12th National Conference on Special Education in the Philippines

The workshop-seminar-conference season is on!

In the last five posts I've made here, there were two announcements from organizers for special education conferences and seminars. The first one was the AD/HD Society Workshop and the second one was the Conference on School Culture.  

And now, I just received from the mail (yes, we still have the mail that we used to know, the one delivered by the postman!) the invitation/announcement from the UP College of Education, Special Education Area about the 12th National Conference on Special Education.

 It's been like ages when I first attended the 2nd National Conference on Special Education in the Philippines and since then, so much has changed in my line of work and in my personal life. Back then, all I ever thought was, SPED the way to go!

But the details are here:

• The 12th National Conference in Special Education will be held on October 22, 2011

• The venue for the 12th National Conference in Special Education will be at the Film Center. 

• For inquires on the 12th National Conference in Special Education, please call May Manla at 9818500 ext 2818

Prepare your Php 1,500.00 for registration fees and another Php 500.00 for your food. The organizers will not be serving snacks and food.

Come and join!

Smart Gilas Sweeps 2nd Round Games in FIBA Asia Championship 2011

Well what do you know?

Four years into the program, Smart Gilas Basketball team is reaping the fruits of their hardwork. Winning all the games in the second round of FIBA Asia Championship 2011, we are in a position to play in the medal round.

We beat the basketball teams of Jordan, Japan and Syria and we are in the quarterfinals round. Coach Ronnie Magsanoc and Mico Halili were the commentators during the games of Philippines-Syria and China vs Japan and throughout their coverage, they were saying that we need three more wins to snatch the FIBA Asia Championship crown.

It is a rest day today for all the teams in the tournament and tomorrow, Smart Gilas will play against Chinese-Taipei tomorrow.

Here are the highlight videos of Smart Gilas Basketball team in the FIBA Asia Championship 2011:

Against Jordan:

Against Japan:

Against Syria:

5th National Training Workshop on Building and Sustaining Vibrant School Culture

Hi there!

Word association game: tradition, mores, norms, culture, school, students, alumni, roots, wings, winning, losing, victory, defeat, looking back, continuation.

What am I trying to say here?

An NCAA Juniors Basketball coach who lost a championship game some years ago against the almost one hundred year old Ateneo de Manila University once said to me: "We were winning in the last two minutes but we were not playing against an ordinary basketball team, we were playing against a basketball team that has a culture deeply ingrained among the players and the institution itself. At the end of the over-time period, we lost by one point. We lost because they had the heart and courage to fight until the end, all in the name of their school".

What is school culture? 

There are so many ways to answer this question but I think this document will give you a backgrounder on the topic.

The University of Asia and the Pacific (UA& P) will hold its 5th National Training Workshop on Building and Sustaining a Vibrant School Culture from October 19 to 21, 2011 at Telengtang Hall, University of Asia and the Pacific.

The forthcoming conference on school culture is meant primarily for newly confirmed principals, experienced school principals and administrators, as well as teacher-leaders of public and private schools, and college and universities’ deans and president.  Attached is a copy of the conference program.

At the end of the conference, the participants should be able to:

a.       self- audit and describe the culture of their respective schools;

b.       have a deeper understanding of school culture, its components, and the forces that shape it;

c.        assess the operational implications of their self- audit and force- field analysis of the culture of their respective schools; and

d.       draw up action measures (for improving the present culture of their respective schools) that focus on the key aspects or elements of school culture that are within their control.

The training- workshop is P4, 500.00 per participant, inclusive of conference materials and certificates, and meals (3 major meals and 2 snacks). Participants are encouraged to confirm their attendance on October 3, 2011.

For more information, please contact Ms. Josephine Teves (mjteves@uap.edu.ph or josephinetherese.teves@uap.asia) or Dr. Gladys Golo at telephone nos. (02) 637-0912, locals 378 or 210, or direct telefax:(02) 634-2828.

