.Everydaywear

one funny story

2012-01-12T02:21:00.000-08:00

A friend one day narrated a delightful story which happened when she was a little girl. According to this friend of mine, they were so poor that her parents could only afford to buy her one panty. Because of this there were days when she would go around or go to school not wearing one when it was wash day. She would alternately wear the panty and go around without it--every other day. Her classmates in Grade 1 seemed to know about this so one day they played a trick on her which made her jump and fall to the ground. This was her no-panty day so you can just imagine the laughter her falling caused.

the decline of English

2011-11-10T18:54:00.001-08:00

Whether you want to accept this or not, reality is here to haunt not only teachers but also parents of kids who pay much to give their children quality education. Children today no longer care about the printed WORD. Most of them do not like to read and so therefore what do you expect when they go to a spelling bee? It's sad and likewise confusing because our educators do not seem to be exactly sleeping-on-the-job. We hear about the numerous seminars these key education players have to attend annually. Why? What are they learning in these seminar-workshops which cost the government lots of money? One teacher jokingly said that they like to go to such seminars because of the food and the "eating" that are part of those events. Of course, teachers gotta eat, too. But what do these annual gatherings accomplish except for the additional mound on our teachers' bellies?

the use of English to teach Filipino

2011-06-02T04:56:00.000-07:00

It is a fact that most students know English better than they know their national language Filipino. Ask the students themselves. Make a study and find out what they think of Filipino subjects. THEY HATE THEM! That is why most of our very own Filipino students hit rock-bottom grades in a subject they are supposed to know. So what is happening? First off, it is how the subject is taught. Lamentably, teachers teaching the subject teach it in PURE FILIPINO. Are you kidding me? Why? Not all students are from Manila! Visayans do not speak Tagalog or Filipino and it is hard to fathom why Visayan teachers insist in teaching the subject purely in Filipino. Just imagine any Visayan student listening to a Filipino teacher lecturing,"Ang mga uri ng pandiwa ay ang pangkasalukuyan, pangnagdaan, at panghinaharap." Whaaaat? Filipino teachers should know better. They should be trained how to teach a subject that sounds like French to most students. Whose fault is it? English happens to be our medium of instruction and students are more exposed to this language more than their own. And fyi, students will be able to use the global language more when they go out into the real world to look for work. So what's the big deal about making the students adept at our own national language? Okay, so we want them to know our very own national language, but you better teach the subject the right way!

Since the students know and understand English more, Filipino teachers should use this as a tool or means to teach Filipino, a subject now hated by many students who struggle to learn it. Teachers teaching Filipino should use their COMMON SENSE. Teach Filipino alongside English. Explain difficulties in English. When you talk about SIMUNO for instance, give the equivalent of the word in English and give loads of examples in both Filipino and English.

Stop talking French in your Filipino subjects, ma'am, if you want the students to learn. Our students hate your subject already, so please, MAKE THEM LEARN the subject so that at least they will be able to speak it the simplest possible way.

enhancing English skills thru a sitcom

2011-05-22T04:22:00.000-07:00

A workshop that trains students how to act using the English language has been offered this summer. The participants practice one script per week and by the end of the workshop they would have performed a total of nine sitcoms which were aired on local television. So far, the actors had already performed the following:

"Accelerated," "The Snack Monster," "Friday the 13th," "Pimple,"

"The Prince," "Gossip," and on Tuesday they should be ready to shoot "Love

Letter." Still to be rehearsed are "The Fight" and "Time Out Goes Glee."

high school students forced to make theses?

2011-03-17T05:48:00.000-07:00

This is now the era of teachers not knowing what they are teaching. There's the case of some high school teachers who require their poor students to write, submit and defend a thesis! Yes, a thesis, as in complete with all the characteristics of a thesis that graduate students are expected to write---Statement of the Problem, Theoretical Background, Conceptual Framework, Research Design, Methodology, Statistical Treatment, etc.----are they crazy? Don't you do your RESEARCH before teaching the subject? Por dios! Please! Don't you even go over the contents of the book you are asking the students to buy for this particular subject? It's a book for graduate students! What other trash are you teaching the students? Will you please get a book and study how to teach term paper writing or simple research writing to your high school students before attempting to teach this subject which you obviously do not know anything about?

game show host gets too homey and uses pure Visaya in school game show....

2010-09-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Really, I have nothing against our very own Visayan dialect; in fact, that's what I use much of the time. However, hearing it for hours boomed over the microphone by someone who was hosting the event was, to me, the opposite of teaching students to improve on their use of the English language. The said host felt so familiar and homey that the whole time she sounded like she was giving directions to illiterates or to those who have never gone to school and know no English. Why? What is this teaching the kids on the said school? They are playing games all right, but these people can understand instructions and comments in simple English. Couldn't we at least put someone there who can do this? It's a school, and a private school at that. Let us hope that schools will extend better learning environment for the kids even when they are into games.For as long as the kids are on campus, I think it is still the school's responsibility to provide a good learning environment to its students. It does not do any good for these students to be hearing the language that we all use at home and in the streets. It is highly expected that the school should give the kids the kind of education that improves and not diminishes the students' capabilities.

Four months!

2010-09-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

I've been away from this blog for four months and I feel guilty about this since this is my first blog. How could I have the heart to neglect this when I have put my heart and soul into this blog? If you go through the first posts I had done, you will be entering a very private zone where I had spilled my everything there--almost. I hope to do better by doing some updates here. "I'll be good. I'll be good. You'll see."

From the Daily Inquirer, May 31, 2010 edition

2010-05-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

Director wants kids to see his new film
By Marinel R. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 16:31:00 05/30/2010

Filed Under: Cinema, Entertainment (general)

My second for 2010, Jejemon text messaging....

2010-05-30T02:55:00.000-07:00

I am sorry to be so neglectful to this blog but it seems like I just have too many blogs for a person like me who's got a lot of concerns. Well, here's my second blog for 2010. I do not want to wait another year for my next entry. That would be too thoughtless of me.
So what's new? Jejemon text messaging has recently occupied a lot of space in many local newspapers and even gaining the DepED secretary a number of television interviews. How important or crucial is this issue? Some sectors believe that the DepEd is just wasting so much time and energy on this new trend of text messaging. While it is true that this may negatively affect the communication skills of our students, but there are more important concerns in education that the DepEd people should be working on. For instance, it should get busy training teachers to teach better especially in the area of English. Jejemon or no Jejemon, the students' ability to spell or write or speak in good acceptable English will still depend on the teacher. When students know their spelling and grammar very well, Jejemon will never be able to put them down.

from teaching to television....

2010-01-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

From teaching to television hosting. Well, some might consider this career shift too late and too drastic for someone like me who'd been in the teaching profession for a total of 27 fruitful years. But if you ask me, I consider this change a sort of moving forward. Getting stuck in the teaching profession for 27 years wasn't really that bad but we need to grow, right? We need space, we need to see the other side of the pasture if there are some greener areas there for us. Honestly, in my two years of producing and hosting a local TV show, it is only now that I can have some money stashed away for savings. My 27 years of teaching never allowed me to save a single cent. And that meant lots of work and time investment. I believe that there is really nothing wrong with career shifts at any point of your life especially if it leads to better working hours and compensation. Forgive me for saying this but I should have done this 20years ago. But for as long as the clock still ticks and the earth still revolves in its own axis, I'm feeling good with what I have now.

teachers speaking "carabao" English?

2009-12-27T02:28:00.000-08:00

That's simply catasrophic! A teacher, supposed to be the model to her students, is no better than a "carabao" in using the medium of instruction. That is why our graduates aren't any better because many teachers in the grade school, high school, and even in college have inherited the problem from their own teachers and so it goes on and on unless some solutions are done to screen out students who want to become teachers. I believe that this is the root of the problem. Little or no screening is done among those who want to finish a degree in education. It seems like the teaching course only succeeds in inviting students with mediocre IQs and why not? Brilliant students know which courses will lead to good pay and more opportunities. So one good way of solving this problem is by raising the standard of the teaching profession by giving educators better pay and better benefits. Otherwise, we will be hearing more "ungas" than necessary.

teaching is 50% knowledge & 50% communication skills

2009-11-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

The value of having good communication skills in the teaching profession can not be taken lightly. Knowledge of the subject matter alone is not enough. A teacher in order to be effective must acquire good communication skills so he or she can effectively teach or transfer information or knowledge to the learners. However, it is sad to note that many teachers do not have the other half of the pie. As majors of the subject they are expected to know it fairly well, but that is not just enough. Being competent in the language that will be used in the teaching process is also as important. Otherwise, the transfer of knowledge will not likely to happen. Seminars and trainings should help but not much.

almost abandoned but not really.....

