My Socially Constructed Reality

Subject 1st Grading 2nd Grading English 95 95 Filipino 93 94 Mathematics 94 95 Science 93 96 Makabayan 96 97 Sibika 95 95 Char. Ed. 97 97 Computer 96 98 Christian F. 92 94

I'm not going to stop until a statement is made clear in the campus: PLAGIARISM IS AN ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT THAT SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED IN ANY MANNER. I am in the process of conceptualizing and planning for a new research on Plagiarism. I (together with Ma'am Elvie and Ma'am Josie) already have conducted one study a couple of years ago. Its title was FACULTY RESPONSE TO PLAGIARISM: TEACHER'S ROLE IN PROMOTING INTELLECTUAL HONESTY . This time, I'd like to conduct another study that focuses on students' plagiarism practices. I am very much aware that students in this campus do plagiarize. What I'd like to know is the extent to which they plagiarize and the forms of plagiarism usually committed. This brings me into thinking of the possibility of looking at faculty plagiarism practices. I noticed that even teachers do plagiarize. I want to do content analysis of publication in the campus but I might offend other teachers so I have reservation on that possibility....

My former ESL student ( Lee, Ki-bok ) sent me an e-mail with a picture of his sister who recently got married. Ki-bok (his English name is Daniel) was my student here in the Phils. for over 6 months. He just went back to his home country to take examination so he could enter a university. Daniel's sister who just got married ( I like the wedding dress -- a traditional Korean wedding gown)

This is my first time to teach INTRO TO COMM. THEORY. I thought it will be difficult. I never knew it would be this fun and worth-looking-forward-to. I enjoy teaching this subject for several reasons: a) I don't bother using LCD and laptop . I want my junior MC students to think, instead of staring at the Power Point presentation; b) It's amazing how I am able to relate the theories to our daily lives. I'm actually surprised at how "easy" I am able to get by in the classroom without over-preparation; c) I make the class paperless. All requirements are submitted online. All students are even required to post an entry on our web log every week. I enjoy this blogging in our class because everybody can say something. Everybody gets a chance to be heard; d) I am starting to realize that I actually have a lot of "thinking creatures" in class. I'm so happy to know that they do think. They do -- this is surprising because some students don'...

The year is about to end. You might not believe it but this year, I had five jobs: full-time faculty, part-time freelance writer (X2), and part-time ESL tutor (X2). I didn't mind having several jobs because I have goals. Besides, I must consider myself lucky because some people can't even get a single job that will make them capable of earning. But aside from the financial aspect, I also need to collect experiences to add to my credentials so in the future, I could get the job I really want. Of course, I have no plan of staying here for the rest of my life. I want to work abroad and live there (wherever my destiny leads me) with my family. Here's what happened to me this year as far as my jobs are concerned: * I had my first book deal with contract amounting to P25,000.00. I didn't care even if my mom told me that the pay was low for the effort I exerted on the 128-page book. What's important is that I got the contract and that I enjoyed writing while earning. Anyw...

When I was a child, my mom never allowed me and my siblings to watch TV. If we were to watch the boob tube, we did with one condition: NO SOUND. And of course, who will enjoy watching video with no audio element? As a result: we didn't want to watch TV anymore. We were just contented watching only when my mom was watching. So if you ask me what TV programs I knew when I was a child, I can tell you the titles: HAWAII 50, MURDER SHE WROTE (mystery genre), V (a sci-fi series). I wasn't familiar with any Tagalog programs then. My mom's reason for keeping us away from the boob tube was that she said that Tagalog programs were so stupid. She didn't want us to get the kind of language, thinking, and values in the programs. Well, as children, how could we protest? NOw that I already have my own kids, I found myself doing the same: not allowing my children to watch TV, especially in local channels. And my reason was the same as my mom's over 15 years ago. What does this imp...

Eight years. That was 8 long years in this school. For the past years, I've witnessed how students just came and left -- and were buried into oblivion. This fact never made me feel bad before. In the past, I didn't even mind seeing my students graduate. After all, students are meant to leave school to face the real world. And I didn't hang out with students. I saw them in classroom -- that was it. I never had casual conversation with them , no texting then, no calling, no e-mail, no blog, nothing. Just plain teaching. I never even had a chance to know all the names of my students then. I just knew their faces but I couldn't label those faces with their names. It was a shame on my part, I absolutely agree! But things have changed. Now, I have a "sad feeling" whenever a student leaves -- but of course, it also depends on the kind of students. There are two possible reasons for this feeling. And this is based only on my personal experience. I started feeling this...

