado San Antonio's fb post at https://web.facebook.com/diosdado.sanantonio)

Teachers' Continuing Challenges as Instrumentalities of Knowledge and Wisdom in the 21st Century

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes

With excerpts from Ms. Dina Ocampo’s talk at PNU Graduation Ceremony, April 7, 2017

No one can deny that LIFE has become easy due to the improvement in the lives of the average Filipinos brought about by the increase in the so called per capita income.  Things considered as luxuries before by the poor and can only be afforded by the rich and the middle class like sardines, instant noodles, frozen foods, fork and chicken, even eggs are now affordable to the poor.  Even mobile phones, television sets, ordinary fashion even its from ukay are affordable too.  As such, at times the poor can outsmart the middle class in fashion and gadgetry.  It is now easy to go from one place to another.  Indeed, due to the onset of information technology, it has shrunk the world and the country we used to live.

Claro M. Recto Memorial Central School's grade two pupils in Tiaong, Quezon:
Learners' critical discernment has not been as great as it is today.

However, even if life has become easier and much entertaining, at least in our country as compared to Sub-saharan Africa, it did not contribute in the improvement of our values, morals, and spirituality.  While there’s an explosion of knowledge brought about by the information super high way, there came the evils of it. One example of this is the deliberate manufacturing and sharing of fake news to manipulate public opinion. The damage this causes society is massive. Anger is aroused, distrust is sewn, bigotry is fostered and culture of impunity is raised, promoted and even accepted as synonymous to forgiveness and the concept of moving on.

The pressure on educators such as ourselves to develop in learners critical discernment has not been as great as it is today. The age of information technology has become both a blessing and a bane to us teachers who ourselves have difficulty in distinguishing between credible news and “alternative facts” regardless of age bracket we belong be that as from baby boomers up to the mellenials or generation Y.   As such there comes the revisionists.

We must address this issue on two levels. First, establishing the truth must be based on facts that are corroborated by credible sources. And second, we must teach our students that the measure of fact has little to do with their preferred outcome. Just because it is your opinion, it does not mean it is right. Nor is it the truth.

In other words, critical pedagogy is what you must practice so that the students will develop critical discernment. Just because something resonates with your opinion, it doesn’t mean it is a fact. Scientific processes and the proper appreciation of data is needed. This can be done by giving students opportunities and direct instruction on how to dissect information. Otherwise, we will fall into the trap of believing that all opinions out there are for real. Worse, we will believe that our opinion is always better than others all the time and we ignore that there is always a possibility that we are mistaken.

Another example has to do with bigotry. In education, we have struggled to move away from labelling children and learners. We have stopped using terms like bobo and retarded to describe learners with different learning needs. We stopped homogenous grouping of our pupils and students according to their academic performance instead grouped them heterogenously avoiding labels as higher or lower section or fast and slow learners.  Move on na tayo diyan db? We have moved towards seeing the learner and their capacities instead of cuing onto the label together with the assumptions and judgements that go with that label.

Unfortunately, social media is full of bigotry. Dilawan and Dutertards are only two examples of such manifestations of bigotry. Labels such as these box in people into categories. Worse, they call into mind generalizations and characteristics that make recipients of these labels clones of each other as if they were not individuals and human.

Such bigotry resulted in the reign of terror in the middle east or even the unexpected personalities getting elected into public offices as a result of lies, trolls and memes. And now, still on-going, the attack on Marawi City by the Maute Group allegedly linked to ISIS. Or on statements like, “di ikaw na.  Addict ka!  “Kung kaanak mo kaya ang marape . . .”

As instrumentalities in propagating knowledge and wisdom we can help to abate social ills and lies for it would always be true and factual that education is the solution.  It is our greatest weapon and resource if we can only perform our sacred duties and responsibilities to the best that we can.  This we could do with much ease if we could rise above our basic enemy, the average in ourselves.  For we are tasked to do THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!  Aristotle puts it, EXCELLENCE ISN’T AN ACT, IT IS A HABIT.

We should always be open to trainings, lectures and discussions even when we feel and think that it is no longer new or interesting because at the end of the of the day, there will always be novel in things we thought we knew already.  We should reflect on what has been given to us up to this very moment onwards to the bits of wisdom our experiences tell and by internalizing and committing to apply with much ease the Constructivist, Integrative, Reflective, Inquiry, and Collaborative Approaches in teaching. 

Where others fail, in K to 12, with these clearly defined and given approaches, doing it right and with expertise, we are bound to SUCCEED! 

