Kasalukuyan akong uma-attend ng isang workshop dito sa Manila. Sa isang mall na malapit sa venue kami nag-lunch at bago kami bumalik sa session ay nagkaroon kami ng pagkakataon na tumingin-tingin sa mga SALE at kung anu-ano pa. Walang kaming nagustuhan. Pero nakatawag pansin sa akin ang isang jersey na sa palagay ko ay kasyang-kasyang isuot ng isang one-month old na baby o ng isang little boy doll.

Upang matunghayan ang iba pang larawan, click here.

 
Matagal na ko sa teaching [one year na lang debut na ] pero ni minsan di ko pa naranasan magturo ng beginning reading na katulad ng ginagawa ng mga kasama ko sa grade one. Kase naman nung na-assign ako dito sa school namin, sa intermediate ako napunta at hanggang ngayon nasa intermediate ako.

Reading is a very important skill. Wala ng dapat pagdebatehan tungkol d’yan. May mga batang pumapasok sa grade one na may background na sa reading dahil nag pre-school sila pero mas marami ang nagsisimula sa zero dahil di naman lahat ng batang mage-grade one sa public school eh nakapag-pre-school. Grabe ang challenge sa mga teachers na nagtuturo ng beginning reading. Di ko na iisa-isahin pa ang mga yon. Lets leave it to the RAP [Reading Association of the Philippines, which I'm not a member].

Alam mo ba ang feeling kapag natutong magbasa ang isang bata ng dahil sa yo? Wow… natatandaan ko nung kinder ako, si Mrs. Vargas ang una kong teacher at palagi kaming may writing kaya na-master ko agad ang alphabet. Nung grade one ako, kay Ms Ignacio ko natutuhan magbasa ng consonant blends!! Tandang-tanda ko yon kase tuwang-tuwa ako tapos sinabi ko pa sa ate ko na marunong na ko magbasa ng maraming-maraming words na English! Nasan na kaya si Mrs. Vargas? Si Ms Ignacio naging principal pa sya sa school namin. That was more than ten years ago. Kumusta na kaya sila ngayon…

Saludo ako sa mga beginning reading teachers. Pati na rin sa nagpapatuloy sa mga sinimulan nila. 

To learn how to read is to enter a world of endless possibilities. Observe a child who is beginning to read and understand words and you will sense a great feeling.

Hindi nga ako nagtuturo ng beginning reading sa school pero pagdating sa bahay, merong isang bata na atat na atat ng matutong magbasa.

 Kapag binuksan ko na ang laptop, signal na yan na mag-o-online si Uno para sa kanyang beginning reading lesson. Kahit may ginagawa ako, o may pinagkakaabalahan din syang iba tulad ng pakikipag-wrestling kay Jed at pakikipag-aso’t pusa kay Gatz na kanyang pinsan, lalapit sya sa akin at pipilitin akong i-open ang starfall.com. Ito ay isang website na nagtuturo ng mga simple beginning reading exercises. Nakaka-attract ito sa mga bata kase animated at may ibat-ibang sound na p’wedeng gayahin.

Sa ayaw ko at sa gusto, kesehodang may ka-chat ako, nagche-check ng email, o nage-encode para blog, wala syang paki basta pag sinabi nyang ‘Mommie, b” or ‘tarpol’ dapat imi-minimize ko lahat ng Windows at Starfall lang ang naka-open. Dahil kung hindi, maglulupasay s’ya at hindi titigil sa pag-iyak hangga’t di n’ya nakikita ang Starfall interface. Hindi pa nya nasasabi ang ’starfall’ at mas palagi nyang sinasabi ang ‘b’  kase ito ang natandaan n’ya dahil naaliw sya sa animated na ‘big brown bear’ nang una n’ya ‘tong makita.

Noong mga unang encounter n’ya with Starfall, ako pa ang nagna-navigate ng directions pero nung tinuruan ko na sya kung ano ang dapat i-press sa touchpad, natandaan n’ya at sya na ang nagpapalipat-lipa ng ‘index’ ng letter. Kung minsan hindi n’ya makita ang cursor kaya kailangan hanapin ko at ipakita sa kanya. Pag nakita, alam na n’ya ang kanyan gagawin.