2009-07-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

Where have I been all these months? It's almost like a year ago since I last did my last blog here. Too bad. I got busy with my other online activities so I thought that I could make this wait. When I visited it today, gosh, December 2008 was my last entry, how embarrassing. Anyway, here's an update: English for Kids and English for Adults are offered starting August 3. Of course they have separate time slots. For more info contact rarity45f@yahoo.com

on teachers who don't teach

2008-12-11T04:20:00.000-08:00

There is no teaching going on right now in many classes in the country, and if there is, probably only just very little teaching is happening. One boy in Grade 1 is burdened with school work he could not answer. Why? He does not even know how to read. In Mathematics, he has not even learned the concept of subtraction and addition, but his teacher does not see this. He goes ahead with the next lesson on Roman Numerals, then counting money, on and on. The boy does not even know how to read and write numbers! How can he perform the tasks assigned by the teacher? Obviously, the "teacher" is not doing any sort of teaching. He just presents a new lesson no matter what. He does not know where his students stand. He marks and crosses the boy's works in which he was getting failing marks each time.Poor, poor boy. The parents have to hire a private tutor to make the boy understand his lessons but even the tutor is flabbergasted because the classroom teacher just keeps on bringing in new lessons without thought on whether he had succeeded in making his students understand the lesson. What a rotten teacher this one is.

English for Koreans or non-English speakers

2008-09-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Koreans or other non-English speakers can learn to speak English the fastest way. There will be a lot of interactive learning, feedbacking, and situational conversations that will surely make the learner acquire fluency of the target language in the shortest time possible. Interested? Text or call cellphone no. 0918-642-1670

like she owns the road

2008-08-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

There is something very annoying about people who cross the street and are doing so in slow motion like they have all the right to dilly dally or delay other people.This is just one of my rants but I really have to express this. Please, when you cross the street, can you do it with more purpose and courtesy? What I mean here is, those waiting for you to reach the other side could be in a life-an-death situation and here you are taking your sweet time. This is the city with many vehicles plying to and fro. You might be so used to your hometown or place where no vehicles tread the roads you could even sleep in the middle of them, but when you are in the city and even if you are using the pedestrian lane, please cross the street with more purpose and courtesy. Time is gold and you have no right to waste other people's time with your lazy walk.

Toastmasters' club for kids

2008-07-08T04:49:00.000-07:00

ABC Learning Center in Dumaguete City is launching a toastmasters' workshop in their school. This is going to be a once-a-week training in public speaking for grade schoolers who have the potential or gift of gab. This is going to be a very welcome program that will surely develop the kids' self-confidence and their speaking talents. This will also boost the school's curriculum, turning the school into another cool place to hone talents.

why not?

2008-06-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

After-school lessons in ballet, piano, guitar, karate, etc. are offered to parents who desire to develop their kids' full potential. An after-school training in communications should be a most welcome addition since some parents want to better the communication skills of their kids, so why not? Is this a redundance or repetition of what schools are teaching our kids?

Not really because this after-school training in communications is a specialized kind of school where there is emphasis on the honing of the kids' speaking skills. Schools can only do so much and reinforcement should be most welcome.

getting better & better

2008-05-30T02:33:00.001-07:00

It is not because these kids are enrolled in my summer workshop in communications that I am saying this, but honestly, they are getting better & better in every episode. It's just a sad thing that summer could only give a month-long exposure to these workshop participants who I believe can become excellent speakers in the future if given more time. The second batch of workshop participants, only 6, will be done with the workshop next week but this is not going to be the end of the training for starting next month, June, training continues twice weekly, Mondays & Saturdays. Why not? Students enrol in after-school programs in dancing, guitar, singing, piano, etc. Why not an after-school training in debate, hosting, newswriting, etc?

Yes, it is going to be the first time that such a training is made available to everyone interested to hone their communication skills.

will training & workshop help?

2008-05-08T02:59:00.000-07:00

There are people who, from early age, just seem to be not cut for any sort of performances. One just seems to see at a very young age if a person can amount to something or can become somebody great in the future. But this kind of biased thinking may not be helpful to this group of people who probably are late bloomers and who could actually turn out to be a genius to everybody's surprise. NOthing is more frustrating than to be stereotyped as this or that, as someone who isn't and could not be somebody else in the future.

Well, I believe that a lot of things in this world can be taught and learned. Training and practice could do miracles. How did Manny Pacquiao become a world boxing champion? He got trained to be one. It also holds true to all other skills which could easily be taken as talents.

shy

2008-05-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

Is shyness a virtue or what? Of course for one thing we all hate arrogance, but shyness is another thing. A person who behaves or claims to be shy can be doing others some discomfort. Shy to do what? Shy because of what? Sometimes it is hard to understand why some people try to use shyness to avoid doing something.

Is the word synonymous with modesty? Is it an inherent Filipino trait? Any reaction or comment?

why whisper?

2008-04-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

Again I make the same observation. Students have the tendency to only "whisper" their answers when speaking. Why? Is this habit perhaps an extension of the kind of training kids are getting in the home?

I think teachers should draw the line between private speaking and public speaking. Maybe whispering may be allowed in private speaking but it is not acceptable for one to whisper one's answers in public speaking.

Self-confidence can be shown through one's voice. When one speaks loud and clear, the person would instantly come across as confident and one with authority.

wouldn't it be a lot better?

2008-03-27T02:56:00.000-07:00

Friends would proudly tell me about their kids' talents in singing and dancing but I'd always reply that it would also be a lot better if their kids can also speak very well in front of people. I have many times witnessed talent presentations but at the end of the singing or dancing, when the kids are asked simple questions, like their names or age, they'd answer only in whispers. Why? They could sing and dance very well but could not even say their names properly?

Let's admit it. A lot of people fear public speaking. They'd rather sing or dance, but speak? That is why for me, talent is nothing when you cannot even talk about it. The whole point here is that no real talent can make it big if the ability to market this talent is not there. See? Speech still rules. It should be the basis of all other endeavors.

Janina San Miguel's "victory"(?)

2008-03-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

The whole world knows the recent joke that happened during the search for Bb. Pilipinas when one winner, Janina San Miguel, still made it to a major award inspite of her outrageous answer during the interview portion. Now she's going to represent the country in seven months to the prestigious Miss World competition and everybody's biting their nails as to what could possibly happen during the big pageant if she does not straighten up her act. I mean, seven months? Is that time enough to put some sense into her or to make her express herself in straight acceptable English? How long should one learn to sound good in the international language? If you ask me, my answer is this: about your age---if you're 17, then you should have learned it for 17 years to be able to really master the language. Seven months is like asking for a miracle to happen. But let us just hope.

good teachers like a needle in a haystack?

2008-03-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

A school principal recently expressed her number one lament every school year---finding GOOD teachers. According to her it is hard to advertise for more students to increase enrolment because there are no real good teachers available to teach the students. She did not like the idea of just hiring ANY teacher. She wants good teachers to teach in her school---which is a real big problem by the way considering the fact that many graduates of education courses do not know how to speak English. Which is a big problem, really. Looking for good teachers is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Remember last Summer?

2008-03-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Yeah, we had a summer's workshop in communication and those enrolled in the course got to hone their writing and speaking skills. This year will be an improvement of the previous years because this time we have a TV show in which the kids will have chance to share their talents to the whole Negros island.

Registration starts last week of this month while sessions start first week of April.

Come on. Ages are from 7 to 16 years old.

the best school

2008-02-27T03:44:00.000-08:00

We get our best education in the streets, don't you think so? I mean, we spend many, many years and lots of money in school that oftentimes fail to give us the kind of education which ought to prepare us to battle life's challenges without giving up.

A lot of things had been prolonged and postponed which ultimately end up costing more. What I am saying is, if there is any opportunity for one, no matter how young or inexperienced, to start his or her career long before finishing a college, then I believe that anyone in his sane mind should grab that opportunity and start facing life early. I see no need to wait until you get your diploma. Now is the right time to etch your destiny. Your education or college diploma should only be an added bonus but not the main reason for one to succeed. One can still succeed even without it. What's your say?

half-baked what?

2008-02-20T01:25:00.000-08:00

Some people label their capabilities as either developed or half-baked. Are you a full-grown singer? or dancer perhaps? A complete writer? or half--baked actor or teacher? |Whatever. I know I can not only do a little of everything, but I believe I can do a lot of everything. Funny, but that's how big my belief in myself is. I don't wanna say I am half-baked here and there because I know that I almost always gave and give my best in everything I do, so how can that be half-baked? Hmmmm.....

the Entrepreneur

2008-02-18T04:00:00.000-08:00

I have developed this habit of reading the Entrepreneur, a monthly national magazine that features inspiring stories of real people who want to be boss by having their own business. Wow, the articles are so inspiring they can make you fly.lol Like other readers I seem to hang on to every word on every page like it's going to change the world.lol Well, better than nothing. I mean reading anything is far better than not reading at all. You better agree with me on this one.

blogging as a new literary genre

2008-02-15T23:17:00.000-08:00

Everything has evolved and of course the world of literature is now facing a new sort of challenge since there is now a deluge of literary stuff online which can easily be accessed by online readers all over the world. So where do the heavy hard-covered books fit in this new genre? We know that producing anything online can be done in just a matter of minutes regardless of quality. Is this good or bad news? Will real books lose their place in the sun one of these days?

