Peanut Boy

“Enough! Enough!” I kept on shouting at Jerome but he seemed not to hear me. He always wanted attention and did anything to get it. He pulled some of the girls' hair. He ran around the classroom. He threw papers at his classmates. He engaged in fistfights. He did not do his schoolwork. Sometimes I was tempted to hit him on the head with a bamboo stick—the ever present bamboo stick. But knowing the department’s guideline against corporal punishment, I held back. 

To keep my cool, I tried to be analytical.  I thought of all the learning disorders and dysfunctions that I had read about and theorized that maybe he had ADD or ADHD or autism or bipolar disorder. There were times that I just ignored him as if he was invisible. But in lighter moments, I joked with him sometimes laughing with him because he was really a jolly, little pupil; the paragon of the class clown.

He was with the last section of grade six—any public school teacher knew what teaching the last section meant. I was their English teacher, their last subject. So, I only saw him once in the most stressful part of the day when my patience and energy was at its lowest.

One afternoon I entered the classroom and saw him sleeping under the armchairs. I got angry that I pulled him up and dragged him in front of the class. “Why are you sleeping? You are disrespectful to me!” I shouted.

He looked at me with  bloodshot eyes, bowed his head and apologized.

I shouted at the class, “If I catch anyone of you sleeping on my class, I am going to fail him or her in English!”

There was dead silence.

One of my pupils stood up and told me and the class that Jerome sold peanuts at night that's why he sometimes hides to catch some sleep. There were some giggling in the class. Some even teased him. Jerome sneered and spewed threats.

When I heard this, I winced. I looked at him again in his over-sized, dirty white T-shirt, short pants without zippers, slippers too big for his feet and eyes bloodshot by lack of sleep. Then it came to me... Jerome, 13 years old, was an adult trying to be a child.

Twin connection, Sangtwaryo, Frustrations

I was teaching Music when I noticed that Nhedi Jade was crying. I asked why he was crying. One of the pupils told me that Nhedi was crying because someone teased him. I was not concerned since this was just one of those things that happen regularly in the classroom. But then I noticed that another pupil, Nhedi’s twin brother, Nhedi Lloyd was also a tears. They were identical twins.

 One of the pupils told me that when one of the twins cries the other cries too. I was intrigued because according to the class this always happens. Psychical connection...

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The grade chairman and I chaperoned two grade six sections to a film showing at SM Taytay Theater 3. The film was supposed to be an environmental awareness film which according to the credits was funded by the World Bank.

The film was bad. Everything about the film was bad. The acting was and the story was worse than bad.

The story revolved around a family who lived in an island inhabited by fisher folks who made their living by the bounty of the sea. As the years passed and because of illegal fishing methods, fish became scarce and the living condition in the island worsened.

Then a government agency moved in to inform the people that the island would be a marine sanctuary. There were oppositions because this meant that fishing would be banned for a period of time. The government people held seminars and conferences to convince the people. Some family joined the program while some family resisted and resorted to dynamite fishing so that they could earn more.

The protagonist in the film was an idealistic fisherman. He knew the damage done by illegal fishing methods to the environment and swore not to get involved with it. Another reason was that he saw his father died from an accident while dynamite fishing.

Then the idealistic fisherman’s baby got dengue. Being poor, he has no money for hospitalization. In desperation, he borrowed money from a friend, who was dynamite fisherman. His friend convinced him of the profit he could make with dynamite fishing. Thinking it over, he was convinced and asked his friend for two packs of dynamite. Just this once he told himself.

But he was not an expert dynamite fisherman so he lost his balance and the dynamite exploded near his boat. The accident  killed his son and left him disabled. He was not able to raise the money to help his baby in the hospital. His baby died and another son was dead because of the dynamite accident. He could not take what happened so he resorted to drinking. He became a drunkard and a wife beater.His wife left him because she couldn’t take it anymore. After a non-stop sermons from his mother and realizing that there was still hope,  he changed his ways, became involved with the sanctuary project. In the end, his wife returned and things got better.

