Do you know what Oral Reading Fluency is, and why it’s critical to reading comprehension? Click the link for a parent primer with tips on how you can help your child read fluently AND the first 100 high frequency sight words.
http://mttsite.bitsocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Oral-Reading-Fluency-Parent.pdf
Masaya ako at napabilang ako sa The Learning Library. Nabigyan ako ng pagkakataon na malinang ang aking abilidad sa asignaturang Filipino. Noong una ay hirap ako pero dahil sa masusing pagsasanay sa aming mga guro ay nalinang ang aming kakayahan sa pagtuturo ng Filipino. Ibang-iba ang pagsasanay na natutunan namin sa TLL, nailalabas nito ang tunay na talento at abilidad ng mga guro.
Ako ay napabilib sa adbokasiya nilang tulungan ang mga mag-aaral na nangangailangan ng higit na tulong sa asignaturang Filipino. Sa ganitong paraan mas napapaunawa sa mga bata ang kahalagahan ng wika at kulturang Filipino. Talagang kakaiba at epektibo talaga ang programa ng TLL.
Ang mas minahal ko sa aking pagtuturo sa TLL ay ang mga mag-aaral. Sa tuwing nakikita ko na may progreso sila sa pag-aaral ng Filipino lubos ang aking galak at kasiyahan. May mga pagkakataong nahihirapan sila pero ito ay magsisilbing hamon sa aming mga guro. Nagpapasalamat ako mga batang naturuan ko dahil sila naghubog sa aking kakayan at pagkatao bilang guro.
Isinulat ni Binibining Maricar Rasgo ng The Learning Library Alabang
Thanks to Rainey Sarmiento, one of our first reading coaches, for sharing her inspiring teacher story.
—–
The teacher dream was one I had long been restless to fulfill.
Just a month after college graduation, I became a reading coach at The Learning Library. Ecstatic with so much enthusiasm for my first job, I remember commuting home many afternoons wondering why others would ever choose to do something else. Days were spent on read-alouds, workshops, and countless stories shared from books or heart to heart conversations with students and co-workers alike. God in His awesome grace made real my teacher dream — he let me stay on as reading coach for three years.
Then came a yearning for “good” disturbance — a temporary break from the familiar.I joined the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines and committed to ten months of work away from home, in the island of Culion, Palawan. To be honest, I admit my first reasons for going were more selfish than noble– to find myself, and hopefully help out others on my journey too.
—–
I was assigned as program associate for the Adult Capability Building Program of Cartwheel Foundation. My work was with the gentle Tagbanua communities, the indigenous peoples of Palawan. They lived in the islands in small groups, where one’s neighbors were also blood relatives. Getting to school at the town proper was a privilege; not even half of them are able to go.
“Gusto naming bumoto nang mag-isa” — consistently, I heard this as reason for our adult learners’ willingness to attend classes. They were frustrated with abuse from past elections and no longer wanted to be helpless as politicos took advantage of their illiteracy. There also was the struggle for their ancestral domain title. They knew their land was both source of life and legacy, but even this was in danger of being snatched away from them.
Working very closely with their teachers, I realized a challenge early on: how was one to teach reading in a place where there was almost no printed word at all?
—–
‘Think outside the box’ is what many often say; but for our team, the call was to think outside the schoolhouse, and transform the entire island into their classroom. Instead of cartolina flash cards, we used those made from bamboo; instead of number beads, we used pebbles and leaves and shells. We were careful not to take in too many things that seemed alien and were conscious of using the things they had from their own environment instead.
The Marungko method of teaching reading in Filipino was appreciated by learners and teachers alike. I am grateful toTeacher Kate of the Learning Library for sharing this with us Filipino teachers then. Introducing letters in batches of 3s in the order of its frequency of use in the language was a novel approach that easily made much sense to many of them. Practicing tracing letters first with their fingers on sand, and repeatedly sounding each one out; little by little these shapes assumed meaning that when strung together, would translate to words, and then understanding. It was an effective means to break down the complex process of reading, to show the Tagbanua adults that they definitely can learn to do it too!
In the last months of the school year, our team of teachers decided to present voters’ education modules. They learned about the PCOS machine and what the indelible ink on their finger would be for. What meant most for them were the mock elections at the end. Independently they shaded beside the names of candidates whom they were for.
This was their means of contributing to nation-building and they saw much value in it. In this way I realized that learning to read and write meant giving voice and an opportunity to be heard. But it goes far beyond mere voting. As it is with many other indigenous communities where oral tradition has been the only means to pass on knowledge, it has become a greater challenge to hold on to their culture from centuries ago or even move forward with the times. For them, as it is for many of us as well, literacy means continuously breathing life into all their stories and ultimately keeping sacred their heritage.
—–
Even as I am no longer a full-time teacher, I’d like to believe He’s now called me to a different classroom — one with different walls, or no walls at all, where creativity and innovation still thrive, and with the everyday sharing of written and spoken stories, where I can teach and be taught.
And really, He’s been faithful in His awesome grace, fulfilling my teacher dream.
“I would never call them co-teachers or co-workers because I call them family.”
Being a reading coach in The Learning Library is my first job. The trainers here are very patient and really excellent in what they do. When I’m at the Learning Library I feel like I’m at home and I feel that time flies when I am here, I am now in my 3rd year. And it just keeps getting better and better.
Learning Library reading coaches are very warm. And because of that I would never call them co-teachers or co-workers because I call them family.
