March 3 was a big day for everyone in the Literacy Training Service (LTS) Program. That day's session was to be our last session with our kids, and the final two meetings (on the 10th and 17th) were to be devoted to post-assessment. Post-assessment, if you will recall an earlier post about pre-assessment, is pretty much the same thing. We're even using the same pre-assessment packet to evaluate our students' reading and comprehension capabilities, except we'll be using a different story. But more on that on another post!
For the final session, my student Arvin and I tackled the letters 'N' and 'U', bringing our total letter count to 12 out of the 28 Filipino Alphabet letters.
"The Roadtrip"
To say that this session was memorable would be an understatement. This was the day we happened to catch two of our classmates riding with our professor (they had just gotten on when we spotted them) and our professor invited us to ride with her, too! (Hello, saved 7 pesos on jeepney fare!)
I took this video to immortalize that instance forever.
Bingo
The day's activities consisted of letter bingo, where I showed him different pictures, arranged randomly on a pile, and gave him a goal of forming at least one straight line. When I showed him a picture, his task was to identify the first letter of the word and tick it off on the paper.
As you might recall from my earlier posts on evaluating Arvin, he is a very fast learner and grasps new concepts easily, his one weakness is his rashness and carelessness. When I showed him a picture of a bird, which in Filipino is ibon, he was supposed to tick off the letter 'I' on his bingo card, but instead ticked off the letter 'E'. I pointed to him and asked why he chose that letter, and immediately noticed his mistake. In this I am very lucky, as he grasped how to identify and differentiate the 'E' and 'I' sounds quicker than the other students in the program.
Narda at Nanding and the Wordless Picture Book
This session's stories consisted of the story of Narda and Nanding, two siblings who live in a nipa hut and go to their aunt's backyard to play, but end up getting caught in the rain and catching a fever. Arvin and I tackled pronouncing and writing the letters 'N' and 'U', with words like 'nipa' (nipa palm), 'ninang' (godmother or aunt), 'nanay' (mother), 'ube' (purple yam), and 'ubas' (grapes).
For the wordless picture book, Arvin was showed a story of a boy who witnessed the logging of a forest, and as a result, when a typhoon hit their community several houses were destroyed and damaged. I was surprised, when, after letting him narrate, he used the example of Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) as the typhoon in the story.
This week we repeated last week's routine of making our own picture books, even Arvin. I made him draw two scenes from a reading activity and write the corresponding sentence on the blank space provided.
Preparation
Next meeting, on March 10, will be the beginning of Arvin's post-assessment. I'll have to start preparing the lesson and the assessment packet. Wish Arvin luck!
February 24's lesson plan tackled the letters 'K' and 'E'. I'm thankful that the letters 'I' and 'E' were tackled separately. This lesson gives me the chance to ease in the letter 'I' and to better explain the difference between the two.
Si Ebang Engkantada
This session's story book was the first that we had to make ourselves. Normally our professor would e-mail us a scanned story that was drawn by her son, and that we would cut into fours. Being an arts student I was excited to do the story book, and thank heavens my requirements for my other subjects were light and afforded me the time to make the illustrations.
Back to the story.
Si Ebang Engkantada is a story that revolves around an engkanto, or an environmental spirit. More of the nymph in Greek mythology, except an engkanto is more anthropomorphic, so to speak. The engkanto's name is Eba, and she resides in a forest with several animals who are also her friends.
One day, a group of loggers come to Eba's forest and begin cutting down the trees. This scares the animals, and prompts them to leave Eba's forest. Saddened by the departure of her companions, she begins crying, and is noticed by one of the loggers, Enteng. When Enteng asks her why she weeps, she tells him the reason and Enteng goes back to his companions, scaring them of fabricated ruses that makes the group leave the forest, giving the animals the opportunity to return and thereby appeasing Eba.
We reviewed words beginning with both 'K' and 'E', like engkantada, Eba, 'elepante' (elephant), 'kuneho' (rabbit), 'kuwago' (owl), and 'kahoy' (wood).
...In my head, the final scene where Eba sits in full glory with her companions was very Katy Perry-esque (thanks to her music video Roar).