I stopped blogging for a few days. Well, I've been busy tending to another blog-- our Communication Theory blog. I used a different approach in blogging for class. If, in the previous semesters, I required the students in my E-newsroom class to create their own web logs, this time, I created a class blog then required my students to post entries on the same blog. All of us are contributors this time. It's good because I can see that the students are thinking! It's a good venue for interaction. I always go there to check on students' entries and to make comments, if necessary. This made me forget my own blog. Check out my Comm. theory blog here .

I felt uneasy after I replied to our Chair's text message to tell her that I can't accept any extra load. I told her I want to help her but not by taking the loads with no teachers yet. I will help her find teachers, that was what I said in my text message. I felt uneasy because I'm not used to saying NO.

Check out my COMMUNICATION THEORY class web blog now!

Check out Howie Severino's SIDETRIP.

Tony Schwartz' RESONANCE theory states that a communication becomes successful not because of the message but because it brings out something from the viewer's past experiences (Griffin, p. 8, 2006). I think this theory was working when I was watching the TRANSFORMERS during the long holidays. I loved the film, not just because the story was brilliant or because of the outstanding visual effects but because I could recall how I loved Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime when I was a young girl. The movie is actually from a famous animated series featuring the Autobots and Decepticons. Well, of course, I still remember Megatron very much. Seeing all the familiar characters I used to see on screen during my childhood years made me love the movie more. Because of this, I was motivated to buy an original VCD of the movie and include it in our collection of original films. And this is what resonance theory is all about. According to Griffin (2006), "Personal memories, emotions, and p...

The second sem of this academic year starts on November 5. My teaching loads are: INTRO TO MASS COMMUNICATION, ADVERTISING PRINCIPLES & PRACTICE, THESIS WRITING, PRINT INTERNSHIP, and COMMUNICATION THEORY Note: I was given PR Principles and Practice by the Chair instead of Advertising, just like what she first gave to me. When I asked her why she changed her mind about one of my teaching loads, she said it was because the native speaker is teaching Advertising instead. Dati na raw niya naituro iyon kaya ayaw nang palitan ang load niya. I felt bad about it. Why should I make adjustment for a faculty that is, in the first place, not qualified to teach Communication subjects? I didn't like the decision so I told the chair about it but she never wanted to give Advertising to me. What I did was to go directly to the Assistant Dean and ask if she could re-shuffle the sked so I would be given Advertising.

Nabalitaan ko kanina sa isang kasama sa trabaho na tinanggap na niya ang posisyon na inalok sa kanya ng school. Nasiyahan ako para sa kanya. Totoo yan ha -- dahil alam ko ang pinagdaanan niya habang nagdedesisyon siya kung bibitawan niya ang pagtuturo sa isang school at papasok dito bilang direktor ng isang opisina. Dahil sa tuwa ko para sa kanya, agad kong binalita iyon sa iba pang kasamahan ko sa departamento namin. Nagulat lang ako sa reaksyon nila. Ang sabi ng isa, nagulat sya dahil ang kinuhang direktor ay "bago" sa school na ito at wala pang Master's degree. Naniniwala ang mga kasamahan ko na sa akin dapat mapunta ang posisyon na iyon. Nakakagulat. Alam ko na noon pa na nirekomenda ako ng bise-presidente at sinabi na niya iyon sa dekana namin. Pero aaminin ko na noong nalaman ko iyon - na iniisip nilang ako ang ipalit sa paalis na direktor -- ay hindi ako natuwa. Ayokong humawak ng posisyon dito. Ayoko na. Kaya nga natuwa ako nang malaman kong ang isang ...

Another sem has ended. I finally finished computation of grades. Now, i need to sit down and prepare for the next semester. Well, I can't let another sem begin without my sem-ender reflection. The past sem was a sem of realization, of tension at the faculty room, of continual struggle, and of mixed emotions. I started the sem feeling so frustrated about how things are in the workplace. I found myself wondering why I was still here -- in the middle of the sem. And I ended the sem today, still feeling disappointed about certain matters. Not everything that happened to me was negative and disappointing, though. I can proudly say that my relationship with my students is getting stronger. I feel more at ease with them, without compromising my credibility. I feel their sincerity (Of course, not all of them are sincere -- some pretend to be real so they could get the "what they want" from teachers). And I'd like to believe they're learning from me, just as I ...

I watched A LOVE STORY last night with my husband. We rented a VCD copy at Video City and stayed awake until 1 a.m. just to watch the film. Well, the story was quite different from the other love stories I've watched. The plot was actually unpredictable. Before watching, I thought Aga and Maricel are married and that Angelica is a mistress. It turned out that Angelica, the young lady, is the wife and Maricel's character, the older lady, is the mistress. The film's unpredictable plot, and Aga's & Maricel's unbeatable acting made the movie worth watching.