Your Time Management Tips Could Win a Watch from Kids Watch Central!

What’s it with today’s generation? I find so many of my kids’ friends into the cramming mode. And I must confess, my own brood get into this mode every so often as well! I must admit, there are just too many distractions these days.

A whole lot more is out there than during my time when we just had to be taken away from the TV. Now, there’s the internet, the PSP, the Wii, the PS3, mobile phones, and all other techie gadgets that can really eat up time, if you are not careful.

When I was growing up, my super duper organized Dad always ingrained in me the value of managing my time. I guess it paid off that I was nerdy then. I was the type who would start on a paper weeks in advance, researching, writing and re-writing it till I was satisfied. That discipline was honed even more when I spent over 16 years with the leading accounting firm in the Philippines. Tight deadlines, plenty of overtime, pressure and stress combined squeezed out whatever time management skills you had already acquired and if you were still lacking in it, forced you to develop some real quick.

When computers were not staples yet of the home, it was easier to drill time management into my kids — at least the older girls. At that time, I had a house rule: No TV from Monday to Thursday. They could only watch TV beginning Friday after class till early Sunday evening.

Now, with computers and with homework necessitating research on the internet, it is harder to clamp down and impose rules like “no computers, no internet”. The “no TV” rule does not apply since they’d rather go on the internet than watch a TV show (should I be thankful?). But how to control their time on the internet?

With great difficulty, based on my experience. Let me give you a few examples:

“No computers from Monday to Thursday” – Mom! Most of our assignments require us to do research. How can I access Wikipedia if you don’t let us on?

“Ok, you can go online but NO CHATTING!” – But Mom, my classmates and I are online and we are discussing our assignments!

So I am left with the only thing I can impose on my boys (the girls, in college, are pretty much on their own already) — “I don’t want to see any gaming windows open!”. Let’s see them come up with a retort to THAT!

More important than just imposing rules is giving them a sense of OWNERSHIP and RESPONSIBILITY. Ownership means that they acknowledge that their assignments are theirs alone to prepare and accomplish. RESPONSIBILITY is accepting the consequences of NOT doing it properly or worse, not doing it at all. I have always emphasized to my kids that I will never go to their teachers to play down or cover up for homework that they failed to do. They had to face these consequences themselves.

CONTEST MECHANICS

Anyway, here’s something FUN, FUN, FUN! And it’s so easy because it comes from your personal experience!

I’d love to hear the best time management techniques that you ever gave out to your kids. Share any anecdotes that you may have experienced in using these techniques and what the results were on your kids.

Just post a comment below (with a valid email address) and that serves as your entry. You can submit only 1 entry until July 20, 2009 (midnight).

The three (3) most unique and interesting answers each get one (1) Kids Watch Central watch for your little one.  Kids Watch Central wants to give your kids a head start with time management. What better way than with a watch they can use to monitor time!!!

(Note: The actual watches to be given away may not necessarily match what are shown in the pictures.)

Winners within Metro Manila and surrounding areas may claim their prizes at GeiserMaclang c/o Arbee Panga, Unit 7D Tuscan Building, 114 V.A. Rufino St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Provincial winners will get their prizes via courier. Open to residents in the Philippines only.

On July 21, I will update this post with the names of the three (3) winners.

Many thanks to GeiserMaclang and Kids Watch Central for this TIME-ly contest.

Krispy Kreme Celebrates Six Dozen Years with over 10,000 Doughnuts

Block off July 13!

Krispy Kreme will be celebrating its 72nd anniversary and all of us Krispy Kreme lovers and fans are invited to any of their stores in the Philippines or in any of these countries:  USA, Australia, Canada, UK, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia.    

It’s as simple as this.

Just visit a Krispy Kreme store nearest you and get one FREE Original Glazed Doughnut for any purchase. That translates to over 10,000 free doughnuts for us on this day!

My kids all love Krispy Kreme.  And so do I. My all-time favorite has always been the Original Glazed doughnut.

Here we are at the launch of KK's Chocolate Karnival doughnut line

So on July 13, let’s come together, Krispy Kreme fans, and enjoy whatever favorite doughnut or beverage we love and get that free doughnut besides!

See you there!

For updates on Krispy Kreme’s 72nd Birthday Celebration, join the Philippines “Friends of Krispy Kreme” by visiting www.krispykreme.com.ph

Xavier School Turns Virtual

Just five days after I blogged about how technology could be used by schools in the wake of the A(H1N1) virus, Xavier School suspended classes for 10 days after one student tested positive for the virus.

