The cat bravely snarfed down her medicated food and then sniffled through the day, coming up to us for cuddles and spending the rest of the time watching squirrels and birds from her bed near the window. She used her litter box today - hooray!

We also attended the school barbecue and curriculum night. I asked the teacher what Grade 5 students typically found challenging, and how we might be able to help. He suggested checking out the Math textbook's companion website, asking her questions about reading and writing, and looking for ways to make far-off concepts like ancient Greece be more vivid. =) Time to build a model of the Parthenon!

Write. Writing is a great way to remember what you're learning and reflect on how you're doing things. This will help you get better and better at what you do, and you'll be able to recognize the things you're good at and that you enjoy. If you write on a blog, you can use it to reach out to people. Write about what you're learning, and you'll help other people who are learning about it too. Write about what you're doing well, and you'll start building a network and a reputation that will come in really handy when you're looking for work.

Connect. Find out if there's a Facebook group for your incoming university class. If not, start one and invite other people to join. It's a great way to connect with people even before the first day of class. Feeling shy? That's okay, everyone is too. If you focus on helping other people connect and make friends, you'll become more and more comfortable, and you'll make friends along the way too. Don't hesitate to look for role models online, too. Many people have blogs that you can read to get a sense of what life is like in their industry. Read, then comment, then contact them, and you'll get a head start on growing your network.

Behave online and offline. The Internet remembers, and even sites that promise you privacy occasionally mess up and expose things you've shared to the world. Think twice about posting pictures of wild parties, underwear-on-your-head shenanigans, and other things things that future employers and coworkers might take against you. In fact, since just about anyone can take a picture of you and post it up on the Net where you don't have control of it, you might want to keep clean entirely. You don't need to posture to be cool, and you can have fun without doing things you'll regret.

Don't let yourself be limited by anything or anywhere. I took my bachelor's degree in a university in the Philippines. Great school, but it didn't have all the courses I wanted. =) I was on the Internet learning from course materials from everywhere: MIT, Georgia Tech, wherever I could find information. Now there are even more choices. Check out places like MIT OpenCourseware and Stanford iTunes for free courses. This is great not only for learning things, but also for getting a better sense of what you like. In fact, it might be a good idea to check the courses out now before you declare a major. You don't need to understand everything. You just have to get a sense of whether you'll like the course or not. That way, you'll spend less time switching around to find something you enjoy and will use.

–

I think I'll make a few sketches about this over the long weekend. =) Any other tips for incoming college and university students?

"I want small groups, so no one can hide in the anonymity of crowds. ;) I'm tired of audiences. I want participants. I don't want to hear presentations. I want to be part of conversations." This kind of thinking is what is setting you apart as a teacher and as a student. I am proud that this is the way you think and feel, and I know you will try your best to bring out not only the best in you, but also the best in others, and you will acknowledge that the others are doing the same to you. We should approach each other, like you said, not in the traditional manner of teacher teaching and student learning. There is no reason why they can't be both teachers and students at the same time. I believe that the most exciting times are when teachers and students discover "lessons" (learnings?) at the same time. When a teacher helps to bring a student to where he is by teaching him what he knows, the teacher is still where he is; and save for the additional information, the student is!

probably still where he is, but when they discover something together, both move at least a step higher in the quest for knowledge.

So many of my thoughts on education and other things come from my mom. She checked out practically every grade school in the area looking for the best school for my sisters and me, choosing St. Scholastica's College because it offered small group instruction with individualized pacing. She pushed for the creation of a gifted program and then for its expansion to include all students. She read to me until her voice cracked: The Three Little Pigs, the Big Fish, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish... And when I moved on to more complex material (having figured out how to read The Three Little Pigs upside down), she left interesting books lying around: kid-friendly encyclopedias and references, books on business and career, even books on parenting teenagers (which naturally I read from cover to cover).

She never dictated a career for me, but instead helped me learn how to listen to the world and to myself. She never emphasized grades, but instead emphasized the learning experience. That said, when I got three Ds (got bored in my merit English classes for fiction and poetry), she warned me that I'm going to have to work extra hard to get people to overlook that on my record. ;) But she taught me what it was like to love learning and to want to fill other people with that love.

I love my mom. =) Give your mom a hug today.