Kapag nakaharap na sya sa laptop, pwedeng-pwede ko na syang iwanan. Pero may instances na talagang tinatawag ako, sumisigaw ng ‘mommie!!!!’ at kailangan kong lumapit kase ipapakita n’ya kung anong letter ang na-press n’ya at mga objects na nakikita n’ya.

Dahil may alphabet poster s’yang nakadikit sa wall, kelangan pang ituro sa ‘kin ang mga letters na alam nyang pareho. In this case, letter Hh.

Sa October 28 ay three years old na si Uno kaya dapat lang naman na by this time eh may alam na sya sa alphabet . He knows how to identify all the letters and objects from A to E ng walang nagtuturo sa kanya. After ng letters A to E, mga random letters na ang alam nya.

Bukod sa starfall at alphabet, paborito naman nyang basahin ang Curious George ni HL Rey. Napakaraming beses na naming nabasa ang mga libro pero wala pa rin syang kasawa-sawa. Minsan pagkagising sa umaga gusto n’ya magbabasa na agad kami ng book o kung minsan naman kung kailan aalis na ako papunta sa sa trabaho saka n’ya sasabihin ‘George, mommie’ sabay bigay sa ‘kin ng libro.

Maraming beses ko na s’yang nakitang may hawak ng libro at narinig na nagsasalita na parang nag-o-oral reading. Maraming beses ko na rin s’yang nakitang nakatulog na at katabi si George.

Si Jed naman, wala pang masyadong interes sa books. Titignan, bubulatlatin, at kapag mag-sawa ay iiwan na lang sa isang tabi o kaya ay ihahagis kung saan. Pero kung minsan pag nakita na n’yang nakaharap sa laptop ang kuya n’ya, makiki-usyoso rin at makikisabay sa mga words na naririnig n’ya. Humahagikgik din kapag nakita n’ya ang ‘big brown bear’.

Parang ang madali ng magturo ng beginning reading kapag ang gamit ay computer at Internet. Hindi maitatanggi na malaki ang magagawa ng technology para mai-advance ang pagtuturo nito sa mga bata. Maraming steps na pwedeng gayahin na talagang mag-e-enjoy sila. Pati ang nagtuturo maaaliw din. Tapos medyo mababawasan pa yung pagod sa pagsasalita ng paulit-ulit kase kapag pinindot ang keyboard, maririnig na yung sound ng letters pati yung name ng objects. Basta ‘wag lang mawala ang power ng kuryente o ma-low bat ang battery ng laptop .

Going back to those who toil to let the sun always shine in the minds of young people. Hats off ako sa inyo. Sa mga beginning reading teachers na hindi tinatantanan ang mga bata hangga’t di sila natututong magbasa, kahanga-hanga ang inyong dedikasyon. Sana dumami pa kayo ng dumami.

May isang phrase na palutang-lutang sa cyberspace. Eight words lang, simple at anonymously written. It says: if you can read this, thank a teacher.

From today’s issue of the Philipine Daily Inquirer.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus Monday said that the Department of Education (DepEd) was aware of the problem and was “squarely addressing the situation.”

AT WALANG KADUDADUDANG GUMAGAWA RIN NG PARAAN ANG DEPED-PASAY UPANG MASOLUSYONAN NG KAKULANGAN NG GURO SA MGA SILID ARALAN NG AMING PAARALAN.

Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won’t feel blue
Like I always do
‘Cause somewhere in the crowd there’s you

My father loved the music of ABBA. When we were kids, he made us watch ‘Abba in Switzerland’ several times on TV. Our TV set then was black and white, inside a wooden cabinet with a door and a tiny keyhole. Abba’s music was a fixture in my childhood. I was in fifth grade when I wrote ‘The Winner Takes It All’ in my notebook, in cursive, and memorized it.