Phonological Awareness
I taught my student Arvin the proper pronunciation of the letters 'K' and 'E', and how to properly write them. Our next activity was photo matching, wherein I would place pictures in a grid on the floor and ask him to place them on a column with the corresponding first letter of the word.
Being a fast learner, he didn't have any problems finishing the exercise given a few minutes.
Arvin's Wordless Picture Book and the Renewal
This week, I introduced Arvin to a new activity: making his own picture book. I asked him to select two sentences from a reading comprehension activity we did and had him draw and write these two sentences on a piece of paper.
Ever since my professor made him write full sentences, the activities have been easier for him, I guess it was a major boost in his self-esteem, and small accomplishments for us like these are what make me very happy and thankful that I'm part of this program. It gives me a renewed sense of purpose, and a determination to prepare Arvin for his post-assessment in a few weeks' time.
February 17. My student Arvin and I tackled our second set of two letters: 'T' and 'I'.
Ang Tanghalian nina Teresa and the Wordless Picture Book
A very light story, Ang Tanghalian nina Teresa narrates Teresa's and her family's lunch, prepared by her father.
My student Arvin and I went through the words that began with the letters 'T' and 'I', such as Teresa, Isabel (Teresa's cousin), 'tanghalian' (lunch), 'tatlo' (three), 'talong' (eggplant), 'ipis' (cockroach), and 'itay' (father). Arvin and I have formed a little game: after I let him read the session's story aloud, I let him guess what our two new letters for the week are. I think that this additional exercise will do him a lot of good.
When we were through, we moved on to our next story, the wordless picture book entitled "Ang Bertdey Keyk" (The Birthday Cake).
Phonological Awareness
For this session, I set out an almost-identical activity as the previous session's photo matching. And I was pleased and impressed at Arvin's speedy work. He quickly and correctly identified and matched all the pictures laid out for him, and even remembered the Filipino term for bear! ("Oso"; If you will recall the previous post, he had just learned it last week.)
Worksheets
That day, we also had two worksheets to let our students accomplish. The first was a simple matching activity. Given a batch of pictures, Arvin had to identify the first letter of each word and place the picture in the corresponding column with that letter.
The second was a bit trickier; it consisted of five items, each item comprised of a sentence and an incomplete picture that he had to finish according to the sentence. He breezed through the first three items, but got confused with the instructions on the last two items. This is when I established that although he is a fast learner, Arvin also has a tendency to be careless in his activities. I pointed to the item and asked him why he answered so, and he immediately identified his error.
Hopefully, he will grow out of his careless; he is a smart kid, after all!
February 10's session came as a bit of a surprise when we received our e-mails the Saturday evening before. All of our lesson plans before tackled only one letter of the Filipino alphabet at a time (with the exception of the review lessons where we went on and on with the letters 'M' and 'A'). If what I gather from our professor is correct, this is also the first time in the Literacy Training Service (LTS) Program that the tutors will do two letters at a time. Honestly, when I first read the e-mail I was nervous on whether I could keep this up until the end of the semester.
To start the session, I had a little review with my student Arvin. I asked him what letters we had previously tackled, and he was able to name all four. ('M', 'A', 'S' and 'L')
Ang Kaarawan ni Ola
This session's story was entitled Ang Kaarawan ni Ola, or "Ola's Birthday". It's a very light story about a girl named Ola, who wakes up on her birthday and receives a gift each from her parents, and breaks fast with them.
The story did a very good job of incorporating the two letters of the lesson. After asking Arvin a few reading comprehension questions, I decided to change the routine a bit. Instead of introducing the new letters like I had in the previous weeks, I had him guess what the new letters were. (I told him we were tackling two letters a session, of course.) As the answers to the reading comprehension questions are words that generally start with the new letter of the session, identifying two was a bit tricky for Arvin. Some of the words were 'Ola', 'opisina' (office), 'Oktubre' (October), 'bibingka' (a type of rice cake in the Philippines) and 'berde' (green).