The story was not suited for elementary pupils. Its like eating a lumpiang shanghai wrapped in thick newspaper. The message of environmental awareness was poorly wrapped and presented in a badly written TV drama.

Finding Nemo would have been a much better film to watch to promote ecology.

Also the theater was filled that pupils had to sit in the aisle. 

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It’s frustrating to see how pupils retain very little or none of what has been taught to them. This is frustrating and stressful for the teachers because when pupils perform badly with their assessment examinations, it is directly correlated with the teachers’ performance.

There is a direct correlation of course and it is only logical to think that the teachers may not be utilizing teaching techniques or strategies that could challenge and motivate learners. Or worse, the teacher may be accused of being incompetent.  

One thing I can tell from experience is that once a teacher enters a classroom full of fifty pupils all the educational and psychological theories fly out of the window and the teacher has to start from scratch assessing and analyzing the situation and in the end he/she would, as is most often the case, use the traditional direct method of teaching because it is still the most effective method to use  given the  challenge of balancing an overpopulated classroom with classroom management and the effective presentation of the lessons.

 

Slogan, Pupils etc.

I was in charge of the slogan writing contest for the nutrition month. It was five minutes into the contest, I was watching the pupils engrossed with what they were doing and out of impulse or just to break the monotony I shouted, “Time is up, pass your work!”

They all looked at me eyes nad mouth wide open as if in trance. After a few seconds, I heard the loudest shout I have heard that day: “Siiirrrrrrrrr, hiinnndddiiii pppaaa kaaammiiiiii taaaapppooossss!!!”

I smiled and said, “Okay.” Of course, they all smiled too.

“Sir talaga!

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I am weary of pupils asking to go “out” (or go to the comfort room) because they have this bad habit of meandering around the campus before going back to the classroom. This is especially the case among the lower sections and when the principal or the OIC catches them loitering, as a bonus, the teachers are also reprimanded. To minimize the number of pupils loitering in the campus, the school issue two pass cards per section. The principal also gave specific time windows when to allow pupils to go to the comfort room. The measure is effective in limiting the number of pupils loitering in the campus but still there are those who manage to escape especially during the change of teachers.

Another method, or style, pupils use to “legally leave” the classroom is when the teachers ask them for an errand. Though teachers try to avoid this, it is more practical to ask a pupil to do an errand than for the teacher to do it themselves leaving fifty pupils without a teacher in the classroom.

Just this morning I asked two pupils to transport books from one room to the adjacent room. Instead of moving the books to the next room, they detoured going the other way through the hallway looking and waving at their friends and peeking at their crushes as they pass by the rooms. I didn’t know if I would be angry or what but I just laughed it off.

I was once a pupil too.

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The priests and the bishops who received SUVs from PCSO have returned the vehicles and apologized for their lapse in judgment. The issue with the priest was over and I must say that they have done what is expected of them. Though they insisted that they have done nothing illegal but the issue here was not legality, since legal does not necessarily means moral or acceptable to the church, the issue was both moral and ecclesiastical. The church has avowed to fight gambling whether it be legal or illegal, hence it would be inconsistent with their teaching to accept donations from poisoned sources.

The bigger issue now is the allegedly 40% kick back of the former PCSO PR head and the allegedly misalignment of funds approved by the former chairman. My gulay 40% thatchaalchalotsofmoney…now these executives are crying and begging and doing that meek facial expression to elicit sympathy from the ordinary people whom they deprived of financial help from the agency when they plundered and misaligned the money that was supposed to go to indigent Filipino for their assistance in medical and other aid and help…

The luxury that they are enjoying is at the cost of the ordinary, poor Filipinos lives.

Blah,blah,blah…may you burn in...your own conscience.

Worms, Unli. Music...

Principal: Who among you have worms?

