A Teacher's Diary

Pasiklaban Sa Paaralan

November 13, 2014

Thursday

Due to T. Josie's request, I woke up earlier the usual.

Meaning, I finally woke up after my phone's alarm.

Because when I mean usual, the scene would go like this:

My phone will alarm at 5:50 AM. I'll turn it off and then I'll go back to sleep until I'll realize that the time is already 6:20.

I had a dream again. But it washed out as soon as I thought of taking a bath.

T. Josie decided not too long ago that I will be the one to coach KC for the Pasiklaban. Unfortunately, yesterday, his mom called informing us he can't make it. KC is confined in the hospital and being observed because of his fever. Monday pa lang, may lagnat na si KC. And it's sad that he can't compete for the said contest. I didn't do anything to coach KC. Sila T. Shane, Kristoff, Riza and Donna yung nagbigay sa kanya ng trivias and reviewer.

I admit. I have never been in a quiz bee before. Not even in my student life. Mahilig akong magbasa pero hindi ko hilig mag-aral. I am more application. More of a Kinesthetic Learner than Visual.

Bilang na bilang lang mga sinalihan kong competitions. Hindi naman kasi ako mahilig. Kapag naisipan ko lang. Or kapag necessary. Sumali ako sa Spelling Bee way back in High School and unexpectedly won 2nd place. Poem Making Contest about Nutrition Month- 2nd Place. And essay writing about religion that won 3rd place. I didn't even get any 1st place award. But I still think it's an achievement for me kasi kapag nakikipag compete ako, it's school wide. More than 15 or more ang participants until I make it to the finals.

Isa lang siguro talaga yung masasabi kong grand slam ang pagkapanalo ko na sinalihan ko. I was on my 2nd Year in College when I participated in our Department's Scrabble Competition. I was the champion back then. Sinwerte lang siguro dahil sa magagandang tiles na nabunot ko. However, it was too boring dahil ang tagal ng game. Plus the fact na wala pa kong kakilala na nandun. I was there alone. My other classmates chose to compete in other games. Kaya kahit na ako pang nanalo, I wasn't happy that time since parang wala lang naman yung pagkapanalo ko. There weren't any awards or any recognition. And nobody there congratulate me. Not even the Juniors or Seniors na nakalaban ko. So yun. Epic. Nagsayang lang ako ng oras.

But then, enough of me reminiscing. Kung hindi makakasali si KC, why would T. Josie still want me to go to school earlier than my official time? Answer is: T. Lau allowed Gia to compete for KC. Kaya ang walang ka review review na si Gia ang lalaban. Isn't that nice? For me, Gia is next to KC in class standing within the Grade 5 class. Next would be Marhea, followed by Jhiyan.

I asked Gia whether she's ready. Of course she's not. But she needs to.

T. Josie came with us in the DEPED Makati where the competition will be held. Hindi ko kasi alam yun. There was T. Jovie (if my memory serves me right) with a high school student named Shanda. She's also going to compete, for high school naman. The competition begins, the teachers stayed at the back. Ang cool lang kasi may free food/snack and coffee while the contest is happening.

Nagkaroon lang ng konting introduction about PSP. 14 years na daw nilang ginagawa ang Pasiklaban sa Paaralan Nationwide. We could see the photos in

pasiklabancaravan@gmail.com.

Nakakatuwa lang si Gia kasi from a far, we're seeing her playing in the swivel chair.

Nauna ang Grade School. Pasok si Gia sa top 8.

Umalis din si T. Josie. T. Lau texted that she's needed in our branch. Kaya naiwan ako to be with Gia. Hindi ko naman masyadong nakausap si T. Jovie kasi hindi kami close. So I busied myself with monitoring Gia's score. I listed some of the questions.

EASY

She gained with 30 points. Some of the questions were about:

- Second's most abundant in Earth's crust.

Ans. Silicon

- Not an example of a colloid.

Ans. Vinegar

- Where 2014 Winter Olympics held. Ans. Russia

- Gawing kapani-paniwala ang opinyon.

Ans. Nanghihikayat

AVERAGE

She gained 40 points.

- Ama ng Makabagong Pintor sa Pilipinas.

Ans. Victorio Edades

- Feast held every Sept. 29 in Jagna, Bohol.

Ans. Pistang Sinuog - Estukada

- Abnormal enlargement of breast of men caused by hormonal imbalance.

Ans. Gyne.. (wait, I can't understand my handwriting -_-)

- The currency developed by Satoshi Nakamoto that was introduced in 2009.

Ans. Bittcoin

- Creating a new word by combining two different words.

Ans. Blending

- Uri ng Pangungusap na ginagamitan ng ;.

Ans. Tambalang Pangungusap

DIFFICULT

In here, she only had 15 points.

- Lungsod na may pinakamataas na populasyon sa Pilipinas noong 2012.

Ans. Quezon City

- Avian Influenza

Ans. AH7N9

- Blood clotting vitamin

Ans. Vitamin K

In total, she had 85 points. She ranked 6th out of the top 8. Not bad since wala naman siyang training and review. We're still proud of her.

Next was the high school. Si Shanda naman ang sumabak. Pasok din siya sa Top 8. She's competing very well. Dalawa sila actually na sobrang galing at madalang lang magkamali that's why we're very excited of the result. Naghahabulan kasi sila ng scores. Her competitor is a guy. Bilib ako sa batang yun. Kahit natalo siya nung guy. She ended up 1st Runner Up. Wow.

Balita ko, mahilig humakot ng awards si Shanda at smart girl talaga. So, hindi na bago na nanalo siya. She won a medal today. Additional to her achievements.

After the photo op, we ate our lunch bago bumalik sa kanya-kanya naming school branch. Happy naman si Gia. We received a token of appreciation. I was thinking of giving mine to KC but Gia commented, "No teacher. I'm sure that's a teacher thing." Errr. Yeah. Gia has a point.

When we went back to the branch. Natapos na rin ang pagpapapanggap ko as her coach. Phew.

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By the way, pinalitan nila yung Something Naughty for Monito Monita namin into Something Wet. Kristoff reminded us to bring it for tomorrow thru creating a group in Messenger. Buti na lang di pa ko nakabili ng Something Naughty.

So after my tutorial with Hailey. Dumaan ako sa 7 Eleven Pateros and settled for Mogu Mogu for my Monita Monito.

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Hindi pala narereceive ni EJ messages ko in Messenger. Sira daw. That's why most of the time, he posts in my Timeline. I informed him about my Samsung phone being next to almost useless. And his answer, this:

EJ: "Sa fb na lang kita kokontakin. Alanganin na pla yung cp mo. Sorry I cant be of any help pero kaya ko magadjust. Tiis tiis lang tayo. Di rin naman talaga tayo nakakapagusap madalas lalo na kapag weekdays so di tayo mahihirapan."

Me: "That's fine. I'm getting used to it."

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- Are you crying?
- No. It's my allergic reaction.
- To what?
- To life.