Was this a setback for the school? If you’re thinking in traditional mode, yes. Teachers & students could not come together in class for interactive learning. But did that stop Xavier? Absolutely not. The school turned the forced vacation into an opportunity to launch what we now call “virtual Xavier”.

From the time Fr. Johnny Go, S.J. became its School Director several years back, Xavier School slowly began transforming the school, the faculty, the curriculum, and the students into technology enablers. This move served the school well this week.

The day classes were suspended, the school’s official website crashed (probably due to the unexpected traffic on the server as parents and students alike went online to check the next steps.)

It was not long before an alternate site went up, Virtual Xavier (www.virtualxavier.ning.com)

Virtual Xavier as it looked the first time it was put up

Next thing we knew, Multiply sites PER LEVEL were created. By this coming Monday, June 29, parents and students alike can go to the Multiply site of their son’s level and download online lessons uploaded by their teachers. In fact, some of these sites already have some content in them like this:

I believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as what Xavier School (or any other technology-enabled institution) can do. What is important at this stage is the fact they are proving that learning does not stop just because teachers & students cannot come to school. Education can continue for as long as technology enables them to. There are many other things I can see evolving in terms of virtual schooling (podcasting, livestreaming, videoconferencing, online chatrooms, online collaborative projects, Skype-ing, and so on) and I predict Xavier School can be at the forefront of this.  At the moment, it already has some of the infrastructure: computer literate faculty & staff, excellent IT labs, students who are almost all techie savvy, and parents who are getting there (some probably forced to learn out of necessity).

Here is a screencap from an article posted just yesterday in their school website. It shows the forward-looking state of the school.

I am hoping that other schools in the Philippines seriously consider putting more money into technology-based learning. Not just because of the spread of A(H1N1). This, to me, was just the catalyst for Xavier School. But I believe that if we can equip the current and future generations of citizens for a tech world, we can bring this country that much closer to elevating the state of education.

There is another side to consider too. The Department of Education and Culture (DECS) has to modify its guidelines to include learning outside of the classroom.  Right now, for example, we count actual school days (read that as IN SCHOOL). On occasions like this when a school is actually allowing students to accomplish schoolwork during the quarantine period, doesn’t this count (to some extent) as school days? There is a need for paradigm shifts in mindset as to what constitutes learning.  Learning is no longer just classroom-bound. If field trips are considered learning time, online work (for as long as there are guidelines established in terms of hours spent) should count as well. I have other thoughts about virtual education that can address the sore lack of brick-and-mortar classrooms but I will leave that for another day and possibly another blog post.

For now, I am just happy to see Xavier School evolving, innovating and creating. If we can think out of the box and use all the tools available to us, school can be just about anywhere we can imagine it to be — even when we are in pajamas, propped up in bed, with our laptops.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009): Never Can Say Goodbye to the Man in the Mirror

An icon from my generation is gone. Michael Jackson died of apparent cardiac arrest at 2:26pm today (Los Angeles time). He was only 50.

Growing up in the 70s and 80s with Michael Jackson, I remember him as a tiny boy with a fantastic angelic voice that could hit all those high notes effortlessly. We used to watch him perform as part of the Jackson 5 (remember, this was a time when Janet Jackson was still non-existent in showbiz!). They had their own show and appeared in countless others.

My younger years at parties (soirees as we called them then) and discos were filled with Michael Jackson dance songs. Rock With You was a favorite. So were Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough and Billie Jean.

Yes, over the years he changed so much physically and at the end, with his sharp nose and whitened skin, he looked nothing like the Michael of the 70s. People began speculating about his state of mind. But the appeal of his music through the decades did not wane.

His songs went beyond my generation. Our son, M1, who is only 17 years old, saved up his school allowance to be able to buy the Thriller album so he could put the songs on his ipod. Imagine the span of years here!

I have been listening to my collection of his songs on my ipod the whole day, with the TV tuned in to CNN as they covered the breaking news from all angles. I have not yet fully absorbed the impact of this news. Who could imagine this tragedy when he was planning a comeback with 50 shows in London this July?

There are sad stories about his life but I wish to remember Michael Jackson as the one who gave the whole world so many wonderful songs, patended the Moonwalk, and danced his way into all our hearts.

Michael, I wish you peace in God’s arms now. You will be sorely missed but you have left us so much music so that we can never, ever, forget you.

Here are a few YouTube videos to remember Michael by, singing some of my favorite songs.

