A MIRACLE

That's what I feel I witnessed last Monday.

Karl (not his real name) had been struggling with stage fright (according to him) since he was in Grade 3.

Now that he was in Grade 7, he has gotten used to getting zeroes for oral performances. "I'll have to tell your parents," I said. His reply was: "They already know."

So I didn't give him a zero yet because I wanted to understand his problem more.

I asked him about it outside of class and he explained his predicament very fluently! So I decided to scaffold his entry into the speaking world, as it were.

We had four storytelling tasks. He could tell his story quite well outside the faculty workroom when he only had me for an audience. We're on the way, I said to myself. My plan was to make him do the  next one in front of 5 selected friends, to scaffold his eventual speaking in front of the class. But he never did that.

Instead, his behavior followed the same pattern: his name would be called, he would curl up in his seat, mumble things to himself, and freeze. He wasn't just paralyzed, he was immovable, as proven by 2 or 3 classmates being unable to pull him to the front of the class.

"But he already did it in music," his classmates reported. What? I was intrigued.

So I asked him after class. He had stood up with three other classmates. They were to sing one verse each of their song. "And when it was my turn, I did it," he said. "Was it because you had people on stage with you?" He nodded.

So I called three of the funniest students in class and asked them to act out what Karl was saying. It just happened that the topic of that particular story was "a challenge I overcame". So Karl told the story of successfully singing his verse, with the clowns inventing appropriate choreography. And he did it, in front of the bench outside his class!

I wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so I asked him if he wanted to tell his story right then instead of waiting for another chance two days after. But again, he wouldn't budge, talking silently to himself. Until one of the clowns said: "If you do it, I'll bite my socks off!"

He smiled and suddenly, we could pull him up and into the classroom. He delivered his speech to those who were left inside (it was a free study period). There were about 15 people there, clapping loudly after he said "Thank you!" But I didn't hear them anymore.

It wasn't a perfect presentation. Far from it. But he started and finished it. And I knew I had witnessed a miracle. Just because someone was willing to bite his socks off, which he didn't have to do anymore.

HOW TO WIN (excerpts from John Wooden's talks on YouTube)

When contest season comes up, we always want our students to win. But what do you actually say?

Some win. Some lose. Some win unfairly. Some lose badly. What advice is the most formative for the students we are second parents of?

John Wooden has a few things to say about this:

1) BETTERING OTHERS

Never try to be better than someone else, always learn from others. Never cease trying to be the best you can be — that’s under your control. If you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to the things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things over which you have control.

2) DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

I coined my own definition of success, which is: Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable. I believe that’s true.

3) RULES FOR CHARACTER

Later on I said certain things — the players, if we were leaving for somewhere, had to be neat and clean....I had one of my greatest players that you probably heard of, Bill Walton. He came to catch the bus; we were leaving for somewhere to play. And he wasn’t clean and neat, so I wouldn’t let him go. He couldn’t get on the bus, he had to go home and get cleaned up to get to the airport. So I was a stickler for that. I believed in that. I believe in time; very important.

I believe you should be on time, but I felt at practice, for example — we start on time, we close on time. 

And another one I had was, not one word of profanity. One word of profanity, and you are out of here for the day. 

And the third one was, never criticize a teammate. I didn’t want that I used to tell them, I was paid to do that. That’s my job. I’m paid to do it. 

4) WINNING

Never mention winning. My idea is that you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game, and you can win when you’re outscored. 

And I just wanted them to be able to hold their head up after a game. I used to say that when a game is over, and you see somebody that didn’t know the outcome, I hope they couldn’t tell by your actions whether you outscored an opponent or the opponent outscored you. 

5) IT'S THE JOURNEY

But I wanted the score of a game to be the byproduct of these other things, and not the end itself. I believe it was one great philosopher who said — no, no — Cervantes. Cervantes said, “The journey is better than the end.” And I like that.

I think that it is — it’s getting there. Sometimes when you get there, there’s almost a let down. But it’s the getting there that’s the fun. As a basketball coach at UCLA, I liked our practices to be the journey, and the game would be the end, the end result I liked to go up and sit in the stands and watch the players play, and see whether I’d done a decent job during the week.

6) BALANCE

You have to have mental balance to keep things in proper perspective and not get carried away.

Keep your head...directly above the midpoint between the two feet...Keep your feet just wider than the shoulders...Hands and arms always close to the body.

7) CONCENTRATION

When you come to practice, you are a basketball player. You're hardly a person, you're a basketball player. I want complete and total, total concentration on basketball for the next 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Don't talk to anybody on the stands...but as soon as practice is over, you're not a basketball player, you're a student.