  UAP Conference October 2011

1st Round of Smart Gilas in FIBA Asia Championships 2011

Our Philippine Basketball Team, Smart Gilas, won two games out of three in the first round of FIBA ASia Championships 2011. Although our cagers are down to only ten players due to eligibility issues of Fil-Ams Lutz and Lassiter, we won by 40 points against the United Arab Emirates and led by 42 at the end of the game against Bahrain. We had a15 point loss to powerhouse China though but this loss was expected.

Something to look into for basketball scholars and fans:

Smart Gilas Player Statistics
Points Per Game
1 – Marcus Douthit: 16 ppg
2 – JV Casio/Chris Tiu: 10.3 ppg
3 – Mac Baracael: 10 ppg
4 – Japeth Aguilar: 9.6 ppg
5 – Asi Taulava: 9.3 ppg

Rebounds Per Game
1 – Marcus Douthit: 9 rpg
2 – Asi Taulava: 7.3 rpg
3 – Mac Baracael: 5 rpg
4 – Kelly Williams/Japeth Aguilar: 4.6 rpg
5 – Ranidel de Ocampo: 3.5 rpg

Assists Per Game
1 – JV Casio: 4.6 apg
2 – Mark Barroca: 4.3 apg
3 – Chris Tiu/Ranidel de Ocampo: 2.6 apg
4 – Jimmy Alapag: 2.3 apg
5 – Mac Baracael: 2 apg

Steals Per Game
1 – Mark Barroca: 1.6 spg
2 – Chris Tiu: 1.3 spg

Blocks Per Game
1 – Marcus Douthit: 2 bpg
2 – Kelly Williams: 1 bpg

Smart Gilas Team Statistics
2-Point Field Goal: 89/147 (60.5%)
3-Point Field Goal: 11/43 (25.6%)
Free Throw: 54/78 (69%)

Turnovers Per Game: 17  

2nd AD/HD Regional Conference in the Philippines

The AD/HD Society of the Philippines will have their 2nd Regional Conference at the end of the month and it is happening in the province of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Here is the society's invitation/announcement:

AD/HD SOCIETY OF THE PHILIPPINES 2nd REGIONAL CONFERENCE

Organized by:ADHD Society Of The Philippines

On:        Septemebr 30, 2011
Time :    08:00 AM-05:00 PM
Venue : ANGELES UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION

The AD/HD Society of the Philippines
In cooperation with the 
Angeles University Foundation

Presents

THE 2nd AD/HD REGIONAL CONFERENCE

DEMYSTIFYING AD/HD:
UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING AD/HD

On 30 September 2011, 7:00am - 5:00pm
Angeles University Foundation (AUF) AuditoriumMcArthur Highway, Angeles City, Pampanga 

Programme:

Nature of  ADHD

 (and ADD) & Forms of Intervention that Works

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Behavior Management Principles and Strategies

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Managing AD/HD Behavior in the Classroom

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Panel Discussion: “Ganito pala ‘yon….!!”:  

AD/HD through the eyes of a person with AD/HD and significant others

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Managing AD/HD Behavior at Home and Other Social Settings

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Team Approach in Managing Children with AD/HD

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Institutional Support Mechanism for Children with AD/HD

  

The conference will bring together local experts in the different fields involved in the care of children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD).  It will focus on helping parents, teachers, guidance counselors, therapists and other child advocates identify and understand AD/HD as well as provide techniques and strategies in the effective management of the condition. 


In this regard, we would like to request for  your assistance in disseminating information regarding the said seminar, to your respective network so that they can participate in this worthwhile activity.  

Thank you for your kind attention!

                                                    Conference Fees:                                                        
                                   

                               Pre-Registered*                     On-Site

Member                       P1000.00                           P1250.00

          Non-Member                 P1100.00                            P1350.00            

*on or before Sept. 26, 2011

*Fees inclusive of meals and snacks

LIMITED SLOTS. Pre-registered participants may pay to AD/HD Society of the Philippines, Banco de Oro, S/A Account No. 2070024330 on or before  SEPTEMBER 26, 2011.  Please fax deposit slip with the names of the participants at TF 927-3463 and bring it on the day of the seminar for issuance of receipt. No refund will be given to pre-registered participants who did not show up during the seminar.  On-site participants will be entertained depending on availability of slots.