After some encouragement and a few tries, Arvin got the letters. (In case you haven't, they are 'O' and 'B')
Phonological Awareness
After tackling the story, we moved on to a few more activities. One of them was the photo matching, where Arvin was given a batch of pictures and a batch of name cards. He had to correctly match the pictures and names. He took a bit longer as compared to similar exercises in the past, probably due to the sudden increase in words available for the activity. That day, he also learned what the Filipino word for bear was ("oso").
When we had packed up, we had a short comprehension activity, wherein I read him five short sentences and asked him about them. He was able to answer the simple ones, but when it came to some of the questions, he could not correctly state the answer. I guess this is forgivable, he must also be adjusting to the two-letter-a-session approach just as we volunteer tutors are.
For the first lesson in February, my student and I tackled the letter 'L'.
Game of Pairs/Memory Game
As a review of the previous letters tackled ('M', 'A' and 'S'), I had Arvin play a memory game, where he had to find the corresponding pair of a picture, all of which were upside down. After he found a pair, though, he had to identify the word, and tell me the letter with which it starts and the sound that the letter makes. I think this type of game is a very effective way for the child to remember letters and sounds.
Si Aling Lani and the Wordless Picture Book
This lesson's stories included "Si Aling Lani" (Aling Lani), which tells the story of a laundry woman who is famous in her community for washing away any stain at all, including the sauce of litson or roasted pig.
The Wordless Picture Book, entitled "Ang Bagong Kaibigan" (The New Friend), which illustrates how a schoolgirl overcomes the embarrassment of slipping on a swing through the encouragement of a newly-made friend. Some of the words that helped ease in the lesson of 'L' were 'Lani', 'litson', 'labandera' (laundrywoman), 'lampin' (swaddling cloth) and 'labakara' (face towel). I had my student Arvin repeat the words to get the sound right, as he slurred the 'L' sound a bit.
Phrase Reading
One of the last activities was Phrase Reading. Here I had Arvin read a few short sentences, with words that began in 'M', 'A' 'S' and 'L' were typed in bold. After which I asked him a few comprehension questions. He missed a few details and mixed up some names, so I'll have to be sure to help him focus more in the next sessions.
To start the lesson, we tutors usually sing a song. Of late, none of the songs were really noteworthy (hence the exclusion from the blog entries) but this lesson's song was extremely helpful in cognitive learning. Some of us may remember the nursery hymn If All the Raindrops, and this lesson's adopted a Filipino version. I'll put it here, together with a very rough translation.
"Kung ang ulan ay puro tsokolate(If all the raindrops turned into chocolate)
O kay tamis ng ulan (Oh how sweet that would be)
Ako’y lalabas at ako’y nganganga (I'd go outside with my mouth open wide)
A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a (A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a )
O kay tamis ng ulan." (Oh how sweet that would be)
This song served as an aid for reviewing past sounds ('M' and 'A'). Now I was able to give the letters another layer of meaning for my student Arvin. The 'M' sound would henceforth be known as the "eating sound" ("mmm"), and the 'A' sound would likewise be the "rain sound" (named after the song; "a-a-a...-a"). This gave me an idea for the session's lesson, 'S', whose sound I called a "snake's sound" (fo when a snake hisses; "sss").
Kapag Sabado and the Wordless Picture Book
This lesson's storybook was entitled "Kapag Sabado" (When It's Saturday). This story tells us of a boy named Santino who eats food that begins with the letter 'S' on Saturdays.
The wordless picture book, "Masayang Maglaro sa Ulan" (It's Fun to Play in the Rain) illustrates how a schoolgirl gets caught in the rain, decides that it's fun to play in it, and gets down with a fever as a result.
After reading the story, I had Arvin answer a few reading comprehension questions, all of the answers began with the letter 'S', to better help in remembering the sound. Some words used to help with the lesson were 'Santino', 'Sabado' (Saturday), 'saging' (banana), 'sardinas' (sardines), and 'sorbetes' (ice cream).
