Schools, Food, and Karaoke

     I wanted to blog yesterday when my memories were fresh but I got too tired, so I will share with you what stood out.  As a forewarning, this entry is pretty lengthy since there were so many amazing things that happened that I want to share!

Wednesday, June 24 was an incredible and busy day!   To begin, I woke up on time, thank goodness (I made sure to get two wake-up calls).  I met Roma (another fellow) at the gym and we tried a new workout together --it was fun and definitely got me sweating--hopefully I burned off a few of the many calories I've been eating from all of those buffets!

After we visited our first public school, Benigs "Ninoy" S. Aquino High School.  The structure of the school was really quite neat --kids walked outside in open air hallways to move between classes and it had a huge courtyard in the middle where recess took place.  We had a warm greeting from the students and they too mentioned us in the bulletin board.  We then were ushered into a room and sat around a long table.

Mabuhay means welcome in Filipinio

Open air hallways

                                                  I really liked the layout of the high school. The students sang for us too as a welcome.







We were introduced to the department heads, principal, and student government.  We also introduced ourselves, where we were from, and what we taught.  The principal then delivered a welcome presentation where he described the school and their mission, what courses were offered, and their data --it reminded me of how at Spry (my school), student achievement data is always shared with the staff, so I thought that was nice.  The school is a technical/vocational school that offers core classes along with trades like book keeping, dress making, electricity, foodtrades, and hardware servicing.  It is one of 280 technical/vocational schools in the Philippines.  The administration had a good sense of humor and were very welcoming.  During the presentation the we were fed snacks again (keep in mind we only finished breakfast about an hour ago).

After we had time to ask questions to either the staff or students.  My question was:  "How does your upbringing and/or culture influence your perspective on education?"  I admit, the question is a little complex, and I did clarify and explain it more, but a brave student did answer it.  This question relates to research I want to do and reflect upon.  The student answered that her parents do value education and that she feels education is very important.  She said that she knows that everyone has difficult things that happen at home and in life that make it hard to stay focused on school, but that even when she has trouble at home she tries to keep a positive attitude and works hard to do well in school because she knows it does affect her future and matters.  She stated "Parents are your first teachers."  She also mentioned that she treats her co-officers as family and when she is having problems at home she goes to her friends, teachers, and principal for support and that helps a lot.

After the presentation we chose what subject area we wanted to see and I chose math.  I visited two math classrooms and I was quite pleased with what I observed.  The first class was a 10th grade classroom and the teacher had students transition into groups by counting of by 5's, choose jobs (materials, timer, etc), and he had them working cooperatively!  Just an FYI, there were about 47 students in the room (that's the average class size).  The kids were so excited to meet me and there was a buzz of energy in the room as he had them solve math problems cooperatively.

 It was so neat to be able to observe a class transition and make comparisons to transitions in the USA.  We do similar things!

Then I got the chance to visit a 7th grade math classroom and that was neat!  They were working in pairs of two or three and put into rows.  The teacher used a projector on a whiteboard and each group had one whiteboard to write down their answers.  It was clear that this teacher knew what she was doing and called on students to come up to the board and had them explain why they got the answers they did.  I found it interesting that all of the teachers were using microphones --which in many ways makes sense because of the large class size and open air classroom structure.  This was probably my favorite classroom to visit--the kids were so engaged and eager to learn.  I also noticed that she used strategies similar to what I do, such as the use of whiteboards and calling students up to write in their answer and explain why.  I shared with the math lead teachers who were taking me around that I too used similar strategies for engagement and management with students.  I also shared the title of the book, Teach Like a Champion, as it seemed like teachers had already been using it, and it might enhance what they are doing.

After leaving that high school we proceeded onto Alex's school (the point person in the Philippines for TGC), Makati Science HIgh School.  The welcome reception we received there was pretty fancy.  Students wore traditional dresses and sang for us and during the song they handed each fellow a rose. Then each of us was paired with a student from the student government to guide us around.  We began with lunch being served to us, which was again, too much food, but delicious and so generous.  Then, we had a lot of time to be guided around by our student partner and visit classrooms.  This school is one that students need to apply to in order to go there, and they can only accept 280, so the students are at the top of their class.  The school receives money from the government to provide each student with a stipend.  I must say the learning that was occurring in those classrooms was pretty incredible to watch -- every teacher and student was enjoying themselves, you could tell that students enjoyed being there.

Following that, we were able to meet five leaders in education for the Philippines that included superintendents, program supervisors, and education consultants.  We heard about what the Department of Education was doing in the Philippines (different projects and programs).  Then, the panelists were asked questions by us.  They started by speaking on the new K-12 Basic Education Curriculum that is being implemented in all schools this year, it's part of the law.  In order for the Philippines to be more competitive with the world and encourage their students to be 21st century learners, they have lengthened the education system from a ten year program to a 12 year program.  This has been the major challenge for the Philippines and there are mixed feelings about the new program.  All panelists spoke on that -- and took a positive stance on the transition.

I asked about special education and how that is being implemented in the schools.  One superintendent stated that it is a priority for the Department of Education, and that she is making it her mission to ensure that all municipalities offer a special education program for students that need it the most.  I was happy to hear it is something the country is working on.  After the Panel Discussion we retreated to another room for snacks (Filipinos like their food!).

My student guide

                             

This blog is way to long and I'm getting pretty sleepy so I'm going to end it now.  We ended our last night in Manila with an exciting night at Karaoke which definitely brought me back to the 80's -- good times.  All in all, it was my favorite day in the Philippines so far and it really inspired me to continue to do the work that I do as a teacher, it's absolutely worth it!