8) CONDITIONING

I try to get my conditioning through our drills. Every drill is a conditioning drill...About 70% of my practice each day was always on individual fundamentals.

9) KNOWING YOUr PLAYERS

I try to determine from where a player could shoot. Each player. Although we worked all of them in different shots.

10) THE BASICS

You must do the things in which you believe...Every year I sat down first thing I show them how to put on their shoes and socks.

Quickness over size...But it must be under control. We don't want activity without achievement.

11) PLANNING

Carefully plan and organize your practice...It took me longer to plan a practice session than to have that practice session....I wanted the time when I'm planning, I wanted time with no interference at all...I would look over yesterday's practice session...I have on file what we did every minute of every practice in the 27 years I was in UCLA...(and I would make notes on the margin)...I have a record of every player for every practice that he had participated in.

12) LEADERSHIP

They're not working for you. They're not working for your school. They're working WITH you.

You want them to not be afraid to disagree with you. But understand that you're the one who has to make the decision--the difficult part.

I stuck to what I believed in...I was firm.

...if they're doing what they should be. If they're not it's my fault. I have to wake up.

I have one inbounder. But I must teach him. You can't expect him to do what you haven't taught him to do.

13) MENTAL REHEARSAL.

I make them practice jump shots without the ball...I'm watching for balance...I'm watching to see that they keep their elbow in...I'm watching that they don't reach...Then we work on defense, no ball. Then I give each pair a ball.


So my takeaway is:

Practice my students 

and stick to practice rules

with concentration and balance

to the point that they are the best version of themselves

they can be in the given time.

Help them work for the self-satisfaction of doing their best.

If they win, good. If they don't, at least it's not their fault.

Can't wait for the next contest.

SOURCES:

https://www.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_the_difference_between_winning_and_succeeding?language=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xYDoa6FX_s&t=599s

https://singjupost.com/john-wooden-the-difference-between-winning-and-succeeding-transcript/?singlepage=1

Scaffolding CLOSE READING

A co-teacher recently sat in my class to see how we discussed book chapters.

What she saw was students standing up one-by-one and reporting all the things they found in the paragraph assigned to them. It wasn't a perfect class and some students still didn't know what to do. But some stood up, gave all the INFORMATION they found, defined DIFFICULT WORDS, enumerated the FILIPINO DETAILS in the text (as required by our curriculum), and pointed out FIGURES OF SPEECH that were used.

She was amazed and asked how that happened. Quite quickly, I was surprised to recall.

1) I had taught them about FIGURES of SPEECH and FILIPINO DETAILS before. So that's covered.

But I noticed they had a hard time understanding the text of the novel we were reading. And quite often, they skipped parts they didn't understand or which they thought unimportant. So I decided to teach them really close reading.

2) So I asked them to SUMMARIZE what had gone before.

3) Then I READ ALOUD the first paragraph of the new chapter and asked for volunteers to interpret the paragraph. I graded this as a 5-point quiz. The volunteers were lucky because I could ask them an unlimited number of questions until they squeezed all the juice from that single paragraph. This took as long as 10 minutes. Per paragraph!

4) Next session, I did the same thing--sometimes continuing the previous discussion, sometimes with a new chapter. But this time I could only ask 2 QUESTIONS.

5) Then I only asked 1 QUESTION.

6) Then I couldn't ask questions anymore. But I asked for volunteer CLASSMATES to ASK QUESTIONS.

This wasn't working too well because the class was too quiet, and I felt that not everyone was engaged in the lesson. So I did what I'll describe in #8. But before that:

7) I think they also needed a VISUAL way to think about what to do. So I drew paragraph lines on the board. Then I encircled "details" on it and numbered them. I made sure that all the points of the lines were included, and asked them to do the same--INCLUDE EVERY WORD in your interpretation.

This is how the class looked last week:

7) 0 QUESTIONS from me. I gave the student his grade, And if the reporter didn't get a perfect score, anyone in the class could point out the missed detaiil and get the point as bonus for himself. I made it clear that they were not stealing points, but were PICKING UP DETAILS THAT WERE LEFT BEHIND.

So, when I say "4/5" there are hands up almost immediately. And if not, I can see people struggling to find what was skipped. Engagement, check!

This was also a way for those who got a low score to make up for it. But only if they leveled-up. I also avoided giving too many bonus points to a student, and tried to call as many individual students as possible.