And this is the best montage of Michael Jackson’s smooth dance moves that I could find. No one can dance like Michael can dance!!!

I Love You, Dad! I Miss You…

With Dad in Disneyland

Disneyland castle behind us

My dad passed away in 2001.

It was totally unexpected. He had just returned from a 10-day trip to our province, Iloilo, to take care of some family matters. He made a special trip to Bacolod where some of his brothers resided. They noticed he was breathless and seemed tired but he dismissed this as just travel fatigue. But by the time he returned to Manila, he was in such bad shape that he was in a wheelchair when my brother met him at the arrival area. We went to visit him the next day (a Saturday) not knowing that by the following day, he would be gone forever from us.

He was not demonstrative. And I can’t say that I was his favorite. But in many ways, he showed how particularly special I was to him.

Of the 4 children in the family, it was I who followed in his footsteps and took Accountancy. I knew he was very proud when I passed the CPA Board because he himself was unable to take the exam. He was protective to the point of suffocation sometimes. I was a “hatid-sundo” girl when I would work way past midnight as a budding auditor in a prestigious accounting firm. When I had to take my MBA in the States, it was Dad who came along to ensure I was well settled in Philadelphia. And when I took a summer Europe trip, Dad readily sent me some pocket money. It was much, much later that I found out they were renovating our house. That was money that could have been added to defraying their expenses. Yet he sent it to me.

Dad, you were not the type to wrestle with your kids. You were a breadwinner & provider more than a weekend buddy. You were a silent, strong presence.

You were usually quiet around strangers but was always the family joker when around relatives. Those were fun times…

I inherited your OC-ness, attention to detail and system of organizing things.

Dad, you made the best version of Mahu (that Chinese shredded pork cooked with Kikkoman soy sauce (not just any soy sauce would do!). You should see Benjie (my brother). He has taken after you and is now the official mahu maker in the family.

You loved your grandkids. I still have this picture in my mind of Ian falling asleep on your shoulder as you rocked him in your arms. You enjoyed each and every one of them.

Dad, I hope you are looking down on me from up there constantly.  I love you very much and miss you terribly. I wish I had one more day to celebrate Father’s Day with you and just talk with you all day. We will see each other again, for sure. For now, I have wonderful memories of you to carry me through the rest of my life. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. Thank you for loving me so much.

I found this poem on the internet. All I can give you this Father’s Day is in this poem, Dad. Happy Father’s Day!

Missing You

No words I write can ever say

How much I miss you every day.

As time goes by, the loneliness grows;

How I miss you, nobody knows!

I think of you in silence,

I often speak your name,

But all I have are memories

And photos in a frame.

No one knows my sorrow,

No one sees me weep,

But the love I have for you

Is in my heart to keep.

I’ve never stopped loving you

I’m sure I never will;

Deep inside my heart,

You are with me still.

Heartaches in this world are many

But mine is worse than any.

My heart still aches as I whisper low,

“I need you and I miss you so.”

The things we feel so deeply

Are often the hardest to say,

But I just can’t keep quiet any more,

So I’ll tell you anyway.

There is a place in my heart

That no one else can fill,

I love you so, Dad,

And I always will.

~ Author Unknown

Technology: A Tool for Schools in the Wake of A(H1N1)

Many mothers like me here in the Philippines are growing more and more worried by the day as the number of people becoming sick with the A(H1N1) virus increases. Classes have just began in our part of the world and in the first week, some students were found positive resulting in classes being suspended and moved by about 10 days.

In the university where my girls go to school, there were initially 3 high school cases but another case was confirmed yesterday. So far, the school where my boys study has been virus-free but as more and more schools confirm cases of their students getting sick, I worry.

However, I have suggestions for school administrators and teachers especially in schools that are well-equipped to use technology and the internet. You can have a back-up plan to ensure that in the event you will be forced to suspend classes, your students do not lose too many days out of school. This will require a paradigm shift in the way you conduct classes but it can work.

You can shift to the web.

Of course, many of these moves may require coordination with DECS but just think of the possibilities:

1. Email addresses and mobile numbers serve as point-to-point contact – Many schools, as part of information sheets during enrollment, ask for the email addresses and mobile numbers of parents & students. Take this to the next level. Use your database of email addresses of all your students/teachers/administrators/parents and create mailing lists now. One mailing list for faculty, another for parents, another for students (by level). This will be one of your ways to disseminate information.

