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XS FIT 2017 Day 1
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A Volunteer's Perspective of STRANDS
Xavier School has been hosting this conference for the past four years. I was a participant in the first conference and a volunteer for the next three. One would think that, doing this conference for the 4th time, things would be more familiar, plain, and tame. Day 1 of XS FIT 2017 proved me wrong.
Participants were in Xavier bright and early. A lot came an hour before registration opened. I was able to speak to a few of them while they waited for their turn to register and get their conference materials. There were a lot familiar faces but most were first-timers in the conference. The mood of the crowd was that of an easygoing anticipation for the activities that are to come.
A few minutes more, participants were asked to go through registration before they were ushered in the HS MPH. Ms. Reese Sta. Maria led the invocation while Mrs. Jane Cacacho warmly welcomed the participants of this year's conference. We were then amazed by the emcees, the funny and energetic twosome of Mr. Jude Liao and Ms. Ross Dela Paz. This conference was off to a good start.
Xavier School has been hosting this conference for the past four years. I was a participant in the first conference and a volunteer for the next three. One would think that, doing this conference for the 4th time, things would be more familiar, plain, and tame. Day 1 of XS FIT 2017 proved me wrong.
Participants were in Xavier bright and early. A lot came an hour before registration opened. I was able to speak to a few of them while they waited for their turn to register and get their conference materials. There were a lot familiar faces but most were first-timers in the conference. The mood of the crowd was that of an easygoing anticipation for the activities that are to come.
A few minutes more, participants were asked to go through registration before they were ushered in the HS MPH. Ms. Reese Sta. Maria led the invocation while Mrs. Jane Cacacho warmly welcomed the participants of this year's conference. We were then amazed by the emcees, the funny and energetic twosome of Mr. Jude Liao and Ms. Ross Dela Paz. This conference was off to a good start.
Opening Keynote:
Mr. Joe Sibayan The plenary sessions kicked off with a keynote message from Mr. Joe Sibayan, National Development Executive at Apple. In his talk, he discussed how the world is changing , and how these changes are being driven by technology. educators are now challenged to create the conditions for invention and creation rather than present ready made knowledge. Joe delivered a powerful message and challenge to educators to provide their students the "Why" in creating. Students need to find a purpose so that their creation would impact the world. He also discussed how in Apple, they find it more and more important to have honest and open conversation with educators so that they can provide technology that would reinvent and innovate instruction in their respective schools. |
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Pre-Conference Breakout Sessions 1 & 2
After a quick snack, the participants were off to the Junior High classrooms for their first round of breakout sessions. I was fortunate to enter a few. "A Framework for Visionary Stem Leadership in the 21st Century" by Mr. Louie Dasas was the first I visited. From his session, I learned that visionary leadership entailed promotion of advancements, "future learning," foresight, and servant leadership in our students. I then visited "Blades and Scabbards: Teaching and Entertaining Through Technology" by Mr. Franco Addun of Xavier School. In his session, I learned how important storytelling is in introduction of new concepts, engaging reluctant learners, and giving new perspectives on current events. Next was "Open-Minded Ka Ba? Networks as Tools for Discovery in the Classroom." Mr. Leo Andrei Crisologo talked about Gephi, an open-source network visual analysis tool. I then entered the session of Mr. Paul Tabaque and Ms. Cherie Tan Jie Yung entitled "Are you into EdTech for the Long Haul?" They talked about change management and gave thrif thoughts on running an EdTech program in their respective schools. The final stop on my session tour was Mr. Javier Inumerable's "Graphs Beyond the Numbers." His session showed me that graphs DO speak volumes and tell a story. |
The participants and volunteers had their lunch after the breakout sessions. They also had a quick chance to visit the exhibits as well as network among the other participants. When we get back, we were blown away by the performance of FMD Extreme. The emcees mentioned that they could bust some of the moves that the dance crew did during their performance. However, nobody bought this claim.