NEXT, I think they'll be ready to include NARRATIVE TECHNIQES in the things they notice. Maybe even THEMES or MOTIFS. These are Grade 7 boys, but with the progress they've made by climbing slowly up the ladder, I'm a bit confident.

How do you do this in your own class?

PAIBAYO 2020

Isinulat ko ito para gawing babasahin ng mga estudyante ko sa Sanaysay. Pero matagal ko na rin talagang gustong isulat. Noong panahong ikinukuwento ko pa lang. Napakarami nga yatang karanasang nalimot na dahil hindi naisulat. Kaya mabuting ito man lang ay mailathala na, kahit dito lang sa kuwaderno ko sa internet.

PAIBAYO

Paolo Ven B. Paculan 2020

1               Panginoon, turuan mo akong maging bukas-palad…

2               Isa itong linyang paulit-ulit kong narinig sa paaralan at madalas pang awitin bilang bahagi ng koro sa simbahan. Hindi tuloy kataka-takang pagkatapos ko ng kolehiyo una kong naisipang magtrabaho sa isang NGO. 

3               Trabaho ko noon ang pumunta sa mga lugar sa laylayan ng lipunan at tulungan ang mga tao roon na solusyonan ang kanilang mga problema nang sama-sama. Isa sa madalas kong puntahan ang Ibayo Ususan, Taguig. ‘Ibayo’ ang tawag kasi tatawid ka pa ng ilog para makarating doon. Piso ang bayad sa bangkang hindi sinasagwan kundi hinihila ng bangkero sa pamamagitan ng lubid na tumatawid din sa ilog.

4               Kapag may miting ang mga taga-Ibayo Ususan nagsisimula kami sa panalangin at pagkatapos sa pagtatawag ng attendance. Napapansin naming laging wala si Aling Au. Tumanggap na naman daw ng palaba sabi ng isa. Naiinis na kahit ako kasi parang inuuna pa niya ang pera kaysa progreso ng buong komunidad.

5               Kaya minsan, sinadya ko siya sa bahay. Para walang takas sabi ko. Paakyat pa lang ako ng kubo nila nagtaka na ako sa tila matamis na simoy na nanggagaling sa loob. Wala na naman si Aling Au, pero naroon ang kaniyang asawang si Mang Pabling. 

6               Nakahiga siya sa sahig dahil di na siya makatayo. Dati raw siyang nagtatrabaho sa ‘kontraksyon’ at isang araw nang pauwi siya, bumuhos ang ulan, at di niya alam kung bakit pero bigla na lang bumagsak ang katawan niya sa lupa. Noon niya nalamang may diabetes siya at di na maaaring magtrabaho. May mga sugat siya sa likod na hindi gumagaling—epekto ng sakit at marahil pinagmumulan ng amoy ng silid.

7               Dumating din kalaunan si Aling Au mula sa paglalaba na kaya pala niya ginagawa’y para matustusan ang gamot na kailangan para manatiling buhay ang kaniyang asawa. Insulin.

8               Nagtanung-tanong ako sa opisina at nalaman kong namimigay kami ng libreng insulin! Ngunit kailangang ang pasyente mismo ang kukuha sa opisina naming mahigit isang oras ang layo sa Ibayo Ususan. Dahil alam kong maglalaba pa si Aling Au, minabuti kong ako na ang kumuha at maghatid sa kaniya sa susunod kong pagbisita.

9               Ilang ulit ko na itong ginawa nang ipatawag ako ng bos ko. Sabi niya: “Alalahanin mo: naroon ka para sa organisasyon. Hindi para sa mga indibidwal na gusto mong tulungan.”

10            Sinikap ko namang hindi mapabayaan ang organisasyon. Pero hindi ko rin hinayaan lang sina Aling Au at Mang Pabling. Nalaman kong hindi sila kasal kaya kinuntsaba ko si Fr. Sid na kura paroko nila noong panahong iyon, isinama ko pa ang kasintahan kong may dalang pansit mula sa kanilang tindahan, at doon, sa munting kubo sa kabilang ibayo, ginanap ang sakramento. Iyak nang iyak si Aling Au pagkabigkas niya ng ‘Opo, sa hirap at ginhawa, sa kalusugan at sa sakit, hanggang kamatayan.”

11            Nakailang bisita pa ako bago tuluyang umalis sa NGO para makapagturo. Nagtaka ako nang minsang samahan ako ni Aling Au pagtawid sa ilog, pabalik sa sakayan ng dyip. Baka may pupuntahang kostomer naisip ko. Pero bago ako makasakay, huminto siya sa paglalakad at sinabi sa akin: “Maraming salamat talaga.” At inilalagay sa palad ko ang 500 piso.

