Awwww Shucks....

given to me last april 11....

YOU'RE MISSED!

Its surprising how often i think of you,
turn to speak to you,
and realize that you're not there
as i expect you to be.

I guess i hold you so close in thought
that its hard
to understand sometimes that you aren't close
in person

But i wanted you to let you know
i'm thinking of you and wishing we could talk
and just be together awhile-

You're really missed!

the eggsperiment

Last year was dissection; this year, its Egg Drop!

This is a direct quote form one of my Grade 7 students after completing the Egg Drop Experiment. The students were so hyped up after launching and retrieving their egg setup that they forgot that they needed to check if their egg survived the fall. But I’m getting ahead of my story….

The Egg Drop I was referring to was the Egg Drop experiment which we performed at the start of the second quarter. This “eggsperiment” is a bridge between the past and the future; the bridge between the students’ lessons in grade six with the lessons in grade seven. After having almost 4 years of experiment experience to back the students, we decided it was time for the students to do an experiment from scratch. And so, for this experiment, the students were given the following challenge: help a raw egg survive a fall from a 4 storey drop with 5 different kinds of materials. To accomplish this, students must plan for the experiment and create their own lab format, including the requisite parts; problem, hypothesis, materials, procedure, observation and finally, conclusion.

This challenge also involved recalling the different kinds of forces. After identifying the forces that will be a factor in this experiment, the students enthusiastically went into the planning for the experiment. Listening to the plans of the students gives one an idea of how ingenious our boys are…or how some show traits of being methodical and thorough. Years of experience taught them that each member of the group had something to contribute to the process so it was hardly a surprise to see various diagrams to show the free flow of different ideas. This phase of the experiment ended with the submission of their partially finished lab format and the prospect of doing the actual experiment the following meeting.

True to form, each class who will be launching their egg setups came to school prepared…some even beyond prepared. They were given half of the period to put together the setup from scratch. Working feverishly and intently, most of the groups were able to faithfully create what they envisioned would be a good vessel for the egg. Armed with different tools (needles, glue gun, scissors) and materials (umbrellas, egg cartons, pillows, cotton, tissue, Styrofoam boxes, and pencil cases) each group prepared their setup for the launch. A gofer was sent to the pocket garden directly above the Grade Seven faculty workroom to retrieve the launched setup. As each setup was released, students could not help but cheer for everyone’s setup, much to the consternation of some onlookers. But how can one not cheer? You see a parachute fashioned from a garbage bag unfurl fully to catch the air as it goes down, or a lunch bag stuffed with crumpled paper come crashing down to the ground with a thud or a carton propeller gently floating as it goes down with grace….and so on and so forth….

In the end, students realized it was not so much of the appearance of the setup, or the variety of materials brought to school. It was old-fashioned implementation of the lessons learned: how to defy gravity, how to increase drag, or how to lessen the impact from the fall. There were other “un-science” lessons too…lessons on cooperation, listening to other group mates, patience and realizing that there will always be problems (in this case, gravity) and so, sometimes, its just a matter of how to go around it, or at least lessen its impact on us.

All in all, I would say it was a successful experiment. A testament for this would be the students’ insights written in their own lab formats but more importantly, the good feelings that each one had after the experiment, whether it was successful or not. Students enjoyed this science lesson; and they learned something from it too. As a teacher I couldn’t ask for any other “eggciting” result.

quick question....

you know that the school year is over when.....

a. the department chairs are frantically trying to observe everyone in their department.
b. you receive your committee assignment for the school year's graduation/closing ceremonies.
c. attending the championshiop matches of tiong lian basket ball league....a.k.a.mmtlba or somethin'
d. all of the above

well, waddya know...any true blooded xavier faculty who's been here long enough know that the answer is D....op kors, op kors....eniwey, i'd rather not talk about the department chairs, nor graduation...let's talk about basketball...one indicator that i'm actually a papa's girl is my love for the game. i remember watching PBA games shown on channel 4 and of course hoping against hope that crispa will win over toyota...yeah, i belong to the any team "basta wag lang si jaworski fans club".

so it was not even a surprise that i became an active supporter and spectator of the sport. i mean, me, the girl from uste coming from a rare sweep in the UAAP. but enough of the basketball tradition that i came form.actually, what got me involved in basketball was Fatima, who in turn was really good friend of the Mutucs. Ronnie Mutuc, on the other hand coaches SBP, these little kids from grades 3 to 6 playing, in my students' words, midget basketball....hehehe... and so early mornings of saturdays and sundays, we find ourselves waking up early to go to school so we can ride with the bus in going to, say, Ateneo, San Beda or even that school in Alabang! since there's not much traffic, we'd be early enough to grab breakfast from wherever.....and of course after the game, we get invited by the parents to lunch especially if our team wins...which was really really often. And since this happened about 10 years ago, i have boys, nay, young men, literally growing up in front of my eyes as i am always invited to their games. either by their parents or by the boys themselves....mahiritan ka ba naman ng, for old times sake, gaya ng dati, mga alaga mo naman kami and all that....