Why Do Teachers Need to Plan their Lessons and Prepare DLL

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd QUEZON, CALABARZON


Teacher's Guides (TG's) are only guides. It is suggestive but not prescriptive. It is definitely not Lesson Plan (LP). As teachers therefore, we still need to plan our lessons to insure that it fits well with our classes. "Planning is one of the most important project management and time management

techniques. Planning is preparing a sequence of action steps to achieve specific goal. It is like a map. When following a plan, you can always see how much you have progressed towards your project goal and how far you are from your destination. Knowing where you are is essential for making good decisions on where to go or what to do next,"- (What is Planning and Why We Need to Plan?http://www.time-management-guide.com/planning.html)

All those things mentioned about planning is not contained in our TG's. However, LP preparation though the most ideal is very time consuming. So after more than a decade of struggle to move away from the rigors of LP preparations but not necessarily lost its essence, the Daily Lesson Log was introduced by DepEd so that time lost will be directed in studying the content of the lesson and the preparation of instructional materials.

DLL is a much simplified LP for it contains official record of activities, instruction and learning experiences written in a systematic way.

DO 42, s. 2016 explained it clearly that its aim is to support teachers in organizing and managing their classes and lessons effectively and efficiently and ensure the achievement of learning outcomes. Preparing for lessons through the Daily Lesson Log (DLL) or Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP) provides teachers with an opportunity for reflection on what learners need to learn, how learners learn, and how best to facilitate the learning process.

At first, because of its length, DLL preparation will require additional 50% or even double the time required viz the old DLL but its only while we are still new to it but sooner, as we became used to it and learned techniques of doing shortcuts, it will be easier.

For the meantime, let us just do and learn from doing it. A blessed Sunday folks. May God continuously shine on us!

‘If you want your pupils to think you’re a great teacher, then own what you teach’

Joe Nutt
Source:  www.tes.com

The relationship between you and the material you choose to build your lessons is central to your performance in the classroom, writes one educationist

My youngest daughter and I discuss all sorts of things during the half-hour school run: her inevitably yo-yoing friendships, too much homework, terrorism. But this week she spent almost the entire journey singing the praises of one of her teachers. A teacher she singled out because she enjoys her lessons so much and learns so much from her. A teacher who does something no other teacher at my daughter’s school ever does. Not one.

The way teachers present lesson counts the most.

So what is her secret? What makes time spent with this teacher so productive and enjoyable? Are her lessons more fun, learner-centric, project-based or kinesthetic? Is she a master of evidence-based, up-to-date research?

Surprisingly, my daughter’s voluntary eulogy started with PowerPoint. She explained how she’d just realised that one of the reasons why this particular teacher was so good was because she used her own PowerPoint slides, not someone else’s. Unlike another teacher she named, who uses several different presentations at the same time, none of them her own, and as a result never knows where she is or what she is teaching. No, this teacher is the best because, in my daughter’s view, she creates all her own stuff and knows it inside out. Whether it’s a set of slides, paperwork or a practical activity, it’s abundantly clear to the children she teaches that she put it together.

Of course once we got into a discussion, I discovered she is also highly organised, her lessons follow almost the same pattern every day, and she sets homework that reinforces what the girls learn in lessons. But in essence, what my daughter spotted is something no one ever told me when I trained in the 1980s, yet it is probably the single most important thing one can teach a teacher.

The relationship between you and the material you choose to build your lessons is absolutely central to your efficacy in the classroom. That is why models that create then deliver “content” to teachers only ever deliver mediocre results in the classroom.

I saw confirmation of this a few months ago in an article about Jack Spatola, the principal of a Brooklyn elementary school which has enjoyed long running success going back decades. Success any school facing equally severe challenges would die for. Mr Spatola made this comment, “If you are a professional, you take ownership of the curriculum.” Which is why Mr Spatola spends scarce dollars on primary texts, fiction and non-fiction, but never on textbooks.

If you are a professional, you take ownership of the curriculum. One of the most insightful and valuable comments I have seen in many years, and one which visitors to this week’s BETT show would do well to heed. In 2015 just under 45,000 people visited the BETT show, 69 per cent of them from the UK, making it arguably the single most important educational event of the annual calendar in this country.

BETT will buzz with excitement. Hordes of teachers glad to get out of the classroom will stagger under the weight of brochures, free biros and educational knick knacks foisted on them by smiling sales staff, but precious little will happen as a result to impact on the classrooms those excited visitors will return to.

So many of the businesses at BETT, so many of the heads, teachers and policy-makers being paid to improve schools, would benefit simply by adopting the single insight my daughter worked out for herself last week. If you want to be a great teacher, then own what you teach.