For inquiries, please contact the ADHD Secretariat:

Rm 110 ISO Building, Social Development Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, Q.C.
Tel Nos (02) 426-8568, TF 927-3463, (0918) 9079159
Email address: adhdsociety@yahoo.com                   

website: www.adhdsociety.com



...every individual with AD/HD is understood, protected, cared for...

Such a nice tag line!  

Chess Sites for Beginners and Novices

The World Chess Cup 2011 is now on its finals round, a match between two Russians. My wish to see Hungarian chess player Judith Polgar reaching this final round and actually winning the world cup didn't happen.

Considered as the strongest woman chess player of all time, Judith Polgar is one of the three children of Laszlo Polgar who taught and trained his kids to play competitive chess. Laslzlo is an expert on chess theory and believed that "geniuses are made, not born...". With this, he trained his three daughters, homeschooled them and all three of them beacome strong chess players.

And on that note, I'd like to share some links below that would give you free chess worksheets that would help you play the game of chess better:

• Kids Chess    
• Chess Kids Academy

World Chess Cup 2011: The Best so far

Live streaming of the games, availability of grandmaster commentary, PGN files for downloads, round by round account of almost every detail of the tournament posted on the official website and so much more. These are the words we can use to describe the World Chess Cup 2011.

From the audience' point of view, it is perfect, the best so far and I haven't said anything about the games yet. Exciting and all the matches and pairing are unpredictable when they are expected to be. The games at this level should be unpredictable and that's how the grandmasters of the game are doing.

Now in round five, there is one player the chess world and its citizens are watching carefully following. Judith Polgar is the only female player in the world cup right now and so far, she has managed to advance and reach the fifth round. Will she be able to get one of the only three precious slots for the World Chess Championship 2014 cycle.    

We are down to the round of eight players and every move made on the board matters and all of us are superbly happy that we can follow the games live and in real-time.

Congratulations to FIDE and the people behind the organization of the tournament. Scroll down to this link and find out who the guys are.

The best world chess cup so far!

An Ass for an Ass: Editing James Soriano

Good Sunday to all of you!

Our posts regarding our beloved Filipino Language,  Sassa Mendoza and here, ignited some reactions from our readers and sent me comments which I'd rather not post here for fear of censorship from the MTRCB (joke!). I discovered the blog A Man in Manila by Migs Bassig and he gave Mr. James Soriano  the real meaning of love. An ass for an ass makes this world a better place to write in.

Migs, may I repost your work here titled Editing James Soriano?

If you can't be proud of your native language, how can you be proud of your own heritage?

Wesley So in World Chess Cup 2011

Sixty-fourth seed GM Wesley So of the Philippines bows out of contention after losing in the second tiebreaks match against top seed Sergei Karjakin of Russia in the World Chess Cup 2011 at Khanty-Mansysk, Russia. After winning over fellow Asian campaigner Liren Ding of China in the first round with a score of 2.5-1.5, Wesley So fans were hopeful he would be able to pull a victory against Karjakin and at least match his 2009 World Chess Cup performance where he played until the third round matches.

There will always be next time.

The games of GM Wesley So in World Chess Cup 2011 can be viewed here and here. Finally, try to watch this and find out what goes on and what happens when you put together the one hundred and twenty-eight world class chess players in one place, FIDE World Chess Cup 2011. 

Filipino Language according to Sasa Mendoza

Remember my post about the Filipino Language and how I told you that it was taking much of my time now as its student and teacher? Well, I spent my 4-day, long weekend working on: three journals, a test covering numbers, dates, directions, all about the Philippines and transcribing Travis Kraft's YouTube Video on Adobong Manok ---all in the name of Filipino as a Second Language classes for middle school students.

