Teacher's teacher

"Journo" of GMA featured Nora Aunor and just viewing it brought us back to the years when the cinema only had Amalia Fuentes-Susan Roces; Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor tandems captured the hearts of the '70's - this blogger included.

 The years of idolizing the pairs were the years of learning how to look like them and compile pictures of them and dreaming to become stars like them someday. The same years taught the fans not to overdo looking up to them because they are after all- human beings prone to the same weaknesses we have. In fact we saw or hear how each of their lives went through ups and downs; successes and failures. Their lives taught us the difference between real and fiction; between reality and fantasy.

Today we hear of Amalia Fuentes contented as grandmother of Liezl-Albert Martinez kids. This blogger saw Amalia Fuentes in one of the branches of Power Books. Amalia is really beautiful even if she is past 60. This is also the aura of Susan Roces. Vilma Santos is now the governor of Batangas and remains star for all seasons. Nora Aunor may not be able to sing the way she used to but she is a "survivor" of life's trials and her beauty is best seen in her strength to bounce back.

The young people today have their own idols and they have a lot to choose from - what with singers,dancers, actors who have dazzling personalities. Visit www.bonaserios.com to see some photos of those who got married beautiful and handsome pairs who could have opted to become actors themselves but decided to tie the knot because of love.

There is nothing wrong with admiring someone else's beauty or fame. Just do not forget, you need not go far to "idolize" someone. Your parents are there. Your kuya or ate who is helping you - finish your studies. Your relatives and friends who have only your good future in mind. "Idolize" the right people but know when to distinguish the real from the unreal; reality from fantasy.  Know your hierarchy of values: God, family, friends, acquaintances.

One of my children gave me a poster which states: "Having a place to go is what makes a home; having someone to love is called a family."

A classroom is a place where the teacher and the students meet to do many things. Basically, the main task is for the teacher to teach with all her mind, heart and soul. In the same vein, the main task of the learners is to participate in the process of teaching such that they are learning the facts of life. Some of the experiences that both parties experience are not always wholesome because they have their own agenda. When their intentions clash, especially in a college setting, conflict and  misunderstanding are bound to happen. This is the present dilemma of Teacherallherlife and to go through the pain is part of the solution.

Eldely Blues and Blows suggests to begin again so this is certainly what Teacherallherlife will do today. A saying was shared here in an earlier blog: " Teachers like leaves, everywhere abound; effective teachers, like fruits, are rarely found." In connection with the challenge to begin again, effective teachers will not find it hard to do this. Let us all be effective teacher today; let us begin again!

From our end as  teachers, we always try to do better everyday and avoid the pitfalls of a classroom dilemma but there are always points why things happen. The other end where the students are, have to be considered whatever it is. Somewhere a compromise can be reached and together the two parties who are really the components of the educative process have to begin again.

Together with Elderly Blues & Blows, Teacherallherlife, we commit this A23 challenge: Begin again.

August 21 is an important event for it ignited the anger that the Filipinos suppressed in their hearts. By ignited is meant that even Martial law could no longer stop the filipino from going to the streets and shouted for freedom and liberation from the then Marcos regime. It reminds us of what one man, Benigno Aquino fondly called Ninoy, husband of Cory Aquino, our deceased first lady president  and father of our present president,Benigno "Noynoy"  Aquino, can do to a people who almost hope for better things to come.  Ninoy's words will always inspire us to think good of the filipino for he defended if with his life when he uttered the words: "The filipino is worth dying for."

It is surprising that August 21 is not declared a holiday. Perhaps someday very soon what with the Aquino clan giving us the best testimonies of how to love our country. The mere mention of Cory is tantamount to honoring the freedom she gave back to our country just as the mere mention of Ninoy is the epitome of heroism just when heroes are thought of as mere statues to be remembered like in the books.

Thank you Ninoy and Cory for the lives that we hope to emulate. Thank you for being the good parents that you were to your children. We, who have children, find comfort in the fact that good parenting is always the best way to help our country. Would you believe, I have 3 boys who have not decided to marry yet and I want to believe it is because they want to be prepared when the right woman come along. So when our bachelor president,Noynoy, finally meets the One, he has some decision to make

For someone like me who hopes to try politics after retirement from active employment, the warning is already up front: unless it is  meant to be, better ask for some sign for like Cory she never wanted the limelight yet when she had to become president because the people wanted her to lead the country, she adamantly accepted. She had one beautiful thing going for her: she wanted to serve in the real sense of the word. She did not become another person to please the people around her. Ninoy must have supported her all along for up to the time she vacated the presidency, she left it with the same dignity as she entered it. Not many presidents can follow what Cory did.

Now we are celebrating the 28th death anniversary of a man who has left a legacy of a family worth emulating by every filipino clan.Thank you Ninoy for a life worth living for! Our prayers for your everlasting happiness with the Maker and our Father God.