Joe Nutt is an educational consultant, researcher and author

5 Quick Classroom-Management Tips for Novice Teachers

By:  Rebecca Alber

Appeared originally at www.edutopia.org

I made a good number of blunders my first year teaching that still make me cringe. I learned though. And it's fair to say, when it comes to managing a classroom, most of what we learn as new teachers is trial by fire. It's also smart to heed the advice of those who have walked -- and stumbled -- before you. If you are struggling with discipline, here are five tips that you can start using right away:

 

Photo courtesy of Rappler.com

#1 Use a normal, natural voice

Are you teaching in your normal voice? Every teacher can remember this from the first year in the classroom: spending those first months talking at an above-normal range until one day, you lose your voice.

Raising our voice to get students' attention is not the best approach, and the stress it causes and the vibe it puts in the room just isn't worth it. The students will mirror your voice level, so avoid using that semi-shouting voice. If we want kids to talk at a normal, pleasant volume, we must do the same.

You want to also differentiate your tone. If you are asking students to put away their notebooks and get into their groups, be sure to use a declarative, matter-of-fact tone. If you are asking a question about a character in a short story, or about contributions made by the Roman Empire, use an inviting, conversational tone.

#2 Speak only when students are quiet and ready

This golden nugget was given to me by a 20-year veteran my first year. She told me that I should just wait and then wait some more until all students were quiet.

So I tried it; I fought the temptation to talk. Sometimes I'd wait much longer than I thought I could hold out for. Slowly but surely, the students would cue each other: "sshh, she's trying to tell us something," "come on, stop talking," and "hey guys, be quiet." (They did all the work for me!)

My patience paid off. Yours will too. And you'll get to keep your voice.

#3 Use hand signals and other non-verbal communication

Holding one hand in the air, and making eye contact with students is a great way to quiet the class and get their attention on you. It takes awhile for students to get used to this as a routine, but it works wonderfully. Have them raise their hand along with you until all are up. Then lower yours and talk.

Flicking the lights off and on once to get the attention is an oldie but goodie. It could also be something you do routinely to let them know they have three minutes to finish an assignment or clean up, etc.

With younger students, try clapping your hands three times and teaching the children to quickly clap back twice. This is a fun and active way to get their attention and all eyes on you.

#4 Address behavior issues quickly and wisely

Be sure to address an issue between you and a student or between two students as quickly as possible. Bad feelings -- on your part or the students -- can so quickly grow from molehills into mountains.

Now, for handling those conflicts wisely, you and the student should step away from the other students, just in the doorway of the classroom perhaps. Wait until after instruction if possible, avoiding interruption of the lesson. Ask naive questions such as, "How might I help you?" Don't accuse the child of anything. Act as if you do care, even if you have the opposite feeling at that moment. The student will usually become disarmed because she might be expecting you to be angry and confrontational.

And, if you must address bad behavior during your instruction, always take a positive approach. Say, "It looks like you have a question" rather than, "Why are you off task and talking?"

When students have conflicts with each other, arrange for the students to meet with you at lunch, after or before school. Use neutral language as you act as a mediator, helping them resolve the problem peacefully, or at least reach an agreeable truce.

#5 Always have a well-designed, engaging lesson

This tip is most important of all. Perhaps you've heard the saying, if you don't have a plan for them, they'll have one for you. Always overplan. It's better to run out of time than to run short on a lesson.

From my own first-hand experience and after many classrooms observations, something that I know for sure: Bored students equal trouble! If the lesson is poorly planned, there is often way too much talking and telling from the teacher and not enough hands-on learning and discovery by the students. 

We all know engaging lessons take both serious mind and time to plan. And they are certainly worth it -- for many reasons.

Share with us your classroom management experiences: What specific challenges are you having? What strategies have worked well for you and your students? Please share in the comment section below.

What Teachers Do to Continue to Teach Into the 21st Century?

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

To continue to teach well into the 21st century, our teachers who began teaching in a kinder, gentler time have to rewire their brains to respond to the structures, functions and connections presented by technology. How else can they teach their students the literacies that education experts say are needed to be successful in the modern world?

On top of that, our teachers have to blend the new skills into the core curriculum. They cannot simply leave their students to aimlessly wander the information highway. The order is to lead the kids down that path in the context of a lesson in math, science, economics, language, arts, and so on down the hierarchy of subjects. The Department of Education’s list of K-to-12 learning goals, which necessarily translate into teaching goals, include basic, scientific, financial, technological, visual, information, media and multicultural literacies. Environmental literacy must be somewhere in there, too, because if it is not, we are in deep trouble.