let's take this newly crowned tiong lian juniors team. in spite and despite of the distance, the lateness and the anticipated gruelling trying to wake up ritual the following morning, i just had to watch their championship games. Imagine, most of these kids, i was with since they were in grade 3...and now they're high 4! i remember kevin "joey boy" chong who used to eat 2 platters of rice every meal hence the monicker joey boy from that royal commercial.....i also remember the debut of charles tiu, who's first basket was reminscent of his older brother's shooting style...to the delight of his dad who shared to us that he'd have to literally drag charles so that he'd practice with him...in the same league was Andre "A2" Co, so named because there was another andre in the squad and who happened to be the youngest son of my basketball idol, Atoy Co. A2 used to sleep with his head on my lap as we go from ateneo to someplace where we can have lunch. poor kid was so exhausted from playing ball he sleeped as soon as the coaster started moving. Woodward "Woody" Co on the other hand, started playing when he was in grade 4 and we knew he'll go places because he's got "it". Later on, other players became closer to me because i became their teacher in either grade 6 or 7. Irvin Cristae "IC" Sta Maria, a very promising point impressed me alot when he was in grade 7 because wanting to graduate with highest honors, opted to sit out his last basketball season in grade school in order to do just that. of course, he did graduate with a gold medal and was even asked to lead the Xavier Pledge, an honor that is not easily bestowed to any graduating student.

And so it was truly a very poignant moment to see these students of mine, active in the basketball court, trying to be as composed as possible in order to snag the much coveted title of tiong lian champion. one would think that this league is the "IT" league, never mind SBP-Pasarelle, PAYA, ISSA and all the others. To some extent, yes. even as a mere spectator, i can feel that the school, particularly the alumni, gives their support...the busses, the cheering paraphernalia, the presence of dance x and x squad....but hey, it IS the premier filipino-chinese basketball league. To win in this league is a laurel in anyone's cap and i am truly, truly proud that once again, it rests on the heads of these valiant xaverians.

and so, as this basketball season draws to a close, i take my hats off to these kids, who one upon a time slept on my lap, ate tons of rice and had to be dragged by his dad to practice the sport but in the end, are victorious. thanks guys for returning the glory back to xavier school. here's hoping that the jubillee team next year will repeat this outstanding feat!

the end of an era

tonight marks the end of another chapter in our lives as grade six teachers...the end of bukas palad night....through sheer grit and determination, we managed a record setting pace of a BPN for 5 consecutive weeks.... and a BPN on the eve of sem break so as to start the new year with a clean slate, so to speak.... so what was so special about this BPN? well, if you think about it, not much...if anything, this batch of grade six kids benefitted a lot from the 2 batches who went and forged their way through the program, most especially the amazing street kids race....just like other batches, we had our share of pasaway kids, cry babies and of course those kids who would do anything and everything to get us to do things their way.... yeah, one might say...same old, same old.... but then again, looking back on the past 8 days and nights of BPN, there are a few things that set us apart...for one, my class, 6C had the living rosary in the newly renovated EED formation center. the living rosary has been something that i wanted to share to the community in general and to my anaks in particular. i was truly overjoyed when i got to share it with my anaks. secondly, i got to interact with the volunteers more because of the station i handled. the grade 7 boys, charles, chico....and lastly, one notable thing about the series of BPN was the people involved in it. the students and the teachers who sacrificed the start of their weekend (and sem break) to be with the students and the students who had to go through a lot of mockery and hardship in order to realize a lesson that hopefully they will carry in their hearts for a long long time...and this is embodied in the questions i posed to my advisees as we discussed out committment....

what have i done for christ? (who is in my classmates)
what am i doing for christ? (who is in my family)
what ought i do for christ? (who is in the street children)

and so, as another chapter closes, we sit back and eagerly anticipate the fruits of our sacrifice....the knowledge that these fruits might ripen now or in the next 1...5, 10 or even perhaps 20 years from now is immaterial. what matters most is that the seed is planted and we have faith that it will bear fruit...all for the greater glory of GOD

can i be bad?

