Waiting...

It was still raining very hard when I reported to work yesterday. My shoes were wet because I passed through a flooded street. I thought my motorcycle would conk out because the water almost submerged the exhaust, but fortunately, it did not.

Typhoon Pedring was leaving the country; but because of the heavy rains, our mayor suspended the classes for elementary and high school level.

Many of the teachers were already in the school when the suspension of classes was declared. But instead of going home, many opted to stay to catch up with some paper works. Since the multi-media room, where I was staying, was near the wi-fi router, some of my co-teachers stayed there during the day to surf the net  and do some writing.

I took advantage of the day by doing some lay-outing work for our school publication. When it was already 1:00 some of my co-teachers decided to go home. They were about to leave the room and when they looked out the door, they saw the principal sweeping the ground. The ground was full of fallen branches and leaves due to typhoon Pedring's strong wind.

The non-teaching and the maintenance staff of the school were busy cleaning up. We did not pay attention much to them because, to tell the truth, this was part of their job description. It’s not that we don’t care about them; it’s just that we have our own paper works to deal with.

Anyway, when the teachers who were about to leave saw the principal sweeping the ground, they all ran back to the room. We were aghast because the boss was leading the clean up operation. It was not because we don’t want to be called out to help in the clean up, but it was embarrassing to be seen going home while the principal was doing the ground. So, the option was for the leaving teachers to find a way home where the boss would not see them. To think about it, we were not even supposed to be in the school in the first place.

There they were, my co-teachers looking out the door and the window waiting for the timing to escape without being noticed. I snapped my camera and preserved the scene, forever.

What were they doing? They were timing....trying to find a way to leave without being seen by the boss!

Of course the boss saw them and they were let go. One thing I can say about our principal is that she's one hardworking lady.

Class Observation/Rainy Day

This morning our classes were observed by the different principals from the district. For us teachers, the mere mention of “class observation” is enough to send chills to the best of us except (maybe) the master teachers who have been teaching in the school for three or more decades. To tell the truth, I noticed that the observer-principals did not check on the master teachers’ classes instead they observed us, the new and the (relatively) young teachers in the school. This was understandable because these master teachers have more teaching experience than most of the principals.

After the observation, the post observation conference was held where the observer made comments and suggestion on how we could improve the execution of our lessons. The principal who observed me were surprised to find that I listed only one objective to my lesson. I found out that I was supposed to list four namely the cognitive, psychomotor, behavioral and valuing. I knew I was to list for but…hmm…why did I list just one this morning… Anyway, I have included, I think, all these skills objectives in the lesson but primarily the class did a lot of round song singing so it’s a psycho-motor thing...

Anyway, advice and comments from the top are always relevant and very much appreciated.

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It has been raining since morning and I see no sign of the rain abating. DepEd NCR has already suspended classes in the metro. Though the national capital region was not under any storm signal, the regional director deemed it prudent to suspend classes because of fear of flooding in the metro. I was expecting that DepEd Rizal would follow suit, but it did not. Anyway, as a rule suspension of classes mean make up classes on weekends, so, we’re better off, anyway.  

Today is Ondoy's anniversary.

Scooters and noise

Long live Voltes Five and perdition to Prince Zardos and the Bozanian! Can somebody please tell me when will this end? I am not talking about the intergalactic battle between Voltes Five and the Bozanian Empire. I’m talking about something more nonsensical and insane: the Filipinos obsession with motor scooter.

Some of my countrymen have altered their scooters mufflers to make it sound like a 2000cc Harley Davidson Easy Rider. I tell you this is insane. I could hear this booming motorcycle engine harrumphing down the road, and I was expecting a zooming Arnold Schwarzenegger riding on a V-engine motorcycle only to find a skinny Filipino on a 100 cc Honda scooter passing by.

It maybe funny but once a group of these loud, small bikes (Hell’s Fart Riders is what they are) comes broom-brooming down the road, all humor is lost.. They’re noise polluters and what’s unbeleivable is that they are proud of it.

And now, oh now, this is for the Guinness Book of World records, oh now my some of my countrymen have installed stereos in their  scooters. How on earth could they hear them hip-hop music if their traveling with their helmets on? How could they hear their stereos if their scooters mufflers boom like a Huey Helicopter?

Don’t they know that automotive engineers spent a lot of time researching and designing mufflers to minimize  engine noise while maintaining a delicate balance between noise and engine efficiency.


The noise gives me headache not to mention the annoying blasts of high pressure, hot air from these open mufflers hitting the faces of  motorcyclists and pedestrians'  behind them, enough to drive a person to kill. There are already ordinances against open mufflers but they are not enforced by theauthorities.

From suspension lifters to make these scooters look like motocross ATV bikes, to removing the lifters and lowering them to minimize ‘air drag” as if these scooters can travel at the speed of sound, to altering the mufflers  to make these scooters sound like a big bike to installing stereos.

What’s next? Airconditioning?   Power Steering? Spoilers? Four wheel drive? Leave those scooters alone!

(A repost)

Motorcycle Stories

I was on my way to school when I saw two uniformed teen-agers riding in a jeepney smiling and waving their hands at me. I waved back and smiled. They were my last year’s pupils.

