Ang Examen

 

The 2020 National Children's Book Award Winners

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) announce the winners of the 6th National Children’s Book Awards (NCBA). From 218 nominated titles and a shortlisted 29 finalists, 3 titles emerged as winners. The NCBA is a biennial event that honors the best published books for children and young adults published in the previous two years. A maximum of ten titles may be included in the Best Reads list. In 2014 and 2016, a panel of child judges shortlisted ten titles and voted for their top choice through the Kids’ Choice Award.

The passion to develop children’s books in the country can be traced to Dr. Jose Rizal’s retelling of “The Monkey and the Turtle.” This was published in Trubner's Oriental Record in London in July 1889. The third Tuesday of July is celebrated as National Children's Book Day to commemorate the anniversary of its publication.

The awards aim to encourage parents and care givers to spend more time reading with their children while recommending the best published works.

The winners for the 6th National Children’s Book Awards are:

Ang Maliit na Kalabaw

Illustrated and written by Liza Flores

Adarna House, Inc., 2018

Cashaysayan: A History of Philippine Money (Halo-Halo Histories Book 2)

Written by Michelline Suarez, Joonee Garcia, and Divine Reyes

Illustrated by Benjor Catindig

Tahanan Books for Young Readers, 2018

Pitong Tsinelas (Seven Slippers)

Written by Divine Gil Reyes

Illustrated by Benjor Catindig

Tahanan Books for Young Readers, 2018

The NCBA is co-administered by NBDB with PBBY. The PBBY is a private, nonstock, nonprofit organization committed to the development of children's literature in the Philippines.

The NCBA is judged by a panel of award-winning children’s book authors, illustrators, and scholars. The esteemed judges are Dr. Christine Bellen-Ang, Dr. Rebecca Anoñuevo, Ms Dolores Carungui, Dr. Lina De Rivera, and Mr. Russell Molina.

This year, the NBDB and PBBY accepted nominations of books published in 2018 and 2019.

The awarding ceremony will be held in July 2021 during the National Children’s Book Day celebration.

In Memoriam: Miguel Magpantay Cobaria (September 30, 1948 - February 22, 2021)

Back in November 2019, the CLAPI and the NLP organized a talk on Children’s Literature and they invited me to share developments in the book industry specifically on the publication of children’s books in recent years. Both agencies supported the launch of my 9th book with Lampara Books, “When A Book Talks” (Gagatiga and Cabalar, 2019). It had a good attendance from the public sector.

From the audience, it was Prof. Miguel “Mike” Cobaria who made himself known with projects and programs for inmates in Muntinlupa and the urban poor. He talked about the use of children’s literature to engage adults and young people to read. What an interesting topic to study, I thought. As if we have all the time in the world.

Sir Mike bought copies of my books that were on sale that day. He asked that I sign them for his community whom he visits every week for storytelling and Bibliotherapy sessions. I gladly obliged. Unknown to many, it was Sir Mike who inspired me to pursue Reading Guidance and Readers Advisory, Bibliotherapy and BookTalk Services at a time when everyone in Philippine Librarianship was crazy over IT applications in library management and operations. Productivity and efficiency are important goals for any library to achieve. Library automation and computerization were the answers. It was the 90s. Everyone was riding and jumping on the IT bandwagon. But someone has to work with teachers and parents so children and young people can build their confidence to learn how to read. Teachers need an ally. Parents need literacy partners and support systems. I chose that path. I decided to take on that role. I thank Sir Mike for opening that door of possibility. It has led me to amazing adventures and a continuing journey of self discovery.

It will take me a while to come to terms with his passing. The last time we met was in January 2020, a few weeks before lockdown. He attended the Bibliotherapy workshop I set up for librarians in the Southern Tagalog Region. We were preparing for volunteer work in evacuation centers in CALABARZON to conduct storytelling and Bibliotherapy sessions with children and their families who were displaced because of the eruption of Taal volcano. He already looked frail and feeble at the time but his mind and his spirit were animated with the grace and mercy of God. He invited me to join him in one of his outreach activities. I said yes, of course. But it never happened.

In his passing I felt I have lost not just a teacher and mentor but a dear friend as well. I console myself with the thought that Sir Mike will remain a kindred spirit.

Rest in God’s peace, Sir Mike! We will carry on!

Spark a Reading Revolution Bundle 2 - The 1986 People Power Revolution

 

Spark a Reading Revolution Book Bundle 1 - The Civil Rights Movement

 

The Lighthouse Diary Entry #27: Academic Integrity and Turnitin

I attended a webinar yesterday morning. Yes, another webinar. The local distributor of Turnitin, APAC Marketing organized a 2 hour webinar on Academic Integrity at the heart of teaching and learning processes. There is less talk of the Turnitin app and more of practices in teaching and learning. 