Phonological Awareness
Another activity we had that day was a vocabulary-development exercise. I printed and pictures of objects that started with the letters 'M', 'A' and 'S' and stuck them on the six faces of a cube made of illustration board. The rules I gave Arvin were simple: He had to roll the die, select a picture on the face that was right-side-up, and place it in a column that was labelled with the three letters. Before placing the pictures on the corresponding columns, I had him tell me what the picture was, to be sure we were on the same page.
Our last activity was similar in nature. There were two piles of cards: one pile was a pile of pictures, and the other was a pile of labels of the pictures. Arvin had to identify them and match them together. Some words were repetitive, to better remember the past lessons, like the worlds 'sama' and 'sama-sama'. Both words mean 'together', the former denoting at least two people, and the latter denoting a much larger group.
January 20's lesson plan was a review session for my student Arvin. We tackled the two letters we had already covered, 'M' and 'A'. More than a review session, however, this lesson introduced the concept of blending sounds together. The sound 'ma-' is very common in the Filipino language. It denotes a variety of adjectives such as "malungkot" ("ma-" + lungkot or sad), "masaya" ("ma-" + saya or cheerful), "matakaw" ("ma-" + "takaw" or gluttonous).
Maliit na Maya and the Wordless Picture Book
The stories I let Arvin read consisted of "Maliit na Maya" (The Small Eurasian Tree Swallow or Maya Bird) and a Wordless Picture Book entitled "Nang Sumakit ang Ngipin ni Mando". Maliit na Maya tells the story of a girl named Maan and a small tree swallow she encounters in a mango plantation.
Nang Sumakit ang Ngipin ni Mando illustrates the story of a boy named Mando who eats too much candy and suffers a tooth ache.
After the reading activity, I asked Arvin a series of reading comprehension questions, all of which began with the "ma-" prefix. Some of the words in the story used included 'Maan', 'maya', 'mangga' and 'manggahan' (mango and mango plantation, respectively), and 'maliit' (small).
Letter Hanger
One of the more fun activities I prepared for Arvin was the 'letter hanger'. Basically, pictures of words beginning with the letters 'M' and 'A' are strung and hung onto the hanger, allowing them to dangle, almost like a toy mobile.
Arvin's task was to take the pictures that started with the same letter and group them together. This activity is both a fun and effective educational experience for the child. They get to connect the sounds, letters and words together and understand the lesson; all without boring the child out and frustrating them to learn something.
Tachistoscope
A new teaching tool was introduced to us: the tachistoscope.
The tachistoscope is basically a piece of paper with windows and adjustable letter cards. Each letter card consists of at least two or more letters that can be adjusted upwards or downwards, forming a variety of combinations and helping the child learn blending letters to form different words.
Other Activities
Aside from the ones mentioned above, our professor also prepared three activities for the kids. One of them had a set of pictures with blanks, and the child had to correctly identify the word from a bunch of scattered letters (mostly 'M's and 'A's). The other activity was pretty much the same, but the child was made to write the word down on the worksheet. The last one was a variant of the memory game. Here, the child was given two piles: a pile of pictures and a pile of name cards, arranged randomly on the floor. I had Arvin play the game, to help him correctly match the words with the pictures.
For January 13's session, my student Arvin and I tackled our second letter in the Marungko approach: 'A'. This was the first time for the new year that we saw each other again, so this lesson plan was a great way to review our previous lesson, the one on the letter 'M'.
Isang Mainit na Umaga and the Wordless Picture Book
This session had two stories. Isang Mainit na Umaga (One Hot Morning) is told from the first-person perspective and features food eaten on a hot day. The Wordless Picture Book, Ang Bisikleta ni Alon (Alon's Bicycle) illustrates the story of a boy named Alon who takes a ride on his bike, and gets a flat tire.
Some of the words that were used to help with the lesson were 'Alon', 'atis' (Philippine sugar apple), and 'apa' (ice cream cone).
Phonological Awareness
One of the activities we engaged in was a ready-set-go sort of game. In this activity, I laid down a batch of pictures whose first letters were either 'M' or 'A'. About four feet from that, I laid down a sheet of paper marked 'M', and another marked 'A'. Arvin's goal was to grab a picture and run to the sheets of paper and lay down the picture to its corresponding letter.