The critics and cynics are shaking their heads. To begin with, our teachers do not even know which buttons to push. They have a lot of catching up to do because they are not hardwired for 21st-century hardware. How can teachers stay credible and legitimate when, in terms of digital developments, they are so far behind the students they are supposed to be guiding? continue reading

Why read? Six reasons why you should keep reading

From:  https://ph.she.yahoo.com/

Reading has been an essential part of our lives for thousands of years. There are various reasons why people read. Whether it is a restaurant menu, a newspaper article, a prayer booklet or the whole Epic of Gilgamesh, you can be sure that someone will enjoy reading it.

 The 35th Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) advocates reading and gives us reasons why we should continue to do so.

1. It stimulates your mind

Studies from the online issue of the journal Neurology found that reading or doing other mental activities can slow the progress of or prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

According to the news portal Science Daily, the rate of mental decline of those with infrequent mental activity was quicker by 48%.

2. It help improves your focus and concentration

Unlike the experience of reading articles online wherein you can get distracted by ads or the temptation to check other websites in just a click, reading a book can help you improve your concentration because you are focused on a single item, thus helping you absorb what you read.

3. It can help you de-stress

Research conducted in 2009 by Mindlab International at the University of Sussex showed that reading is the most effective way to overcome stress. The participants of the study started to feel relaxed once they started reading.

4. It makes you more empathic

Reading fiction makes people more empathic, according to different studies made in January 2013. Being emotionally moved or touched by a story results in a boost in empathy as seen in experimental studies done during a course of one week for readers of Arthur Conan Doyle or Jose Saramago.

5. It improves your imagination and your vocabulary

Vocabulary is widened when you research on unfamiliar words you encounter in articles or stories you read. One’s imagination is also enhanced when reading because the mind tends to picture what is being read to achieve better understanding.

6. It can help fight depression

Studies from the University of Manchester published in 2013 state that people with severe depression can benefit from “low-intensity interventions” like reading self-help books.

Text courtesy of the Manila International Book Fair. Yahoo Philippines is a proud media partner.

Always Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time: A Reflection of a Public School Teacher

By:  Evelyn R. Magpantay 

Padre Burgos Central School 
Padre Burgos- Agdangan District, Division of Quezon

Another year had passed as things happened along which had contributed much to our performances not only to our families and our love ones but most importantly towards our works and attitudes in the performance of our duties, responsibilities, and mission as teachers.

Hope that this year would be a more fruitful year to all.  Hoping too that God continuously shower us with the gifts of life, wisdom and strength to cope with the challenges of our works each day.

Having moments of reflecting as to how I am doing my job as a teacher in relation to my pupils’ performance and feedback from my peers, parents and school heads, it is easy to think about getting to the conclusion that I’m still okay.  It’s because I am sure to myself that I am doing the right thing at the right time.  I make it to a point that every moment is important especially to those who are interested to learn.  I assume that everybody does for if they don’t, they will not be in school.

No time is wasted because they are slow learners and their picking up span is short that I have to make use of that precious time for them to develop the basic skills they need to learn each day.  I know they are eager to learn too that’s why I try to make the lesson simpler for them to understand.  As to my colleagues, everything is going smoothly.  The relationship with them and the parents are amazing and wonderful.  That’s why, I’m happy about it.

I am proud to inform my school head that my desire to be an effective teacher is in my heart and soul ever since I became a teacher.  And so as always, my priority is how to make these pupils improve their eagerness to learn, to study and develop their skills gradually.  

It has been my desire that they remember me years after or even if I’m gone here on earth.  That some of them my recall and say that if not with teacher Babes (Evelyn), I haven’t learn how to read, to multiply, I had stopped and so on;  that they remember and think of the good points in me instead of my weaknesses.

To others, it may not be that important but it’s all that makes me happy.  The best price I can get from laborious days of hardship each day and for many years as a public school teacher.

I think that in my age now, there is nothing more to change because I see to it that I do my best shot each day inside and outside the classroom.  I recognize that I have limited talents but I work hard for the skills bestowed in me to be a good teacher in the best way I can.  Sorry if I at times or many times I can’t cope up with the rest of the expectations from me.

Finally, I will still be what I used to be.  That is always working to be efficient until my retirement comes.  I pray to God that He looks upon me and give me longer years to live with my family and love ones, to share what I can share to others, give love to all and be contented for what I have.

(Teacher Evelyn R. Magpantay is a grade three teacher of mentally challenged pupils.  She's in the service for 35 years and her passion to teach just keeps on burning.  She is retiring in two years time.)

How Teachers Can Motivate Students in the Classroom

An article originally posted at www.depedteacher.blogspot.com with the same title

An old saying moves, "When the student is ready, your teacher will appear." While that's correct, I believe we can increase the process.

Imagine such pupils like them who battled their way to school
 only to find out a boring lesson and teacher.

