COE@BOE Atbp

A colleague warned last week that the welcome back to PSS we extended to Ms. Rita Sablan on Monday in this column might have been premature and that we might end up eating crow by the time Lucy and her team got done with their HR deliberations. I would like to be dramatic and say, we took an Olympic-size risk but that would not be factual. We were just exercising ordinary handwriting-on-the-wall reading, and of the teachers gathered this week to hone down the standards-based assessment schemes in our educational system, not a few of whom were TOY awardees, there was a unanimity on the prognosis borne prescient by Saturday’s pow-wow reported in yesterday’s paper.

Speaking of Olympic-size performances, the advanced billing on famed Chinese cinema director Zhang Yimou’s orchestrated Olympiad XXIX opening lived up beyond expectations, proving that the Zhong Guo (Chinese) government spared none of the renmimbi yuan (Chinese currency) it earned for stocking the shelves of WalMart and PriceCosto to make this the mother of all spectaculars. And I would be curious if anyone ever pegged down the precise happening during the epic extravaganza on the eight-year of the millennium, the eight-month, the eight-day, the eight-hour and the eight-second (08.08.08.08.08) in the Beijing 2008 “Bird’s Nest” tableau. I would not be surprised if a couple of the 17,000 who decided to connubially unite that day, said their “I do” precisely at that moment!

The Atbp on the heading of this article is the Pilipino version (at iba pa) of the Latin “etcetera” (and other things), which I am using to indicate that this literary rendering is definitely a lazy meandering down the river of consciousness. We do these often to the great consternation of not a few colleagues who prefer the straightforward format of the thesis-antithesis-synthesis dialectic of conventional essays with their logical sequence of this, that, and the other, so therefore. It is the tail end of summer for this schoolmarmy dude, and if John Davis can afford the time to toss his hat to the U.S. delegate election ring, we certainly have the time to meander.

The Beautify CNMI virus showed its warm heart and dirty hands on its scheduled first-weekend-of-the-month cleanup foray. Ironically, with the lackluster economy, parents and other home-based adults have more time to join communal activities. Angelo and his team might consider hitting the PTA circuit early.

Herbal plants used for medicinal purposes were the focus of the gathering at the Man’amko Center in Gualo Rai last Saturday. Not only was the dialogue between modern and traditional medicine attempted, but also samples and photos of plants and fruits native to the islands used for healing were on display. Other plants that had been added to the islands’ flora might also be added at the next turn since plants such as the malunggay, saluyot, banaba, camote, atbp—common fare to many Pinoy cuisinart—have proven not only to have nutritional value but medicinal virtues as well.

A U. S. congressional staff delegation is on island, occasioning my former publisher’s ranting and raving, and lighting up the workers’ Coalition and Irene’s crusade along with Wendy’s boys and the Dekada brigade, so political discourse at the fringes livened up this weekend.

Mainstream politics was evident as clusters of cars showed up in many people’s yards to strategize for the upcoming U.S. congressional delegate position. My shortlist includes the incumbent Pete A., who obviously has the advantage of being the re-electionist and thereby, do not need to step down from office. Here-come-the-judge carries considerable weight and will not be dismissed. Crisostimo will have to step down once his candidacy is certified but he is a definitely a contender of immense following, though Cing as party-endorsed candidate will cut down his tally, but the local donkey has yet to locate its tail, so the division is neither ideological or personal, but more of island identity and loyalty. Gonzales brings a lot of passion and ego, not necessarily in that order, and the latter not necessarily to be perceived as a minus. The youth and energy is on display. Kilili is the knight in shining armor but that quality has not been, in my observation, an admired one in the political arena.

Meanwhile, beer and food consumption rose this weekend as tax rebate checks started showing up in mailboxes, though the distribution rationale of the child credit tax and federal stimulus tax remains elusive to many, particularly those who most need them. I had been dodging bill collectors lately, and if this intensifies, I will have to start banging on Eloy’s doors soon.

A hopeful and productive series of sessions that caused my shortening a summer excursion by two weeks is the standard-based assessment gathering at Dandan Elementary. First, there is finally the recognition that since multiple intelligences must be recognized in designing curriculum, multiple assessment tools will also have to be employed to achieve meaningful accountability. This is well for the students. Should the insight segue into the teachers’ realm, our BOE might actually see the folly of using PRAXIS as a singular determining factor in assessing the HQT of our teaching staff. While at it, and since there has since been located personnel funds, they might revisit the grandparenting issue that set many veteran teachers back due to barely missing test scores, as well as reinstate monetary incentives to those who upgraded their certification levels. Enough said.

But more significantly as a pedagogue, our group practiced a method of discourse that began with the objective data where accuracy can be discussed without stepping on anyone’s toes, followed by personal impressions and preferences elicited and received as responses to be shared rather than divisively debated. Thoughts then follow to determine logic and consistency, sensibility and practicality, before a set of actions is proposed that can then be the basis of consensus or further deliberation. Some exchanges got heated when the discourse deviated from this four-step sequence but the challenge remains for the methodological prowess of teachers and group dynamics leaders to sharpen their facilitative skills and adopt efficient and effective group procedures that can be applicable to PTA, staff and even legislative meetings.

The last week of the month will see some of us teachers who lazed during the summer trekking back to our homerooms to make sure they look more like homey dwellings rather than plastered warehouse cubicles. If a stadium in Beijing can be constructed to look like a bird’s nest, surely, our classrooms should be a welcoming platform for the community of learning to flourish and abide.

Fellow teachers, let’s get to work.