Workism, Takeaways from Dr. Greg Pawilen, Canva Create 2023 and Lessons from Senior Academic Consultant Will Laschet

Dr. Laurie Santos' the Science of Well-Being class in Coursera made the pandemic bearable. I learned the beneficial happiness habits of being grateful, mindfulness, being in the moment, exercising and meditating.

So when I found out Dr. Laurie launched a Spotify podcast called the Happiness Lab, I instantly subscribed. One impactful episode was with Derek Thompson. He was a journalist at the Atlantic and author of several best-selliing books. He developed the concept of workism which essentially is about society putting careers and promotion on a pedestal. In a nutshell, workism says that our purpose on this earth is not just to produce economic value. Having many life containers which give our lives meaning, the more well-rounded we become.

Workism was really refreshing. A loud, smart voice shouting that it is okay if your working life is not an upward straight line is ok is assuring. Indeed, there are many anti-work sentiments and the pandemic has made us realize how we may turn passion into profit because work life is not ideal for everyone. The Great Resignation, remember?

Here are my main takeaways fromt the podcast:

1. There are ways that you can invest in the other aspects of your life outside of work that could improve your quality of life.
2. There are good enough job. Good enough jobs are jobs that allow you to be who you want to be. It provides a certain amount of salary while letting you to get off at a certain time so you can invest more in yourself, your relationships and your community. Once you have found a good enough job, turn your energy to other aspects that improve your well-being.
3. What could you do aside from work? Play. Value of Play - gives self awareness, great way to serve as counter balance.
4. Unless we define ourselves, our employer will happily define it for us. Find many sources of your identity.
5. Our desks are never meant to be our altars.
6. The work is not done but it is time to stop. We can stop.

Now ask yourself: what do I want to become after my 8-5 work gig?

Dr. Greg Pawilen

Had the privilege of joining a webinar on syllabi development conducted by UPLB educator Dr. Greg Pawilen. He was a lively presenter teeming with generous sharing of life lessons gleaned from his stellar teaching career.

Aside from valuable tips on how to develop syllabi, here are life lessons I gathered from Dr. Pawilen:

• Life is not measured by your GWA or the awards that you receive.
• Teaching is not a game. It is not a show. It is a lifetime experience that will influence the lives of students: whether they become better not bitter.
• Important focus is for students to learn how to process.
• Synchronous classes should not be used on reporting or lecturing. Adopt the flipped learning: address questions, discussion when synchronous.
• Target students to be self-regulated, independent learners. Question student about their alternative understanding of what they learned.
• You can collect data all day, but how are you using it to make your program better for your students?

Canva Create 2023

I have been using Canva since 2014-2015 yet it was my first time to join Canva's Create event. So glad to see Canva has evolved into a power tool that everybody uses. I remember talking about Canva possibly eating out of Adobe's market share in one of our Academic Councils. With more and more younger users more adept with Canva instead of Adobe products, the future is exciting.

Here are some notes from my online attendance of the event:

• We all have our own life journeys. Be comfortable in your own skin.
• Use words of kindness, wisdom and love at all times.
• Do good in the world. It is a choice.
• Era of you: Who are you?

National Geographic Learning Ready for Work: Conflict Management

Since working-from-home during the pandemic, I have been attending National Geographic's free webinars whenever my schedule allows it. In one of the most recent ones I have attended, the valuable lessons on communication are applicable not just in teaching but in any relationships. Sharing them here for you to think about too:

• Conflict management tip: examine every type of issue for the best type of response to conflict.
• Give in - when you've realized you are wrong and the issue is more important to them than you, or when the relationship is very important to you.
• Avoid - when issue is small. Not the right time or place to talk or better to wait until everyone's calmer.
• Compromise - no time for longer discussions or when you need a quick way to lower the negative feelings.
• Work together - when you need everyone to commit to a solution, or when you need to build a long-term-relationship.
• Force - when you need to stand up for yourself, when you've tried other ideas but they haven't worked, or you need a quick solution.

How to tell if a landline in NCR is PLDT, etc

Now that NCR-based landline has to have additional prefix digit so you may dial them, here's a cheat sheet whether to put 8, 7 or whatever based on the landline provider.

Ace water spa buffet fee and other menu, Paper and pencil assessment, Ethical considerations in assessment, #IWishMyTeacherKnew

Thinking of going to Ace Water Spa?

Here are their buffet rates:
Adults
P605/head weekdays
P715/head weekends
Kids (3-4.6ft in height)
P247.50/head

Separate access and payment to the spa

Spa access:
Adult - P550
Kids 4ft below - P250

Paper and pencil assessment
Paper and pencil type comprise the majority of classroom assessments I had as a student - from quizzes, to seat work to essay tests. I remember taking some performance-based assessments such as dance presentations, home economics skills demonstration and public speaking during elementary and high school. For college, my undergraduate course required a few TV and radio production classes which involved regular performances.