Blogging is the latest tool writers can easily use to express themselves quickly. It is so easy for anyone to get read and to read anyone's blog as well.

Although the quality of the works online is in question, but their easy access makes them the more preferred and library books are now starting to gather dust.

getting back into the groove

2008-02-09T02:05:00.000-08:00

It only took one book for me to get back into reading. I've sort of lost touch and given all sorts of alibis to skip what I used to love and that is, reading. I am thankful to this friend of my son who sent him a book he had recently written and published and which made me start reading again. I know I have wasted a lot of time doing nothing that would contribute to my well-being. I am glad though that I am doing it again before I totally forget how to read or worst, totally lose interest in it.

I want 'em funny

2008-02-05T23:24:00.000-08:00

Whether it's books or movies, I now have this special preference for one that makes me laugh. I used to enjoy books and movies with loaded plots, particularly those that capitalize on vengeance as the motivating factor that leads characters into the different twists and turns of events. Heavy. But those were the days. I do not have time anymore for anything that taxes my mind and emotions unnecessarily. I have more than enough of my day-to-day struggles I now want something that will tickle my funny bones. Any suggestions are most welcome.

to know the culture, know the language first

2008-02-03T23:44:00.000-08:00

How true. In a recent interview we had with someone who spent 20 years of her life in another country and who eventually married someone from that culture, the first thing she did in order to understand the new environment and its people was to learn its language.

Yes, language comes first in knowing or studying another culture. This is why people who move to another place with an entirely new culture have to study and learn the language first before understanding everything else.

Human Securities Act: Does it violate human rights?

2008-01-31T01:54:00.000-08:00

How can something which is supposed to uphold an ideal violate it at the same time?

Skeptics have questioned the morality of the Human Securities Act which is primarily aimed at curtailing terrorism of all sorts. The new law is supposed to give assurance and protection to the public and not otherwise. Does it violate human rights? This question can only be raised by those who probably have a stake on the issue. Why? What human rights does it violate if it only aims to protect the citizenry? That is why precisely it is called the Human Securities Act because it purports to crack down on big and small types of terrorism that are openly perpetrated by some groups in our country.

My stand is for us to wait and see. The law is still in its infancy and it is too early to give final judgments. That it violates human rights still needs to be proven. We have to see concrete examples of these violations before anyone hurls any accusation against the new law.

That's just my two cents.

debate

2008-01-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Schools today are training their students in the art & skill of argumentation. Debating clubs exist for this purpose and those that are really serious in molding their students into excellent debaters set a regular training schedule so students can practice their skill.

This is the secret of schools that breed champion debaters----regular practice and training that give the students the opportunity to polish their speaking skills on a regular basis.

If you only start training your students only when you get challenged or invited to a debate, forget about winning. You will only be putting the name of your school to shame.

Practice and train even when there is no invitation. Be prepared always for any battle.

interviewing skills

2008-01-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

It pays to know interviewing techniques, how to ask relevant questions and give winning answers. We are often made to handle situations that require this skill of being able to ask the right questions and answer them as well when they are thrown your way. It is much like preparing for the interpellation period in a debate or the cross-examination in court. The skill starts with the ability to LISTEN with your mind.

As the interviewer, you need to listen to the responses that the interviewee is giving, and as the one being interviewed, you need to listen very well to the questions being asked in order to give the best answer.

Follow the thinking of your interviewer. Anticipate questions and responses and be ready to respond accordingly. It is good to have a set of questions prepared beforehand but use these only as a crutch or to fill in the gaps. Otherwise, be spontaneous, adjust the situation to the person you are interviewing. Be flexible and be genuinely interested in the person you are interviewing.

Offbeatmom beat this

2008-01-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Although I started this blog many months ahead of my other blogs, but one of it, OFFBEATMOM, beat this first blog of mine in terms of number of visitors. Just look at the counter I have on each blog and you would know what I mean.

I miss reading

2008-01-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

Because of the many tasks I have to do for our TV show and also as a family woman, I have missed to do one of the things I love and that is reading. I just envy those people who really find time to read and bury their faces in the pages of a book. It's a shame because I recently bought two books from the local National Bookstore but until now they have remained untouched. Sigh....

they want their kids to look their age

2008-01-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

The latest singing sensation in the world is a 15-year-old Filipina, a petite girl named Charice who performed in Ellen Degeneres' show where the child impressed the host as well as the audience who gave the girl from the Philippines a standing ovation. It was not only the powerful voice of Charice which captivated the hearts of foreign audiences. It is her image as well, an image of a genuine child.

People are tired of child celebrities who are dolled up and dressed up like old entertainers. They are tired of child celebrities acting and behaving like sexy adults. The girl from the Philippines will certainly serve as a good role model to all the youth in the world. Everybody hopes that Charice will not succumb to the lures of the material world, that she will remain as she is.

poor quality of education in RP cited

2008-01-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's issue of the Inquirer, a lengthy news feature on the deterioration of the quality of education in the Philippines caught the attention of many. Am I surprised? Uh--uh. With 27 years teaching experience I know and I've known that sad fact that the quality of education in this country is really going down the drain. Ask the students. Let them speak if they can. I mean, how many of our thousands of college graduates can truly communicate in good English? Two out of two thousand? That's what most call centers are saying, that is why they have no other recourse but to hire those with very poor communication skills in the hope that these guys can be trained. But they are wrong again because everything should start from the bottom. If we want to have quality graduates in this country, then we have to strengthen the system from the bottom, pre-school, going up. Have a very good foundation in the the grade school, then a very strong follow-up in the high school, and a robust training in college. I mean, it should be collaborative.

2008 is a good year....

2007-12-31T03:35:00.000-08:00

Sez who? Sez many who see the last number 8 as a perfect number. The two circles on top and bottom to form the number are symbolic of wealth and proportion. Since 8 is also an even number, this also increases its positive connotation.

With this interpretation, then we should all make use of it and make this year a real blessing not only to us but to everybody.

Happy New Year!

writing the first draft

2007-12-30T06:04:00.000-08:00

When you have already finalized your outline, you should now be prepared to move on to the next phase which is writing your first draft. With an outline based on the notes you have gathered, this phase of term paper writing should be like a breeze. All you need to do is follow your outline but be sure to acknowledge all borrowed ideas.

A term paper is not a string of borrowed ideas from different authors. Of course you need these ideas from authority as springboard for discussion but should not be the main course of the paper. It is up to you throw in some expert opinion but be sure to come in after each borrowed item by agreeing or maybe disagreeing or maybe expanding the discussion in your terms.

after notetaking, what?

2007-12-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

When you have gathered enough ideas or notes to make you write a substantial term paper, next comes writing an outline or trying to arrange the notes you have collected. This is an easy part since all you need to do is evaluate the value of each card containing an idea and see where each one fits. This is fun to do since it's much like playing cards, shuffling ideas here and there until you can come up with a working order of your paper. Think of parts, topics, sub-topics and try to arrange the note cards accordingly. Discard some that are repetitive or unnecessary. Use only those that you will need. Arrange and rearrange, discard, evaluate.

As the cards containing the ideas are laid out on the table in the order that you want them to appear, start drafting your working outline.

Taking down notes

2007-12-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

Notetaking is a very crucial task in writing an honest term paper. However, many students have not developed the proper way of taking down notes. When the teacher asks them to submit their notes, they usually submit notes that are copied word for word from a source or two.

The first step in notetaking is reading. Read a source one at a time and look for ideas that you could use in your paper. Each idea is to be written on one side of a note card. Take note, do not use the back part of your index card and do not lump more than one idea on an index card. This is done so that arranging them to make an outline would be easier for you.

See to it that you also write down the source of each idea---author, title of book, page, publishing company, place of publication, year of publication. The source info is to be written on top of the index card. Limit the number of ideas you borrow from each source and see to it that you get ideas from as many sources as you can. If your teacher requires you to read 10 sources, then do so.

looking for sources

2007-12-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

Once you have chosen your topic, it is time for you to start hunting for sources. The more sources, the better. Avoid limiting yourself to one, two , or three sources because this will most likely lead you to plagiarism. Have at least 10 sources. List them all down, the author's name, title of the book, place of publication, date of publication, and publishing company.If you find more than 10 sources, you will need to skim and scan each book or source and see which ones you will really need. After you have chosen your sources, you can now start notetaking. This aspect of term paper writing requires more time since notetaking involves reading.

Next topic is Notetaking.

Find a topic that is of interest to you

2007-12-24T16:14:00.000-08:00

The first step in writing a paper is worrying about the "topic" or the subject of your research. What will you write about?