On Technorati: family, mom, education

Random Japanese sentence: 猫は闇で物が見える。 A cat can see in the dark.

From http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/a/o/aog103/Tutor%20Manual/feedback2_mxplan.html :

This set of instructions for the tutor to take into account when tutoring is very helpful and lets the tutor know that it is not all about lecturing the student in the session. The student should speak more and the tutor should let the tutee set the agenda, this is how the tutee will really learn the subject matter. Also the tutor must keep a positive attitude so that the tutee stays positive about the subject and does not just give up. I chose this list because it is more descriptive than the first list, and it is more of an agenda helper while the last list was overall ideas that should come natural to the tutor.

I can use this list because it entails that the tutor will carry out these tasks so that the tutee is comfortable working with me. I think it is important for every new tutor to know that this is very important. You want to make the student feel welcome in the tutoring center, and you want to feel comfortable and personal in a session.

I would remove the parts that mention reading/writing because I am a math tutor, but overall this is a great list that every tutor can use.

On Technorati: teaching, education

Random Japanese sentence: Ａ ｓｐｏｔ ｏｆ ｓｈｕｔ−ｅｙｅ は、また猫のいねむりともいわれている。猫は１度に２〜３分しか寝ない癖があるからだ。 "A spot of shut-eye" is also called a cat nap because a cat is in the habit of sleeping only a few minutes at a time.

Cindy shared how seminars on teaching technique greatly helped her manage her classes. She runs an end-user training company that caters to children and adults. This is how her new hires learn how to teach:

1. Take a course even if you already know the content. You need to learn about technique.
2. Practice and play around with the product until you feel comfortable with it.
3. Practice teaching the subject to your teacher, who can give you feedback on unclear or incorrect things.

We all think that teachers have to spend a lot of time walking around, keeping an eye on students' progress and making sure everyone can keep up. =)

Cindy also shared with us her thoughts on the need for good textbooks, and the abysmally low pay for writing such!

By asking questions, Roy helped me narrow down what I want to do. We came up with something along the lines of:

1. Find out who my market is and what they need. I'd like to focus first on finding highly-motivated teachers in private technical/vocational schools and colleges. I want to find out what they need.
2. ...
3. Profit! ;)

Heh. Well, must figure that out sometime.

That isn't the only way, though. Dominique told me about Positive(?), an initiative to help improve computer science education in colleges. (Whee! I'll just piggyback on that.) Charo told me about Voice of America(?) and that one can actually do quite a lot without major financial backing.

Anyway, here are the main insights:

• I might be able to turn this into a business. A business means I might be able to attract other people to get into it.
• I might also be able to get this funded by philanthropists. To do that, I need a good program.
• I can start small. Let's change my corner of the world first.
• Motivation is key. We spent a bit of time talking about how to deal with closed-minded people and people who don't want to share their knowledge. I'm in favor of going after people who don't need to be persuaded to share their knowledge. I want to find people who can't help but teach.
• Mentoring is very important, but most teachers are on their own in classrooms. Waah. Maybe there should be something like Toastmasters, but for teachers... ;)

On Technorati: education, teaching

When your job becomes your mission, your primary concern is giving your best in everything you do. Knowing that you have contributed significantly towards the creation of a product which can make a difference in your company and the larger community is reward in itself.

We can make a difference no matter who or what or where we are. If we know _why_, then the _how_ follows. =)

On Technorati: passion, career, life, motivational, inspirational, teaching, education

Check out Mark Punzalan's post:

CompSAt RnD has an I.T. outreach project entitled "I.T. Literacy Training for Public School Teachers" (what a mouthful!). This is a project with DISCS and ACED (Ateneo Center for Educational Development). Through this project, we aim to provide grade school and high school public school teachers with I.T. literacy training to help them teach their students about computers. You may not be aware of it, but a lot of public school teachers have little experience with computers, and the average Ateneo student probably knows a LOT more than they do.

We NEED volunteers for the training sessions. Training sessions will be held every Saturday from 8-12 in the morning at F-227, starting this Saturday, Dec. 10. DISCS will provide the curriculum for instruction (simple stuff like using Word, Excel, the Internet, etc.) and possibly refreshments.

