This year’s grand prize winner of the PBBY-Salanga Prize is Boon Kristoffer Lauw for his novel, Team Abangers at ang Estilong Trumpo. For the first time in the history of the prize, the contest was open to chapter books. Lauw’s winning piece is about an orphan who plans to join the televised Laro ng Lahi contest to help her locate her parents.
Aside from Lauw, two other writers won in this year’s prize, both garnering honourable mention: Raissa Rivera Falgui and Tamara Eriel Mosqueda.
Lauw, who hails from General Santos City, is a chemical engineer currently teaching ADTech2 at the Philippine Science High School. He took part in the 3rd Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio Writers’ Workshop last 2018 and was also part of the UP Likhaan Institute of Creative Writing. This is his first PBBY-Salanga Prize.
Lauw will be awarded at the 37th National Children’s Book Day celebration on July 21, 2020.
For inquiries about the contest, contact the PBBY Secretariat through telephone 8352-6765 loc 204 or email secretariat@pbby.org.ph.
Where we live and work is 27-40 km from Taal, Batangas. The eruption of the volcano has left many of us afraid, insecure, nervous, unsure and “shookt”. Leadership and School Administration are up and about mitigating clean up of campus, checking on members of the community and setting up of an area to relocate students so that learning continues. Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, we are all striving to bring back a sense of permanence into our lives.
One of the many decisions we made as a learning community last week was to use e-learning and distance education with face-to-face sessions among our junior and senior high school students. We are making use of several e-learning platforms and social media tools to facilitate teaching and learning. Life has to go on.
As the Teacher Librarian, my role now as content curator and e-learning resource person comes into play more than ever. My staff and I began identifying library administrative work that can be converted into a virtual platform. Right now, I am in touch with school librarians in the south and in the Makati area seeking support and activating networks for learning. If there is one thing I learned from facing natural disasters, it is to look at it straight in the face, roll with the punches and fight back when it is not looking.
I cannot help but pause and think back on the many e-learning experiences I had in the past. How do I channel this experience as concrete actions to further help and support colleagues? Technology is evolving but, a common thread or pattern can be found in its matrix. It’s time to read and do some research and development.
So here are links on e-learning and Blended Learning which I discovered and trawled online. Expect a part two of this post or a series.
Let’s begin with
e-learning and why it matters The link is a chapter from an ebook that discuss e-learning basics, history, pedagogy and applications in business and in the corporate world. For the full e-book, follow this link
Introduction to e-Learning. The ebook is available for download in PDF format. There is a chapter on
Blended Learning with discussions on ways to use it as an approach with tools for classroom instruction.
Scholastic has a blog article where in
different models of Blended Learning are described.
Education Elements has a video showing why it is necessary to rethink traditional teaching and where
Blended Learning come into play as an instructional innovation. The role of the teacher changes too. From a sage on the stage to a guide on the side, a mentor who is a companion of the learner or an architect of learning environments, the teacher, at this juncture needs to collaborate with different departments in the learning community to reach a sense of fulfillment and succeed in some measure. This natural disaster leaves everyone with no other choice but to face these challenges and work together.
I am ending this post with an infographic on Blended Learning. There is going to be a part two of this post. Definitely.
In light of the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano, I look back at the many times I have been to Tagaytay and Tanauan, Batangas with family and friends. These links are compiled as I remember them. Arranged in no particular order but with fond memories of a beautiful and historic place. This does not include the amazing stretch of beaches and resorts that litter Batangas, the retreat houses and churches and the growing enclaves for artists in Tagaytay. If the alerts reach a level 5, then the terrain will change and so will the lives of those who depend on the land.
Tagaytay is a good place to take on writing retreats. It was there where the
Bulilit Books Writing Workshop took place in 2016. A year after, nine picture books were published through the supervision of the Nutrition Council of the Philipipnes.
In February 2019, my friends and I, along with our teenagers visited
Sentro Botaniko,
Ilog ni Maria,
The Cat and Dog Cafe for a day trip. Back in 2012, I had another day trip but it was in Taal. I wonder now of the basilica and ancestral houses in Talisay and Taal. The
Taal Heritage Tour: Taal Basilica and Our Lady of Caysasay,
Spanish Ancestral Houses, these places hold so much value and precious memory.
It was in Tagaytay when the
1st International Conference on Children's Library Services, was conducted by the National Library of the Philippines. I was one of the speakers and here are the links to the paper I wrote and presented:
Paper Presented 2 of 4,
Paper Presented 3 of 4,
Paper Presented 4 of 4. Lastly, from 2010 until 2013, I helped a UK Charity set up school libraries in Tanauan, Batangas. Know about it by following these links:
Who is Sambat Trust? and
Sambat Trust School Library Project: My Story Our World.
While evacuation centers have been set up for residents and families who fled, helping them in the rehabilitation process will take time.