One takeaway I have from the webinar is the 70-30 approach in online distance learning. This means, 70% is allotted for asynchronous learning and 30% for synchronous learning. This may imply that the design of instruction for asynchronous learning will lean towards student agency, engagement and independent learning. Skills teaching is paramount. Synchronous learning would entail follow up, following through, tutorial type sessions, show and model strategies. Concepts and content, especially those that cover a prescribed curriculum may need to be revisited.

I appreciated the input session of Dr. Michael Dino on Academic Integrity. I was holistic, historical and culturally relevant to our teaching practices. The live online forum that followed right after the product demo of Gradescope was engaging. Gradescope helps teachers manage and administer grades and assessments. Pegged as easy to use, it generates data that may help inform teachers on skills and concepts that have been learned and would need improvement on.

During the open forum, there were many questions about plagiarism and citations. I had to involve myself on this topic. I just cannot. So, I gave some suggestions on citation processes and the necessity of following a citation format to guide students and researchers in the responsible use of information and varied media formats.

This led me to another insight on Academic Integrity. It is about relationships. Knowing the learner, first of all, and the teacher recognizing and seeing himself or herself as a learner too, are factors to building a caring and respectful relationship necessary for learning honestly and with integrity.

Turnitin is neat app to detect plagiarism, thereby upholding Academic Integrity. But at the end of the day, it is a tool. We need to make these tools work for our advantage and not the other way around.

Spark a Reading Revolution Bundle: Life Skills Focusing on Study Skills

 

Learn From Home Episode 2 - Parent Preparedness in Pandemic Times

Learn From Home Episode 1 - Setting A Learn From Home Routine and Procedures

Learn From Home Episode 3 : Learning From Home With Luigi (Video)

 

The Lighthouse Diary Entry #26: Cornerstones of Research

I am part of the team assigned for the supervision and mentoring of juniors who will begin the Extended Essay and Senior Project (EE/SP) this year. Much thought was spent on the planning of the kick-off and presentation to students since we are all experiencing the difficulties and challenges of learning during the pandemic. As a school who believes in Conceptual Learning and Constructivism, we take into consideration the contexts, experiences, interests and attitude of our learners. As teachers and educators, we are learners too. That is why, when we set out the launching of this years EE/SP journey, there is a spark of hope and a clearer vision on what we need to accomplish by February 2022. It is important that students complete the EE or the SP with joy and a sense of self worth. 

To prepare for this goal, my part is to lay the foundations for inquiry based on the Research Cycle (RC) as guide in the journey. The RC is also a technique to chunk a big writing project such as the EE/SP into its relevant parts. There are three important things happening during the inquiry phase which are, selecting a topic of interest - one that the student is really passionate about; activating prior knowledge which would entail brainstorming leading to the formulation of questions; and doing initial research or primary readings. In the end, a student shall be poised to craft a research questions as well as a plan to undergo his or her investigation.

Within this phase of inquiry, the library can lend valuable support and teaching sessions for individual students, small groups or big group sizes. Having set up a Research Skills Center on Google Site last year, I now have a platform for asynchronous activities and a space where students can choose a research skill to learn, to review or to strengthen. This was introduced to students like a menu they can choose from. 

Another strategy we used for thinking through the inquiry phase is the KWL Chart. This is more of a warm up session. The real thinking begins when the Inquiry Chart is introduced midway of the inquiry phase. The Inquiry Chart is an expanded KWL Chart where initial research and primary readings are recorded alongside the building of a working bibliography. It is a lot to take for a junior facing his or her first academic paper. It is for this reason that a team of mentors, guides and teachers are part of their journey.

Lenten Meditations

Book Review: The Moment I Knew I'm So Into You

The Moment I Knew I'm So Into You

By Imelda Caravaca Ferrer, Self Published/HSGrafiK/PaperKat 2020

I cannot anymore remember the first time I met Teacher Imelda. But, I am sure of two things about her that first time we met. It was in a teacher training for DepEd Makati teachers where she was a participant and I was the speaker (there were many more teacher training sessions where she and I touched based over the years). She was then a principal, quiet but perceptive. When she started speaking her mind on the topic of the training which was about Reading Education, her eyes lit and she exuded an aura of warmth. 

Quiet and perceptive.

Passionate to a fault and warm.

This is the Teacher Imelda I met all those years ago. She has not changed. Proof to that is the book of poetry she recently self published. The Moment I Knew I'm So Into  You is Teacher Imelda as you see her and as you know her. 