We only need two volunteers every Saturday. We're sorely lacking in volunteers. If you want to help out, please contact me via email or mobile phone (see my contact details below). We will be having a meeting this Wednesday at 4:30 PM, venue TBA (probably at Faura). You can drop by even if you don't notify me, but it'd be better if you let me know beforehand. Feel free to ask your friends to help out. More volunteers are very much welcome! :-)

Thanks, and have a nice day!

Mark C. Punzalan Vice President for Research and Development The Computer Society in the Ateneo punzki@compsat.org

On Technorati: philippines, education, computing, outreach

E-Mail from Mark Punzalan

Maybe there should be third-party "learning designers" who you pay to plan and choose the best options and put together a perfectly tailored custom program from a variety of learning vendors (instead of throwing all your learning eggs into one school basket) that still includes some general education, but in the way that makes the most sense for that particular student, and uses both online, distance, and *some* face-to-face learning.

Hmm. Now there's a fun idea. I like tailoring things to fit people's individual needs, and I'm crazy about teaching...

祖母が生きているうちに、電話もコンピューターも一般的なものとなった。 In my grandmother's lifetime, both telephones and computers have become commonplace.

On Technorati: education, passion

There's a reason why she's one of my idols. Fangirl, fangirl, fangirl...

Even if you're not officially teaching or training someone, you're going to find it useful. READ IT! NOW!

そのコンピューターはかなり時代遅れだったので役に立たなかった。 The computer was so outdated that it was good for nothing.

On Technorati: passion, education

I firmly believe that the canonical "Hello, world" program is one of the worst ways to introduce Java, or even programming in general.

I like BlueJ. It's a nice, clean, object-oriented environment that immediately visualizes the difference between objects and classes and allows students to interact with objects before they even see Java code. I like the way BlueJ lets you interact with complex systems, learning about control structures and logic along the way.

A popular Python tutorial starts with using Python as a calculator instead of just getting it to print strings. Isn't that a great way for people to see how immediately useful a programming language can be?

I wouldn't start an Emacs Lisp tutorial with (print "Hello, world!"). I would start it by taking a look at an existing function and modifying it.

Languages should not all be taught the same way. Just because we might have learned with "Hello, world" doesn't mean that "Hello, world" is the best way to learn how to program. I think there are better ways to teach computer science, and I want to spend a fairly significant chunk of my life looking for them.

You can, too. Just remember that you can improve on the way things have always been done.

E-Mail to True Computer Science Mailing List

彼女は娘のためにパソコンを買ってやった。 She got her daughter a personal computer.

On Technorati: soapbox, education, cs

What a pity it is that you've never had a good teacher. A good teacher can help you grow immensely. I've had great teachers, and they really changed my life. Let me share with you some things I've learned from them and why I'm crazy about computer science.

When you meet a lot of brilliant people, you'll quickly realize that technical skills do not guarantee people skills and vice versa. One of the best ways to meet brilliant people is through open source. Look at Richard Stallman: undoubtedly a genius, but his personality rubs a lot of people the wrong way. (He's really cool, though.) On the other hand, there are people who combine both technical know-how with passion and great communication skills; these are the teachers who can change your life.

I owe so much to the teachers I've learned from inside and outside the classroom. The best teachers I've had taught me that I'm not limited to the classroom. They helped me gain the confidence to try things on my own. They showed me things I didn't know about and might not have discovered on my own. They questioned my assumptions and challenged me to do better. I remember when I was in first year college and I was slacking off in subjects like English; it was my computer science teacher who told me that I should pay attention to details!

My teachers really helped me deal with my insecurities about our curriculum. I always kept my eye on schools abroad, and because I was already working on open source in college, I could see how people my age were doing really fantastic things like maintaining the Linux kernel or writing their own operating systems. My teachers helped me take advanced classes and get into extracurricular projects and competitions. When I started working on things on my own, they gave me encouragement and great recommendations.

I've heard many, many stories about teachers who aren't as good as the ones I had, though. Most teachers don't seem to care about their students or their subjects. I want to help change that.

Computer science changes every day. The accelerating pace may make you think that it's impossible to keep up. The truth is, as things get faster and faster, a strong foundation becomes more and more important.