2. School websites are not just for information; they can be transformed into online classrooms. – A few days ago, the boys’ school held parent orientations. I did not go. I was feeling under the weather and chose to stay away from crowds. But I heard that the orientations did not last long. The class advisers went through powerpoint presentations to introduce the line-up of teachers as well as answer a few questions from the attending parents.

Now this got me thinking. If that was all it took during orientations, why could we not have put this same information up on the website of the school, giving access to parents via some form of security code?

I remember the inauguration of Pres. Barack Obama. CNN created a Facebook page linked to its website. Any Facebook users who subscribed to the page could literally jump into a chatroom as the inauguration was going on and add his/her comments to the global community. Bring that down to a school community.

Could we  create a smaller version of a chatroom so that parents could do conferencing with the school administrators/faculty as they are viewing a presentation?

Could Powerpoint presentations be simply uploaded to the website for parents to access?

Could the teachers have made podcasts/videos of what they wanted to say to parents as well?

Can lessons be broadcast via podcasts or YouTube?

3. Think ONLINE QUIZZES!!! – Yes, there will be issues like: Do we really know if it is the student answering the quiz or not since he is not visible to the teacher? But maybe with proper sanctions in place for those found cheating, or with appropriate security codes/log-in requirements, students can take quizzes online. Cheap webcams can be required so that a student would be visible via webcam to his teacher while taking an exam. Grading would be a cinch too since the correct answers can be keyed into a program that does instantaneous checking of papers.

4. Collaborative tools make team-based projects easy online. – Google Docs is one example of a collaborative tool. Word documents, spreadsheets and presentations can be created and shared online. Team members can all view the same document, make changes, chat online about it and essentially, collaborate. No need for face-to-face interaction.

5. Use Mobile broadcasting for important announcements – Many schools in Metro Manila utilize this tool already. Parents/students/faculty subscribe to the service and important announcements from the school are pushed via SMS to the subscribers. While mobile broadcasting nowadays is in the form of school cancellations, event announcements and the like, this can be used also to alert parents and students to check the school website for newly posted classroom activities.

This internet mode of schooling is, of course, a temporary measure and can be utilized only in extreme cases when the school is forced to suspend classes for long stretches. But if the DECS accepts this as an alternate mode of schooling, cases like the A(H1N1) pandemic need not interrupt school days drastically.

At the moment, I also realize that it is the private schools that would have the advantage in implementing this over public schools due to their access to technology and computers but we can start from here.

Leave a comment if you have other ideas as to how classes can be conducted online to reduce the interruptions.

111 Years of Philippine Independence + the First Ever Filipino Google Doodle

Today, June 12, 2009 marks the 111th year of Philippine independence. And what a way to begin the day! At the first stroke of the day, shortly after midnight, Google Philippines posted its first ever Filipino Google Doodle on its page, www.google.com.ph.

My heads-up came from Aileen (Google’s country consultant for the Philippines) who sent out the news via Plurk. The Plurk thread became viral with many midnight plurkers reposting the doodle over and over on their own timelines.

Everyone knows the Google logo on its search homepage. But a Google Doodle is a fun twist to the logo which Google does on special events such as Christmas, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, other international events or special days commemorating celebrity personalities like Albert Einstein. Click on THIS LINK to meet Dennis, the guy behind Google Doodles and THIS LINK to view past such doodles.

ABS-CBNNews.com wrote this about the Filipino Google Doodle and how it came into existence for this day:

“This is the first-ever Google doodle for the Philippines so we wanted to make it very classic and meaningful for Filipinos. We created a special doodle on the Google Philippines homepage for June 12, 2009 to commemorate the Philippines’ Independence Day,” said Jay Trinidad, Regional Product Marketing Manager, Consumer Products, Google Asia Pacific.

“Google doodles also celebrate important local events and holidays such as this one. It is our honor to celebrate more than a century of national excellence and achievement with all Filipinos in our own creative and Googley way. On behalf of Google, I wish my fellow Filipinos another century of increasing prosperity and success. Mabuhay ang Pinoy!”

Trinidad said Google designers used the sun with its eight rays, which represents the eight Philippine provinces that pledged their support to the revolution, and used it as the first ‘O’ in the Google logo.

“We also used red, white, and blue, the Philippines’ national colors, which stand for patriotism, equality, and justice, respectively. We also incorporated the flag’s three stars in the design, symbolizing the three major geographic regions of the country,” he said.

On June 12, 1898, revolutionary forces under Emilio Aguinaldo, the country’s first and youngest President, declared independence from Spanish colonial rule. The Philippine Independence Day doodle is based on the country’s current national flag, which is very similar to the one Aguinaldo raised 111 years ago.

