Rounding up my entries on the work I do in school. The
Lighthouse Diary #67: Expanding Our World: Reflections on World Languages and
Literature Week 2025 - During this year’s World Languages and Literature
Week, we, at the BA Library had the privilege of hosting three remarkable
authors namely, Joel Donato Ching Jacob, Robin Sebilono and Artie Cabezas who
shared not only their books but also their writing journeys and the literary
works that have shaped their thinking. Each talk, spanning 30 to 40 minutes,
became more than just a discussion of craft and the writing life —it was an
invitation to step beyond the familiar borders of language and thought.
The
Lighthouse Diary #68: Biñan Day and Griffin Games 2025 - The city of Biñan
celebrates several significant milestones this month: its 15th Cityhood
Anniversary on February 2, its 80th Liberation Day from Japanese occupation on
February 3, and its 278th Foundation Day on February 4. In commemoration of
these historical events, the Biñan LGU has organized various activities for the
residents, and classes in schools are suspended throughout the city. Meanwhile,
we are gathering at school to participate in our annual Griffin Games.
The
Lighthouse Diary #69: A Model Text for the Exploratory Essay 1 of 2 – We
kicked off our Extended Essay (EE) Journey last February, around the third week
and we have been dwelling in topic selection; identifying sources that will
inform us of breadth and depth of topics, using thinking tools such as the
KWL-I Chart and Mind Maps to see connections and organize our thinking.
The
Lighthouse Diary #70: A Model Text for the Exploratory Essay 2 of 2 - This
is part 2 of the model text I wrote for the Exploratory Essay we require our
grade 11 students to write. We have been conducting research sessions with our
grade 11 students since February. They are in Phase 1 of the Research Design
Cycle where selecting a topic, doing initial research and preparing an
annotated bibliography are essentials. From here on, we will model the feedback
mechanism that comes into play in a given exercise.
The
Lighthouse Diary #71: Research Skills: Source Evaluation and OPVL 1 of 3- In
November 2024, our Grade 8 students had a library and research skills session
on the OPVL. The OPVL is a strategy for evaluating sources—specifically,
historical sources. Nonetheless, it can also be used to analyze the validity
and reliability of information and sources we encounter everyday. Focusing on
Origin and Purpose, I asked my students to evaluate information from both
online and print sources. I prepared a variety— books, magazines and journals,
posters and calendars, labels of kits, games and the like. And of course,
social media posts. Working in pairs, they were able to come up with a review
of their assigned source. They took away valuable insights on the importance of
source analysis, along with the skills necessary to understand historical
documents, their context, and their reason for being.
The
Lighthouse Diary #72: Research Skills: Source Evaluation and OPVL 2 of 3 - This
is my lesson plan for the session on Source Evaluation with our Grade 8
Students.
The
Lighthouse Diary #73: Exploratory Essay: Working on Feedback & Creating a
Research Pathway - This is an update on the Exploratory Essay I wrote as model
text for our grade 11 students. Not only are we modeling writing as technique
and strategy to teach and learn, we are also simulating the process involved in
academic writing. To read Part 1 and Part 2 click the links.
The closing weeks of the Academic Year is often laden with events and activities that drum up accomplishments, nostalgia, gratitude and hope. For the first time, I walked with our graduating seniors in their Batch Night bearing witness to the rituals and traditions that define us -- the senior tribute and send off. What was new this year was the recognition of staff and faculty who served in the Academy for a decade and more. This was definitely a surprise.
Modeling responsible AI use is a powerful form of digital citizenship. In my context as a librarian, bibliotherapist, educator, and fan community member, it’s more than policy to practice. It is formation. Our week long library orientation closes in a few days. Facilitating the learning and acquisition of literacy skills through the library is always a big challenge. By high school, students have reached a point of view and a perception of the library as a place to soak in the aircon, which it is. And with the erratic changes in weather, this reason for going to the library can be taken advantage of. So, we persist.