Ironically, while I was burning the midnight oil, a colleague of mine who happens to be teaching Filipino in the primary years of the same school where I teach, was irked by the comments of someone named Mr.James Soriano against our dearly beloved Filipino Language. Here's her shake and bait (--and take) on the issue:         

Hindi ako mahilig sumulat ng komentaryo. Hindi NA ako mahilig sumulat.  Sa tinagal tagal, wala pang isyu ang kumiliting muli ng imahinasyon ko, walang pahayag ang kumalap ng interes at walang balitang pumukaw ng mga natatagong damdamin upang naisin kong ilathala ang aking mga saloobin. Ngayon lang. Nabasa ko ang artikulo ni James Soriano noong isang araw. Hindi ko masyadong ninamnam. Kahit natabangan ako sa mga simbulat niya, kebs lang.

Kwentuhan muna tayo ng konti (bago ko kontrahin si Mr. Soriano, haha). Lumaki ako sa pamilyang Tagalog ang pangunahing gamit sa bahay. Pawang taga-Quezon ang mga magulang ko. Hanggang ngayon tangan tangan parin nila ang mga “malalalim” na salita. Ang pang araw araw na usapan ay para kang nagbabasa ng lumang nobela. Sa madaling sabi, nosebleed ang drama ko. Idagdag mo pa ang ilang beses na paalalahanan ng kataga ni Jose Rizal tungkol sa malansang isda. Pero, natuto kong mahalin ang sariling wika dahil dito. Gustong-gusto kong pinakikinggan ang mga usapan nilang tuwid ang daloy ng mga pinagtahi-tahing salitang Tagalog.  Hindi ko alam, pero may kakaibang dating sa akin. Hindi tulad ng iba, mas namamangha ako sa mga taong mahusay “managalog.”

Mahirap man paniwalaan, paborito ko ang asignaturang Filipino. Parating matataas ang mga marka ko dito. Ikaw ba naman ang magkaroon ng magulang na walking Filipino-English dictionary. Naging madali ang mga homework kong talasalitaan dahil hindi na ako nagbubuklat ng diskyunaryo. Tinatanong ko nalang sa nanay ko. Kaya ganon na lamang ang pagkadismaya ko tuwing ipipilit sa eskwela ang NO TAGALOG policy-- Iyong magbabayad ka ng beinte singko sa tuwing magsasalita ka ng Tagalog. Uso ata sa mga pribadong paaralan iyon noong kapanahunan ko.  Dalawang rason kung bakit nanggagalaiti ako: Una, sa murang edad, batid ko na ang kabalintunaang ito: mga Pilipinong batang pinagbabawalan magsalita ng Filipino sa Pilipinas. Hindi ko talaga maarok. Hindi ko gets. Pangalawa, parati kasi akong napapabayad. Nababawasan tuloy iyong baon kong salapi. Hmph. Wala naman akong problema sa paggamit ng Ingles sa recitation at komposisyon sa asignaturang Ingles at iba pa. Ang sa akin lang huwag namang ipagkait sa akin ang karapatan kong gamitin ito sa mga simpleng kwentuhan naming magkakaklase. Sabi nga ni Mr. Soriano “it is the language of emotion, experience and even of learning.” Sa akin simple lang: Filipino is the language of the heart, my heart. Dahil sa puso ng wikang Filipino ang patuloy na dahilan kung bakit ito pa rin ang pangunahing gamit ko. Hirap akong isalaysay ang tunay kong damdamin kung gagamitan ko ng Ingles. Kahit pa mapa-drama o komedy ng buhay ko, mas swak talaga pag Tagalog ang gamit. Kaya nga siguro may Taglish eh, kasi may salitang Filipino na kahit may English translation parang kulang parin kung ito ang gagamitin. Halimbawa, ang classic na “tusok tusok” the fishball. Subukan mong, “Poke the fishball?” Hindi eh.  Kung “Fishball on a stick?” Kulang. Iba pa rin yung TUSOK! Isama mo na rin iyong “I’ll make kwento.” I’ll tell you a story? Boring.  KWENTO! Isang salita lang pero malaman na.

