PASTOR G. BALINTAG

School Principal II

Entertaining pedagogical ideas from the other hemisphere may lead advantage when their local classroom use proves them as effective. In dealing for example with high school fresh entrants or the grade 7 learners, New York schools rather handle academic affairs with such new – comer learners with care. School heads and teachers mind it well that said learners must undergo smooth transition and of course New Yorkers have arrays of encouraging best practices in such fresh start of the school year.

In the Philippines, school setting, this author adopts for the purpose of discussion, the school’s culture of caring as a category to which student academic performance stands predictand. For fear of culture shock should theses new corners suddenly have been a cause to plunge into the pain of unduly planned academic initialization, the friendly Yorkers recommend a week or a season of caring first. They mean building excitement first and differing yet the work of information gain. Excitement building as teachers well know of , is anything that works, that motivates , that sustains interest in school learning.

A week before official opening of classes, school open house could be laid where minor cleaning, sweeping, dusting and watering of plants as when a household arrives from a week end picnic can be done . This may end up to a cultural show where students talent get featured or to select film viewing or simply touring the school campus with student ambassadors as tour guides and last year’s students learning products showcase tellers.

One major activity could be a jumpstart of a half day program where students and their parents attend to a 10 minute per mock class sessions for all the curriculum areas. Curriculum coordinators or any assigned teachers in their respective rooms meet their mock classes tackling briefly in light moods the entire facets of class effective management. Just sorts of demo for both students and their parents to see how 21st Century classes are steered towards gainful interactions in such climates of academic inquiry, discovery, and productive exchanges.

The schools  of caring can best be practiced if once every school year, say, part of semestral or summer in-service trainings of teachers, teaching the same subject meet to talk about curriculum and works by which manner of dealing, teachers understand the curriculum across the grades . This owes after all to the common aim of ensuring that no learner falls hopelessly behind.