Following are generally 12 suggestions each teachers and mother and father can implement to get children motivated this coming university year.

1. Develop curiosity
Curiosity could very well be the greatest of all motivators. Here's the difference between American and Japanese styles of teaching: In Japanese schools, students are instantly introduced to a problem or even challenge. They cope with it. Curiosity is of course engendered. By contrast, in United states schools the main thought(s) are presented, the solution is taught, and then students training. Where the awareness is engendered using this approach?

2. Teach students to question themselves 
Promote students to ask on their own questions. The asking process starts your thinking process. When individuals begin to ask on their own "Why?" and "How? Inch questions, both performance and interest increase. There are only a few things we are very likely to answer than a question-the cell phone, the doorbell, and e-mail.

3. Create desire
College students are constantly wondering, "What's In It For Me?Inches Since they're tuned to that particular radio station, WII-FM, devote a little time at the beginning to discuss what the lesson provides in it for them-long and/or short-range. Think about asking why the lesson would be worthwhile, how students will manage to benefit from it, and how they can make use of it. In fact, begin by asking these concerns of yourself. Caught? Put it on the stand for students to cope with. You will be pleasantly surprised about (1) how imaginative they will be and (2) how it helps them take up the lesson.

4. Structure experiences to make use of to life outside of institution
Theory is important, nevertheless interest will increase the far more you tie this into practice by simply showing how the studying makes life easier and better. Share what sort of content will help pupils make better decisions, resolve more problems, get along better with others, and make them more effective.

5. Develop a sense of private responsibility
Remember the simple principle of motivation: consciously or nonconsciously people motivate themselves. Every individual is responsible for learning, but it is the teacher's accountability to create the best possible environment in which that learning can take place. An effective way to achieve this is to give college students an opportunity at the beginning of the course to indicate:

What expectations they have
What benefits they expect
What they are willing to do to attain those results

6. Use acknowledgment and also recognition
Acknowledgment/recognition/validation simply asserts. "I see you did your current homework" fosters reflection along with feelings of self-competence. Furthermore, consider repeating the comment you have heard as well as that someone has told you. "Evelyn made an interesting comment, the one which applies to what we're exploring. I think it bears repeating."

What has been accomplished by making use of this simple technique?

Anyone gave recognition.
Explore only encouraged Evelyn however, you encouraged others being more involved.
You demonstrated that you are open to feedback and kids' comments can help with their own learning.

7. Encourage
One of the most successful techniques is to allow student know that you imagine s/he can accomplish the task. Anything of encouragement throughout a failure is worth greater than a whole lot of reward after a success.

Stress that learning can be a process and that there is no-one to learn something and become perfect at the same time. Undertaking something one way rather than being successful is another factor learned; don't consider it failure.

8. Use collaboration
Competition boosts performance, not understanding. Yes, some college students will practice for a long time spurred on from the competitive spirit-be it within music, athletics, or perhaps performing arts. But these students are motivated to compete.

And also competition can be fun for short periods, yet competing with others will be devastating for the little one who never finds himself/herself in the winner's circle. As opposed to compete, the student lowers out by giving way up.

Every time a teacher asks a question of a group, students are competing for the teacher's attention-and normally only one student wins. A better approach is defined learning buddies. A good very shy student will share with one other person. So, instead of asking a question, cause the question. Asking implies a correct solution, whereas posing invites thinking. Have students discuss the answer with one another. Using this approach, every student participates.

9. Get yourself excited
You mustn't expect others to get excited about what you are teaching if you are not excited about it yourself. Show your current enthusiasm for the session. When lecturing, use somewhat more enthusiasm as compared to when you are conversing, facilitating, or reviewing.

10. Intensify interpersonal relationships
Connecting with your individuals on a one-on-one basis is quite valuable, but supporting them connect with one other on a one-on-one basis might be even more valuable. Give students an opportunity to get friendly for short periods ahead of learning activities start off. Establishing relationships are extremely important to young people.

11. Offer choices
No matter age, everyone likes to be able to feel control over your own life. When we will make choices, we feel we have that control. Offer a choice of activities-and that includes house assignments. By providing two, three, or even several activities and letting students choose included in this, you give them an opportunity to select something that engenders enthusiasm.

12. Use assortment
A myriad of visual strategies can be employed including maps; cartoons; selected parts of films, video audio cassettes, and/or DVDs; PowerPoint masterpieces; and overhead transparencies. Dressing up the part of a character (instructor and/or student) qualifies.

Many audio techniques works extremely well such as playing music, recording music, rapping, making verse-or anything that has rhythm. Remember how you learned your ABC's? "Twinkle, Spark Little Star" is the beat for "the alphabet song."