Kung mayroon man akong isa sa mga ipinagpapasalamat na biyayang dumating sa aking buhay, iyon ay ang biyayang maging isang guro sa Learning Library. Ito ay sa kadahilanang marami akong karanasang hindi malilimutan dito na nagbigay-kasiyahan at aral sa akin. Ang bawat kwento, bawat aklat, bawat mag-aaral at kapwa guro ay nagpapaalala sa akin ng isang maganda at makabuluhang karanasan ko rito.
Bilang isang guro ng Learning Library, maraming bagay ang maituturing kong tumatak na sa aking puso – mga bagay na siya ring dahilan kung bakit pinahahalagahan at minamahal ko ang mga gawaing mayroon kami rito. Isang halimbawa nito ang pagkakataon na makapagbahagi ng kaalaman at magsilbing gabay sa mga mag-aaral namin. Masarap sa pakiramdam na masaksihan kung paano nahuhubog ang isang mag-aaral tungo sa mas ikauunlad niya at kung paanong sa bawat pagkakamali niya’y may daan ng kawastuhan at sa bawat pagsubok ay may lugar ng tagumpay.
Hindi ko makalilimutan ang pagkatuwa habang naririnig ko ang mga unang tunog, salita, parila’t, pangungusap na binigkas ng aking mga mag-aaral. Nararamdaman ko rin ang kaligayahang nababanaagan sa kanilang mga mukha tuwing ipinakikita nila sa akin ang kanilang mga kuwaderno, pagsasanay, at pagsusulit na kung saan nakasulat ang mga katagang “Magaling!”, “Mahusay!”, “Very Good!” at “Ikaw na!” katabi ang isang masayang mukha o isang bituin na simbolo ng kanilang ipinagmamalaking tagumpay. Sa mga pagkakataon naman na mas kinakailangan pa ng pagsisikap, nasisiyahan pa rin ako na makitang handa pa rin silang makinig at makipagtulungan matapos kong sabihing, “Hindi sa lahat ng pagkakataon ay makakukuha tayo ng perpektong puntos. Ang mahalaga kay Teacher Mengie ngayon ay malaman natin kung saan tayo nagkamali at handa tayong itama ito.”
Maliban sa pagbabahagi ng kaalaman sa iba’y masasabi kong marami rin akong natututunan dito bilang isang guro. Ang pagbabasa ko ng mga kwentong pambata ay nagsisilbing pagbabalik-tanaw ko sa mga simpleng aral ng buhay at mga simpleng dahilan upang ngumiti at maglibang. Mula sa pinakabata hanggang sa pinakamatanda kong mag-aaral ay may napupulot din akong karunungan. Iyon ay mula sa kanilang mga pagbabahagi ng kaalaman, mga katanungan, at mga karanasan.
Masaya rin ang mga araw na sabay-sabay kaming tumatawa, nag-iisip, at nagbibigay ng opinyon tungkol sa aming mga binabasa, niluluto, nilalaro, kinakain, o kinakanta. Isa pa ay ang masaya at matibay na samahan ng mga guro rito na handang magtulungan tungo sa mas marami pang paraan upang kaming lahat ay mahulma bilang mga gurong nagsisilbing gabay sa aming mga mag-aaral. Sa lahat ng ito, tunay na wagas ang pagkatuto kung kaakibat nito ang sigla at saya na namumutawi sa bawat mag-aaral at guro.
Patuloy kong ipagpapasalamat na nabigyan ako ng pagkakataon na magbahagi, matututo, at sabay na tumuklas sa ganda at yaman ng panitikan at mga kaalamang mayroon tayo. Hangad ko na patuloy pang mapuno ang bawat isa ng mas marami pang inspirasyon upang pahalagahan at tangkilikin ang kagustuhang matuto at pagyamanin ang sariling kaalaman upang yumabong bilang mahusay na tao.
My job at The Learning Library came at the perfect moment. I was on the verge of going to a different direction in my career, because the offers in this field aren’t good enough or just giving me bad vibes the day before my self-imposed “deadline”, the offer came. Next thing I knew, I was heading to Katipunan every day, even though it was an 2 hour minimum commute from my place.
It was like going to school again, where you learn new things,( however cliché-ish it sounds) talk with your girlfriends (yes, because people in the Lib are uber friendly), eat lunch together, help one another when it’s time to give a report, and stuffs like students in school, only that this is work. The best thing that caught my attention and made me fall head over heels for the Lib, is the prospect of reading books and teaching kids.
Even though I am assigned to a different branch, which is closer to where we live, I miss Katipunan a lot. The noise and buzz- everything and everyone in it (well except for the long tedious commute). In the branches I handle, Serendra and Greenbelt, there are fewer students, and during my free time, you are required to read books and make small questions and quizzes for each. You’ll realize how time flies, instead of being bored, you get to see “different things and explore different worlds” in a span of a 1 hour break or gap during free time. There are days that some of the students come in early or late, but “kahitwalangkain”- you don’t get hungry, they’re such sweet and affectionate kids who can melt hunger or “pagod”.
Working in “The Learning Library” is like Peter Pan living in Neverland, you will always be a kid who’s thirsty for new things, and the child in me never did grow old, I’m still the same kid who’s always being scolded for reading too fast or reading in the dark. I never imagined that I can have this as a career. Working in the Library is like reliving the story “Jane Austen Book Club”- each takes turns in speaking and when a session is done, both parties, the Reading Coach and the students learned something new that they can use in school, everyday lives and can be held like a treasure ‘til we grow old.
The Learning Library 