12            Naisip ko isang buong araw na siguro ng paglalaba ang katumbas noon. At pinalaki ako na naniniwalang mas mabuting magbigay kaysa tumanggap. At nag-aral ako sa paaralang nagturo sa aking maging bukas-palad, lalo na sa mga mas nangangailangan.

13            Pero hanggang ngayon pinagsisisihan ko pa rin kung bakit hindi ko kinuha ang 500 piso ni Aling Au.

I'M NOT A FILIPINO 2012

I’M NOT A FILIPINO?

PAGMUMUNI para sa
BUWAN ng PAGKA-PILIPINO 2012

Mr. PAOLO VEN B. PACULAN
Pinuno ng Asignaturang Filipino

Pumunta kami minsan ng pamilya ko sa Fully Booked sa Bonifacio High Street. Parang langit sa mga anak kong mahilig sa libro ang lugar na iyon.

Pero siyempre gusto ko magagandang libro ang bilhin nila. ‘Yung hindi lang masarap basahin pero may matutuhan sila. Kaya tinulungan kong mamili ang bunso kong si Biboy.

Pitong taong gulang yata siya noon at napaka-Ingglisero. Natuto kasi siyang magsalita noong nasa Play School na siya at wala nang ibang pinanood kundi Nickelodeon at Cartoon Network.

Dahil guro ako ng Filipino, pumili ako ng librong magtuturo sa kanya ng mga pagpapahalagang itinataguyod ko araw-araw.

“Ito, Biboy, gusto mo?”

“What’s that?”

“Ito o. Tingnan mo ang pamagat.”

Tiningnan niya.

 “Stories for Filipino Children.”

Ngumiwi siya at nagsabing:

“But Dad, I’m not a Filipino.”

Parang gusto kong ihampas sa kaniya ang aklat. Pero siyempre dahil mabuti akong ama, nagmukmok na lang ako. At nangakong malalaman rin niya balang araw ang kaniyang nasyonalidad.

Pero nasyonalidad lang ba ang pagka-Filipino? Hindi ba ito diwa? Paraan ng pag-iisip? Laman ng puso?
 
Ilan kaya sa inyo ang nakaramdam na rin ng naramdaman ni Biboy?
“But, I’m not a Filipino.”

Mas magaling akong mag-Ingles. Mahilig ako sa pasta at hamburger. Ang laman ng MP3 player ko halos puro musikang dayuhan.

Hindi ako nanonood ng pelikulang Pilipino. Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit puro ampon ang bida sa mga teleserye. At kung bakit ang helmet ay sinusuot ng mga nagmomotor...sa anong bahagi ng katawan? Tama, sa siko.

Baka nga Pilipino na lang ako sa nasyonalidad, sa pasaporte, sa papeles. Pero hindi sa puso.
 
Pero teka, bakit ka malungkot?

Bakit ka malungkot na hindi ka lubos na Pilipino? Na hindi mo maipagmalaki ang pagka-Pilipino mo?

Baka Pilipino ka naman pala talaga.
 
Magaling kang mag-Ingles. Pero kung magtanong ka kung kumain na ang isang tao sinasabi mo:

“Have you eaten already?”

Di ba dapat “Have you eaten” lang?  

Kaya lang di mo matanggal ang salitang “na” sa isip mo. Minsan tuloy nagiging “Have you eaten na?” Kitam’. Pinoy ka pa rin!

Kapag maraming kotse sinasabi mo: “Grabe, it’s so traffic.”

Naku, mali. Dapat “The traffic is so heavy, pare.”

Kaya lang dahil pinoy ka, “trapik” ang tawag mo sa “matrapik” na sitwasyon.

Mahilig ka sa spaghetti. Minsan authentic Italian pa ang trip mo. Pero nasasarapan ka rin sa matamis ang timpla. Lalo na ‘yung may hotdog at pulang-pula, katulad ng mabibili mo riyan sa isang restoran sa Katipunan.

Doon ka rin bumibili ng hamburger. Oo, kumakain ka ng hamburger. Pero kumakain ka rin ng pisbol, ng squid ball, ng chicken ball, ng isaw, ng kwek-kwek, ng tukneneng, at para sa iyo napakabango ng bagoong! Pinoy ka kasi.

Hindi ka nanonood ng sineng Pinoy? Kung ganoon, nako, ‘yan ang mali mo! Napakaraming maganda. At nakakatawa. At maituturing na obra maetsra. Alang-alang man lang sa alaala ni Dolphy ay manood ka na sa susunod na Sabado!