It will seem at first that there is nothing left for you to get started. It will seem like all the topics had been taken and there is nothing left for you to write about. You professor will most likely encourage you to think of a "problem" that is still unsolved either in your community or on a global scale. Now when you think of "problems" I am sure that you can come up with many broad ones such as poverty, terrorism, government, politics, religion, etc. Now try to narrow down those topics or problems into smaller problems and see what you can come up with. Write down as many as you can under each broad issue and see the best angle or aspect that you might want to tackle. Let's say you are interested in the worldwide problem of poverty. What aspect of it would you want to write about? Try to get hold of papers related to it and find out from which angle you will be approaching the topic this time. You can have a seemingly popular topic and still use the same but this time from a different angle.

Always make sure that the topic is of interest to you. It is hard to write an honest paper if there is no interest on the writer. There should be that "curiousity" to know the answers to the questions that you will be asking related to the topic in order to reach your goal of writing an honest term paper without feeling like you're being punished to do it. Make the research a learning experience that could lead to the possible solution of an age-old problem in your community.

of rats and men

2007-12-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

2008 being the Year of the brown Rat brings to mind a lot of things like it being our year because brown is the color of us Pinoys.

Well, is this going to be OUR YEAR after all since brown is associated with the Filipino race? But a brown rat? This made me think. Are rats also in any way connected with Pinoys?

Yes, I think we too are ratty in many ways. I remember one teacher of mine in the high school who would cry in front of the class when we were not very attentive to her. She would always use this favorite expression of hers "I am as poor as a rat".

There is no doubt about it. Poverty is always associated with rats. Rats, especially brown rats, live in proverty because nobody wants them. Nobody wants to have them as pets like the white mice that get fed and sheltered. Brown or black rats are the most hated pests in the house. We do everything to kill them. We trap or poison them or hire a pest exterminator to get rid of them.

just wondering

2007-12-21T14:10:00.001-08:00

I am wondering why my latest post here does not appear. I am doing this blog to check.

script writing

2007-12-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

Scriptwriting could both be fun and challenging especially if you need to do it every week. Boy, that can really squeeze out all the creative juices in your brain! You can't simply use the same script you used in your previous shows because then your show would look like an old shoe nobody wants. The challenge of giving a new and different intro each time is real and one can't just ignore the challenge because even the most seasoned and successful TV shows in the world work.

I tell you, scriptwriting is not a joke.

my first alumni homecoming

2007-12-15T23:46:00.000-08:00

Not really big about alumni homecoming, I attended my first ever anyway mid of this month because I was tasked to do the emceeing. Otherwise I would have skipped that too like I'd been skipping them for the past.....hmmmm.....many years. It was a high school alumni homecoming and I've finally seen once again my former batchmates no longer firm and trim but more like "mature" men and women who now know the secrets of life and living. Photos of us back in high school were flashed on screen and there we were, taut, young, all thin, and oh so innocent. We looked so unknowing and so sweet. Suddenly there's this feeling of sadness that overwhelms one when you think about how good those days were and how you wish you could have stopped time so you could have remained so young and beautiful.

Now, 35 years after that happy stage of our lives we can only pretend to smile and be happy to be able to make it to that reunion. Many are no longer able to join because they had left the world and are now situated somewhere.

Will I attend another homecoming next year or the years to come? It depends.:)

on writing the term paper

2007-12-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

The schoolyear is almost ending and majority of our fourth year high school students in the country are now facing what they dread-----writing the term paper.

I too wrote my first and last term paper in college, not in high school. Unfortunately, I did not learn it the right way. I mean, we weren't taught the nitty-gritty steps of truly making one so I admit that there was a lot of plagiarism that went into the completion of the paper. It is embarrassing to admit but about 95% of it was plagiarized because our teacher did not exactly show us the proper way of making an honest paper.

I learned how to make one when I started teaching the subject. Of course, I had to study and master the subject to be able to teach and make my own students understand the whole procedure. I devised a way of making my students write their own term paper in the easiest and most honest fashion. I had developed a procedure that will ensure that no plagiarizing happened. I did this for a number of years and later on I noticed that teachers from other schools have adopted the same method. Of course, I am happy about it.

What are the easy steps in making your own honest paper? That will be the subject of discussion on my next blog.

provincialism

2007-12-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

People vary in the ways they deal with things. For instance, people in smaller and slower paced cities have the tendency to take appointments for granted. The value of time never exists here. They just cancel out appointments for not much of a valid reason. This is the best example of unprofessionalism or provincialism. Even finishing a college degree does not help. The habit acquired since birth will always surface and so they break commitments and not push through with appointments.

Huh? Can you just tell someone after you've made an agreement that you are cancelling out because of this and that reason which you failed to see beforehand? No matter how you look at it your provincial mentality is the root of it all because if not because of that you would have had the decency or common sense to see to it that everything is clear before entering into any agreement with someone or anyone.

It's annoying, you know.

COSCA & YEHS Outsourcing

2007-12-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

Don't miss to watch our show tomorrow, Sunday, Dec.9 in my country, because it will be featuring one of the premier Catholic schools in the province.

Next week's feature will be a call center situated in a neighboring city. YEHS outsourcing will be bringing to your homes a peek into the call center industry. That's for next Sunday. You don't wanna miss that one too.

off to another town to judge

2007-12-03T17:40:00.000-08:00

My son will be going to another city to judge and of course, we intend to do some footages there and have them shown on our show. It's a literary-musical sort of affair and I am sure it's going to take like forever.LOL. Anyway, if you want to view snap shots of the affair, just tune in to our show every Sunday, 8:00 p.m., Channel 6, Filproducts Cable TV.

On the 8th of this month he will have to go back to the place to judge another idol search competition, and on the 22nd it will be another city for a big event in which he will be judging again.

It seems like December is a season of competitions.

got shadowed

2007-12-02T01:31:00.000-08:00

During last week's interview with the Project Manager of Firm Builders, my son who is co-hosting "at random" told me earlier to do the interview with the guest. However, when it was time for the interview he changed his mind and said that he'll do it with me. So of course I was happy about it because he is really the one in charge of interviews. I did a brief intro of the guest, an Assumptionista, and I thought I'd throw the first question as well. But just when I was about to open my mouth to ask the first question my son Mark rattled off and did it and I was like gaping 'til the whole interview came to a conclusion which was the only thing I did during the entire segment.

I got shadowed. Oh well, it is said that our children are improvements of ourselves. I cannot disagree with this.

setting the standard

2007-11-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

People in media are actually setting the standards for us, what ought and what ain't done. Without us knowing it, viewers are bombarded with a lot of trash everyday, trash in the sense that instead of developing or improving our way of life, some shows just pull us all down into the gutter. so what's the standard? Is it locally based? Do we have our own little standard in our own little corner of this world? What characterizes quality? Do we even know it when we see one?

I think local media should exert all its efforts in raising their standards whether morally, aesthetically, or intellectually. It is part of their duty to do this because they play a huge role in shaping the minds of the young. Whether they like it or not, their programs tell the viewers that "this is it", "this is how things ought to be done". Ouch. No wonder the next generation carries on the same blunders and the same level of mediocrity. Please. Let us see improvement in this area---not just a speck of it but tons of it NOW.

discipline ain't savagery

2007-11-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

I am all for discipline in school and at home because it is only through this that we can enjoy life and enjoy peace in our community. Without this as an important component of education, our community will soon be full of rascals and criminals. But please, discipline has nothing to do with violence or other forms of physical assault that lead to physical injuries. That is no longer discipline but savagery.

Discipline is done for the good of the person being disciplined. It has limits and its purpose is always for the betterment of the human being. If it leads to violence or worse, death, then it is not discipline anymore but murder.

A stepfather of a two-year-old kid recently killed the kid by throwing her against the wall resulting to head injuries that killed the child. The stepfather reasoned out and used the term "discipline" to explain what he did. Discipline? That's murder.

earth-shaking questions in pageants are passe

2007-11-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days when beauty candidates had to memorize formulas in response to earth-shaking questions like "How do you describe the woman of the new Millennium?"

Candidates are more appreciated and better judged based on their spontaneous answers to spontaneous questions. We want to hear and see spontaneity in our contestants but how can we do this when we ask such boring questions as:

1. What is the best career for a woman?

2. What is the biggest role of women in our society?

3. What challenges do our women of today have to deal with? (I mean, this one could be better)

But questions that require big answers are just laying the ground for memorized and formulated answers.

If you have observed in international pageants, final questions now lean towards casual questions that need quick and brilliant answers. A question like "What makes you blush?" could send the woman who gives the smartest answer to the throne.

There is no need to memorize answers when questions are upbeat.

no internet

2007-11-23T04:17:00.000-08:00

Would I ever consider living in a place where internet is inaccessible? Never. And I don't think anyone who knows the benefits of having internet access would want that either.

It might sound unbelievable but a lot of people in our place, college graduates at that, do not have internet in their homes. These people just don't know what they are missing. Or are they really missing anything?

Back in the olden times, our parents and even great grandparents would tell us of how simple and uncomplicated life was then. They didn't even have the television back then but they're fine. I can very well see many reasons why life then would prove to be better than life today.