A myriad of kinesthetic techniques can be utilized. Examples are sketching the spelling of your word in the air, browsing a small group swaying together to sense seasick on the boat crossing your Atlantic Ocean as immigration, and just giving a higher five to get interest (two eyes on teacher, two ears listening, one mouth area closed).

Other strategies include large team discussions, case scientific studies, and relating personalized experiences to a learning buddy on the topic.

An additional technique is to use handouts for students to complete through the presentation. This activity keeps them included and also gives them some thing they can refer to later on. This simple technique furthermore allows you to cover a lot more material in less time.

Conclusion
It's a wonderful experience to have in our session’s eager, young people who will be there because they want to be, not because they are obliged to be. Unfortunately, this isn't the case in many school rooms today. However, by focusing on these ideas, we can create lessons that produce better results for both individuals and teachers.

Under Dynamic Learning Program, No More Boring Teachers, Schools and Homeworks

Say hello to the Dynamic Learning Program (DLP), which proponents say is not only the answer to perennial problems like the lack of public school teachers and textbooks and what might be boring learning sessions but also a 21st-century method that need not rely on high technology.

Students work on their own under DLP.  (Photo courtesy of www.smartschools.com)

At least 157 public high schools in Basilan, Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental provinces are deviating from tradition by adopting DLP, a teaching technique developed by Christopher and Ma. Victoria Bernido, the physicist couple who earned the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2010.

The Dynamic Learning Program works on the principle of “learning is by doing”, it is student-centered, it’s a system of teaching that focuses on student activity rather than on traditional classroom lectures. The set-up is 70% student activity–30% lecture/discussion, and usually national experts do the majority of the lectures via video. The students learn independently, because each activity is provided with a clear, learning target.

The student will try to understand the lesson on their own by reading the concept notes and by doing the exercises before the lesson is discussed and explained. Some examples of student activities are solving exercises, answering guide questions and copying notes. Each student keeps a portfolio of his work as a representative documentation of his schoolwork. This would later on serve as his reviewer and proof also of his performance in school.

With this, the teacher just facilitate the learning and because they only facilitate they can now handle three classes at the same time on any given concept, for example Math. The program has resolved the problem of  lack of teachers since a single teacher can now handle more sections.

DLP is 70 to 80 percent student activities and only 20 to 30 percent lecture. It is designed to solve existing problems plaguing the academe like the dearth of qualified teachers, few or error-filled textbooks and the large number of students per classes in public schools.

The activity sheets form part of a student’s portfolio which will be the basis for grading a student’s performance. Students cannot take their activity sheets home so that the students can really rest and relax when they get home or help their parents in their livelihood.

And because so much work is already done in class, there is no more need to do assignments at home. The program also allows students a “strategic break” from academics every Wednesday, when they focus on physical education, music and arts classes.

Teachers can plan and prepare the activity sheets for the whole school year before classes start in June using DLP modules designed by the Bernidos. Even those who teach multiple classes may find it easy to follow the program.

In a DLP orientation video, Christopher Bernido further explained: “For example, (if) I have three biology classes, I (can) hold these classes simultaneously (even if I) cannot be in three places at the same time.  (Since) teacher intervention will be limited… the teacher would give a lecture for 15 to 20 minutes in one section, transfer to another section and lecture again for 15 to 20 minutes there, and so on.”

Just pen and paper
 No textbooks, notebooks or high-tech learning devices required—just pen and paper. Students may even write on the back of old calendars if they run out of activity sheets, which they can later file in different portfolios.

“It’s plain hard work. When we visited one of the schools (during the pilot run), I saw that the students even put rubber band or tape around their pens to have a better grip because they used their pens quite often,” said Smart public affairs chief Mon Isberto.

“And these self-driven students are the kind of students we need in the 21st century, students who can acquire new skills on their own,” Isberto said. DLP is “a no-tech but 21st-century method” that can work even “without textbooks or classrooms,” he added.


CDO experience
9,000 Cagayan de Oro high school students who had tried the DLP showed a “highly significant” improvement in their English, math and science tests in March 2012 compared to their test scores in June 2011.

The Cagayan de Oro experience mirrored that of students at CVIF, where the Bernidos first introduced the method in 2002.  Since adopting the program, the school has consistently produced successful examinees in the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (Upcat), considered one of the toughest college entrance exams in the country.

Stephanie Orlino, a community partnerships officer at Smart explained that it’s very encouraging. Despite the fact that we had birth pains in the first year and (Cagayan de Oro) experienced Tropical Storm ‘Sendong,’ and despite the fact that the students had only four academic days, with no homework and less contact time with teachers, they improved in all subject areas.