Her poems, when read collectively is her love story with life. Each chapter is entitled after the boys she met, loved and remembered by and yet, her poetry collection is really her journey of loving life to the fullest. She is honest. Comfortable in her own skin. Free to express her feelings. Open to the past, present and the future. I cannot say it was an easy road taken as many of her poems speak of heart break and longing. 

But we do all know how it is to survive pain and strife. To read her poetry in the joys and sufferings of falling in and out of love, and coming out scared but stronger is a story we all can relate to. This is a triumph we all can share with Teacher Imelda.

Congratulations, Teacher Imelda! You are a kindred spirit. I look forward to more of your poems and stories.

Review: 3.5 Bookmarks

Ask A Librarian: Formatting and Parts of A Book

A colleague sent me a query the other day.

Hi Z, I am planning a session on the parts of a book, how chapter headers and summaries help, and what does being in boldface and italics mean for a reader. Do you have recommended sources?

Right away, I sent the books I use for such lessons with selected pages scanned and referenced. For the other topics that my colleague was looking for, I put together these web resources.

Here are links to websites that discuss the purpose of headers and summaries.

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/chapter/headings/

https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/effective-headings/

https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/chapter/writing-summaries/

In general, your query is leading to the topic on Formatting in Writing/Reading. I am recommending books on MLA, APA and CMS which we have in the library. If you need the information ASAP, visit the respective websites of each and you will get a good grasp of the standard for each style. In any case, here is a website that has presents and overview - https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-english-for-success/s18-01-formatting-a-research-paper.html

As for your query of typography, it would signal what is important to the reader. A boldface shouts while an italic whispers. Kindly read on the roundup of links for a detailed discussion on each. 

See attached PDF for the purpose of italics and head on to this website on the 5 Functions of Italicization - https://www.brighthubeducation.com/english-homework-help/31210-five-rules-of-italicization/

As for boldface here is what I gathered:

https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typographic-tips/emphasis

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-functions-of-boldface/

I enjoy getting such queries and putting them together. The resources and websites go to the pathfinders and curated collection I keep for the community. There may be another who will be in need of the same information.

Book Characters We Love

In a survey done by a local publishing house among children who have read their books, it was found out that characters who are honest, vulnerable and unique are the ones that top the list. Below is a poster I made to summarize the points and results of the survey. 

Now, ask yourself these questions:

Who is the book character you love? 

What makes this book character loveable? 

 

International Book Giving Day 2021

 

Tingnan ang post na ito sa Instagram

Isang post na ibinahagi ni Zarah Gagatiga (@zarah815)

The Lighthouse Diary Entry #25: On Shifts and Pivots

One of the many things this pandemic robbed me of doing is the joy and the experience of leisurely visits to parks, museums and libraries. Going out to walk among the trees, plants and works of art is a source of relaxation, a time to be and an opportunity to step back from work and worries. It is a dredging ritual for the brain and the soul delights in this form of nourishment. An hour or two in a museum or library, an unhurried walk in the park and a snack and coffee afterwards with family or a friend are life’s simple pleasures.

This has turned into a dream that I can only long for while locked in since March 2020. It is great effort to look at dollops of horse poop and to believe that a pony is in the other room.

COVID-19 is real and we all have to deal with the cards.

Thankfully, local museums and libraries have been very creative at bringing their services closer to people through the internet, the media and technology.

The Ayala Museum’s YouTube Channels boasts of well-made videos on Philippine Culture and the Arts. Go visit and watch the videos! These videos are not very long. In 5 minutes, I get to enjoy a talk or presentation on the journey of the global Filipino from past to present. The production team made use of their in-house contents namely, their existing dioramas, ceramic exhibits, books and photographs. Amazing what a well written script, tech wizardry and a platform to share these videos can do! It is a gift that can be slowly opened especially made for the viewer suffering from Cabin fever.

Its sister library, the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL) also has a YouTube Channel. The highlight for me is FHL’s Muni-Muni podcasts because it zeroes in on Original Pilipino Music. There are more videos to peruse in the channel and just like Ayala Museum, it follows the same principle of re-creating content into new formats of media. The people behind these projects know what to do with information, knowledge and the technology they tinker with.

At the CCP in 2018

Another cultural agency that has taken a brave leap to use technology and create content online is the Cultural Center of the Philippines. They have digitized the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Philippine Art at a very affordable subscription rate. Two ebooks have been launched for free and numerous theatre productions, podcasts of audio drama and online concerts are ongoing on their Facebook Page. If you miss any of these performances, head on to their YouTube Channel. Should you wish to get updates on events, follow them on Twitter or Instagram.

What can we learn from this - apart from being a consumers who miss face to face engagement with people and the arts? We need to understand media and technology to work for us during these trying times and find ways to manage content, art and the creative industries in new and innovative means. We will make terrible mistakes. Yet, we will learn amazing things too, thus we will survive.