One thing about being a teacher is I see and hear a lot of children and teenagers (some I can remember and some I can’t) smiling, calling and sometimes shouting “sir” at me. I have a lot of fans, like most school teachers. If I may say.

A couple of months ago, I almost had a motorcycle accident when a group of children riding in a tricycle shouted “Sir George.” I turned my head for a quick glimpse and saw my former pupils smiling and waving their hands at me. I smiled and waved back.  When I turned my head, in that fraction of a second,  the jeepney in front of me made a sudden stop and I almost hit it. If I was a split second late, I would have hit the jeepney's rear bumper and I might have even injured the lady alighting from the jeep. My heart was in my throat.

I have learned my lesson. Now, whenever I am on my motorcycle and hear my name being called, I stop to look or I just ignore whoever is calling me.

Driving to and fro our school requires a lot of concentration. Aside from the fact that the school is located on a sloping hill hence the road is on a sharp slope, and the entrance to the school is also on a sharp slope which puts stress on my motorcycle’s engine, (I don't know if I'm making any sense here.) There are also children zooming in and out of the road. I sometimes imagine my motorcycle losing its break and plowing through pupils walking and crossing the street to and fro the school.

Last year I had an accident. I was on my motorcycle on my home driving very slowly while watching the children running down the slope. In my head I was thinking that one of these children would swerve and run across the street to evade a chasing classmate. So I drove very slowly near the sidewalk. Then it happened, a running pupil suddenly swerved hitting me and the motorcycle. I almost fell.

I stopped and checked the pupil. I asked him if he was alright. He just smiled and continued on running. The bystanders who saw what happened just shrugged their heads and smiled.

I was waiting for a visit from a parent or a call from the office about the incident but nothing came.

Beauty...

Beautiful women are, well, beautiful to look at.

But who decides who is beautiful and who is not. Here is the problem with beauty. Beauty is a subjective thing.  Philosophers have explored beauty and some, or most, have even related beauty to truth. The relationship between beauty and truth this is evident in mathematics and in music. Of course, beauty in philosophy is, to an ordinary mortal like me, is too abstract to explore.

I am curious about female beauty.

Now, look at the classical nude paintings below, I noticed that most of the subjects are voluptuous and using today’s popular definition of beauty (i.e. thin, long legged, and tight with no bulges) these women would never be considered beautiful.

Imagine how soft and comforting to hug these ladies. Judging form today's beauty contests, women are becoming thinner and taller.

Meanderings...

Missed the pulpit and I thank God that I was able to preach in the church yesterday, it has been months, due to a busy schedule, since I last spoke in the church.

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I felt sorry for my co-teacher whose classroom was broken in by thieves. She lost a TV, a DVD player and her computer’s speaker system that she uses as teaching aids. The thieves also vandalized her classroom by splattering the wall with black paint.

My co-teachers and I could only shake our heads in disbelief. This was not the first time a classroom was broken in. There were other incidents especially in the ground floor of the building. The thieves seemed to know which rooms could easily be broken in and which room contained things of value.

I hope the local government especially the barangay would do something about it.

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I watched the TV special about the 9/11 terrorist attack in Manhattan and seeing the 100 minute footage made me shiver especially seeing people jumping off the building to die an instant death rather than die a slow and painful death of being burned alive.

The bravery of the firefighters and military officers who entered the building to rescue people without thinking of the danger to their own lives showed that in face of tragedy there are still people who would risk and die to save others.

Ten years after the tragedy, I hope the terrorists would see that what they are doing would only unite nations against them and whatever it is they are fighting for, their method would only backfire on them.

CS Lewis

I was looking around for books on sale at National bookstore and I saw this book by CS Lewis, The Complete CS Lewis Classic Collection. Even though it was on sale, it was still expensive. I checked the table of contents and it cointained 7 of Lewis' classics; it was the last copy on the stand. I looked around the bookstore debating with myself whether it was good investment to buy when I saw other Lewsi' books each costing about 5 hundred pesos each. I looked at their titles and they were sinlge books of the ones in the collection. I made a simple calculation and realized that the collection was a bargain.

Of course, I bought it. 

Division Press Con

Today, I had a boring job of being an audio and a powerpoint man at the division presscon seminars in Filipino for both the elementary and the secondary schools.

I was forced to listen to boring lectures about writing, cartooning, and other campus journalism stuff that I think the students, teachers or insects were not even interested in. (Of course, I am speaking from a technician's point of view.) It was not because the speakers were boring, it's because these lectures were just repetitions of previous journ lectures done in the school and the district level where I was also a technician cum lecturer. 

On the other hand , I could feel the tension among the student participants. (I even saw some of them making the sign of the cross and praying. ) They were vying to win in the competition so that they could go up the next level , the regional presscon which, according to the proctor, will be held in Lucena City, Quezon Province. 

I felt my age when I saw some of my elementary and high school teachers here at the division presscon. One is now a principal in our district and the others are master teachers.One of them was even my older siblings' teacher. I smiled and greeted them and maybe they were, too, must be surprised to find me here as a teacher.
They are really old now. 

This is getting boring; I am typing as I wait for the next discussant.