But given the fast technological breakthroughs at present, and having no opportunity of knowing what these changes are would be like living in the dark ages. Since we belong to this generation of various technological developments, I deem it necessary for each and every one to cope or keep abreast with what's new in this world today.

Not having internet at home would be like being deprived of a lot of things.

blogging as self-expression

2007-11-18T13:01:00.001-08:00

Blogging is the best way to express one's innermost thoughts and feelings. The blogger can even opt to choose who he or she wants to access her blog. She can make it accessible to everyone at the risk of baring her soul and personal trash or choose to make it a private thing.

I think this is one of the best features of the internet. One only needs words to empty all those heavy thoughts and feelings, pour them out the way the heavens do when the clouds get so heavy.

You can be at your best or at your worst. You can dress it up or make it simple. Your blog is basically an extension of yourself so you can do anything with it.

Haven't done any blog yet? Try www.blogger.com for your free blog and get started now.

why I'm not going to the David Pomeranz concert

2007-11-11T02:34:00.000-08:00

It's not that I don't know the singer. In fact, many years ago when I was partly working at an FM station I used to play his albums early in the morning while everybody's having breakfast. It's just that when I heard that he was coming over to Dumaguete, my initial reaction was like, "Why only now?" I think he just came too late, that his popularity has waned and that his concert no longer sparks any interest in me. I thought I'd rather stay home and listen to more popular songs if I want to.

I have a different idea of concerts. I want to go to a concert where I can clap my hands and do some dancing in my seat. I do not want to go to a concert where I only sit to listen coz I can always do that at home. I want a concert with lots of dancing in it and where I can openly scream and laugh.

Call me a killjoy but a David Pomeranz concert isn't exactly my type of concert.

what ever happened to the word "please"?

2007-11-10T05:59:00.000-08:00

It seems like young ones today have already forgotten manners. They ask you to do things without using courtesy words like "please" or "could you please". They give commands instead the way they do it in the military.

When do we use the word "please"? Whenever we request someone to do something for us it is important that we say "please" like "Please close the door" or "Please give me that". Requests, in contrast to a command, almost always yield positive results.

an invitation

2007-11-05T13:45:00.000-08:00

If you're from Oriental Negros Philippines you will be able to watch our weekly show called "at random". It is aired 8 to 9 in the evening of Sundays and replays Mondays 12 to 1:00 p.m. (around lunchtime)

Advertisers are welcome, just call this number 4225823. We have very friendly rates so it is one great way of giving visibility to your business with the right market.

a click and you got money

2007-10-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

You can actually make some extra money doing nothing. Just click and you get paid for doing so. Curious? Here's the link http://www.clixsense.com/?2144411 When you get to the site, don't waste time and start earning by signing up. It's so easy.

hosting is in the blood

2007-10-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

There are people who are really cut and made to become the perfect hosts. They live and breathe the craft and feel like fish is into water whenever given a microphone on stage. Hosting is fun and challenging. Some people are gifted with the talent to host. Words just seem to tumble out from their mouths with ease and smoothness. It is really amazing to watch and listen to these gifted hosts and I am talking about the caliber of someone like Oprah or Ellen. Of course, there are other capable ones but so far I consider them the most natural and the most ideal.

On their plus side is the fact that both use their own native language so this by itself accounts for much of the ease and expertise these two people exhibit.

Above all, hosting is in the blood. One can never find it when it's not there.

shifts and changes

2007-10-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

We have recorded the 2nd episode of our show and it went on smoothly. This is our halloween edition so we had a huge spider's web on the set, a giant black spider, and masks that served as props. Guests were from some of the gimmick places in the city and they got to talk about their different gigs.

Incidentally, I am really tired of teaching. I had proven this when I was asked to tutor some Koreans and after a day, I did not want to go back there anymore. It's just that I am too fed up with teaching, having done that for 26 years, and I don't think I will ever want to do it again.

I am happy with how our TV show is moving---slowly, but surely. This is my new career and I think I am loving it. Thinking of all those years I've wasted, I think I should have done the shift much, much earlier. But anyway, better late than never.

a crude beginning

2007-10-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

We know and are aware of our limitations right now, but we are confident that things will look better in the long run. Our set is far from what we imagine to be ideal, but we are getting there. There has got to be a start somewhere and our first episode is going to play a big role in the history of this program. Hmmmm.......so far, so good.

more or less

2007-10-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

We're just getting started, as you can see. Everything is still temporary, the set, maybe format, etc. We are confident that things will improve in the long run. When we recorded yesterday our Oct. 21 debut edition, God, you should see and hear the blunders and bloopers. But there is always a first time, right? So this is more or less how we started as shown on photo.

age factor

2007-10-06T04:48:00.001-07:00

I am launching my own talk and variety show middle of this month and this will be one place where young people will have the chance to develop their talents and potentials for this show is going to be primarily about students and schools.

Update will be done here as to what programs will be started, etc. My only drawback here is my age. I am not really very keen about seeing myself on TV with all my spectacles and wrinkles but I just have to do this for the benefit of all young people who badly need an avenue to showcase their gifts.

There isn't really much that I could do about the age thing but I just have to get things moving now or the rest of the talented young people will wrinkle and turn grey without being recognized.

violence on stage

2007-09-30T05:26:00.000-07:00

Concerned viewers demand that television and movies should censor the amount and nature of violence they feature as it greatly affects or influence the minds of young viewers. Acts of killing or brutally hurting others should not be served "raw" to the audience. Moviemakers are challenged to present scenes in the most realistic fashion without hurting the sensibilities of people or without distorting the facts or without showing the "act" itself,sparing the audience from seeing gory details of spilled guts and smashed skulls. Gory details of killings or massacres should be done so artistically that the scene shouldn't look like an abattoir.

However, who censors what students present on stage? Teachers of course should be the first ones to check that student presentations onstage should not break the above rule regarding violence. Otherwise, the school will become another breeding ground for hardened and violence-tolerant individuals. When outside trainers are hired to train students in their stage presentations, the teacher usually adopts a hands-up attitude, entrusting the whole thing to the hired trainer who, at times, does not have an eye for such concern. Result? The whole student population watches an array of killings, as in a character stabbing with a knife another character right before the very eyes of student audiences. A depiction of war among gun-bearing characters on stage becomes a common sight. Rape on stage, physical fights which involve kicking, pushing, boxing, slapping are all commonly shown on stage as part of student presentations. Of course we know that some of these happen in real life but shouldn't there be a more creative way of presenting these horrid details without presenting them in an exaggerated fashion or in a way that gives more emphasis on the violence of the situation?

I think educators should teach students how to think creatively, how to transform the raw facts of life into an art form in their stage presentations. There is no real art in presenting life as it is. Education should include the teaching and learning to recognize values in what students present in the classroom or onstage.

2007-09-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Cool,novel vegan shirts only from the Vegan Prince. If you want to know more about the details of how you can get your shirt custom-made by the Vegan prince himself, simply log on to the link above. It's simply original!

on bookish teachers..

2007-09-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

Teachers who are slaves to their textbooks fail to bring in real-world lessons into the classroom and are thus seldom effective. Every word they say and every example they give is from the book. They cannot live without the book as their only source of information. This habit is not really bad but students only get to see one side of the lesson. A good teacher should be able to use book information as springboard for real discussion in the classroom. A good teacher should be able to merge theory with her own experience outside of the book. Even in subjects like Math. In teaching the intricacies of formulas, the teacher should be able to connect the lessons with the students' lives. How and where can they use these complex formulations?

Always remember that books had been written by people too, some in fact by new writers who had been teachers themselves but this does not make them the sole authority on the subject. You can use their work as reference but never as the Word of God in the classroom. A good teacher does her best to have more than one reference book on any subject. She gets the ideas and opinions of as many authors or writers, say, 3 to 6 books.

Any teacher with a good many years of experience can author a book on his subject. His wide classroom experience could offer valuable information to new teachers. With a dash of information from other authors to back his own, he will be able to come up with a book that not only teaches theory but also provides practice for students.

can sing, but can't speak...

2007-09-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Huh? How can these kids sing beautifully and not know how to answer simple questions properly? The same is true with some old people. They go up the stage to give a song number and when asked to answer a simple question in English, they could not answer it.

Are people now giving more importance to singing than to speaking? Will people admire a singer if he could not even explain his music or say anything about himself? I don't know what you think, but if you ask me, I just think any talent is useless if you could not "sell" it well. You have a product, then be ready to sell it and when we say "sell it" we mean talk about it or explain it using words or language.

No real singer succeeds if he does not know how to promote himself or his music. So I think it is not right to just focus on a single talent. What I mean is, if you have a talent, okay, polish it but along with perfecting it, you should also learn basic communication skills for you to be able to promote yourself and your product.

the difficulty of training old teachers

2007-09-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

The saying, "It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks" can be said of teachers who had been in the trade for a number of years. They are the most difficult to train for they have already gotten used to their old ways that oftentimes the government or any sponsoring school is only wasting a lot of its time and money teaching these "hard-to-teach" mentors.

