The K to 12 National Training of Trainers (Luzon Cluster)

Three days before the National Training of Trainers (NTOT), I had put my shoulder to the wheel in finalizing our session guides and slide presentations. I studied the topics assigned to me, which was about Teaching Strategies. I even bought a book about teaching strategies so that I could revisit the theories, approaches and strategies in teaching, and searched the net for the current trends about pedagogy in the 21^st century. I made my script and prompts for my talk. I also prepared an outline of the whole session.

It was like over-thinking and preparing exaggeratedly , but I considered it a normal thing for someone who would experience to become a chief trainer for the first time in a national level training, with participants who were officials in their schools or divisions. I really took this task seriously.

The night before I leave for the NTOT Luzon Cluster, I really prayed hard for strength, wisdom and confidence to effectively facilitate my sessions. Honestly, I’m having nightmares about being a chief trainer, like failing to facilitate the learning session or dealing with a challenging participant. But I would just console myself with prayers for I know that God is our great comforter. He will be there for me to support me in this enormous undertaking.

I left our home last April 11, 2015 for Teachers’ Camp, Baguio City, where the NTOT for Luzon Cluster was held.  I arrived at exactly 12:30 in the afternoon. It was Day 0 of the training, many participants were already at the administration office for setting in and waiting to be accommodated.

There was a plenary session that was held in Day 1 (April 12), wherein we were all welcomed by the Bureau of Elementary Education. The participants also watched the video message of DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro and the K to 12 Updates by Undersecretary Dina Ocampo. The learning sessions started in Day 2 (April 13), wherein a plenary session for all Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) trainers was organized by our team for the levelling of expectations, house rules and discussion on the conceptual framework of EPP/TLE.

The EPP Training Team was divided into four sub-groups, namely EPP-ICT group, EPP-HE group, EPP-Agri group and EPP-IA group. In EPPP-ICT group, I was with Sir Virgilio Laggui and Ma’am Eden Samadan, they were my co-writers in the development of LMs and TGs. We also divided the number of EPP trainers into three classes (Class A, B and C). Every time that our group was on board, we would see to it that the participants would actively participate. The learning engagement was fun-filled with lots of inputs about the utilization of Learners’ Materials and Teachers’ Guides, teaching strategies and classroom assessments, all to equip them in their Mass Training of Teachers (MTOT) in their respective regions or divisions.

All in all, this was a great experience. I felt so accomplished after our effective facilitation of sessions and rewarded because of the positive feedback of our participants. To God be the glory.