This game also served as a review for the previously tackled letter, 'M'.
Coloring Activity
Another activity of note was the coloring activity. I gave Arvin some crayons and an activity sheet where he had to color the pictures whose words started with the letter 'M' in yellow, and those that started with 'A' in red.
December 16's session was the last for the year before the Christmas vacation. This was also our first lesson plan, which will be followed by more lesson plans next year. For our first lesson, we tackled the letter 'M'. The order of the letters in the Filipino Alphabet with which we will teach our students is actually based on the Marungko Approach, aptly named after a professor who researched and arranged the letters by their degree of ease in a child's learning process.
A Story of Marie
One of the first activities of note was a story session. I pointed to my student the different pictures in a given set, and provided with a guide on the story, began to narrate the food "Marie" ate. Some of the words used to aid the lesson of pronouncing 'M' were 'Marie', 'mamon' (Filipino sponge cake), 'mangga' (mango), and 'masaya' (cheerful; happy). I think that making the lessons into stories is a very practical, creative and fun approach to helping the students learn and review the concepts of the letters and their sounds.
Practice and Coloring
The next activity had a few cut-out pictures, and my student Arvin had to group them into two: Merong Mm (Does have an Mm) and Walang Mm (Does not have an Mm).
Another activity worth noting was the coloring activity towards the end of the lesson. Handing Arvin a yellow crayon, I asked him to color the pictures that started with the letter 'M'.
Up until last Monday, our Literacy Training Service (LTS) sessions consisted of seminars and activities. When I entered the classroom last Monday, though, the set-up baffled me. Our relatively large classroom was suddenly divided into smaller sections, with chairs and tables being set-up facing different directions. I doubled-back and checked if I had accidentally walked in on the wrong classroom, but I got the right one. Was there an event that coincided with our class? Were classes cancelled for the day and I had just forgotten to check my e-mail? Fortunately though one of the people setting up - my professors - sees me and with an amusing expression invites me in.
"Pick a spot," she urges me. I look closer at the room and quickly figure out that the room has been divided into three smaller sections, creating a simulation of classrooms. I chose one and sat down on one of the already-set chairs.
As my equally-confused classmates eventually came in and chose their own spot in their own "classroom", one of the women setting up approached each of us with a roll of masking tape and a marker, asking our names and making name tags for everyone.
Kid for a day
It turns out the women who were setting up were actually upperclassmen Education majors who volunteered to be our "kindergarten teachers". I can say it was amusing to play a kindergarten kid for a few hours. We had a very interactive story-telling and a few games and activities after that, like vocabulary exercises and fill-in-the-blank activity sheets and posters. You could really tell that our volunteer teacher put a lot of effort to make all the interactive objects and other teaching paraphernalia. I wish I had taken pictures of some of the simple string mechanisms she used in the vocabulary exercises.
Play time
The simulation ended and we rearranged the seats in our usual lecture set-up. Our professor then flashed pictures on the screen. They were traditional Filipino games, and she asked us to identify them. These games are commonly played by children in the street - patintero, luksong baka, luksong tinik, palo sebo and other games. But with the relatively recent iPads and smart phones, children are seldom seen outside playing with other children.
Our professor's point was that no matter what a child was playing, playing in itself is important for development. They help a child learn teamwork (more the traditional games than those on the phone), play by established rules, and overall, develop a child's sense of his own abilities.
It's interesting to note that she also pointed out how telling a child to keep silent, to sit erect, and to follow all that boring class decorum were actually unnatural for a child. It makes sense, though; not letting a child develop by being his natural (to an acceptable and reasonably tolerable point, of course) self and letting him explore is limiting him in an alien environment.
The four-pronged approach
What we experienced, continues our professor, was a combination of study and play: the Four-Pronged Approach. Simply put, said approach consists of four parts to encourage a child not only to read but to love to read. I found an interesting pdf online by Raidis Laudiano that describes it in detail: http://www.jeanettepatindol.com/uploads/3/5/3/0/353097/the_four-pronged_approach.pdf
Genuine Love for Reading: The first step is establishing an interest for a piece, say, a story, in a child. This stage is basically where you take the child on a very guided tour of the story and the words. Vocabulary, plot and other elements must be clearly detailed to the child.