I was looking at the grade two pupils when the principal asked this question. As expected, the pupils enthusiastically raised their hands and shouted, “opo!” The Rotarians, who were conducting a de-worming program this morning, laughed. I too was not able to control my laughter. When the question sunk in and the pupils realized what was being asked, they all covered their mouths and giggled. 

I was assigned to set-up and operate the audio. I was on the stage with a bird’s eye view of the gym. I was looking at the pupils; I can’t help but laugh at their antics. When the teacher was facing them, they were well behaved like little angels. But the moment the teachers turned their backs, the scene changed. I could see a boy punching a classmate on the head, another was pulling a classmate’s hair, and another was kicking another…it was mayhem. But when the teacher turned to face them, as if magic, suddenly there was peace and order again.

It seemed, young as they were, they have mastered the art of...hmmm..They were like little ninjas.

 I was teaching when I heard someone, a girl, shouted, “What are you? Unli, unli, unli?”

Must be generation gap, or maybe I’m just too out because I couldn’t understand what unli meant. It was a few seconds later that I realized what unli meant. I laughed when I figured it out. Of course, my pupils thought I was crazy laughing by myself. “Unli, unli. Unli ka…”

 There's a new word for me.

Next week will be a pretty busy week preparing tests for the quarter. Time flies so fast and it seemed it was just few days ago when classes started; the first quarter is almost done. Without noticing it, I have been teaching music for almost two months now. I enjoy teaching music because I am using multimedia technology.

I want to share the trends in using technology in teaching music but I don’t want to misinterpreted as a hmmm…overzealous blah,blah,blah…But if every teacher in the district would learn how to use the music notation capabilities of Finale, the teaching modules in Maestro and the Kamien Music appreciation software, they would improve their pupils learning curve. I have shared the Kamien CD during the district seminar when I discussed form and timbre but I don’t know if the teachers are using them.

I am using finale in teaching melody and notation and it is an effective multi-media tool because the pupils can see the notes being played. I don’t have to sing that much and slap that much to show pitch and timing and it’s also a new learning experience for the pupils.

Ciao…

Bits...

I taught melody the whole day using my guitar as a pitch guide since I could not…hmmm hard to admit, but, I’m tone deaf. But the lessons went well and my pupils had a good time studyng how to read notes. Well, I knew they had a good time because every time we do the so fa syllable they always laugh at the ti ti part. 

Do-do, re, re, mi, mi, fa, fa, sol, sol, la, la, ti, ti giggles and laughter…Why are you laughing at the “ti-ti”? do-do…another round of giggles and laughter.

I am thinking of using “si” instead of “ti”, but I know that they will also laugh at the “si.” Pupils will laugh at anything just to break the monotony in the classroom.

After the guitar playing, singing, and the discussing, I was dead tired that I could not move from the front desk. One of my co-teachers shouted at the window…” nakakapagod sir!” Yes, mam.

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There’s a new teacher in grade six. The grade chairman told me that some of my loads will be taken over by the new guy. Of course I was happy, but I would be given another load this time it’s Filipino. So, I will be teaching music and Filipino.

My motto now is “Musikang Filipino!” Hehehe…not funny. 

Guess I should be a member of the “Organisasyon ng Musikang Filipino”…hehehe not funny also.

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I’m gaining weight and by the end of the school year, I think I would have developed diabetes and high blood. One of the master teachers is sharing “office” with me and she loves to bring food that she shares with me. This morning I was given two pieces of chocolate brownies. 

Beside the brownies, the grade chairman gave me pieces of bread too! 

I have nothing coherent to talk about since after classes all I want to do is just rest.

Guardia Civil / Mitsubishop Montero and Nissan Sapari

I was walking down the school’s corridor when I saw a pupil hiding behind a column with his hands aiming an imaginary rifle at the school’s office. Of course, I did not mind it since children love role playing; he may just be play acting since it was still minutes before the start of the class. So, I went to my room, one of the multimedia rooms, and saw my co-teachers eating breakfast there. There was nothing wrong with it since the classes had not begun yet. So, I joined in.

