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

After the success of our NTOT in Luzon Cluster, we all went home to relax a bit and prepare for the NTOT for the VisMin Cluster. The two-day rest was never enough, but for the Filipino children, we needed to prepare again for a flight going to Ecotech, Cebu City, where the NTOT for Visayas and Mindanao Cluster was held.

It was afternoon of April 20, at NAIA Terminal 2, I met the EPP Training Team again. Everyone was excited and thankful for a good weather condition. And I was like a million times more excited than them because this was actually my first-ever flight (I am blushing now ha-ha).

We boarded at exactly 3:25 PM and our plane took off at exactly 4:15 PM. 

Photo op before we boarded :D

When Dr. Rogel learned that this was my first time, he insisted that I should seat at the window side for me to enjoy the view. He even reminded me to take pictures for souvenirs, and so I did:

We arrived at Mactan International Airport at exactly 5:20 PM and from there we were fetched by an official shuttle to Ecotech Center, wherein we will stay for the rest of the training. The same program of activities. The participants were gathered for a plenary session for the opening program and video presentations of Secretary Luistro’s message and Undersecretary Ocampo’s updates about K to 12.

The participants for EPP were housed in the Applied Nutrition Center (ANC), so that our training team still needed to travel from Ecotech to ANC through the official shuttle they provided us. This was the difficult part, the shuttle was scheduled to fetch us every 6:00 AM sharp. We needed to wake up so early because of this call time. Thank God, because I was never late and thank you also to Sir Noni, my roommate, who sometimes served as my living alarm clock. LOL

All the training sessions went well. We were informed by the NEAP Training Evaluation Team that EPP-ICT Group performed great as based on the training evaluation they designed on-line. We received a lot of compliments from the participants. To God be the glory. Although, there were still some suggestions for improvement, particularly on the time allotment for each learning episode. They hoped for more time. Perhaps, we could still improve the session guides by capturing all the essential topics within the required time allotment.

The NTOT for Visayas and Mindanao cluster was also a success! We were all thankful because we were able to echo, in the loudest possible way, how to properly implement the K to 12 curriculum. The trainers for the Mass Training of Teachers were now equipped to run the same sessions and guide the classroom teachers in optimizing the use of the Learners’ Materials and Teachers’ Guides, utilizing different teaching strategies applicable for the 21^st century learners and performing effective classroom assessments.

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.

Orientation of Chief Trainers for the Grade 4 National Training of Trainers (NTOT)

Last March 16, I went back to TICC, Tagaytay City to attend the Five-Day Orientation of Chief Trainers for Grade 4 NTOT. I was so excited and a little anxious on what was in store for us in this orientation. To be honest, this was my first ever experience to become a trainer in a national level. I became a division trainer for website development last year, but to become a chief trainer for a national training, whose participants were the best of every divisions and regions, really gave me goosebumps.

I was thankful that this orientation equipped us with all the necessary skills to facilitate the session effectively as chief trainers. The following were the highlights of our orientation:

• Undersecretary Dina S. Ocampo  gave the updates about the K to 12 BEP curriculum for Grade 4 including instruction and assessment.
• Dr. John Arnold Siena of NEAP equipped the chief trainers with skills to facilitate discussions among teacher-participants the effective implementation of the Grade 4 curriculum.
• There were also  sessions about teaching strategies like Differentiated Instruction by Dr. Evelina Vicencio and Localization and Contextualization by Dr. Ma. Theresa De Villa.
• SFX, through the cooperation of Australian Aid,  introduced the new social brand of DepEd: “Tayo Para sa Edukasyon.” This is a great communications campaign to sustain reforms in Basic Education. (I will dedicate a post about this social brand, to inspire everyone to take active participation in the current reforms in our basic education).

After this orientation, I felt so eager to become a chief trainer, I learned a lot and I wanted all these learnings to be shared with all the other trainers nationwide. 

This photo is priceless, we are with one of the great education champions 

of our country, USEC Dina S. Ocampo.

Development of Session Guides for National Training of Trainers

I felt so honored when I received a call coming from DepEd Central Office inviting me for a Five-Day Writeshop on the Development of Session Guides (SGs) in Preparation for the National Training of Trainers (NTOT).

It was last March 9 when I went to TICC, Tagaytay City, to attend the writeshop. I was so glad to know that it was like a reunion with my fellow writers for EPP 4 Learners’ Material and Teaching Guide. We excitingly worked with our session guides that will be used for the NTOT.

At first, I thought this was just an easy task, like preparing lesson plans. But when I heard the discussions of Dr. John from National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) about the development of session guides, I learned that developing SGs for a training is an entirely different thing. For the first time I encountered the term andragogy (opposite of pedagogy), which is consisted of teaching strategies focused on adults. Since the participants are adults, we should learn some principles and theories concerning about how adults could be engaged in a learning process. Thereby, Dr. John comprehensively lectured about Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and the 4 As (Activity, Analysis, Abstraction and Application) of Learning.

This workshop also required us to produce the materials that will be used for the training, like the presentations, videos, and other visual aids. I was glad that I had finished the session guides for the EPP-ICT Team, but quite disappointed because I wasn’t able to produce the presentations and other materials on time, because I needed to go back to our school to attend to activities related to our forthcoming graduation. So thankful that Ma’am Glenda, our team secretary, allowed me to go back to my station earlier to attend to the needs of my class advisory. I just promised her to work on these materials during the orientation of chief trainers. 

With my fellow writers while working with 

our session plans in preparation for the NTOT.

Like this pose is an essential part of my documentation :D

Reflections on Being a Class Adviser

And another school year has passed. Time really flies so fast. The memories of the first day of classes seemed just like yesterday. I will surely miss my class advisory, IV – Lalaguna Batch 2014-2015. These bunch of teens gave me a roller coaster experience as their class adviser.

It was like feeling all kinds of emotions with them. There were times that I would be so happy with them, but there were also times that I was so close on cursing them. Sometimes, they will make me so proud of our section with all their co-curricular achievements, but there were some instances that I felt so remorseful that they became my class advisory. There was even a quarter when we became the lowest performing class in mastery level. I felt so ashamed. But despite all these ups and down, I realized that no matter what the circumstances we are into with our class advisory, it is our disposition as their class adviser that should be consistent. I will always be their second father, who will always be there to remind them of their responsibilities and support them in all their endeavor.

Last March 26, 2015, our school held its 18^th Commencement Exercises at Valenzuela Astrodome. I was almost teary-eyed seeing my forty nine (49) children marching their way as graduating students. And when they received their diplomas, my emotions are mixed up. Happy that at last they can pursue their dreams in college, sad because I know some of them will not be able to continue to college or still need to work first to save for tuition fees and other expenses. Nevertheless, I still hope and pray that all them can achieve their life goals someday and become who they want to be.

A photo taken before the graduation march,
with my dear students and Ma’am Karina.
Photo Credits: Jacklyn Cosico

Stephen Grellet said, “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” We shall only pass through the life of our students once, so let us do all acts of kindness for them, it doesn’t matter if it’s small or big. The important thing is that we touched their lives. Let us guide and inspire them to do their best, and light their path towards a brighter future.