Midlife Phoenix

Oh well, Introduction and Theoretical Background for my research already submitted.  I had two colleagues read it and I had last minute revisions and corrections made before I finally had them printed.  I think they're alright as they are, but my professor is very good at finding mistakes so I expect some marks when they will be given to me next Saturday.  No big deal in any way.  It would be a good thing because by then I'd know what I did wrong and make the necessary alterations where needed.  I haven't started on my Related Literature just yet, but I have a lot of print outs to go through.  Looking at the pile of papers that gets thicker everyday, I feel the urge to run and hide sometimes (kidding!), but then this a war I started, finish the war I must... regardless of wounds and scars and bruises along the way.  I am starting to enjoy the ride despite the bumpy road.  I just wish I could find time each day for the things I wish to do so tha...

It had been a hectic week.  Activities were piling up one after the other that I didn't know which to do first.  I haven't been really organized but I knew instinctively that I had to rely on good old fashioned organization (mentally listing down tasks to be completed for the day) if I were to really cover everything that needed doing on time.  The week started out well despite some not so good vibes during the weekend courtesy of my carelessness where the use of technology and the gadgets that come with it is concerned.  But like everything else, all is well that ends well.  I managed to act as though nothing happened.  Not stoic, but I decided it best to put on my best front if I didn't want to be in hotter situation.  Lesson learned: Hold your horses. So, what really placed me in a limbo? Nothing strange actually.  Just too many tasks required of me (us, in general) and I don't know which needs prioritizing because they appear to be impo...

I started the semester with optimism that, just like the summer sessions, everything will be bearable. How wrong did I get! I started in idyll apparently.  I did not stop and ponder what will happen when work and school collide with each other. It definitely left me flattened in their midst ---- still breathing and alive, but a bit dizzy and disoriented. The adjustment led me to a cowardly decision: that of giving up my studies to focus on the demands of work.  After all, my primary motive for educational advancement is to enhance my professional knowledge.  Personal advancement will come in as a by product of these things. It's a daily struggle, I tell you.  The workload of a teacher doesn't stop at preparing lesson plans, actual teaching, preparing tests, checking of test papers, recording scores and computing grades.  A teacher these days need to have the endurance of Darna and Wonder Woman otherwise, she will collapse --- if not physically, she will wi...

As is my practice,  I always set a schedule as to when I am going to complete one task.  I prepare beforehand and gather everything that needs to be gathered so there will be a lot of time to restructure and redesign if necessary.  Just glad that despite the confusion, everything has been completed now.  My 501 synthesis is through. My 508 portfolio, compilation and the class hard bound compilation is also done. I can breathe easily again and look forward to enrolling for the first semester. It's only this 509 that's in limbo... and if I must reiterate, I will and I will do it in bold letters to signify how mad I am:  THE IRRESPONSIBILITY OF ONE NEED NOT DISRUPT THE TIME SCHEDULE OF MANY! Anyways, here are the snapshots I used in my 508 portfolio...

I am supposedly going to have a class today, but I don't feel it in me to go cram to school when it's only us, the masterands, who are evidently wanting to come to school. Our instructor apparently has priorities that seldom include us although we are enrolled officially in her class.  It feels funny at times to be asking whether we were going to have a class ... to go to school and wait only to find out we weren't going to meet. Tasks and requirements pile up one after the other and some of the requirements we know nothing about.   Like this electronic portfolio.  We were told to start preparing for such.  I didn't have any idea, I admit and so I researched on it. There are many ways on which to keep an electronic portfolio.  Those who can afford can even keep a website.  The internet resource stated that a blog that is regularly maintained is also considered one.  And since it is one I am very much familiar and comfortable with, I opted to h...

Now, since I was told by my instructor in the 509 subject that this blog is not the electronic portfolio she wants, well, I might just as well fill in some important things that happened in my other subjects as well. In my 508 class, Human Resource Management, I was supposed to encode everything, but power interruptions led me to decide to do things the manual way.  So, since I couldn't upload the whole hand-made output, I scanned them instead... Here's a sample: I guess, there's nothing left to do now.  I haven't slept a wink the other night because I wanted to finish my electronic portfolio..... but, it just wasn't possible.  I'd do some snoring sometime this afternoon --- well, after the artistic itch dies down.