Mahal ko ang wikang Filipino. Wala namang kaso sa akin kung Pilipino ka at hindi ka marunong managalog. Hindi naman mababawasan ang pagka-Pilipino mo. In English my friend, it doesn’t make you less of a Filipino if you can’t speak the language. If you WON’T at least try, now, that’s a different story. But I still I won’t take that against you. Teka, bakit biglang naging English. Mabalik tayo. PERO kung ang usapan ay mamaliitin mo ang mga taong gumagamit nito, diyan tayo magkakatalo. Hindi porke’t Filipino lang ang alam eh walang iaangat sa pamumuhay. Iyon pa ang nakalulungkot eh. Maraming Pilipinong Tagalog ang pangunahing salita na hindi nabibigyan ng pagkakataong maging matagumpay *sa sariling bansa na mas malaking porsiyente  PA RIN naman ay marunong managalog*dahil lamang hindi sila marunong mag-Ingles. Maaaring meron silang sapat na kaalaman at kabihasnan sa iba’t-ibang gawaing makabuluhan pero nababalewala ito dahil lamang salat ang kaalamanan nila sa Ingles, na sa opinyon ko pwede namang pag-aralan. Bigyan lang sana sila ng pagkakataon. Hindi porket hindi marunong mag-Ingles ay hindi na intelihente. PLEASE do not undermine our dignified “yayas”, “drivers” and “tinderas” just because they use their mother tongue IN their own country. I think someone should revisit his definition of LEARNED.

AKO ay Pilipino---sa puso, sa, isip, sa SALITA at sa GAWA. Iyan ang panata ng tunay na Makabayang Pilipino

And here is one more link you might find helpful Dear James Soriano.

Steve Jobs is Jobless

Silicon Valley legend Steve Jobs is jobless as of Wednesday, August 24, 2011, at least from one of the comments I found in one of the online forums. But with his resignation, he was elected as chairman of Apple's board of directors. Steve Jobs is another example of a "drop-out-did-changed-the-world" story whose net worth is about $ 8.3 billion as of 2011. He went to Reed College but after one term, he dropped out. Four years after, Steve Jobs co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. And look at the irony of life, a college drop-out gives a commencement address in 2005 to the graduates of Standofrd University:

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

So would you like to drop out of college and try to change the world?

Writing Conference in the Classroom

The education of of today is geared towards process over product. In chess, it is the thinking process that a trainer or coach must establish in his players before asking them to work on other advanced topic or lessons. It is the same thing teachers must work on with their students when it comes to writing skills. Process-oriented tasks help a lot in the development of the student's writing skills.

Here's something we can learn from:

Teachers have found that writer's workshops are effective in helping students master the principles of process writing in particular. "The term 'writer's workshop' refers to an environment conceived to encourage written expression." Because writing is difficult and risky, "children need to know that their environment is a predictable, safe place for them to take risks" (Bunce-Crim, 1991; cited in Bayer, 1999, p. 8).

On that note, let me share this simple script that teachers can use in the classroom. Remember the teacher's job is to study the writer to figure out how to help. The writer's job is to teach the teacher about ways you've figure how to write.

Teacher: What are you working on as a writer?

Student: I'm writing a personal narrative about ___________________________ (name your idea)

Teacher: What are you trying to do as a writer?

Student: I want to ___________________________________ (the goal you want to reach in your writing or challenges you are having as an author)

Teacher: What will you do today in your writing?

Student: I will _______________________________________ (name the strategy you will use to reach the goal or overcome the challenge)

This workshop can be implemented throughout the year and students write in their journal.

 

Milo Little Olympics

The Milo Little Olympics NCR Leg opens this weekend at the Marikina Sports Park, Marikina City.  The olympics has twelve events: athletics, football, swimming, volleyball, badminton, chess, gymnastics, lawn tennis, table tennis, taekwondo and scrabble.