Taking off from Russell Molina’s talk last August 29 for Filipino Week, here is one line that refuses to leave: “Martial Law is not an event. It is an idea. Ideas can be resurrected.” I am a Louise Rosenblatt bias and a KWL junkie. It’s not surprising that I anchor my library skills and ATL sessions on Transactional Theory, Metacognitive Awareness, and Constructivist and Inquiry-Based Learning. The recent integration of the BA Library’s research services and reference program shows how theory, approach, and strategy converge. Helping students move from curiosity to inquiry, and inviting teachers to collaborate with the library in guiding authentic research. The 2nd term is the shortest of the four terms in a school year. It also has the most number of school-wide activities and holidays. With midyear exams in December, it is a packed calendar that tests everyone's mettle. We take this in stride in the Academy, but we are fully aware of the timetable and how to make the most of class days amid class suspensions. In light of the tight schedule, teachers still find time to bring their students to the library. It's been a busy term and we're not complaining! Let's share the gift of reading!
Zero O’Clock by C.J. Farley is the story of Geth, a perceptive and thoughtful teenager, living through the early months of the pandemic. It is through her point of view that I witness once more, the unfolding of a world in chaos. It is traumatic to return to 2020, but reading Zero O’Clock is, in a way, a healing experience. It feels as though Geth and I walk through the experience together. She is ARMY, besides.
So, a lot of BTS’s songs are mentioned and the group’s presence in the book is very much a part of the novel’s emotional grammar. They accompany Geth through fear, isolation, and uncertainty, offering steadiness rather than easy consolation. Zero O’Clock is not a story about resetting. It is a narrative of courage and resilience, of moving forward while carrying loss and grief. Because, in the end, Geth runs bearing the shifts and changes of the times. And she is beautiful!
I have been sitting with this for hours now, trying to steady myself because, my goodness, BTS has done something sublime, yet again.
Because, to name the comeback album, “Arirang” is not just an album title. And for them to send ARMY a message on Apple Music, calling us ARMYrang is not just a message. As a librarian, as a folklorist, as a writer of folk tales, and as ARMY, this moment reaches far deeper than fandom. It touches the part of me that understands how culture survives; how stories of ordinary people make the fabric of sovereignty and nationhood. Arirang comes from folk tradition. It is not a song you own. It is a song you carry. It is a story you offer. It has no single author. It belongs to farmers and migrants, to those who labored and waited, to people who crossed mountains and borders with grief in their pockets and hope folded carefully into song. Arirang has always been sung at thresholds, when leaving, when returning, when words are not enough. So when BTS name their comeback album, Arirang, this is not nostalgia. This is not branding. This is not a trend. This is inheritance. This is heritage. A cultural artifact brought back to consciousness. BTS is not saying we are back. They are saying we endured. They are saying we crossed. They are saying we remember who we are and where we come from. In folk traditions, the refrain of song and story exists so others can join in. The song lives because someone answers back. To be named inside a song and story is to be acknowledged as part of its survival. ARMYrang is not a term of endearment. By using folk literature, BTS is addressing us as kin and community. BTS says: you are not the audience. You are not just a market. You are not merely a number. You are part of the refrain. As a librarian, I know this as second skin: for culture to survive it needs to be remembered and to be lived. Because someone must keep on singing, retelling, passing it on with care. As a folklorist, I know what it means to step into collective authorship; to speak with humility, to carry a story without flattening it, to trust the people who receive it to hold it well. As ARMY, I know what it has meant to wait. As a mother, I learned how to hold joy and sorrow together. Being a woman, I know how to sing quietly when shouting would break us. And now, ARMYrang. It feels like love eternal not because it promises forever but because it promises continuance. Eternity, in folk culture, is not endless time. It is unbroken transmission. A song passed hand to hand. A name spoken with care. A people who show up, again and again, to sing. To tell stories. This comeback does not ask us to scream. It asks us to listen. It does not demand attention. It asks for reverence. Putang ina. Paiiyakin tayo ng Bangtan. Not because this is dramatic. But because this is true. This is what it looks like when artists return not as products, but as people. And when they call their listeners not fans, but kin. I am still gathering my wits. Really. I think I will be for a while. But I know this much: To be ARMY in this moment, to be called ARMYrang, is to stand inside a very old song, to be held, and to belong there. Apobangpo! Purple and true!  More Recent Articles
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