THE ESSENCE OF MAN

My Lenten Reflection

A lot is happening around us. Natural disasters have not been as common now as before. Crime is high, and so does inflation. Wherever you look, it seems as if nothing good exists anymore. I just read a book that talks so much about our stimulus-response action. According to what I have read, there exist a space between stimulus and our response, and in that space lies our choice. The freedom and the power to choose is our birth gift. Everyone has this power. Whatever bad stimulus hits us, our response is determined by our choice. Hence, we are not supposed to be affected by all these negative vibes around us. However, they have adverse effects on us because of our bad choice for a response.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT - WHAT ARE NEW?

Notre Dame of Dadiangas University Experience

Last April 15, I was in General Santos City. I was invited in NDDU through Phoenix Publishing House to talk about Classroom Management. The school was big - PAASCU accredited Level II. The teachers were very amiable and appreciative of what I shared. My schedule was loaded I was not able to see around GenSan. I did not get to see Cong. Pacquiao too. He was busy preparing for his fight with Mosley. I though lived very close to Jinky's Boutique. I was billeted at Ice Castle Hotel. With this post is my picture inside the hotel's room rehearsing my pesentation. Below is the description of my presentation.

SEMINAR TITLE: Classroom Management in the New Learning Economy

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The seminar is a full day interactive lecture aimed at improving learning acquisition through enhanced student-teacher interaction in an effective learning environment.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE: To enrich teachers with both contemporary and time-tested classroom management strategies for the learning environment of the new economy

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: (1) To re-acquaint teachers with the four elememts of classroom management (Marzano), (2) To familiarize the various behavior influence techniques used to effect order and discipline, (3) To prevent and deal with unwanted behavior inside classrooms of the new learning economy, and (4) To identify teacher roles in helping students become effective persons

PARTICIPANTS: Besides regular classroom teachers, academic heads and the different subject area coordinators may benefit from the seminar. Christian Living teachers may join to provide additional input in terms of the Church’s teachings on discipline.

ACTIVITIES: Meaning-making engagement on the following topics: Content, Conduct and Covenant Management; Mind/mental Set: Withitness and Objectivity; Physical Aspects of Classroom Management; Preventing and Dealing Unwanted Behavior; and Classroom Discipline Models

THE RH BILL HULLABALOO

From Mad as a Politician

(I took this from a Yahoo comment on Pnoy's stand on the RH Bill http://ph.news.yahoo.com/aquino-risks-church-ire-reproductive-health-bill-20110417-053849-671.html)

I was born and reared a Catholic. I have not abandoned my faith in the God that Christianity has been proclaiming and has been worshipping. That, despite what I have learned studying church history, despite Yallop's "In God's Name" or Dan Brown's novels (if you please), and even despite my clear knowledge that my religion is by virtue of a historical accident, that is, due to the mistake of Magellan's navigator.

What has made me keep my faith is the true message of the Christ regarding the true nature and end of man, the world, the teachings about humility, kindness, sacrifice, compassion, etc. All these have made me keep my faith--not and never the doctrinal teachings, dogmas and prejudices of the Church.

In fact, what we see all around us, the corruption, cruelty, greed, dishonesty and apathy, all these to me are signs of the failure of the Church to truly influence the Filipinos to be good and honest men. The scandals inside the Church have not also been good examples. Many times, the acts of the Church have been geared towards preserving its wealth and power. Very far from Christ's teachings.

For me, what the Church should instead do, is to look inwards, search itself and try to find out honestly where they have gone wrong. Its vaunted stand on issues of government often times becomes a smoke screen for unthinking Filipinos and not a fair position considering that religion can be a strong bias for untrained and less-than-critical minds. In other words, that the Church sometimes openly play upon and use the ignorance of men to uphold its own biases. Sometimes, I really wonder if this could be the work of the Devil. Surely, infiltration is a potent weapon and could even be the weapon of choice by the Other Side.

I WAS IN NAVAL, BILIRAN

UBD Workshop in Cathedral School of La Naval

Last April 7 to 9 I was in Cathedral School of La Naval in Naval, Biliran. I was invited by S. Joy, the principal, and Sir Victor, the academics affair head to conduct a seminar-workshop with the teachers on UbD. My stay was fruitful and very rewarding. I was able to rest but at the same time inspire the teachers to write their unit plans for the incoming academic year. CONGRATULATIONS CSN!