Plenary Keynote 1:
Mr. Henry Motte-Muñoz After FMD Extreme's heart-pounding performance, the emcees introduced Mr. Henry Motte-Munoz of Edukasyon.ph. He talked about how his website helps students find employment by providing them with comprehensive information about the different Higher Education schools in the Philippines. He and his team is currently working with DepEd, CHED, and DOLE in order to maximize the services provided by his website and to tap the different stakeholders who can help them in their mission to bridge the gap between education to employment (E2E). His website also provides insight on different career opportunities by interviewing professionals immersed in these fields. He also discussed character traits that are vital for students to find employment, such as hustling and doing the legwork to find employment and understand the ecosystem of the field they are trying to get in. He told the participants that there is no substitute for hard work to get your foot in the door. |
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Plenary Keynote 2:
Mr. Shaun Kirkwood Right after Mr. Munoz, we had Shaun Kirkwood who talked about bringing back the fun back inside the classroom. He said that happiness leads to success, and not the other way around. He stressed that schools should not be too focused on meeting their curriculum to a point that having fun is forgotten. A balance of fun and curriculum is met, learning becomes more profound and meaningful. Shaun shared a lot of online resources that teachers could use to bring fun back in class. Among these are 5mins4fun.com, a website that gives short activities that teachers could use to bring back fun and happiness during class. Another way fun can be brought back to the classroom according to Shaun is to have "Train Wreck" activities where they focus on a core value and learn it through a game or a fun activity. Finally, he also shared www.instructables.com, another online resource site that teachers can go to for printable templates of fun activities they can use during their fun and happy sessions. He encouraged the teachers to share their passion to their students, so that they may use their person to inspire their students explore their passion. |
After their plenary sessions with Henry and Shaun, the participants had their Unconference sessions with their cohort groups. This was their time to talk about questions they may have about what they had learned so far. We then had snacks with the exhibitors and posed for a huge group pic with the participants and volunteers. Check out how fun our pic was:
XS FIT 2017 Day 2
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Opening Keynote:
Ms. Anna Power Xavier School is on its fourth year of doing FIT and today is the second day of the conference. I can still feel the excitement among the crowd. My day started by listening to a powerful talk on Technology Coaching delivered by Ms. Anna Power, an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) from British School Manila. As she shared her life experiences as a technology integrator, I came to understand how important it is for educators to have an innate passion for using technology in the classroom and its enabling power for learners to do things they would not have considered before. For a successful technology integration and coaching to happen, I learned from Ms. Power that the following are essential: first, for technology integration to work, infrastructure must be seamless. I admire her courage to negotiate with her school head to provide students with opportunities to engage with technology as during her time as ICT teacher in London. Second, integrating technology is about finding solutions to problems and building teams focused on creating solutions. Third, pedagogy cannot be separated from technology. I learned that an effective tech integration requires full understanding of the pedagogy of my school, building my professional learning network for constant learning, and seeing the importance of having a tech coach to guide, collaborate and lead. My biggest takeaway: you integrate technology in teaching with purpose and passion, which enables you to collaborate and make significant changes in your learning environment. |
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Lightning Talks
I'd like to say I appreciate these quick five-minute talks by seasoned teachers since people like me nowadays have very short attention span. And I wasn't disappointed. Ms. Ria Marifosque, English teacher and "social media queen" of Xavier School Nuvali noted how people in social media platforms often speak out their opinions and even their rants, but rarely do people become willing to listen. Her talk prompted me to question how much do I get to practice the skill of listening when I engage myself online. Mr. Cecil Mack of International School of Dongguan in China shared about using Do Ink Green Screen to make fun and engaging videos for students. (High Five, Mr. Mack!) Ms. Rachel Santos shared how engaging high school students to deepen their understanding of Filipino language and culture through literature can become challenging, but also about how technology helps students become engaged and invested in traversing this path with her and how using different apps made students interested to explore their identities as Filipinos. Finally, Ms. Emelita Baylon of De La Salle Zobel shared how they invite students to come up with, implement and present solutions to the problems of a barangay with the help of technology. Who would have thought you can use tech to teach about social responsibility and even make an impact to your community? These lightning talks affirmed me that I shouldn't be afraid to try integrating tech in my teaching and use it to widen my students' learning environment. Kudos, tech teachers! |
Breakout