For one, their time. Training them long term, say one semester, eats up a lot of their precious free time. What happens is you have a case of always absent teachers.

Second, teachers are no better than their students. They too are afraid of being called to do a task in front of the class. They too come in unprepared, very late, or absent for that activity.

Now if this is the kind of teachers a school has, I pity the students who are under their tutelage. Obviously, such teachers are exhibiting a "hard to train attitude" and so the students are left with no choice but to learn from these teachers with their "old bag of tricks".

It is sad that even our very own mentors cannot even be properly trained because of their own personal resistance to be trained.

Oh, well, it's their life.

more theory or more practice?

2007-09-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

One English teacher has this dilemma on whether to teach her students more theory or give them more practice on the language.

I know that some teachers still follow the traditional approach of monopolizing class time with their talk or lectures. Not any more.

Today, modern-day language teachers only spend 10% of class time in presenting a lesson and giving feedback to her students. The rest of the time is spent in making the students use the language in various situations.

Usage is more important than theory. Knowledge of theory does not necessarily lead to effective communication. A good language teacher should spend more time in creating opportunities for her students to use the language in different situations.

speech without humor

2007-09-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

Listening to a speech without humor is like eating food without any flavor. After one bite, that's it, you don't want anymore of it.

So what constitutes humor? How does one inject humor into his speech? Is humor just a matter of telling a joke related to the topic?Someone who wants to establish a career in public speaking expressed his concern over his inability to deliver a joke well. I mean, he feels very bad when the audience does not seem to get the joke. This happens to many speakers that when a joke or supposed to be the humorous part of the speech does not turn out as expected, it affects their entire presentation----which should not be the case.

When the audience just stares at you like that like they did not understand you, or maybe like they did not hear you when you expect them to react with a laugh or maybe smile a little, just move on and never let your own emotion show. The worst thing is for you to repeat the joke for them to understand it and at least laugh. No. Do not repeat it if they failed to get it the first time and do not point out the fact that it is supposed to be a joke and that they are supposed to laugh for they will surely find that pathetic.

The rule in not being able to effectively deliver a joke is this: Never force the issue. Just move on with your speech like nothing happened. Just be spontaneous and cool.

ideas, content, subject

2007-09-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

Reading regularly increases or builds your wealth of ideas which are the very stuff that your speech will be made of. Trust me, people who read regularly will have less to worry when it comes to making a speech with or without preparation. Words and ideas will just tumble out of her mouth efforlessly, flawlessly while those who never read nor do research will be at a loss for words and will need to grapple for ideas that do not come.

One can't hide the presence or absence of ideas especially in making a speech. It will always have a way of showing itself in the blunders made, long gaps or dead air, and in stuttering. Beautiful words delivered in perfect diction and good voice can never hide the emptiness of a speech. A speech without substance or content falls flat or hollow. It does not deliver nor persuade nor convince. It just falls flat.

Content, content, content-----what we're looking for in a speech, the meat, the substance, the what. Without it, it's just sounds, a voice, and words. A speech is meaningless without meat.

choosing a proposition for debate

2007-08-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

Some topics may be too broad or too narrow for a debate. It is important that the proposition or resolution should be timely and controversial enough to allow the debaters to put into maximum use their argumentation skills. No topic is too elementary for debaters so long as the issues are debatable. If it is for academic exercise tackling issues that are of direct concern to the audience will naturally attract a bigger crowd of listeners.

Issues related to health, work, family, communication, education etc. are never too small for any debater. One wrong notion debaters have in choosing the topic is to only choose issues related to law and politics, such as political dynasties and republic acts that only concern a few and which majority of the audience cannot relate.

A word of advise: if you have not tried debating on what to you are small topics meant only for "grade schoolers" or "high schoolers", then, don't attempt to jump into big topics that do not directly affect you lest the debate will turn out to be one big bluff.

the worst things that could happen on stage

2007-08-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

There are events that are beyond anyone's control and they could happen at times when they should not. I am talking about problems and inconveniences that occur during a major program or show. What can be done?

1. power failure or blackout ---- if there is a generator, no problem, but when you only depend on the city's power supply, then I think the show has to wait or if the brownout will take the whole day, it has to be postponed to another date which sucks

2. natural calamities --- strong rains, wind, thunder, lightning, earthquake, fire or what-have-you----if you're safe inside a sturdy building maybe you can go ahead with the show after you have consoled the audience that everything is all right and under control

3. stampede --- which leads to people getting hurt or killed----should you go on with the show?

4. bomb scare----a bomb scare is suddenly announced in the middle of the show, should you go ahead?

5. performers collapsing on stage --- I've seen one dancer falling to the floor in the middle of a dance number and the other members just went on with their gig unmindful of what happened.

6. no audience----a singer appeared to a concert where he was supposed to perform only to be told that the show is cancelled because only 5 people bought tickets. Did the performer cancel the show? You bet he didn't. He went ahead and performed in front of these 5 people.

when you have nothing to say..

2007-08-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

They call it "mental block" or "mental black-out". Whatever. It happens when you stand in front of many people and you just don't know what to say to them. Eeeekk! This can be truly embarrassing! What do you do when it happens?

Hard question. When you are right there in front of a big crowd and you don't know what to say, do the following:
1. Smile, wave at the audience, and say something. Say "Hi" "How are you?". This will slowly flush out the jitters that are making your mind go blank.
2. Start talking about why you are there. What are you supposed to do there in front of them? Talk about it. Are you supposed to sing? Deliver a speech? Tell them.
3. By this time you should already be able to warm your mind so that your thinking juices will start flowing.
4. Let go of all inhibitions. The audience won't bite you. Just let your mind go and try to focus it on the topic of the moment.

Never, never allow mental block to rule you and cause you undue humiliation. Pick up yourself and simply focus.

when there are two hosts

2007-08-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

In a show or program with two hosts the organizers should make sure that these two people who will take charge of the show can very well work together or have beautiful chemistry together. Otherwise, they could turn the show into a disaster.

This is what happened to a show we watched last night. The two hosts weren't in synch with each other, they were working their own separate ways, and they merely followed the flow of the script in their most lifeless style.

The show had a lot of waiting or gaps. In cases like this the hosts, especially if there are two of them, should come in and fill in the gaps. One of the two hosts tried to do this by doing some adlibs but his co-host just killed him each time and was very poor in responding to his attempts to save the show.

The emcee makes or unmakes a show. In this case, the show failed dismally for getting the wrong hosts.

The master of ceremonies is key to the success of a show. Poor or lousy hosting equals flop. The two hosts last night obviously failed in these areas:

1. They had no teamwork, they did not know what they were doing.
2. Poor audience contact. They were not there.

With that I say, when you can hire one good host, do it. But make sure he is a good one. Never sacrifice the quality of your show for unprofessional or amateur hosts.

scheduled for an interview?

2007-08-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

Expecting an interview can be like awaiting a bomb to explode----scary. How do you prepare yourself for it? Here are simple tips:

1.Consider what you will wear. You have to look your best in order to make a good first impression. But keep everything simple, neat, and appropriate.

2. Know what the interviewer or company is like and what it wants. Be ready to answer questions related to its product or service.

3. Review your own credentials or qualifications. Be ready to sell yourself using your qualifications.

4. Practice your walk and your talk. Face the mirror and flash your most sincere and intelligent smile and look.

5. Be confident and positive that you will be able to pass this interview.

There you go my basic tips for you to remember when appearing for any life-changing interview.

the read speech

2007-08-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

A speaker, especially a beginner, may opt to read his speech before the audience. This is all right provided he knows how to read it effectively. Reading a speech effectively means being able to deliver the message in an effortless and spontaneous manner. The audience does not notice that you are actually reading the entire speech because you have done it with maximum audience contact.

Reading a speech is not just plain reading a speech. The speaker has to engage his whole being in conveying the message in the most effective way. He stops at the right time and looks at the audience much of the time. He uses gestures and lots of eye contact. He sees to it that everything is understood from start to finish.

A read speech is not at all that simple because it requires that the speaker who uses this method knows how to really read well.

speaking is a bit like driving

2007-08-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

Speaking or communicating, whether publicly or privately, is much like driving. You need FOCUS or full undivided attention while doing the task in order for you to achieve a unified and well-substantiated speech.

A speaker shouldn't stray from the main topic. He should be able to stir every line of his speech into a unified piece by staying focused. There are, however, speakers with very little concentration span. They flutter from one idea to another without connection or repeat one idea over and over again for obviously lack of what to say. It takes practice and the ability to listen to the advise of professional speakers to make one become a very focused speaker.