That's what I'd like to think I teach. I do not teach how to program in Java or C++ or Perl. I teach people how to _think_, how to break a problem down into solvable parts, how to learn more and more and more. My job is not to pour information into passive students, but rather I am here to show them the basics and then challenge them, make them hungry for more, guide them through questions and hints. I don't know everything, but I love sharing whatever I know, and I love learning new things from students and the world.

I messed up a lot as a beginning teacher, too. There were days when the explanations I prepared the night before didn't work and everyone was just confused. There were days when I'd just get so frustrated with my inability to express something or to convince people that copying isn't going to teach them as much as actually sticking it out and solving the problem. But still, there were days when I'd see students get that Aha! moment, and that made things worthwhile.

I enjoy computer science so much that I cannot think of _not_ teaching it. I want to get other people hooked. I want people to fall in love with learning and problem-solving. I want people to discover that they too are capable of mental wizardry; that they too can make the computer dance to their tune. I want to be a fantastic teacher. In order to do that, I'm working on not only getting the theoretical and practical background to share with my students, but also learning how to teach and teach well.

Let me tell you that computer science education doesn't have to be like what you're suffering. I know it can be good, and I want to make it even better.

What does this mean for you, now, while you're taking up your degree at Adamson University?

Well, if you can't do anything about your teachers right now, you have many ways of coping. Open source gives you an opportunity to test your knowledge and make a difference world-wide. Even as a student, you can work on really cool things! Come hang out with us, too. We can challenge you. We can help you stay enthusiastic and passionate about computers. When are you usually free?

On Technorati: soapbox, cs, education

The said round table discussions will be held at the Seminar Room, National Computer Center, C.P. Garcia Avenue, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

(from Marvin Pascual): By the way, this event is not exclusively for people who are into academe only as what I was expecting before. Everyone is encourage to join us to fight and promote Linux and Open Source for the ICTs in DepEd. Please send your name, e-mail and contact numbers to me privately if you are willing to support and help DepEd in their ICTs and quality education to students.

Darn! Wish I could go. Anyway, it's for basic education; I can wait to get into that.

犬が１匹、猫が１匹、カナリヤが３羽います。 We have a dog, a cat and three canaries.

On Technorati: education, philippines

Currently, Learning Links is in need of volunteers who can join their twice-a-month Saturday afternoon Ate-Kuya program. Volunteers will have the opportunity to share around two to three hours of their time per session with a group of kids - swapping stories, playing games, engaging in creative tasks or taking a stroll in the Ateneo campus -and act as buddies or even role models to these little ones.

Interested parties may call or text 0917-8269108 (Kuya Froy) or 0917-6939831 (Ate Julie).

Together, let's bring learning back to the kids."

E-Mail from Ateneo Alumni Affairs Office

On Technorati: education, philippines, outreach

Guided Lecture: Students listen to 15-20 minutes of lecture without taking notes. At the end, they spend five minutes recording all they can recall. The next step involves learners in small discussion groups reconstructing the lecture conceptually with supporting data, preparing complete lecture notes, using the instructor to resolve questions that arise. Immediate Mastery Quiz: When a regular immediate mastery test is included in the last few minutes of the period, learners retain almost twice as much material, both factual and conceptual. Individual Task With Review: Problems to solve that apply the concepts presented. Students complete a worksheet or other task and compare the results with their neighbors before the whole class discusses the answers. Intrinsically-Phrased Reward Statements: Positive expressions about emerging learner performance and achievement highlight internal feelings of self-worth and self-satisfaction (without praise, which is an extrinsic judgment). Enjoyment "That was fun!" "I get pleasure from that, too." Competence "You did it!" "That is mastered!" Cleverness "That was tricky." "Creative." Growth "You've taken a step forward." "Change has occurred!" Construction Spiral: Ask a sequence of questions, beginning at a reflex level, in a three-step learning cycle—(1) individual writing for 3-5 minutes, (2) small group sharing in trios or pairs, and (3) whole class, non-evaluative compilation. Used to construct understandings and concepts. Peer Teaching: By explaining conceptual relationships to others, tutors define their own understanding. - Question Pairs—learners prepare for class by reading an assignment and generating questions focused on the major points or issues raised. At the next class meeting pairs are randomly assigned. Partners alternately ask questions of each other and provide corrective feedback as necessary. - Learning Cells—Each learner reads different selections and then teaches the essence of the material to his or her randomly assigned partner.