Critical Thinking: The children are asked the motive question. From this, the discussion flows and explains the entire story, each time asking the child more questions until they fully grasp it.
Mastery of the Structures of the Language: In this third stage, vocabulary, attention span, and listening comprehension are developed. Vocabulary exercises are a perfect tool for grasping new words, while making it fun for the kids helps them focus more on the goal - appreciating the story.
Transfer Stage: This is a stage I like to refer to as a 'transcendence stage'. This is sort of a culmination of the approach. Worksheets are helpful in letting a child piece the story together according to how they understood it. It reflects how much a child has learned and, hopefully, will lead to the child learning to love to read.
The session left a very deep impression on me. There was so much effort poured into a relatively small amount of time, but it would have a large impact on a child. I guess you could say this was an inspirational and re-affirmation point for me. Seeing how willing and enthusiastic our volunteer teachers were, and at the same time how fun the activity was, only deepened my desire to make a change in a child's future. And I guess that's why most of us become teachers - the desire to make a change and to empower a child with knowledge. It's a noble profession, yes. But it's sure to be a rewarding one.
As a college student, I can say one of the biggest reliefs of graduating high school was leaving behind physics. Don't get me wrong, as a high school student I loved the math and science subjects, I was even part of the Science club my entire high school life. The one science subject I just really didn't enjoy was physics. Having had to take it in my senior year, I can say that physics was one of the walls I had to break to graduate with honors. One of the 'initiation rites', if you will, in that course was the dreaded egg drop. You could just feel my excitement (or rather the absence thereof) when our professor for the Literacy Training Service (LTS) Program told us that was our next activity.
Whoop-de-do.
Not sure whether the prayers are for me or the egg.
From: supermemes.net
Collaboration
Thankfully this was a group work of three members, and collaboration for ideas was very effective! Another thing I was thankful for was the fact that while in high school we were only allowed to use straws to construct an egg chamber, for our LTS class we were allowed virtually any material we could get our hands on. And this is where being an arts student pays off.
Silicon, my friend.
Our plan seemed great. We would get a simple plastic jar, stuff it with newspaper and place the egg in. On one of our online meetings, I suggested using a silicon chamber to protect the egg and act as an additional cushion. I'm not sure why I suggested it in the first place. In hindsight, I'm not sure what purpose the silicon had - sure it would cushion the egg to some extent, but overall I think it was unnecessary.
Preparation
It was Sunday evening. LTS sessions were on Monday mornings. I quickly prepared the silicon casing (which was prepared days prior), set the container and stuffed it with crumpled balls of newspaper. I tried placing the silicon casing in, making sure it wouldn't be too loose inside. Once I was satisfied, I placed the egg in and closed the lid.
The following morning I arrived at the university. I wondered from which floor we would drop our egg chambers. In high school, we dropped the egg chambers from the 5th floor. That was 5 relatively-low floors. The College of Education, where the LTS Program was based, has 3 high floors. 3 intimidatingly-high floors. You could just imagine how nervous I felt when I realized this. The nervousness was compounded when I saw some of my classmates with BALLOONS attached to their egg chambers.
Eggs eggs eggs
Our professor asked for volunteers on which groups wanted to drop their chambers first - three groups of three members each in a batch; one to drop the chamber, one to act as a spotter on the ground floor, and the last member could go accompany any of the other two.
I wanted to see what would happen to the other groups, so I waited for the time being. The first batch of groups made their way to the third floor, and on our professors' count to three, each group dropped their chambers. Everyone held their breaths as each representative released their chambers and waited as each precious egg in their supposedly-protective cases dropped to the ground. Time seemed to stretch for those few seconds as we watched the chambers plummet to the ground. Lo and behold, the entire first batch was a success! Each of the three groups' eggs remained whole.
I wanted to get this over with and just drop the thing. So I volunteered to be part of the second batch and climbed to the third floor, clutching the newspaper-filled plastic container. I looked down and was extremely thankful I wasn't born an egg.