The National Milo Little Olympics is happening in Lingayen, Pangasinan on November this year. Grassroots development has always been a key program of Milo and finally, the public sector is learning from the private sector.

You want to find out how it all began? Read the History of Milo Olympics below:

The Little Olympics for Big Dreams

In the hearts of little champions, big dreams are waiting to come to life. Back then, these dreams partially comes to life in small town tournaments, local inter-school leagues and even informal street competition amongst friends. In the true spirit of building champions in life, MILO^® saw the growing need for these little champions’ big dreams to come front and center.

In 1988, MILO® launched the MILO^® Little Olympics in Manila. The league held competitions in 11 sports namely - athletics, badminton, chess, football, gymnastics, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball. And though the league was initially based in Manila, many little champions savored the taste of what it is like to have their dream of playing in a big stage come true. That is why in 1996, the MILO^® Little Olympics was also held in Cebu. And expanded to Cagayan de Oro in 1997 and in Pangasinan in 1998. In the short span of time, MILO^® has successfully provided a sporting event that little champions look forward to other than Palarong Pambansa and as well as other major sporting events in the south.

After years of successfully mounting regional games, the MILO^® Little Olympics finally went nationwide with the first ever National Finals held in Cebu City on October 23, 2009. With the Queen City of the South serving as host, little champions from all over the nation came and competed for glory. Thousands of little champions got to play, thousands of big dreams came true. The MILO^® Little Olympics is now the premiere nationwide junior interschool league for elementary and highschool student-athletes. Little champions nationwide can now show their excellence in sports, their drive, determination, discipline and other champion’s values to their peers throughout the nation. This kind of exposure teaches them to be champions not just in sports but in life as well.

In its 20 years as an inter-regional league and three years as a premiere annual national sports meet, the MILO^® Little Olympics has produced and discovered little champions that have donned the country’s colors. Little champions with big achievements in international leagues like the South East Asian Games, World Youth Cup and the Asian Junior Track meet.

Great things truly start from small beginnings. It began with the need for little champions to have a place where their big dreams will come true. Now, the MILO^® Little Olympics, with the help of the little champions, parents, coaches and organizers, has now become one of the most recognizable and sought-after league. A sporting event where every game and every match helps build champions in sports and in life.

Chess Players in the 87th NCAA Season

The chess tournament in the 87th season of the NCAA is in full swing and is in its 9th round of the first round of the double elimination. I had the time to chat with college chess coach whom I worked with in the 84th season and was dumbfounded to hear stories about some players. The whole world believes that chess is a game of wits and intelligence but let me share this stupid secret: chess is not a good gauge of intelligence.

Fact is, a lot of chess players starting at a very young age chooses the life of a professional player and with this, they tend to take academic tasks and requirements lightly. And because chess has its innate characteristic of pulling one's mind to focus and concentrate, the player misses the chance of making it good in other areas of life, thus a poor academic performance.

Chess intelligence is not a measurement of academic intelligence, maybe part of it but not the whole of it. I am guilty of writing posts here promoting the game as a good part of academic training but if you do not balance your time correctly, you will really make it bad in the real life.

We don't need to look far guys, here in the Philippines we have confirmed stories about this. High school drop-outs, college drop-outs and what's worst, the parents are in fact allowing these things to happen in the name of chess.

So if you are reading this and know of someone to be falling into that chess trap, remind him or her that there is life outside of chess and its worth looking into other aspects of life. One story is that there's this player with  his parents asking for sponsorship to play in tournaments overseas. The sponsors were willing to help and are able to help, on one condition: the player must go back to school. The player-parents could not give into the request. Talk about priority.

Anyways, try to remember the names of these kids and add them to your prayers that they may finish their college courses with the help of chess. Remember, chess is suppose to make a player a better person.

Here is the official lineup of players from the nine schools participating in the Chess Tournament of the 87th NCAA Season:

Arellano University

Juniors

Canape, Ynna Sophia C.

Caranyagan, Carlo R.

Garcia, Edil Gester T.

Llantada, Kyz D.