As a teacher, I now ask myself how I can model this pivoting to new learning environments. Is the curriculum flexible enough to allow me to integrate topics and skills to and create a learning object from the contents I have at my disposal? What technology am I confident at tinkering with and mastering at a short span of time? Who can help me whip up instructional materials for my online lessons?

As a school librarian, I recognize the unending work to collect, curate and organize content to support teaching and learning. With the appropriate technology and the support of school leadership, I am confident that we can make strides, though slow but meaningful. Somehow, work from home becomes a little bit bearable.

Pilgrim's Pitstop: Who is the God You Encounter in Prayer?

In many an Ignatian retreat, the spiritual director would often ask retreatants at the last session of the day of the God they encountered. This is a beautiful, often poignant experience. The God that one discovers during a time of selected silence and reflection in prayer lends great consolation to the searcher. Knowing God strengthens one’s spiritual moorings as he or she sets out into the world once more.

In Magis Deo, after fifteen years of spiritual journey of prayer and service, I found out that I need not wait for the scheduled Annual Ignatian Retreat to encounter God. Though, attendance to the AIR once a year can be life affirming indeed -- opening up to more growth in discernment and in developing a deeper, more personal relationship with God. The daily prayer and journaling, the Examen and the sharing of fruits of reflection, insights and the response to action during BCGG prayer meetings are processes that involve the finding of God in every possible way.

I once asked myself a long time ago the reason and the necessity of finding God. Why is there an emphasis in finding God in all things? Isn’t God, like love is, all around us? Such is the line in a popular Beatles song.

Over time, I realized that there is grace in the act of finding God. It is hard work. It is discipline. It is faith in action. It is fidelity. It is, in itself an act of love. Opening and offering these graces during a BCGG meeting makes God real, authentic, living and moving. There lies the affirmation of His unending love and presence in each and every form of life. Creation is awash of His magnanimity. His generosity is overflowing that it squashes the ego and pride.

Recently, in a joint BCGG prayer meeting, I was struck at the God I encountered at that moment. How I share this image of God to the rest is awe inspiring as it gave me an assurance that I am not alone in this relatively new journey known as midlife. The following days inspired me to lengthen my prayer time and to consistently develop an awareness of God moving in my life.

What I discovered there, in that process of prayer and reflection was surprising even for me.

There is a sense of calm in the midst of chaos. Detachment. Being painfully honest to myself and to others. A new meaning of true love. A desire to understand and experience the peace in God’s presence.

And so, as a pilgrim, I continue to journey on with a grateful heart as companions in prayer and service are plenty to meet at every pitstop. In each step, at every turn and at rest there is God. 

God is with us. Emmanuel.

 

BA Library Online: Learning Theories and Instructional Design

Part of the information service I provide our learning community is the writing and posting of short curated materials. Every Thursday is #techThursday and this week, I put together link to resources and "think pieces" on Learning Theories and Instructional Design.

Learning Theories serve as important guiding principles in creating teaching plans and resources, and when designing instruction for remote or distance learning. Here is an infographic on three Learning Theories as moorings of pedagogy. Below is an excerpt from the article where the infographic was taken. 

Click this - Learning Theory and Instructional Design, to access the full article from Shift Learning.

"While there's no single formula for selecting the most appropriate theory, experts usually match learning theories with the learning content.

For instance, the behavioral approach is much more effective in helping learners master the content of his or her profession (knowing what) and where learner bring almost none prior knowledge to learning.

On the other hand, the cognitive approach can effectively help learners solve problems in unfamiliar situations (knowing how) as this theory is usually considered more appropriate for explaining complex forms of learning (reasoning, problem solving, etc).

As for the constructivist approach, experts have effectively applied it when dealing with ill-defined problems that calls for reflection-in-action.(Ertmer P. & Newby, T., 1993)"

World Read Aloud Day 2021: An Online Author Visit at Keys School Manila

 

Today is World Read Aloud Day! Yesterday, I spent it with K-3 students of Keys School Manila. I read aloud my story My Daddy! My One and Only! (illustrated by Jomike Tejido, Lampara Books 2012). Nothing beats a face-to-face session, but doing an Author Visit online for the time being since it is the age of the pandemic is fine by me. 

In this medium and learning environment, the definition of engagement and participation changes. A 30-minute session is already a long haul for learners in K-3. In my experience since the pandemic started in March 2020, my storytelling plans must include visuals that are colorful, appealing to the eyes, music that is short and lively, a well selected story and activities that students can do asynchronously.

I am still learning as I go. If anything, that is one of the good things that this pandemic has brought me.  

Poetry Exchange: Tandaan Lagi Kitang Patnubay

 

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