We were eating and drinking coffee and choco when I told them that the boss, the principal, could be doing her rounds now. One of the teachers told me not to worry because  she put sentinels outside—two in fact, the teacher told me. "We have guardia civils," I laughed.  A few seconds later, a pupil peeped by the door and told us, “She’s coming!”

We scampered for our lives.

Then it came to me…why the little boy was aiming his imaginary rifle at the office.

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It’s the priests and the bishops this time.

There’s a joke on the TV about new SUV models:  Mitsubishop Montero and the Nissan Sapari.

The issue being discussed in the senate hall now is the allegedly (naahhh…why use allegedly when it is a reality!) The issue being discussed in the senate now is the misuse of the Philippines Charity Sweepstakes Office funds. It was learned, from the audits, that the funds that were supposed to be used to help the poor for their medical and other needs went elsewhere. Some to the misused of funds mentioned were the prioritization of the distribution of Ambulances to the past administration’s allies, the anomalous appropriation and release of intelligence funds for PCSO which was bigger than the armed forces intelligence fund, and the most shocking of them all, the giving of luxury vehicles to the priests and bishops of the Catholic Church.

According to the news Butuan Bishop Juan De Dios Pueblos asked a GMA for a Mitsubishi Montero as a birth day gift. The vehicle was to be used for spiritual and social services. From the surface, it may seemed there’s nothing wrong with giving a luxury vehicle to a “man of God” for his ministry but the money used to buy this vehicle came from gambling which the Catholic Church vehemently opposed. I supposed the bishop could hide behind the doctrine of double effect--doing evil to achieve good. 

“We’re only supposed to donate ambulances," PCSO's current boss Juico said.

Retired Lingayen Bishop, who I think is the only clean bishop left in the CBCP, said it very well, “it’s shameful.”

What is most shameful is that according to the news, these SUV bishops and priests are the Aquino government’s staunchest oppositionist within the Catholic Church.

For the love of money (luxuy vehicle) is the root of all evils. St. Paul

Dirty finger

 I laughed so hard when I saw the Duterte patriarch cussed and dirty fingered the media people in front of national TV. Not to be outdone, the son, a barangay captain who was also a member of the city council, also dirty fingered the media. It seemed the first family of Davao does a lot of dirty fingering.

Again, there was nothing humorous about local leaders acting like teen-age punks because it was unbecoming of a civil servant. But despite the mayor’s actions, (it seemed that) she was supported by the leaders and the people of the city maybe because the Dutertes have done very well for the city. Though the elder Duterte, now the vice mayor, has employed unorthodox methods to improve the peace and order of the city, though he was criticized by human rights group, still he produced results and has made Davao City the city that it is now, peaceful and conducive to business opportunities and a tourist destination. When people were fed up with mediocre and ineffective leaders and new but unorthodox leaders were elected, they tend to overlook the new leaders frailties and idiosyncrasies as long as they were delivering their promises.  

Of course another reason why the people of Davao supported ( or seemed to be supporting) the Duterte’s was, maybe, they were afraid of the city's first family. What choice was there when the mayor is a Duterte, the father of the mayor, the vice mayor; the brother of the mayor, a counselor, what you have was a local monarchy. Even the court sheriff, the victim, dared not file charges and instead he, the aggrieved, was the one who apologized to the mayor. Now that was weird.

It seemed that there were no critics, no condemnation from the opposition in Davao. Or maybe there were no oppositions in Davao because they were fingered into silence.

What ever it was the whole thing was it was entertaining—better than comedy shows.

Now the DILG and the Human Rights Commission are joining the drama. 

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My wife checked on my daughter’s school things, and she found a note saying “no assignment.” (This may seem like an invasion of privacy…) My first reaction was to get angry, but since she was now in high school, a teen-ager, I held my tongue. She had been spending too much time facebooking and this has distracted her from school work. I kept on telling her that she must prioritize her studies, but the temptation of logging in must have overcome her many times.  So to tell her that I meant business, I put a password on our computer.