Madrid, Adrian D.

Viernes, Tucker Howard Elstiene

Seniors

Arquero, kevin E.

Bautista, Vangielyn H.

De Leon, John Kristofferson M.

Geron, Christian Paul C.

Gutierez, Jaymarc G.

Ravago, Jeffrey O.

Colegio de San Juan de Letran

Juniors

Baltazar, Melwyn Kenneth A.

Cabida, Christian Dave B.

Drapete, Christian Ray E.

Fuerte, Mary Jocye T.

Marquez, Ivan Czar DJ.

Seniors

Acoba, Kerby A.

Biag, Ivan Gil C.

Datu, Nino D.

Lising, Jesus Benjamin M.

Piccio, John Isaac T.

Jose Rizal University

Juniors

Agus jr., Gaudioso E.

Castaloni, Keith Cerwin Q.

Golez, Ulysses M.

Pasia, Jaynel C.

Torres, Jefferson G.

Valerio, Kenneth Christian P.

Seniors

Alberca,Leonard Q.

Bernardo, Caruncho U.

Grana, Ryann Paul R.

Usi, Argel R.

Vitorio, Denice Ruby P.

Yap, Raymart E.

San Beda College

Juniors

Domingo, Andrew C.

Quiniquini, Nicolai Paul M.

Salazar, John Paul M.

Simbulan, Benedict John I.

Seniors

Austria, John Paul V.

Castro, Juan Claudio S.

Chua, Ian Ferdinand C.

Cruz, Jared B. 

Flores, Jerome D.

Rante, Kareen Anna B.

University of Perpetual System Dalta

Juniors

De Guzman, Alvin S.

Garcia, Daryll James M.

Garcia, Shanel Chloe C.

Isanan, Nathaniel S.

Manero, Marc Angelo J.

Seniors

Alconcher, Jenwin A.

Bagaipo, Jean Paul A.

Dantes, Aurora Kim E.

De Jesus, Justine Nicole M.

Melicano, Kris Angelique T.

Monera, Aristotle S.

College of Saint Benilde

Juniors

Cabugao, Earl Nathaniel G.

De Leon, Luke Matthew D.

Mejia, Giovanni P.

Mendonez, Alexander Jude B.

Nuestro, Angelo Ezekiel P.

Ramos, Alfonso Baldomero R.

Seniors

Abucejo, Jesse O.

Alfonso, Avhix C.

Cajeras, Jerich D.

Pimentel, Joel Jr. A.

Reyes, Narquingden DC.

Reyes, Narquingel DC.

Emilio Aguinaldo College

Juniors

Andres, Clinton Paulo V.

Andres, Karl Vincent Kasparob V.

Falagne, Kim Patrick .

Lalas, Genten L.

Puno, Josue Rameses P.

Saquilayan, Drexter M.

Seniors

Bamba, Rainer John S.

Esteebar, Angelo G.

Molina, Macwaine A.

Salcedo, Brylles

Tan, Brylle Genio B.

Mapua Institute of Technology

Juniors

Arcelao, John Aldreen A.

Dimaapi, Laineer Alken A.

De Leon, Nathaniel Marco G.

Estores, Kenny Jade M.

Gaspar, Mary Lara Shane G.

Pasol, Stephen Elijah G.

Seniors

Aquino, Prince Mark D.

Ballesteros, Carlo E.

Fulcher, Steaven Crenz A.

Ligon, Francis N.

Mojar, David M.

Pelayo, Ergin Nigel N.

San Sebastian College-Recoletos

Juniors

Bonifacio, Anfernee T.

Coronel, Aldous Roy V.

Cristobal Kristian Paolo V.

Cunanan, Homel Aristotle A.

Floro, Ralph Jordan S.

Samonte, Eugene M.

Seniors

Jongko, Arvie B.

Maribao, Alexis Emil F.

Mercado, Jayson V.

Salvador, Louie D.

Teves, Steven s Arnold C.

Valenzuela, Nigel Keruvin V.