A Librarian Among Educators

Last January 30 and February 6, 2010 I had the good fortune of joining Vibal Publishing House's roster of educators who gave seminar-workshops for teachers in Iloilo City and Manila on UbD (Understanding by Designs) and ICT (Information and Communications Technology). From the line up of speakers on the different content areas of instruction, I am the only librarian who gave a session on Storytelling (Iloilo), and Reading and Technology (Manila).

The macro seminar which Vibal Publishing House, Inc. (VPHI) organized was in support of DepEd's move to UbDize the high school curriculum. There are several private schools in metropolitan Manila that have caught on the UbD fever though. A few, like PAREF Southridge and Xavier School, have been successful on its implementation since the early 2000s. No wonder, more and more private schools are studying possibilities of its theory and practice. In my PAASCU visits, I have had the opportunity to see efforts of big and small schools experiment on UbD. This was where the VPHI macro seminar came in - to further evangelize and enlighten teachers and administrators.

For three months, VPHI toured the Philippines to bring knowledge, content and skill to participants from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Guest speakers gave a variety of seminar-workshop activities on UbD and its facility in grade school and high school instruction. While it carried UbD as its main topic, ICT played an important issue of discussion in the con-current sessions. Some provided theoretical and hands-on sessions on ICT integration. For my part, I did Storyteller! Storyteacher! (Iloilo) and Reading Technology (Manila).

Suffice it to say that the teachers I worked with were all tech savvy, if not, were open to using ICT to facilitate learning. The preschool teachers in Iloilo had fun doing the storytelling techniques. I did too! Once again, I had the honor and pleasure to discover teachers with unwavering passion and commitment to the craft of teaching.