Realizing the importance of technology from the plenary earlier, we headed to the classrooms for workshop sessions in different strands. I was able to visit Ms. Ria Marifosque's "Upgrading the High School English Classroom" session for Language and Literacy strand. She shared with us an array of apps that we can use to make learning more engaging. Who knew you can use Google Earth to further explore the setting of the story your class is currently reading? Next, I entered the classroom of Mr. Nikki Viernes and Mr. Keith Sy of Xavier School San Juan for their workshop on "History in the Flesh: Experiential and Self-Paced Philippine History". As I went inside, I saw teachers playing a typical computer game, but when I sat down myself, I realized that this was a game simulating the Philippine defense against Japanese attack during World War II! And it was even more amazing to find out that Mr. Viernes and Mr. Sy was able to create the game by just using Keynote App! Also, they did a simulation of how Filipinos helped those who were in the Death March by providing them with food. To do this, they did an activity called "Meal or No Meal" where a group of participants were asked to carry a "briefcase" with them, one of which contained food. The audience, pretending to be Japanese, had to find out the right briefcase. The participants then had to think of strategy on how to convince the audience to pick the wrong briefcase. Aside from being fun, it was very effective and affective because students get to "taste" what the Filipinos during that time were going through different events in history, such as the Japanese occupation and during Martial Law. Very, very powerful. |
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For the second set of workshop sessions, I was able to witness Ms. Natalia Fisher of International School of Dongguan in China as she shared about teaching coding to students in early childhood (yes, ages 3-5 years old!). She emphasized that coding helps improve visual spatial skills, complex thinking and logical thinking among kids. Taking us step by step from whole body coding to walking your program and finally, creating and using your app, she made us realize that coding is something people can do, even the little ones. My next stop was Mr. JC Gloria's "Digital Storytelling: Animating Your Literary Presentations through Video Scribe". Video Scribe is a software for creating whiteboard animations. Telling a story in class soon? You can easily "bring your book to life" by putting texts and images into motion! I really need to use this app for the coming school year. Finally, as a Filipino teacher, I wouldn't let it pass to visit Ms. Ivy Enaje and Mr. Agno Almario's session on "Teaching Filipino with Data and Interactive Activities: Classroom Use of Buribook App". They shared about the challenge to Filipino teachers to make teaching literature engaging for young readers. With the use of Buribook, an e-book app that provides activities to enrich vocabulary and comprehension and also provides real-time feedback on reader's decoding and comprehension skills, teachers can make their literature lessons meaningful, enriching and relevant.
With all these tools and ideas, I can't help but be excited for the school year ahead and say to myself, "I'm gonna try and apply all that I've learned from FIT!" |
Playground
In the afternoon, participants explored around different playground sessions. I particularly enjoyed "Coding in the Playground" session by Mr. Camilo Gelido and Ms. Michie Ang, who taught us the basic concepts of coding through the Swift Playgrounds app. They emphasized that coding helps learners become active problem solvers and independent learners. Oh, that excitement when you were able to correctly sequence commands! Also, I was able to visit some sessions that let you experience the wonders of technology, such as the "Emerging Technology x Learning" session by Mr. Galvin Ngo, Ms. Bituin Callanta and Mr. Mark Esquibel that featured a hands-on experience on emerging technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and robotics, and "Robotics in the Classroom" session by the tech coaches of British School Manila, Ms. Katrina Ms. Patricia Reyes and Ms. Kia Aldeguer, who let us experience using the following robots: Wonder Workshop’s Dash and Dot, Ozobots, Beebots, Osmo Kits, Jumping Sumo and the Rolling Spider. |
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XS FIT 2017 Day 3
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Opening Keynote:
Fr. Johnny Go, SJ "Virtual reality is not always virtuous." Fr. Johnny Go of the Society of Jesus and former school president of Xavier tells about what social media users might be compromising while dwelling in the digital world in his talk, "5 Endangered Species of the Digital Age". He shared about how for some people, the digital world has given them the illusion to be anonymous and not accountable, making them vicious when dealing with others online. Fr. Go pointed out that nowadays, one's values, capacity to thinking critically and to search for truth, one's personal interactions, and the space for silence and reflection are "endangered" as people increasingly live out virtual lives. He then challenged the teachers to think about ways to create a "sanctuary" for learners to keep these things in mind while engaging with the digital world. He emphasized that technology can optimize learning but teachers are still essential because they are the ones who can exercise judgment and model to students how to utilize technology to practice values, think critically, promote positive relationships and examine ourselves. His talk resonated with me so much because admittedly, I am one of those who spent at least four hours with my tablet and smartphone, and sometimes, the personal need for silence to get in touch with my inner self is set aside. This is very important for me as a teacher because it helps me regulate my emotions and deal positively with challenges in the classroom. Also, my students can be vulnerable when engaging with technology, and they need someone who will guide them to be responsible digital learners. Like what Fr, Johnny said, "truth is not self-evident. We need to teach our students how to find the truth." |