Only two things should occupy the mind of the speaker while giving a speech:

1. the message

2. the audience

So you have a message to deliver----- do it sincerely from the bottom of your heart and mind. Look at your audience and give them the message.

flaws in extemporaneous speaking contests

2007-08-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Extemporaneous speaking is one of the best methods of speech delivery. The speaker here is given enough time to do research and read exhaustively about the topic. However, there are flaws to this when this method is used in inter-school contests. One, the student might not understand that preparation is not memorization. Extemporaneous speaking is not oratorical because the latter is memorized. While it is true that speakers are given ample time to prepare for an extemporaneous speaking activity, it should not result to the memorization of any piece based on the given theme. The general theme is where the sub-topics will be based and not the topic itself. The contestant should talk about the sub-topic that she picks and not about the general theme which serves only as guide while preparing for the said activity. Failure to work on the picked sub-topic will make the contestant off-topic.

Organizers of extemporaneous speaking contests should have concrete rules and guidelines that the contestants will follow. For instance, part of the rule should be the contestant's reading of the topic picked. This can even be tricky you know because there could be some unscrupulous contestants who might pretend to read out a topic that wasn't given by the committee. To prevent this kind of fraudulence from happening, a member of the committee should, after the 3-minute preparation, get the piece of paper and read the topic to the audience before the contestant starts his speech.

In a recent extempo contest a few constestants "forgot" (?) or missed to read their topics so that the judges while listening to their beautiful speeches weren't guided as to the relevance of the speeches. In order to avoid this, a member of the organizing committee should do the reading of the topic itself when their 3-minutes' preparation is up.

stage jitters

2007-08-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

We all have them whenever we face a big crowd. The knees shake, the hands tremble, our brows sweat even if the aircon is high, and the tongue is tied------stage fright! What better way to end the ordeal than to die or melt right in the very piercing eyes of those people in front of you. But no, you have a grade at stake, or a job, or a speaking career that could crash before it even took off. How do you deal with stage jitters?

I have actually discussed this in one of my blogs (now in archive) but I would like to do it again for the benefit of those who feel that their life is about to end because of a scheduled contest or speech which involves speaking in front of many people, as in a crowd in a gymnasium that could hold 2,000 people! This could really blow you off!

First, settle down. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Repeat this several times while awaiting for the moment when the emcee or host will now call you on stage.

How do you deal with stage fright? In order to minimize the impact of nervousness, prepare for the event. If it is a speech contest or any speaking engagement, make sure that you thoroughly prepare for this long before and not just at the last minute. Little or no preparation will always give us maximum jitters so avoid that. Prepare by reading, reading, reading about the subject that you will be discussing like a pro. Yes, good preparation will give you authority and will make you more or less an expert on the area. You should be the only person stocked up with much information on the topic. There is nothing more nerve-wracking than to know that there is someone in the audience who knows the subject far better than you do. No way should you let this happen. Be overly prepared and by this I mean researching and reading.

After doing the first part, the most gruelling part in public speaking, write out an outline or a speech draft. Follow an order in your speech like how do you want to start it or end it? Make sure that your outline is exhaustive enough to cover all the areas you need and that there is unity in it. Then PRACTICE. Using your outline, deliver your speech in front of the mirror and try to be your own critic. Do this thrice. When you feel you are doing well, you are now ready to face your audience. One thing to bear in mind always is to relax and not to forget to give your message to your audience. Feel nervous? Relax. That's normal. It will go away after the first few lines.

You and only you can conquer your own stage jitters. Amazingly, the best antidote for this is not a secret----preparation.

answering the phone

2007-08-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

Companies usually have their own spiel, especially call centers, in receiving phone calls. However, they revolve around one and the same formula. Usually, the catch is to sound pleasant and accommodating. You are the company's emissary and therefore are expected to make a good impression. So what do you do when the phone rings? Pick it up of course after the 2nd or 3rd ring and say the company ID, your ID, greet and offer help. This happens quite fast you are not even aware that you have given four steps in doing it. Let us have a real phone call. The phone rings. You pick it up and say:

Pinoy Bodies, this is Joan, good morning. How may I help you?

Glitter World, this is Anne, good morning. Is there anything I can help you with today?

Dozen Roses, good morning. This is Jane, may I help you?

You could concoct your own combination but the items are basically the same---ID, greeting, offer help. If it is a residence the formula could change a bit like this:

Hill's residence, this is Jill, good morning.

Wayne's residence, good morning, this is Shanti.

The phone is still one of the most reliable methods of communicating with someone. If we know how to use it properly in business, it could bring in huge revenues for your company.

Communication

2007-08-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Communication is a very powerful tool. It can make or unmake mankind. Wtihout it, all the inventions and advancements in technology wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be enjoying the phenomenal success of the virtual world in making nations just a click away from each other. Had the likes of Bill Gates kept their discoveries to themselves, we would not be enjoying all these comfortable advancements in communicating with people in other countries the fastest possible way.

People who have the power to communicate with others effectively will go a long way. They will have the best jobs and the best positions because people who can communicate well will be able to sell themselves effectively.

Companies and even individuals spend much in training their new hire the proper ways of interacting or connecting with people aside from the traditional newspaper or television style.
People are now getting online as an interactive way of marketing products and services. The internet is the most amazing communication tool to date. It has changed many areas of people's lives. It has changed the traditional concept of advertising. Advertising today using the internet is less costly and more targetted. Advertisers can now access the homes of people who need their products or services.

Topics for Extemporaneous speaking (Part 1)

2007-08-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

Topics for any extemporaneous activity vary depending on the theme or occasion. If it's for a class use, there could be plenty of issues that you may want to include in this activity like the advantages of disavantages of the internet, the risks of child abuse, globalization issues, divorce, gay marriage, animal rights, saving the environment or global warming, junk food and so on and so forth. When I used this method in my classes I was able to come up with 62 different topics which I individually wrote on small pieces of paper which I rolled for my students to pick. It is so easy to think up of topics for this activity. It's anything goes from garbage to religion to reincarnation.

It is different when there is an occasion like English Week, or Accountancy Day, or Nutrition Month and you have extemporaneous speaking contest as one of the highlights of the celebration because you need topics that revolve around the theme of the affair. This is what I am going to start here-----a series of suggestions on possible themes to be used on certain occasions especially done in school.

If you have any occasion in which you might want suggestions as to theme and topics, you may leave your comment here or use the message box for your concerns.

Here are some suggestions. I would like to work on one occasion at a time. Around this time schools have just celebrated Nutrition Month and are now preparing for the celebration of Linggo Ng Wika (Pilipino Week). My suggestions will be in English of course.

Theme # 1: How do we make the Pilipino language more relevant to the fast-changing time?

a) How can the Pilipino language adapt to the language used in the internet?

b) With the sudden influx of call centers requiring good English from our graduates, do you think our national language should support and give way to the schools' efforts to respond to the demands outside?

c) More and more Filipinos are becoming exceptionally good in the Universal language but very poor in their own native tongue. What do you think of this? Is this good or bad for the individual and for the country?

d) Our very own telenovelas and TV shows are the best places to learn Pilipino. React to this. What happens to the classroom?

e) There is a need to revamp the Pilipino language in order to make it more responsive to the demands of the time. Discuss.

f) One of the best ways to improve our economy is making Filipino as our medium of instruction. Discuss.

g) Let us be more nationalistic. Instead of encouraging our students to speak a foreign language or English, schools should encourage students to speak our very own language on campus and off.

oratorical vs. extemporaneous style of speaking

2007-08-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

There is a big difference of course. Oratory is more formal in language and overall body movement while the extemporaneous style allows for blunders in words and deed. Oration is something memorized and which takes at least a month to master and synchronize the mastery of the piece with appropriate gestures. Everything is studied, every move and every word and there should be no mistake about the purpose of the speech which is to convince or persuade. The extemporaneous method has more freedom in that nothing is memorized. The speaker here of course has had enough time to do research or study the topic to be discussed but how the goods will be delivered (language and style) will be determined at the moment of delivery. Errors in language and public speaking skills are seen in the second method. There is the tendency to be choppy in the course of delivering the speech extemporaneous style because connecting ideas into a harmonious piece is not like a walk in the park. As the speaker labors and struggles for the next thought, gaps and breaks flaw the speech and if the speaker is just beginning to learn the tricks, this can be one laborious experience for the audience.

One who is good in oratory may turn out an imbecile in the other style and vice versa. It takes hard work, long training and practice to be adept at both.

some flava here, please!

2007-08-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

This blog needs some kind of flava to attract people to stay-----this, according to a blog reviewer plus all the other stuff I need to do which simply implies total overhauling. LOL---that would be overly hard for me to do considering my "expertise" in the area of design and lay-out. But I am going to do a few adjustments here like devote more time in discussing youth lingo. Yeh, I will stretch the coverage of this blog to include the different varieties of a language like maybe throw in some new gay words or maybe punky words to add flava and color to this seemingly formal and classroom type blog.

Okey. I give in. I will shed off the long gown and wear my jeans and t-shirt as I am wont to do when I go out of the house. Honestly, I'm more comfortable in everyday clothes. So this is it, this blog will still talk about the same subject-----communication-----but in more informal manner. No more the long face of an earnest school teacher.