I leave the review of Mama Mia to my friend because she can do it with flair. But if you ask me, I had a blast watching it last night at SM-Mall of Asia’s Cinema 3. Before we were ushered inside, I overheard some balikbayans telling each other that they’ve seen the musical in Broadway plus other shows like Rent, Legally Blonde and Les Miserables. I also noticed that there were many foreigners who were about to see the movie. The last time I was inside a cinema was four years ago with my grad school buddies. I think it was julia Robert’s Monalisa Smile. 

When I posted about Mama Mia! here, I knew I won’t be disappointed. As I expected, peopled ’twirled’ and sang along with the music. And leaving the cinema won’t be complete without humming ‘Thank You For The Music’.

I can’t resist these presentations. To view the above slides in full screen mode, click here.

Two friends are soon leaving to seek greener pasture. One already left several months ago. To Leo and Ate Mila, I wish you the best and may God bless you with great and meaningful adventure. We’ll miss you…

[Photo is from Ms Rose T, a teacher from Pasay City North High School]

You can also view the photo story at googgle video here.

Or you can download it and play in your pc  here.

Whenever a new flavor of any popular street food comes out in the maket, I wonder if there is going to be a kalabasa [squash] or amplaya [bitter melon] flavors. In the case of the ever popular fishball, I have yet to taste neither squash nor bitter melon. The friendly vendors in our neighborhood in Pasay City no longer stick to plain fishball but they have chicken and squid balls in their frying fans as well. 

Chicken and squid balls are bigger and cost more. While fishball sells for .50 cents each, chicken and squid are 2.00 pesos each. The dipping sauces that enhance the flavor are basically the same: spicy hot vinegar, thick sweet and sour, and thick spicy hot. I always dip mine in spicy hot vinegar first, then in the sweet and sour. 

“Bola-bola” eaters in our place are not just kids but armed security guards, uniformed airline employees and off duty airport porters. Everytime I pass by the usual fishball place, its always swarming with people holding a tiny stick.     

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Rice in a Box is similar to Chowking’s Chaopan but the latter is more flavorful and more expensive. I wasn’t planning to eat at all after going to SM supermarket. But after passing its booth, the smell made me hungry so I tried. The seller also asked me to try their different topppings but I settled for the mushroom and chicken. While I was eating, a lady in the booth called for customers and I couldn’t help but smile because she did it with gusto and the other ladies inside the booth giggled a lot. It seemed they were having fun calling out for customers. It was good enough for a hungry tummy and after eating it standing up, I was ready to go.

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A six-pound pack of Shulz mini-pretzels was sent by my sister from California. Its inside a huge package that came with other stuff. The salty taste of the pretzels didn’t appeal to the kids at home because more than a half of the pack is still uneaten. When I first tasted it, Jack and jill’s Chippy came to my mind at once. Its good for munching though. Because its low fat and zero cholesterol. I have filled three cookie jars -plastic jars, actually - with pretzels and I took them at work.

I can’t wait to see this movie!!
“Gloriusly subversive” according to Times Online Review

Streep is the real star here, and she does serious acting, too, investing a cliff-top rendition of The Winner Takes It All with far more teary gravitas than should be possible for a song that contains the line: “I figured it made sense/ building me a fence”.

Brosnan, meanwhile, is at his funniest and most unBondish. Bless him, but the man cannot sing at all. It’s not that he can’t hold a tune, exactly, more that you can really hear him trying. I hope he is in on the joke.

Maybe it is the mature cast that makes Mamma Mia! work so well. The film is hectic but relaxed. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. Every act of breaking into song is a gag and every dance move an undignified scramble.

Here’s the cast of the musical

And if you really feel like singing belt it out with the original!

Now imagine what my LSS [last song syndrome] is for the last two days…

Isang mainit na umaga, araw ng Linggo, sa labas ng bahay…

Mommie: Enough na yan, time to get up!!
Jed: Mommie! buto buto bute!! hihihi!!
Uno: Mommie! hot liligo, hot!! hiiii!!