sometimes you gotta hand ot over to the villains on tv...or movies..or the corrupt government officials... when they feel like the world is ganging up on them, even if it was their fault, they kick, scream, curse, throw things, setup traps...even mangle a limb or two in order to get back at their (supposed) oppressor...buti pa sila...but what about folks like me? someone who was brought up not to be violent, use peaceful means in order to settle differences...and not to mention, as a teacher, maintain a high moral and emotional standard where violence is never an option....but what i need is a release!!! after today, i feel physically and emotionally beaten to a pulp. so much so that even a student who is not what you would peg as sensitive noticed my sad demeanor. of course, i can always look back at this time last year, when about the same thing happened, being reduced to something like a pond scum, being told in effect that i was good for nothing...and yet i've managed to live through it....but the old battle wounds have been reopened, compromising my very existence. it doesn't help a teeny bit that a bunch of us were trampled upon....same wounds...same group of people. for once in my life, i want to be a villain and just get a piece of that one person who is responsible for this. can i actually wait for heaven to settle the score? i want to punch this person on the face, and i'll take any punch, even if its a sucker punch...perhaps, perhaps, i just need some time to cool off, count one till a million and face tomorrow with a smile. then, that, perhaps can be my revenge. for even if i have been beaten to a pulp, i shall stand smiling in front of my oppressor. how about that? in the meantime, is the football field free? i wanna scream on top of my lungs...curses not included.

new office slang.....

so some won't be refered to as a 404..... and also for those whose spouses are square headed....

404 - Someone who is clueless. From the Web error message, 404 Not Found, which means the document requested couldnt be located. Dont bother asking John. Hes 404.

Adminisphere - The rarified organizational layers above the rank and file that makes decisions that are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant.

Alpha Geek - The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. I dunno, ask Rick. Hes our alpha geek.

Assmosis - The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

Batmobiling - putting up emotional shields. Refers to the retracting armor that covers the Batmobile as in she started talking marriage and he started batmobiling

Beepilepsy - The brief siezure people sometimes suffer when their beepers go off, especially in vibrator mode. Characterized by physical spasms, goofy facial expressions, and stopping speech in mid-sentence.

Betamaxed - When a technology is overtaken in the market by inferior but better marketed competition as in Microsoft betamaxed Apple right out of the market

Blamestorming - A group discussion of why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.

Blowing Your Buffer - Losing ones train of thought. Occurs when the person you are speaking with wont let you get a word in edgewise or has just said something so astonishing that your train gets derailed. Damn, I just blew my buffer! (Synonym: Head Crash)

Body Nazis - Hard-core exercise and weight-lifting fanatics who look down on anyone who doesnt work out obsessively.

Bookmark - To take note of a person for future reference. After seeing his cool demo at Siggraph, I bookmarked him.

Brain Fart - A byproduct of a bloated mind producing information effortlessly; a burst of useful information. I know youre busy on the Microsoft story, but can you give us a brain fart on the Mitnik bust? Variation of old hacker slang that had more
negative connotations.

CGI Joe - A hard-core CGI script programmer with all the social skills and charisma of a plastic action figure.

Chainsaw Consultant - An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee head count, leaving the top brass with clean hands.

Chip Jewelry - Old computers destined to be scrapped or turned into decoration. I paid three grand for that Mac and now its nothing but chip jewelry.

Chips and Salsa - Chips = hardware, salsa = software. First we gotta figure out if the problems in your chips or your salsa.

CLM (Career Limiting Move)- Used by microserfs to describe an ill-advised activity. Trashing your boss while he or she is within earshot is a serious CLM.

Cobweb - A WWW site that never changes.

Crapplet - A badly written or profoundly useless Java applet. I just wasted 30 minutes downloading that crapplet!

CROP DUSTING - Surreptitiously farting while passing thru a cube farm, then enjoying the sounds of dismay and disgust; leads to PRAIRIE DOGGING.....

Cube Farm - An office filled with cubicles.

Dead Tree Edition - The paper version of a publication available in both paper and electronic forms.

Dilberted - To be exploited and oppressed by your boss, as is Dilbert, the comic strip character. Damn, Ive been dilberted again! The old man revised the specs for the fourth time this week.

Dorito Syndrome - The feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction triggered by addictive substances that lack nutritional content. I just spent six hours
surfing the Web, and now Ive got a bad case of Dorito Syndrome.

Egosurfing - Scanning the Net, databases, etc., for ones own name.

Elvis Year - The peak year of popularity as in 1993 was Barney the dinosaurs Elvis year

Flight Risk - Used to describe employees who are suspected of planning to leave a company or department soon.

Generica - Fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions as in we were so lost in generica that I couldnt remember what city it was

Glazing - Corporate-speak for sleeping with your eyes open; a popular pastime at conferences and early-morning meetings. Didnt he notice that by the second session half the room was glazing?