When I got home yesterday she was already there reading and writing. She smiled asking for the password. I told her that she had to first finish all her schoolwork before she could even touch the computer. My daughter obeyed without any sign of hmmm…defiance or bitterness, as far as I could tell from her mien, but what’s going on in her mind could be something else.

I did not sleep until all her school work was done because if I even let up for a second, she would open her facebook account and that’s the end of her study.

Bugbog Sarah-do

I saw on TV how Davao’s city’s mayor Sarah Duterte Manny Paquiaoed a court sheriff. It was so hilarious that I almost fell off of my chair. Of course, the incident was not funny, but I couldn’t help my reaction. According to the news, the court sheriff was enforcing a demolition order in Davao and the mayor asked for a two hours delay so that she could be there during the operation. But the sheriff ignored the mayor’s request and instead went ahead with the court order.

The mayor beckoned the sheriff. The sheriff obeyed not expecting that the mayor, a lady, would give him a 123 combination in the face. It was so unexpected that the sheriff didn’t even have the time to evade the punches. It was not a lady’s punch because the sheriff suffered black eyes.

The mayor was under a lot of stress. Her city was devastated by a flash flood that took many lives and destroyed properties. This may explain the impulsive punching of the sheriff but still it was no justification to hurt a person in authority. The mayor is now on leave to facilitate the interior department’s investigation, and I think she was man enough to admit that what she had done was wrong.

  I don’t know if the sheriff or any sheriff is obligated to obey or to kowtow to any local executives since sheriffs are court employees. Also, there’s the separation of powers between the court and the executives be it national or local. The mayor’s action is condemned by the sheriffs’ organization and by many others.

The cat is away

One of my co-teachers told me that the cat was away. I smiled. I have often wondered why when the principal is away, there’s this feeling of freedom among the teachers as if we would be free to do anything we like. But even though the principal was away, we would still be teaching, we would still be doing things as if the principal was here. It’s not like we would stop teaching, leave our pupils, and go to SM Taytay etc. Nothing would change because we would still be at our posts. Also, we had an OIC to take charge of the school’s routines. But just the same, I felt it too; the feeling of freedom—there would be no surprise call to go to the office.

Maybe it’s a psychological thing.

Got me thinking about cats. I do not keep a cat in the house because I have allergies.

A friend told me that he kept a cat in the house because the mere presence of a cat, its meows and its smell kept the rodents at bay. Well, maybe there’s truth behind it. But judging from the number of rats in our neighborhood, I think cats are useless against rodents, and cats are, most of the times, worst than rodents.

Cats enter through the windows and sleep on our bed. They leave behind muddied footsteps on the stairs and on the floor. They poop under furniture and in nook and crannies making it difficult for us to search the source of the smell. They steal food. They even break plates and glasses. They have become worse pest than rodents. Rodents are shy, but cats have become bolder and sneakier. A glimpse away from what I’m cooking and the meat or fish are already taken.  And worst of all, cats make run around our tin roof chasing, fighting creating ruckus and then they would make the strangest noise while mating.

My theory is that when cats (scientific name is felix domesticatus, not a relative of Cainta’s Felix Clan who goes by the scientific name of felix politicus notorius) became domesticated, they lost their natural predatory cravings to eat rodents, and, in the process, they started to behave like rodents themselves. Who could blame them? It is easier to sneak and steal cooked, well prepared, and better tasting food than a stinking rodent. It is easier to sneak and steal because they don’t have to spend time and energy chasing mice and rats, all they have to do is be patient and wait for the opportunity.

Hmmm…I’m thinking of having a python for a pet to control the rodents in our house. Nahh…rodenticides will do. As to the cats? I wish the government would grant permits and licenses to siopao makers to allow them to catch stray cats and dogs so that the over population of these animals could be controlled.