What we really want to say is that with fifty (50) channels given by Parasat (which they say should even be more!) there is much to learn from and much to teach about.

Cristina Aguilera is a refreshing sight to behold being one of the judges in the new addition of AXN, The Voice. Cee Lou Shelton, Adam , Blake as the other judges are supposed to form their own group of 8 and from them choose the best voice. A 2-hour show it is difficult to follow but we will intersperse our viewing with it as it goes on showing.

Net 25's Footprints had for this Sunday night presentation the way charcoal is prepared from garbage. Tv episodes, like this, are man's ways of taking care of Mother Earth especially now that she is really wailing for protection. 

Fox News is really a channel to watch if you like many harsh comments about Obama Administration. This particular episode however shows a priest who comments about Religion's Role in Politics and as always this comment demands varied reactions. 

The channel to watch is ch 50 (lotus Macau) in our cable. You are sure to view films which are worth your night time: a rerun of Godfather, Air Force 1 and now The Fugitive. Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee ones make your night with their acting. If the new program on "The Voice" is intricate so is "The Fugitive". The pain of trusting a friend and be disillusioned by t because this so-called best friend really killed your wife. Being fugitive for a cause even The Feds led by Jones was treated to the truth that was difficult to surface.

Not to be forgotten is EWTN especially now that the Pope, Benedict XVI is is Spain for the World Youth Day celebration. My children are reminded of the one time when they too wanted to join one world day celebration, that time in Germany, but all the wrong intentions of the so-called recruits, made it one of those sad learning experiences. Even those that are supposed to be religious are affected by the intentions of the not so religious who use events to earn extra money. The usual saying comes into the picture: "Money is the root of all evils". 

Tv viewing is one of the motions this blogger never gets tired doing, especially now that one of her blogs is "Elderly Blues & Blows."

Introduction

It is without a doubt a source of wonder to right-handed persons how the left-handed ones go about their lives and vice-versa. Being right handed, the researchers take up this challenge to understand better the status of the left-handed especially since all of them are college students and are presently in Education.Through this research too, the university where the students are enrolled in have the responsibility to do their share to serve better the left-handed students in some way like making sure there are at least three to five chairs in every room. There should be more conscious effort to find out who are the left-handed and who are the right-handed by the Guidance Office. This information should be thoroughly considered and programs can be organized to respond to their needs.

It is coincidental that the researchers have children or relatives who are left-handed and admitted that they did not find any problem in dealing with them. This could be attributed to the fact that they were enrolled in private schools where every room has enough chairs reserved for left-handed students. Still it is an interesting decision to make a research about their case and what can be done to facilitate what they may be indicate in the questionnaire and in the interviews.

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Having expressed a portion of the introduction to the research, is there any author out there who has done research along these lines? Or are you writing something like this just as we are doing it? Do share and in the future, let us exchange notes.

HBO, as always, presents stories that make our life a little more bearable on one hand and more exciting on the other. Take the movie, Hachiko: A Dog Story with Richard Gere as the main actor, and of course the well-trained dog called Hachiko.

Like any movie it has details that if you really want to feel the incidents, you just have to take time to view it. In this instance for example, Hachiko has to be put up for adoption because the family of Gere does not want to take care of one now that their daughter is grown up. In the process, there was no one willing to take Hachiko because they have other pets,like a cat or has a business which does not encourage having a dog around.

The story progresses with Gere bringing the dog to the school where he teaches. Nicely hidden inside Gere's bag is Hachiko but like any other "active" animal it wants to bolt out of hiding and the plan to give it up has to be sooner rather than later.

Some touching scenes need to be highlighted: Gere found in Hachiko, which was revealed as having "royal" blood a friend. He talks to Hachi like a son, his child being a lady now and married. They watched baseball in the evening and ate popcorn. He slept in the sofa. All along the wife was just observing and soon would get the idea and the inevitable had to be entertained: Hachiko had to stay on. This was not so bad because the daughter liked Hachiko and the photo sessions were worth the time.

Nothing beats the scene though when Hachiko would make it to the train station by foot to be there to send off and welcome back his master everyday. Ahhh, how Hachiko only needed his loving pat and caress to make his day. This makes me warm all over because my family has a dog called Michael  2 (photo later), Michael 1 being our very first pet and died because of an irresponsible vet (details later).

Light moments: The master and the dog and their ordeal with the skunk! and those instances of training Hachiko to pick up the ball which never materialized for Hachi is not into this kind of treatment. Loyalty however is his cup of tea.

Then the saddest event came when the master had a heart attack and died. My heart bled for Hachiko for while the burial happened, Hachiko still felt his master was alive. No one, as in literally no one could stop him from waiting for the next nine years to be there when his master would come back. Hachi grew old lovingly waiting and waiting and waiting  (Am about to cry all over again . . .like when I cried so painfully loud when Michael 1 died.)

