PGCB Conference at ADMU (Day 2-3)

Day 2 (May 30)

The second day of this conference was equally full of learning experiences. We had the plenary session with Dr. Christine Lim of National Institute of Education in Singapore. She talked about "Development through Lesson Study." She showed us some videos showing how teachers can collaboratively improve lessons to a more student-centered and authentic learning experience. 

In the afternoon, I joined my fellow teachers, who are Science major, in a semi-plenary session at Escaler Hall. The topic was all about "Science Teaching that Makes Practical Sense." Dr. Lee Yew Jin of National Institute of Education humorously discussed how science should be taught to learners in a more practical way. Here is the outline of his topic:

• Making science relevant and engaging
• Inquiry works but we all need practice
• Learning with students and other teachers
• The importance of feedback from teachers and peers

According to Dr. Jin, while good teaching is certainly important, what perhaps is more important is the quality of student learning that occurs in our classrooms.

Dr. Lee Yew Jin of National Institute of Education

In the afternoon, we attended two concurrent breakout sessions with the following topics:

• "Using Teacher Prepared Videos in Teaching Physics" by Mr. Bonifacio Caculitan Jr.
• "Measuring the Acceleration Due to Gravity Using a Massive Metal Ball and a Smaller Wooden Ball" by Mr. Arcenoel D. Zapatos
• "Virtual Laboratory Method in Teaching Electricity" by Ms. Carina D. Cabuguas

Day 3 (May 31)

The last of day of the conference and still we were all excited and anticipating of what insights we could learn from our plenary and breakout sessions. We were all amazed by our plenary  speaker in the person of Ms. Roselle Ambubuyog of Freedom Scientific. She has a very inspiring story. Despite of being blind since the age of six, she became successful in her studies and even graduated as class valedictorian among all summa cum laude graduates at ADMU. She actually reminded me of Helen Keller. On the personal note, I consider her talk about "Teachers Who Saw the Vision of a Blind Student" as a call to all of teachers to never give up on our students. Just like Roselle's teachers, who became so patient with her condition and guided her to achieve her dreams. 

Roselle Ambubuyog receives her token of appreciation as plenary speaker

I attended the last concurrent breakout session at David Hall for the topic "Using Music Inside the Classroom" by Vin Dancel and Tina Zamora from Republikha. They talked about how music can be integrated to the learning experiences of grade school pupils. They even shared some tracks on their official album, which features educational songs composed and sung by some of our contemporary music artists. 

After the breakout session, we went back to Irwin Theater for the closing ceremony. The audience went delirous when Mr. Ebe Dancel (lead vocalist of Sugarfree) performed a song tribute (Makita Kang Muli) for all the teachers. He even performed another song (Tulog Na) 

An inspirational message was given by Dr. Philip Wong, Programme Director, PGCB and this was followed by a closing remarks of Mrs. Carmela C. Oracion, ADMU Center for Education.  

Indeed, this conference was a great learning experience for all the teachers. It enlightened us to transform our practices into a more effective teaching towards increasing student achievement and equipping them the knowledge and skills needed to survive the 21st century. 

By learning you will teach, by teaching you will understand