Judee Dizon, Smart’s program officer in CDO, said DLP also enabled seven high schools devastated by Sendong in December last year to bounce back immediately and resume classes the following month.

Smart is currently supporting the Bernidos by reproducing DLP materials and assisting the couple in training more schools heads and teachers via teleconferencing and other tech-savvy methods.

Isberto said spreading DLP is Smart’s first step in developing a generation of students best suited for e-learning. “Once you have these self-learning students gradually introduced to e-learning tools on top of the [DLP] system, these students will fly,” he said.

You may also like reading:

When Party List System Becomes a Mockery of Philippine Democracy

What is Good Attitude

References:  

Dynamic Learning Program helps students cope with Sendong trauma

School opening surprise: No more homework

Teachers, SH Tendencies in Accomplishing the CB-PAST

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes

Introduction:

Drawing from the Vision and Mission of the Department of Education, CB-PAST is a comprehensive appraisal system which addresses one of the mandates of the Department as embodied in the RA-9155.

Teacher Performance reflects School Outcomes

The primary purposes of the CB-PAST are (1) to ensure support for the continuous professional growth of teachers  and (2)  to recognize  the quality of teacher’s accomplishments over a period of time  for maintaining the high standard of work and  properly rewarding excellent performance  in terms incentives, awards and  promotion.

The first purpose is formative-developmental in nature which will provide teachers with meaningful activities that encourage their professional learning and growth. The procedure will be supportive, non-threatening, fair, collegial and self-directed within the community of professional learners.

The second purpose is summative-evaluative which will assure that school learners have the benefit of instruction at high level of proficiency from the teachers. Appraisal of teacher performance is made on the basis of the evidences collected, observations made, conferences, and dialogues that accompany each procedure. The ultimate intention of the performance appraisal is achieving high levels of learners’ performance and improved learning outcomes as part of the school outcomes.

The Real Score

Looking at samples of accomplished CB-PAST in our area, the ultimate intention of the performance appraisal which is high levels of learners’ performance and improved learning outcomes as part of the school outcomes was not considered or was forgotten in the appraisal and rating process.  Based on the accomplished CB-PAST forms,  it was identified that teachers commonly had a general Teacher Performance Index (TPI) description of Proficient and Very Satisfactory as description of their over all performance rating.  Not a few had a TPI of Basic or OPR of Satisfactory and so, none has given themselves a rating of below basic in all of the indicators.

If this occurs in an area as ours, how much more nation wide?

If the performance rating really conforms to their competencies, then, there is almost no problem at all and there is only a few to be desired for they are all nearing to reach the highest level or outstanding level of performance and so most importantly, the learning outcomes.

With this kind of self assessment, teachers don’t realize that they are the one at a lost because there will be no room that will encourage professional learning and development.  They seem to forget that the ratings they gave themselves is expected to be or should be reflected in the performance of the school learners.

Popularity Contest?

This may not happen if the appraisal of teacher performance is thoroughly made on the basis of the evidences collected, observations made, conferences, and dialogues that accompany each procedures.

It was aptly said that CB-PAST should protect school heads from being hostages of the usual dilemma of ratings colleagues because of its being evidence-based driven appraisal tool not withstanding the carefully elaborated and well defined indicators in each domains. 

Still, it wasn’t because of the tendencies of school heads to narrow or dilute the degree of evidences required due mainly for fear of becoming unpopular or being tagged as overly strict and inconsiderate.

Thus the appraisal and rating process have just seem become a popularity contest.

The Dilemma

When we continuously fail to assess and know where we really are, which is the main purpose of any appraisal, there will be no room for improvement and nobody will be at a loss but ourselves, the quality of education, the youth, and the future of our nation in particular.

Teachers and school heads therefore should treat any assessment both subjectively and objectively disregarding any personal or emotional attachments, biases and pride.  Not unless, we are able to do an honest to goodness assessment of our performance, CB-PAST just like previous performance assessment tools will just be an objective of compliance, not of a higher degree of scholarly endeavor.


Our Response

CB-PAST could be effectively used if everybody will consider the fact that its varying elements relate to each other in relation to the teaching performance.  The outcomes of the appraisal should lead to continuous capacity building of teachers and results to higher teacher performance and improved learning outcomes.

The key is to really reflect on the literal meanings and descriptions of TPI’s which include Below Basic (BB), Basic (B), Proficient (P), and Highly Proficient (HP).

Finally, teachers and school head should consider and should not forget that the primary barometer if the group is basically or proficiently performing is no other than the quality of the school's end product, the learners.  It is by far the mirror of every educator that could speak well of their competence.