According to the film, a statue was made in Hachiko's memory when he died but am sure Hachiko did not mind leaving this world when he was with his beloved master in that life after death somewhere.

Reflection proper: When you have a loyal friend your friend becomes a beautiful world to live in. When your family is there to love you and you have a pet which lives only for your coming and you believe in a God who has prepared a room for you in His house and you are yourself living a moral life then life is a story that may end but its imprint lives on. Thank you Hachi for making us reflect on what matters the most in life. May there be more Hachikos here in Malaybalay, the whole of our country, Philippines and the world out there.

Planting is a both a skill and an advocacy. It is a skill because others plant and whatever they plant, die, so those who have the skill to plant find the seedlings they planted, alive and healthy. It is an advocacy because tree planting is really a way to do a proactive role to take care of our Mother Earth which by now is declared ravished and abused, denuded and deforested.

So there is this executive order by the President of the Philippines which is envisioned to last for six years, Greening Project to see our watershed protected by trees, bring back timberland and rainforest for the sake of our health and the sustainability of our protection from typhoons, floods and the like. Will this really become a reality if we do not imbibe planting as both a skill and an advocacy? Que sera, sera . . .

As a teacher, we hope to begin our first steps with putting into action planting as a skill and an advocacy: as a faculty members and students of the College of Teacher Education.

There is a big chance we pray for after all, education is "lifting" up all those possibilities that make us better persons, more responsible members of society, proactive teachers and students.

We intend to prove our "salt: sooner rather than later. . .

Teaching is a life-long misson, profession, vocation. We can almost say this like a mantra. After all, this blogger has begun teaching way back 1976 so the name Teacherallherlife. So also the idea of retiring is inevitable and welcome nowadays. Any retired, retirable, planning to retire out there? How are you coping with your newly-found niche? Did it come as an easy transition or a life "downhill"? I hope not! We will not let this defeatist attitude ever dominate for experience alone can overcome it notwithstanding the presence of family and friends. Rather, retirement can take on many forms of expression and this blogger will see to it she will do her share to be proactive as a "retirable" candidate herself.  

There is this haunting thought though that creeps in whether we like it or not. This is the fear of mortality and the unknown. There is wisdom in the course of action to assess one's life story and make sure prayer life plays a more active role here and now.

How is your health fellow blogger? Tips that you can share to this blogger? Some signs of pain here and there; an itch here and there seem to trouble the elderly and this blogger is no exception. Ah, to "retire" is indeed becoming a very good idea  nowadays only to accept the twin challenge to hold on to what ore life has to offer.

Try to dig deeper into this saying: "Teachers, like leaves, everywhere abound; effective teachers, like fruits, are rarely found." Perhaps the analogy is a little exaggerated for there are effective teachers as  many as the leaves but teachers who really walk their talk all the time are rarely found like the fruits of trees which rarely produce fruit.

This was one saying that my students felt had much substance and gave them inspiration to strive and become an effective teacher even if it means a quest for a lifetime. Many in fact, opted to begin as mere teachers and as years give them the experience and the wisdom find themselves becoming  effective as their own colleagues superiors and students confirm in their remarks and evaluations.

Yet it just hits me: does it really matter? Aren't there more important things to pursue like becoming better spouses or parents or friends? But then why not all these plus become an effective teacher as well? Fellow mentors, pause for a while and give it some thought - and someday - let teaching be the way to a much better future, for the young minds and the whole of humanity.

You just have to be so calloused if you still find yourself unaware or uncaring about all the litany of issues and concerns here in Malaybalay specifically and the Philippines generally and the world globally speaking. In fact we can only look at a few if some reflection has to be in depth enough and doable soon enough.

Let us begin with the plan to implement K plus  12. If parents have enough time to listen to the pros and cons, they might see the wisdom behind the pressing need for it. If the experts cite the observation that the Philippines is one of the two(2) remaining countries which has not kept pace with the international standard of offering a total of twelve (12) years before tertiary training. Teacher's teacher does find the new move untimely for everyone is financially challenged. This topic is going to be dealt with for a long time to come. This blog will not be the last about it. 

Did you not ask yourself why the world is beset by all kind of disasters sometimes one cannot but help entertain the idea of "Eschaton" or "End Time"? All you have to do is to give some time to viewing cable tv. Chin is always experiencing flush flood; many places in the Philippines wake up with waters already inside and outside their homes; then these floods have substitutes like earthquakes here and there or killings which are beyond comprehension why it happens. Imagine a son "hammered to death" his parents because they did not agre immediately with his plan to hold a party. So the son went on with the party while the dead bodies of his parents were left lifeless in their rooms. 

(To be continued . . . just fell asleep due to over fatigue . . .)