Going Postal - Totally stressed out and losing it like postal employees who went on shooting rampages

GOOD job - A "Get-Out-Of-Debt" job. A well-paying job people take in order to pay off their debts, one that they will quit as soon as they are solvent again.

Gray Matter - Older, experienced business people hired by young entrepreneurial firms trying to appear more professional and established.

Graybar Land - The place you go while youre staring at a computer thats processing something very slowly (while you watch the gray bar creep across the screen). That CAD rendering put me in graybar land for like an hour.

High Dome - Egghead, scientist, PhD

Idea Hamsters - People whose idea generators are always running.

Irritainment - Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying, but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were a prime example.

Its a Feature - From the old adage, Its not a bug, its a feature. Used sarcastically to describe an unpleasant problem you wish to gloss over.

Keyboard Plaque - The disgusting buildup of dirt and crud found on some peoples computer keyboards.

Link Rot - The process by which web pages links become obsolete as the sites theyre connected to change or die.

Meatspace - The physical world (as opposed to the virtual) also carbon community facetime F2F RL

Mouse Potato - The online generations answer to the couch potato.

Ohnosecond - That minuscule fraction of time during which you realize youve just made a terrible error.

Open-Collar Workers - People who work at home or telecommute.

Percussive Maintenance - The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

Perot - To quit unexpectedly. My cellular phone just peroted.

Plug-and-Play - A new hire who doesnt require training. That new guy is totally plug-and-play.

Prairie Dogging - When something loud happens in a cube farm, causing heads to pop up over the walls trying to see whats going on.

Ribs N Dick - A budget with no fat as in weve got ribs n dick and were supposed to find 20K for memory upgrades

Salmon Day - The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed in the end. God, today was a total salmon day!

Seagull Manager - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, shits over everything and then leaves.

Siliwood - The coming convergence of movies, interactive TV and computers; also Hollywired

SITCOMs - What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids. Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage

Square-Headed Spouse - Computer

Squirt the Bird - To transmit a signal up to a satellite. Crew and talent are ready...what time do we squirt the bird?

Starter Marriage - A short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property and no regrets.

Stress Puppy - A person who thrives on being stressed-out and whiny.

Swiped Out - An ATM or credit card that has been used so much its magnetic strip is worn away.

Tourists - Those who take training classes just to take a vacation from their jobs. There were only three serious students in the class; the rest were just tourists.

Treeware - Hacker slang for documentation or other printed material.

Umfriend - One with whom one has a sexual relationship; as in, this is Dale, my...um...friend.

Under Mouse Arrest - Getting busted for violating an online services rule of conduct. Sorry I couldnt get back to you. AOL put me under mouse arrest.

Uninstalled - Euphemism for being fired. Also: decruitment.

Vulcan Nerve Pinch - The taxing hand position required to reach all the appropriate keys for certain commands. For instance, the warm re-boot for a Mac II computer involves simultaneously pressing the Control key, the Command key, the Return key and the Power On key.

WOOFYS - Well Off Older Folks.

World Wide Wait - The real meaning of WWW.

Xerox Subsidy - Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from ones workplace.

Yuppie Food Coupons - Twenty dollar bills from an ATM.

wit with one letter

something that got dropped in my mailbox today....good for a chuckle or two...or even more...read on....

The Washington Post's Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing ONE letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners:

1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize that it was your money to start with.

2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. (The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.)

4. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

5. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

9. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido: All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

And the pick of the literature:

18. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an a--hole

key to Under a Clear Blue Sky

the color blue has the power to soothe the soul. even a blue image in the mind can slow the pulse and make you take a deep breath. other colors have significance, too. The scene you pictured contrasted against that clear blue sky reveals a hidden talent that resides in the depths of your untroubled mind.

a. a white snowy plain
you are blessed with a special sensitivity that allows you to comprehend situations at a glance and decipher complex problems without needing any proof of explanation. You have what it takes to be a clear-sighted decision maker and even something of a visionary. Always trust your first intuitions; they will guiide you well.

b. a blue seascape
you have a natural talent for interpersonal relations. people respect your ability to communicate with others and the way you help bring diverse groups together. just by being around, you help others work more smoothly and efficiently, making you an invaluable member of any projct or team. when you say, "nice job. keep up the good work," people know you mean it. so it means that much more to them.

c. a green mountain
your gift is for expressive communication. you always seem to be able to find the words to express the way you feel and people soon realize it's exactly how they were feeling, too. they say that joy shared is multiplied, while shared grief is divided. you always seem to be able to help others find the right side of that equation.

d.a field of yellow flowers
you are a storehouse of knowledge and creativity, bursting with ideas and almost infinite potential. keep attuned to the feeling so others and never stop working on building your dreams, and there is nothing you cannot achieve.