Reference:  CB-PAST Revised Primer by DepED BESRA TED-TWG

We need your comments on this article.  What is your take on this issue?

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.)  

Looking Back: Reform and revolution

By:  Ambeth R. Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquiirer, January 19

It is unfortunate that many students are still reared on the dated Agoncillo-Constantino histories of the 1960s, that are ideologically slanted to give preferential option for the revolutionary hero of the masses, Andres Bonifacio, against the reformist and burgis Jose Rizal.

Schoolchildren are often made to choose, who should rightfully be our national hero? Rizal or Bonifacio? Why can’t they be taught that both Rizal and Bonifacio are national heroes? There should be no conflict between them if only because Bonifacio himself looked up to Rizal and even consulted him, through an emissary sent to Dapitan, before he hatched the revolution.

Renato Constantino, in his landmark 1968 essay “Veneration Without Understanding,” argued that Rizal was against the revolution. Constantino based this view on a document Rizal issued in December 1896, asking the Katipuneros to lay down their arms and condemning the violence that was planned without his knowledge and consent. Constantino also argued that Rizal was an American-sponsored hero, citing without any documentary proof, an alleged Philippine Commission meeting when the American colonial government chose Rizal as the foremost national hero because he was non-violent and reformist, unlike Bonifacio or Aguinaldo. What Constantino conveniently leaves out are: that Rizal was considered a hero in his lifetime; that he was honorary president of the Katipunan; that his picture was displayed during Katipunan meetings; and that his name was one of the passwords of the Katipunan. Then, of course, the annual commemoration of Rizal’s death each year in Dec. 30, was started by Emilio Aguinaldo’s short-lived First Philippine Republic in 1898 (before the American colonial period) and continues to our day.

Then, the December 1896 Manifesto, used against Rizal both by the Spanish who condemned him to death for inspiring the revolution, and the pro-Bonifacio groups in our day, is not read in full. Rizal was not against the revolution but felt, rightly so, that it was premature.

Rizal is branded a mere “reformist” because they have not read his letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt from Geneva on June 19, 1887, his 26th birthday, that reads:

“I assure you that I have no desire to take part in conspiracies which seem to me very premature and risky. But if the government drives us to the brink, that is to say, when no other hope remains but seek our destruction in war, when the Filipinos would prefer to die rather than endure their misery any longer, then I will also become a partisan of violent means. The choice of peace or destruction is in the hands of Spain, because it is a clear fact, known to all, that we are patient, excessively patient and peaceful, mild, unfeeling, etc. But everything ends in this life, there is nothing eternal in the world and that refers also to our patience.”

Alas, we do not know the issue or situation that gave rise to Rizal’s words. But these words are significant if only to show that Rizal was not averse to revolution or violence if necessary. We also have to realize that when some historians and teachers of history created a gap between reform and revolution, between the campaign for reforms and assimilation in Spain and the outbreak of the Philippine revolution, they fail to see that Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar and others saw reform and assimilation only as a first step to eventual separation from Spain, the independence of “Filipinas.” Reform was a means to freedom not the destination.

Polarizing our youth and developing a Rizal vs. Bonifacio mindset resulted in two contrasting positions of reform/revolution convenient for classroom debate, when the real lesson should have been convergence. These positions are clearly seen, iconographically, with Rizal/Bonifacio, such that when students play out the characters in the “Noli Me Tangere” representing positions of reform/revolution, Ibarra always looks like Rizal in monuments, with the black coat, book and quill; while Elias looks like Bonifacio in statues, wearing a white camisa de chino and red kundiman pants, and carrying a bolo and a flag. Rizal and Bonifacio did not meet till 1892, during the foundation of the Liga Filipina in Tondo. Rizal could not have thought of Bonifacio when he published the “Noli” in 1887. Thus, if we are to understand Rizal correctly (and even astrologically because Rizal is a Gemini), when Ibarra and Elias discuss their positions on reform and revolution, this is not Rizal and Bonifacio arguing. Rather, both Ibarra and Elias are Rizal. In the “Noli” we see Rizal thinking aloud, arguing with himself.

We presume Rizal chose reform over revolution in 1887, by killing off Elias rather than Ibarra. To make up for this twist in the “Noli,” we have Simoun in “El Filibusterismo” (1891). Simoun incited violence and the persecution of his people to move them to revolt. He failed—not because Rizal was against the revolution, but because he reflected on the anger and bitterness in his heart following the agrarian dispute in Calamba, and realized that one must start with a good intention to succeed. A poisoned tree cannot produce good fruit. Rizal demanded a pure heart.

Purity of intention is the challenge because it is so hard to find both in Rizal’s time and ours.