Panel with Students
It's not just the tech-savvy teachers who are in this conference — the students are here too! Blaine Atkins of Brent International School Manila shared about how he is fond of using the Linux operating system and he helped public school students explore the programs in the system. Zander Sy, Justine Sarsuelo and Clarice Bernal of Xavier School San Juan and Nuvali shared about the variety of apps they use in making classroom projects as well. The kids noted that even though they are young and are familiar with different apps, they still need guidance in using technology. Clarice and Justine hoped that educators will be more open-minded and be willing to go out of their comfort zones to try new apps so that they can make the learning experience for their students more meaningful and fun, without sacrificing personal connection to students. It’s a fresh sight to have students share about their views in using technology and I personally learned some points I can use to connect more with my students using technology. Yes kids, your teachers are listening. |
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Student-Led Sessions
Just when I thought that the kids are through, I was happy to find out that a few more students were given time to share about the apps they explore at home and school. Blaine Atkins further shared about Edubuntu and the fun and easy to explore apps they used in teaching students from the public school. Zander Sy shared some of the favorite apps of students such as Kahoot! and Socrative. He said students like a fun yet competitive environment and these apps can definitely help teachers achieve that. Several students of Xavier School Nuvali gave out some tips on how to use Keynote effectively. Brothers Rinaldo and Renzo Lee taught participants how to use iBooks for interactive activities. Finally, Xavier alumnus Jerry Feng shared his secrets in taking amazing photos and let participants try and take their shots. Indeed, there's so much to learn from our students! |
Strands-Based Workshop
For the last set of workshop sessions according to strand, I witnessed dedicated educators sharing about how they integrate technology in their field of expertise. Ms. Sonia Bustamante, Upper School Principal of Brent International School Manila, shared about why leaders should try to get themselves better in using technology, and how using Google apps increases communication, collaboration and efficiency in their school. Mr. Ryan Bulosan, High School English teacher of Xavier School argued the need for students to learn digital and media competence, and for students to be trained to create, understand and evaluate information in digital platforms. Mr. Charles Joseph De Guzman and Mr. Jonathan Anthony Javier guided us in using the Scratch software to create a game for teaching Asian History. Mr. Glenn Gacutan shared about how you can use apps like Skitch and Keynote to teach games in your physical education classes. Ms. Maritess Bautista and Mr. Jerome Jaime shared about how you can retell your favorite Bible stories through the Book Creator App. On the other hand, those on the Innovative Project strand spent their time working on their projects. |
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Workshop Session
It's almost the end of the conference and excellent ideas were still popping up in different workshop sessions. Mr. Jim Tuscano, CLE Department Head of Xavier Grade School challenged educators to create simple studies on the use of technology in the classroom in areas of engagement, teacher feedback and creativity, and shared experiences in his Edtech pilot class. Mr. Andrew Pinlac of Ateneo De Manila University High School shared about using GeoGebra, a dynamic geometry software and a graphing website, desmos.com for coordinate geometry lessons. Ms. Rachel Santos offered some apps that can be used in making the study of Filipino more fun and engaging. Ms. Rose Franchesca Cruz helped participants explore poetry by creating a digital gallery for a reflective, collaborative and interactive engagement. Mr. Roehl Castaneda gave some filmmaking techniques in creating effective iMovie and After Effects presentations. Finally, Mr. Angelo Mallari shared some online and iPad apps you can use for creating more efficient formative assessments. |
FIT 2018 Will Be Held at Xavier Nuvali!
As FIT came to a close, participants who made creative innovative proposals and innovative projects were given some tokens of appreciation and prize for their hard work. We hope you will continue innovating and coming up with solutions to help your school and community engage with technology to optimize learning! We're also excited how you will implement your projects in your schools. Do share it with us! As Fr. Aristotle Dy, school president of Xavier School noted, we are happy to see a lot of innovations in this school year's FIT. I particularly liked the idea of doing subject-specific sessions to really help participants in their context. Fr. Ari and the FIT team promised to make next year's FIT to be more cutting-edge, more relevant, and be a bigger venue to bring a lot more people together. I think he meant it literally because next year's FIT will be at Xavier School Nuvali! See you all there! |
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VIEW BREAKOUT SESSIONS HERE!
Hi everyone! Just a quick reminder on sign-ups. Participants only need to sign up for the following breakout sessions: pre-conference, student-led, and playground.
As for the workshop sessions, participants do not need to sign up for these because by default you will only attend workshop sessions under the STRAND (ie. Language and Literacy, Fit and SS, MAPEH, Change Leadership, etc) you have chosen in the registration. Thank you! |
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