Paper and pencil assessments taught me valuable life skills such as taking down notes during class, mustering the courage to clarify what is not clear to me, and developing friendships with classmates who help me prepare for such exams.

Performance-based assessments, on the other hand, helped me directly learn new skills and processes.

Hat Tip, Escape The City

I have been a proud product of Philippine public school education. It is only now in post graduate that I have enrolled in a private institution. Generally, I consider my schooling as top notch. I was fortunate to have excellent and passionate teachers who valued us, their students, as if we were their own family.

However, my educational experience does not resonate with the majority of Filipinos.

Stories about teachers physically hurting non-performing students, school administrators manipulating honor roll, teachers giving out quizzes as punishment to students' behavior are real and illustrate lack of ethics when it comes to assessment of learning.

Though I have not directly experienced any such things, I am most able to resonate with the psychological strain that classroom assessment typically has on students.

I would like to meet a student who enjoys taking exams. Assessments, no matter how beneficial, remain a requirement students grudgingly take on. It is synonymous to pressure, cramming and manual labor.

School and learning are fun, but when assessment gets into the picture, the fun stops. Perhaps due to competition among learners, pressure from the family or society, and the feeling of being judged among other things, contribute to the negative psychological impact of classroom assessment.

#IwishmyteacherKnew
An American teacher, Kyle Schwartz gave out a simple question at the start of the school year to break the ice with a short essay prompt: I wish my teacher knew. The responses she got where overwhelming, with several students revealing deep and personal issues about their family, parents and dreams.

She shared some students' reply via Twitter and the hashtag #Iwishmyteacherknew became viral.

Why we chose to homeschool, Ephemeralization and Classroom assessments

Canva lets me do impressive graphic design work!

Why we homeschooled

For about a school year, we enrolled our kids to a homeschool provider. These are our primary reasons:

1. To provide the best education to our ADHD-suspect kid
2. To ensure the kids don't only learn knowledge, but grow godly characters which we value more in our family
3. To ensure the kids apply all they have learned in all aspects of their lives - no double lives
4. Last line of defense - gave up career, homefront and kids are the only turf I would like to triumph on and I am not happy with what I am seeing
5. To accommodate the location transfer of our family

Guess what, after a school year, our family realized that it is not for us. Why?

1. Our kid turned out to be normal and fit for traditional schools
2. Our walk is more important than our talk, and I am worst at both. Really, there are times when I am so terrible that I don't even want to be me.
3. Our kids are still young that there are no secrets yet. Plus living within the same community as the school and their classmates' family allows us to know their classmates' families too and vice versa.
4. The kids have grown up to the point that they need more independence and therefore more time for me to pursue what I am passionate about
5. We have found a verdant and booming place and are choosing to calling this home

Buck Fuller's ephemeralization

ephemeralization to describe the notion that over time, the cost of producing anything approaches zero while its quality continues to increase… until eventually, we can do everything, with nothing ~Buckminster Fuller

I came across this great polymath during my early web design days. I hope that all basic education teachers and students know about him.

Classroom assessments
My undergraduate course for this semester is Assessment of Learning. My former college classmate is my professor. I'd say he is doing a great job. For this class, he asked us to write a reflection paper on classroom assessment. Here it goes.

Assessments are like medicine. They are necessary, but their intended users do not like them. 

Just like a bitter pill, I personally do not like classroom assessments because most of the quizzes, exams, recitations, reportings, research papers, group activities, and tons of homework I encountered involved heavy memorization of information that were stored in the short-term memory of my brain. These information, a semester or school year after, were forgotten and replaced with other memories.

Half of me considers this cyclical process an easier way out, a required compliance in order to further one’s goals in life that is still attainable to those who chose to take a different, less structured path of becoming a self-made man or woman without the necessary educational background. The other half trusts, relies and thrives on this established norm.

My former teachers used different forms of assessment to accomplish their work requirements. My friends and I have been blessed to have several teachers who valued us as individuals more than our assessment results. They remained helpful friends even long after graduation.

Jolly Lois Maya at 4 Months

  

  

  

Ice breaker ideas

Two Truths and One Lie

Mechanics

1. Each participant writes 2 truths and 1 lie about him/her
2. Each participant then takes turns reading aloud the three things about himself/herself.
3. The rest guesses which is the lie.

Last Man Standing

Mechanics

1. Host reads out statements.
2. Participants who do not fit the statement sits down or leave the stage.
3. Last man standing wins.

Last man standing questions (setting: school accreditation orientation):

1. Has been part of a school or any education institution for more than 1 year
2. Has attended at least three professional development activity in the last 1 year
3. Voted for BBM last May 2023 election
4. Already got plans for Christmas 2023
5. Is taking/has taken post graduate studies.