Our professor counted.
One.
Arms outstretched, fingers ready to let go of the container.
Two.
A gulp. Just let go.
Three.
Release.
I see the white blur of the plastic container fall to the ground.
A loud crack is heard. I hear it all the way in the third floor.
Oh shoot.
I see my group mates run over to the spot where our chamber landed, and I rush down the stairs to see the extent of the damage. The lid is broken and disregarded to one side, we slowly and carefully lift the silicon out of the container and open it, grimacing at what we knew was inside. And to our surprise, the egg is unscathed. We each sigh in relief as our professor takes pictures of our dumbstruck, relieved faces.
What happened next was a blur. More batches of groups dropped their egg chambers. Some as elaborate as being held by toothpicks and garter, some simple as a Manila-paper parachute and a bottle, and some as interesting as a tin can with cornstarch. Out of all 15 groups, though, only one egg broke because the chamber was dropped too far and bounced off a railing on the way down.
What and how
We were all eventually herded back to our classroom for a post-activity discussion, and we listened to an interesting lecture on looking not at what we learned, but instead focusing on how we learned. It was an important detail to point out. Most of us probably remember the joy of learning when we were in kindergarten. The way our teachers would make everything a game to make us learn a simple concept like addition or colors is always a happy recollection. But as we grow older most of us probably just learn to pass. The passion may still be there, but we are forced by limiting factors such as time constraints to just cram things in our minds.
Physics, for example. We memorize formulae, laws and constants and when the exams come, we apply them. But how much do we really know? The egg drop experiment (more then than now, to be honest) really helped us understand what we were doing. Practical application of basic laws was the key to hurling a chamber - from a three or five-storey building, it technically makes no difference - without damaging the egg inside. For a subject such as physics, these types of hands-on experiments are perfect.
Our professor stressed that working hands-on is important for grasping and applying concepts - this was a lesson that we as future teachers had to keep in mind. This coming Monday, we'll be visiting our assigned schools for the first time. The kids we'll be handling are in a very young and crucial stage of development. It's both a challenge and an honor to get to work with these kids. Hopefully, when we do meet the kids, we'll be able to give them a good time so they can enjoy learning just as much as we did when we were there age.
So I'm back way before I expected to be, and I guess I should be happy about that. I need a break from all these plates. I know how obligated my blog entries thus far must sound, but I'd like to think I can actually maintain this blog LONG after the semester is over (next week. I can hardly wait!).
Anyway, on to the blog entry proper!
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
A few weeks ago our class had a film-showing, which means sitting for 3 hours in an air-conditioned room with the lights off! (Again, the advantages of having typical Chinese slits-for-eyes. But I'd like to stress that the movie was good even after the second time and I didn't entertain the possibility of sleep; mind you I'm very studious... at least I'd like to think I am.)
So the film was 3 Idiots, a 2009 movie from India which tackles the dogmatic pressure from parents to push onto their children a path they want. Its a comedy, with the right amount of seriousness sprinkled here and there. A lot of dramatic scenes were family-themed, such as Raju Rastogi's father being rushed to the hospital after being on the verge of death, and his own confinement following a suicidal fall-induced coma.
Voice
3 Idiots was a bit of an eye-opener, to say the least, for both parents and children. While most parents only want what is best for their children, I guess sometimes they try too hard and push for what they want instead of listening to what the child actually wants. A perfect example for this is Farhan Qureshi, whose future is already seemingly paved by his father at birth! (Which will be seen in the trailer at the end of this entry.)
For a child it's a wake up call to just stand up and tell your parents what you want. Considering the scenario with the characters in the movie, most especially Farhan's case, they never really spoke up. Farhan just went with what his parents wanted without even the slightest objection. Come on, we live in the 21st century. Okay, so his college days were probably late 1990's, but hey you can speak your mind, it's not the 1940's.