The Filipino Google Doodle will only be up on the search homepage today so I am making this post to preserve its significance forever on my blog.

I want my children to see how important it is to preserve and continue to love this independence that had cost so many lives in the past and which we must preserve with our own lives too for the future generations.

I experienced the Martial Law years as a college student and as a first-time working girl. I met Charito Planas as a student in the United States and listened intently as she spoke about her escape and self-exile together with Ninoy and others, the small-time job in a pizza parlor she had to hold to eke out a living, and her love for the Philippines. I remember feeling the despair and hopelessness of the nation when Ninoy Aquino was murdered — ominously, on my birthday, August 21. I joined NAMFREL as a volunteer for Operation Quick Count during the 1984 and 1986 snap elections. My siblings and I went out into the streets during the EDSA Revolution just to be among the crowd supporters. And I was there in EDSA II as a mother, this time bringing along one of my daughters so she too could witness history and what it was like to fight for the right to democracy.

I love my country. I love the Philippines. And I fervently hope that my children will grow up to once again see it led by people who truly and sincerely love it too. Way beyond personal/vested interests. No politicking. No corruption. Plain and simple HONEST government service to the people.

An A(H1N1) Flu Booklet from the UN

The Philippines is now counted as one of the countries affected by the A(H1N1) virus. As of last count by the Department of Health, there are already57 people who contracted it. Thankfully, we have had no deaths yet.

What is worrisome to parents like me is its timing with the opening of classes.

When De La Salle University was first hit with the news of 2 foreign exchange students testing positive, my first thoughts were with our nephew who had just come to Manila from the province to begin school as a freshman there. We checked up on him and had him go home immediately.

Yesterday, I was at Ateneo with my 2 girls to enroll and get our car stickers as well as meet up with a cousin whose daughter (my niece) was also an incoming freshman in the school. We were in and out of the school and only heard the news in the evening that 3 high school boys of Ateneo had likewise tested positive.

There are also confirmed cases in a Paranaque school and DLSU’s sister school (College of St. Benilde).

My boys (at another school) start school next week after a parent orientation. I know that many families in this school travel abroad during summer. I am now having second thoughts about attending the parent orientation. Maybe the school can use technology, do a podcast or video of what they intended to tell us, upload it into their website, and just have us view it from there. That way we avoid personal contact and still get the same information. I am very happy though that this school is such a proactive one and this week, is having thorough pest control done prior to the boys coming in for classes.

Other private schools should probably look at the use of technology likewise to keep parents, faculty, students and staff informed about their school’s actions to keep them all virus-free.

I have been cutting out newspaper clippings on A(H1N1) but these seemed inadequate. The non-medical one simply listed the symptoms, a few treatments, contact numbers of designated hospitals and some precautionary measures. Another clipping listed down the alert levels for schools (but this was not applicable to me as a parent).

Thanks to a heads-up from Dine and Noemi (on Facebook), I became aware of this document over at Scribd.com. It is an easy read, pleasant to the eyes, uses simple language, and readily understandable to non-medical people like me.

Please feel free to pass this link to your family and friends. The more people who are aware of this document, the more people we can keep healthy and virus-free.

Let’s also continue to pray that our country and our families are kept safe and healthy, not just from this virus but from dengue also, which has actually claimed more lives since the onset of the rains.

View this document on Scribd

Kenny Rankin (1940-2009)

Feb. 10, 1940-June 7, 2009 (courtesy of AP)

Sad, sad news for me today.

I have my iTunes open now listening to all the songs in my music collection sang by Kenny Rankin, singer-songwriter, who passed away from lung cancer complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His voice carried a certain timbre that was so suited to love songs and ballads. He will surely be missed by the music industry and music fans like me.

One of the most touching songs ever rendered by Kenny is this one which I found on YouTube. It so aptly describes how life should be lived by everyone. I hope that I could live my life according to the lyrics of this beautiful song.

What Matters Most

It’s not how long we held each other’s hand
What matters is how well we loved each other
It’s not how far we travelled on our way
Of what we found to say
It’s not the spring you see, but all the shades of green

It’s not how long I held you in my arms
What matters is how sweet the years together
It’s not how many summertimes we had to give to fall
The early morning smiles we tearfully recall
What matters most is that we loved at all.

It’s not how many summertimes we had to give to fall
The early morning smiles we tearfully recall
What matters most is that we loved at all.

What matters most is that we loved at all.