I need some spicing up and some blood in this blog----I really need to do a little snooping around to hear the latest youth slang.

magazines, pocketbooks, textbooks

2007-08-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

In college a student is privileged to borrow a certain number of books for a certain number of days. If a book is only good for two days and you haven't read it within the period allowed, one can always have it renewed. One simply has no reason not to be reading in college. Magazines, newspapers, books of all sorts are available for borrowing but it seems that some books have gathered dust and remained untouched all these years. Why? The internet. Students seldom borrow books nowadays because of the internet which has made them lazy actually. Some have not even seen what a book looks like. One particular student of mine did not know how to locate the name of the author and publication company. It's just incredible but this is what is happening to most of the students now. They always use the internet as ready excuse to not go to the library or to not borrow any book.

Okey. Libraries have updated their facilities and services and have, inside its area, a special room for those who would like to surf or do research online. Yes, libraries have computers available to students who have work to do online. But this fact still does not make students borrow books. Students always opt to use the easy way and you will notice them flocking in the computer area while the periodicals and the card catalogues sections now look like they're facing extinction. The rows and rows of book shelves with myriads of knowledge stored and locked within the pages of books now look like tombs in the middle of the night----dead silent and seldom visited.

I belonged to a generation of students who actually got hold of real books to gain information. We carried these heavy books from school to house and vice versa. It was a different kind of time because the search for knowledge seemed to be more challenging and more real.

Today's students pride themselves of being able to gain access to knowledge the fastest way through the internet. All sorts of cheating can happen with this method of seeking knowledge where there is very little or no control at all in the materials one can get his hands on. Verifying and checking is not easy as there are innumerable sites that offer free information and materials. In short, students coming up with dishonest papers would become common. Learning will thus be greatly diminished.

Magazines, pocketbooks, books.....I prefer those in which I can use a page marker and in which I can highlight and write some notes on the margins.

I discovered reading quite late

2007-08-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

I was already in Grade V when I discovered the world of reading---not by myself, but from other classmates who would not stop talking about those Grimms' Fairy tales. They'd borrow and take home books from our small public school library and talked about them the following day. I became intrigued so I got into the fad and borrowed my first book. I read it in one sitting for everything was so captivating. I borrowed my second book the next day and finished it again on the same day. From then on, I got myself hooked. I could no longer stop myself from borrowing a new book each day until the day came when I had already borrowed and read all the books in English. Now that was a real letdown, so I turned my attention to books written in our own native language. Yes, I borrowed all of them too because of this "thirst" which I needed to quench everyday.

From books, I have switched my attention to magazines which I'd buy from time to time. I did not buy them regularly because that would be too expensive. Sometimes I'd just read them in the library. (more next post)

booringg.....yawn

2007-07-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that the niche I have chosen for this blog here lacks the "flava" and coolah that characterize personal blogs. Ho-hum--I get sleepy myself talking about almost the same thing----communication---day in and day out. But this is the path I have chosen this blog to follow---it's a blog about all aspects of communication---there are different areas there, right?

And about the title "Everydaywear"----please don't take it literally and start looking for clothes or garments. This is the story. This blog is my first blog. I wanted it to be the catch-all of everyday happenings in my life---a sort of personal journey. I wanted it to contain a record of the most mundane events in life. However, just lately, I have heard about making niches and so I have created other blogs to contain different items about life. I have decided to make this a blog on anything having to do with COMMUNICATION. For my personal gripes, I have Offbeatmom, for any money concerns I got Speak4money, for party ideas there's Coolkidsparty, and for other sites I got Clix4pay and finally for pet concerns I got Petloverscafe---a total of 6 blogs. Just recently I became a member of Helium and had written 11 articles. Need a life? But this is my life! Need I ask for more? Oh, I've done that and seen them all. When one reaches a certain age, one can choose to sit on a rocking chair to knit, crochet, or read a nice book. I have chosen to have some online presence and so far am not regretting it.

Life? This is it.

on reading reports

2007-07-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

Teachers who assign the regular submission of reading reports to her students risk being secretly cursed and receiving dishonest work. It is a known fact that reading, especially when it is forced upon them on a regular basis, is no fun to many students. Result? They use all silly tricks to be able to "comply" for the purpose of passing the subject. The only way to ensure that they actually read and understand the story or selection is to ask them to give or share with the whole class its summary or synopsis.

I believe that the good old method of assigning reading tasks to students and asking them to give written reports of the readings is still one of the most reliable ways of improving student learning of the English language.

We should make our students read regularly whether they like it or not and it is only us teachers who can make this happen.

English tests

2007-07-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

One of the best speakers I've listened to recently spoke in almost flawless English and he was only in his early twenties. Fresh from college he went on to work as a language training officer conducting seminars to those who aim to improve their command of the English language. What amazed me was the fact that his field of study was not even English. He finished a BA in political science but was tapped to be an English language trainer because of the excellence he exhibited in using the English language.

In that seminar among English teachers of the country my theory that giving oral exams is the best method of improving the language facility of students was affirmed. "We were never given any written exam in English in that school where I studied from Kindergarten and we all are doing great in the field of communication," said the young trainer.

This is not to undermine written tests, but they are not the only measurement to a student's capability. The best way to find out how much a student has learned about the language is to make her use it in actual setting.

The written type of tests still have their own function but they do not accomplish much. Tests in English should be centered on the student's capability to use the language with ease and spontaneity.

formal vs. everyday language

2007-07-23T09:35:00.001-07:00

Do you dare wear a sequined gown while shopping at Walmart or wear your hottest shorts with matching hanging top at a Luciano Pavarotti concert?

Like clothes, language too differs according to function or use. You wear your very best at formal functions and switch to casual or conversational style when in less formal situations. Donning your tuxedo while in a ballgame is inappropriate and you don't expect people to be at their very best all the time. The best of language---flawless in style, grammar, and diction---could not always be expected of everyone all the time.

Language purists may do better if they adjust to trends of the time. As kids now need a lot of coaxing to make them read, requiring them to read highly scholastic materials may instead discourage rather than make them appreciate reading.

What I am saying is, kids prefer to be addressed to in their own easy language if we have to get their attention. Nothing of the buttoned up typed of language will entice them to take reading seriously. They want the more updated, upbeat, rappy kinda lingo which never happens in formal language.

What should be the stance of English language teachers? Resistant? Pliant? or Blending?

do you love Harry Potter?

2007-07-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Many are crazy over the book series by Rowling. Are you one of them? This post is open to all those who want to express or share their views regarding these phenomenal book. People, young or old, are into this mania. Are you scrambling to look for the latest H.P. series or are you one of those who haven't yet touched a single copy of the books.

What you do here is to tell us why.

why most students hate reading

2007-07-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

It's been my observation for the past 26 years of teaching that students today hate the idea of reading. It is therefore a big mistake to assume that students actually read any assigned reading given by the teacher. In college,for instance, teachers would assign selections to be read at home in preparation for the discussion that will happen in the class the following meeting. This would often turn out into one futile exercise because in a class of say, 40, a teacher would be lucky to have two or three students who read and understood the assigned selection to be read. Chances are, no discussion involving majority of the students will happen because nobody bothered to read the assignment. The teacher then could not expect any class discussion to happen. Frustrated, she makes the students read the selection silently. This method of making the students read the articles silently can be tricky. Students who do not like to read will always find a way to avoid reading even when the teacher is around. Why? Why do some students just hate reading?

The onset of modern technology has made life faster and easier for us. Everything can happen so fast that any activity that requires much time and attention will be deemed boring and laborious. This is what is happening now with reading. It is therefore one challenge a teacher must face--- to make students appreciate reading. How do we do this? Aren't students in college hard to teach the habit of reading?

It is really hard to make students develop appreciation for reading, especially students in college who have already their own set of fixed habits in which reading is unfortunately not one of them. Is it too late then or do we have a hopeless situation? The answer depends on the teacher's initiative and creativity. A good teacher should be able to make this happen.

Speech is habit-forming

2007-07-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Students who enter college have already developed speech habits which English teachers in college will need to correct. However, the habits are so fossilized that there is very little that the college English professors can do to perform something like "magic" to turn these college students into excellent speakers. It is assuming too much that a 3-unit course in Speech would effect such magic. Speech is habit-forming and habits formed from a very early age are those that stick and are hard or impossible to eliminate. But of course, with an effective Speech teacher there should be some improvement especially in the production of problem sounds. The most that college teachers can do at this stage is to encourage students to communicate in English or boost their confidence is using the language. It is futile to expect wonders in so short a time---one semester against many years of wrong usage? That's expecting the impossible to happen.

I am not saying that a 3-unit subject in Speech is useless. It does help but not much. The most that teachers of this subject can do is to develop students' confidence in communicating with others, especially communicating with a big crowd like in public speaking. After all, correct pronunciation is just one tiny aspect of communication. I've known a number of great public speakers whose way of pronouncing words will make native speakers squirm in their seats but have succeeded in winning the hearts of people through their charm, wit, humor, and spontaneity.