EUREKA!
Outstanding science and math teachers
By Queena N. Lee-ChuaPhilippine Daily Inquirer
(First of two parts)
The 2012 Metrobank Foundation 10 Outstanding Teachers —four from the elementary level, four from secondary and two from tertiary—are examples of commitment and service. They were formally recognized on Sept. 5 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, as part of the foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Elementary science
Roberto D. Santos Jr. has been teaching science for 11 years at Santa Rita Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac. The youngest awardee this year, the 33-year-old Santos has a doctoral degree in education, major in educational management. But, instead of teaching in college, he has devoted himself to basic education.
Santos developed Science Intervention Materials to help students master fundamental skills. The award-winning modules are widely used in public schools around the nation.
He has also made teaching devices out of recyclable materials, such as the improvised apparatus called Bottles for the Brain. Aside from making science more interesting, discarded materials have been converted into useful models for study.
This science teacher practices what he preaches. Santos has spearheaded the “Basura Mo, Boto Ko” campaign to urge students and their families to turn trash into cash. Funds have been raised to replace the school’s water tank and to purchase garbage bins.
Rizal M. Vidallo has also been teaching science for 11 years, at Anabu II Elementary School in Imus, Cavite. His creativity knows no bounds.
His human-sized robot (albeit made out of wood), lovingly called “Sim Tech 2010,” won in the Regional Academic Competition Elementary Science for public schools two years ago.
Vidallo has used comic strips based on his students’ favorite cartoon characters to teach science. He has composed science songs to the tune of Philippine folk songs to enable his classes to familiarize themselves
with the lessons.
As a result, Anabu Elementary has improved its performance in the National Achievement Test.
Believing in the concept of “paying it forward,” Vidallo also volunteers as a teacher in the Alternative Learning System (ALS), teaching inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology every week. He also trains employees of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Division of Imus in tree planting and flood mitigation.
Physics
Bonifacio D. Caculitan Jr. has been teaching physics for 24 years at Ernesto Rondon High School (ERHS) in Project 6, Quezon City. Physics is one of the hardest subjects to learn, and one of the most frustrating to teach.
Caculitan has developed video lessons to help students understand force, mass and acceleration better. Last year, he presented his video strategies at the Leaders and Educators in Asia Programme Educators’ Conference.
The author of “Sci-Time Magazine,” Caculitan circulates this physics learning supplement around the country. His physics modules are used in the ALS in Quezon City.
A part-time teacher at the Philippine School of Business Administration, Caculitan also teaches Mandarin and, in fact, has written a textbook on the basics of the language. An environmental advocate, Caculitan organized the Kalikasan Film Festival, where students showcase their films on preserving our lands and seas.
He has written a manual on ERHS’ waste management system, and has led cleanup drives in barangays in Quezon City. He also regularly helps students at risk, especially those who have dropped out of school because of poverty.
Mathematics
Nueva P. Mangaoang has been teaching math for 15 years at Man-It Integrated School in Passi City, Iloilo. She has developed materials to make learning math more interesting and enjoyable, such as the “Place Value Box.” This teaching aid has been so helpful in introducing addition and subtraction with regrouping in the primary grades that it has been adopted by teachers at other schools in Passi City.
The coordinator of the school’s Brigada Eskwela, Mangaoang has been instrumental in its being recognized in 2009 as the project’s Regional Best Implementer.
Actively involved in the community’s annual festival, the Pintados de Passi, Mangaoang also helps the Palencia Heritage, a group that aims to preserve Iloilo’s culture and, at the same time, provide scholarships to poor but deserving students.
Catherine P. Vistro-Yu, my colleague, has been teaching math education for 21 years at Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City. She has edited Grade 7 Math modules for the
K to 12 program and, together with colleagues from several universities, has developed math frameworks for basic education and teacher education for the Philippines.
Vistro-Yu has trained math teachers through formal courses, seminars, conferences and workshops on curriculum, assessment and other aspects of math.
One of the founders of the Philippine Council of Math Teacher Educators, she has joined the international project Teacher Education Development Study in Math and represented our country in the International Commission on Math Instruction.
In 2007, she was recognized as one of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service.
E-mail the author at blessbook@yahoo.com.
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