As is the case with Pia's brother, the son of Virus, Director of the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), it is originally maintained that he died in an accident. Later on in the movie, an emotional Pia reveals to her father that he committed suicide by jumping off a train because of all the pressure to enter the college and pursue engineering, when all he wanted was to study literature. Pia blames their father, saying that if he, for one moment, said that he could be whatever he wanted to be, then her brother would still be alive. On the other side though, her brother never spoke up. Virus was just pushing for excellence and telling his son to strive hard, albeit in ways that are only implied to be pressuring. If it was worth dying for (and he did die for it, technically), all he had to do was speak up. Speaking up opens possibilities, at the very least.
The Teacher and the Student
It's also important to note the role and relationship a teacher has in the development of a student. Teachers are here to guide students, to make sure that they are equipped with whatever skills needed for the real world. It just depends on how the teacher prepares the student.
There's an especially touching scene in the movie, when Virus gives his astronaut's pen, the much-revered insignia of excellence in the ICE to Rancho. What's touching is how Virus has been saving that pen for decades, waiting for a student who would finally surpass him. On top of that, if you've watched the movie you can pretty much establish that from the start they didn't have the best of initial relationships. If not, I'm sorry but I warned you - SPOILERS.
The Fundamentals of Learning
But then, the movie wants to mainly circle around the fundamentals of learning. This is underscored when a pissed-off "Silencer" (actually Chatur; he is called "Silencer" due of his deadly farts), the star pupil of the college, challenges Rancho to a bet on who will be the more successful of the two after 10 years. The bet is essentially based on their opposing principles: Silencer believes that success can be achieved through sheer memorization and brown-nosing his way through college, while Rancho believes that pursuing excellence and living one's passion is enough, as success will surely follow after.
True to the bet, Silencer, now a successful engineer and big-shot Vice President of some company, contacts Rancho's two good friends Raju and Farhan. Raju is now a successful engineer (with a blog!), is happily married and is now out of the poverty he was born into. Farhan pursued his dreams of being a wildlife photographer and has several books published in his name. The three embark on a journey to locate their friend, who has cut off all contact with them, and on the way they even pick up Rancho's college sweetheart Pia.
I find it noteworthy to say that they soon discover that the man who they knew as Rancho was only posing under a false identity, his real name being referred by the real Rancho as "Chhote". They also discover that he is currently a schoolteacher, much to the delight of Silencer, who clearly belittles the noble profession, as he equates success with money. (Something which I will rant about in the future, but I digress.)
The final minutes of the movie show Silencer and the group finally locating Chhote, now Phukdush Wangdu, a successful scientist with hundreds of patents to his name. Coincidentally, he is the man Silencer if desperately trying to strike a deal with, proving once and for all that apparently, Silencer lost the bet.
Literally biting Silencer in the butt
From: icanhas.cheezburger.com
I'd like to end this entry by emphasizing three things:
First: the importance of the passion to learn. Hey, take a look at Chhote. He even changed his name to get an education. You can see just how much Chhote values education and learning, stating that his purpose for entering the college was because of his passion of machines.
Second: the importance of the relationship and effect of a teacher. I'd like to quote something from Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Because I am a hardcore ATLA fan)
"Some friendships are so strong, they can even transcend lifetimes."
---Avatar Roku to Aang, on the former's friendship with Monk Gyatso, Season 3 Episode 6: The Avatar and the Fire Lord
In a similar way, a teacher plays a big part in a student's life. A student owes most of his knowledge to his teacher, whether he learned things directly from his mentor, or if he learned how to learn from him. I cannot begin to emphasize just how profound an effect a teacher has on the life of a student. Whatever he learns, he carries with him his entire life. My grandfather used to always tell my mother, that knowledge is the one thing no one can take away from you, and is the one thing money can't buy. That says a lot about teachers. They are responsible for imparting one of life's most priceless gifts to those who are willing to hold their hand out.
Third: Learn from the idiots. When you feel stressed, like how I will tomorrow as I face a sea of deadlines, just place your hand over your heart and recite the mantra of the great guru Chhote: AAL IZZ WELL.
End of Spoiler (It's safe to look now)
Overall, I'd say this was a great movie. If you haven't seen it, go and watch! If you have, well, there's no harm in watching it again!
Aaaaand as promised, the movie trailer! Thanks to youtube user owlstone for uploading!