Okey, people....we had our session today.  A short one because many of my classmates were absent.  Besides, we couldn't proceed with the Power Point presentations because we were not able to find the multimedia projector in Dr. Jumawan's office. Dr. Josel instead gave us samples of  PPT templates for electronic portfolio and for a quiz show.  And there is another set of assignments for the groups to comply with - three chapters, one each for every group.   Though this is not the electronic portfolio Dr. Josel wants us to have, I plan to keep it altogether so it will serve as a record of my journey toward attaining my masters degree.  It would also be evidence my husband will visit from time to time so he'll know that his dear wife is really doing what she claims to be doing, hehe.   So, the day was quite uneventful, but.... I made it eventful in my own way.  I cropped pictures of the book pages I photographed and which I will use t...

After submitting my synthesis on email last April 30, I checked on my inbox almost everyday to see if there's something that we need to accomplish.  For almost two weeks, I did not receive anything of substance in my mailbox except for those spam  mails from Facebook informing me of this and that --- nothing worth worrying about. I knew it was because of the reason that Dr. Josel considered the fact that almost everyone in the class are to be involved in the 2010 national elections one way or another --- and it was true.  Voters and Election officers alike we are directly involved in it and the fact that it was going to be the first automated elections, well, it caused quite a stir. But so much so for the elections and everything related with it.  Let me head back to the new set of instructions I read on my mailbox early morning of May 11.  I got a screen shot, had it cropped using Photoscape (a very user-friendly photo-editing software).  Here's the se...

...dont you agree???

This is a collage of sorts of the reading material distributed for us to read and synthesize.  Instructions were also well-stated. My synthesis: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY: A SYNTHESIS             Different authors define the phrase “educational technology” differently, but it can be noted that the meanings and thoughts are the same --- it is a systematic way of designing, implementing and evaluating the total process of teaching and learning in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human and non human resources to bring about more effective instruction.             For educational technology to be an effective tool in the learning process it must address the need for everyone to understand and apply the fundamental skills and processes performed in everyday living and appreciate the value of technological change and contribute to the improvement of qua...

The following converted slides will explain: We weren't able to present this, but at least we did what were required of us.

...instructions are very clear And this is our group output:

 ...journal I have always loved to keep record of what is going through in my life. Since years past, the pen had been a source of strength --- a refuge from the onslaught of the world. I developed more affinity with the pen and the paper than with other people because I thought that people can be superficial. The pen and the paper can't and won't betray me no matter what. And so, that's how my affair with writing formally began. Time does change. And for me, it brought in changes which are both frightening and overwhelming and exciting. The internet introduced me to a new form of journal-keeping known as web-logging and which is now commonly known as blogging. My pen and paper escapades started to fade altogether when I started to become engrossed in blogging way back in 2006. The first blog I maintained was at the phased-out Yahoo!360. I had more or less 300 blogs back then. When the site was phased out, my blogs were moved to multiply but I also started to bl...

This is the third entry for today (if there was no power interruption, it could have been more entries). Since it's senseless (and foolish) to upload all 30+ converted power point slides on this blog so as to show the first presentation that we were required to come up with, I decided to create a video file instead ... no sound file though because I couldn't find anything suitable on my music library aside from these flamenco beats my husband downloaded before he went back on board and my very own Carpenters collection --- both choices would've been inappropriate, hehe. The whole process didn't take long (as I've been doing it countless of times), but while I am not really satisfied with the output, it's better than nothing. Here's the vid I am fussing about:

Anna-Liza  in action... edited on photoshop... How does one start an e-portfolio? I guess, it's best to start by knowing just what the term implies.  Otherwise, everything will not make any sense. According to Wikipedia, an electronic portfolio , also known as an e-portfolio or digital portfolio , is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web . Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files, images, multimedia , blog entries, and hyperlinks . An e-portfolio can be seen as a type of learning record that provides actual evidence of achievement. E-portfolios, like traditional portfolios , can facilitate students' reflection on their own learning, leading to more awareness of learning strategies and needs. At the  beginning of the term, I didn't feel at all enthusiastic to be back in the academe because I thought that at 37, I was too old to be pursuing a masters degree.  I should've ...

  ... goofing around while the others were busy inserting animations on the Power Point Presentations assigned to us...  why am I not involved? well, let's say I involved myself beforehand, hehehe This second blog at blogger is to comply for my electronic portfolio requirement on my Education 509 subject with the descriptive title Educational Innovation (with Computer Education).   While I wasn't planning on maintaining another blog, I found it necessary to separate this learning blog from the ones (I've had more than 5 --- some are no longer visited)  I previously maintained regularly as this is of a different level.  The ones I used to keep are used for personal expression --- rambling, venting out, humor --- you can call them  virtual salad bowls of emotions, even. Well, that is, if there ever was that term " salad bowl of emotions, hehe! On this new blog I will keep a record of what I have learned, how I learned and of course, my feelings an...