Hindi mo naiintindihan ang helmet sa siko?
O ang katiwalian sa gobyerno?

O kung bakit nananalo sa eleksyon ang mga artista?

Puwes, ako rin! Hindi ko rin lubos na maintindihan. Pero may mga hula ako. Kailangan magkahula ka rin. Hindi lang sa ugat ng problema kundi sa mga posibleng solusyon. At sa mga lehitimong dahilan kung bakit nariyan pa rin ang mga pesteng problemang iyan.

Naiinis ka rin sa katiwalian di ba? May pakialam ka. At iyan ang isa sa pinakatunay na sukatan ng pagka-Filipino. Mahal mo ang bansa mo. Kahit ano ka pa at kahit ano pa siya, gusto mong may gawin para sa iyong Inang Bayan.

At iyon siguro ang nagbibigay ng pag-asa sa akin. Ingglisero ang anak ko dati. Pero puwede ko siyang kulitin araw-araw at ibili ng librong hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit ko binili. Alam ko kasing balang araw makikita niya kung sino siya—anak ko siya, at pareho kaming anak ng bayang Pilipinas.

Kaya Biboy, Malaika, mga anak, para sa inyo ang pagmumuning ito. At para rin sa inyong lahat—kayong nagmamahal sa Pilipinas pero hindi pa lang alam kung paano ipakikita.

Manalangin tayo. +

Diyos naming Ama, ibinigay mo sa amin ang aming bansa. At lahat ng sarap, at hiwaga, at hamong dala nito.

Ngunit ibinigay mo rin kami sa aming bansa. Sana tulungan mo rin kaming maging biyaya sa aming Inang Bayan. Hindi lang balang araw kundi ngayon na. +

Mabuhay ang Pilipinong Atenista.

Mabuhay ang Atenistang Pilipino.

FILIPINO ARAW-ARAW

Nasa pormang madaling basahin sa PA system ang pagmumuning ito. At inasahan kong sasagot talaga ang buong Ateneo Grade School sa mga tanong ko (na siya ngang nangyari). Nakuha ko ang estilong 'yon sa Blues Clues at sa librong The Tipping Point. Kung anuman, cute ito para sa mga mas batang mag-aaral. Isinulat ko yata noong 2013, 2014, o 2015.

FILIPINO ARAW-ARAW

PAGMUMUNI PARA sa SIMULA ng BUWAN ng WIKA

ni Paolo Ven B. Paculan

Mga minamahal na estudyante,

Kumusta kayo?

Simula ngayong araw, ipinagdiriwang na ng buong bansa ang Buwan ng Wika.

Si Ginoong Paculan ito. Guro ako ng Filipino sa Ateneo Junior High School.

At may gusto sana kaming sabihin sa inyo. Handa na ba kayong makinig?

Filipino Araw-Araw.

Ito ang tema natin para sa taong ito.

Puwede n’yo bang ulitin: Filipino Araw-araw.

Ayan.

Iyan ang gusto kong pag-isipan natin ngayon.

Sino sa inyo ang mahilig magbasa ng libro?

Sino sa inyo ang mahilig manood ng pelikula oi mga video sa YouTube?

Sino sa inyo ang mahilig sa computer games?

Paano mo sila naiintindihan?

Malamang dahil marunong kang mag-Ingles.

Paano kung hindi ka marunong mag-Ingles?

Ano ang mawawala sa iyo?

Napakaraming libro, pelikula, video, at computer games ang hindi mo maiintindihan.

Paano naman kung hindi ka magaling mag-Filipino?

Ano ang mawawala sa iyo?

Ano ang mga hindi mo malalaman?

Ano ang hindi mo mapapanood?

Sino ang hindi mo maiintindihan o hindi ka maiintindihan dahil hindi ka magaling mag-Filipino?

May ikukuwento ako sa inyo. Ayos lang?

Dahil nagsawa na siya sa Amerika, namasyal si Superman sa Pilipinas.

Lumilipad siya isang araw at napadaan siya sa Enchanted Kingdom.

Nakapunta na ba kayo roon?

Alam ba ninyo ‘yung Rio Grande Rapids?

‘Yon, may nakita siyang mga taong nakasakay roon. sumisigaw sila:

Saklolo! Tulong! 

Sabi niya: Wow, that ride sure looks fun.

At lumipad palayo.

Nalulunod na pala ang mga tao pero hindi niya tinulungan. Bakit?

Hindi niya naintindihan!

Akala niya masaya lang sila.

Buti na lang nailigtas sila ng kapwa nila Pilipino.

Kaya rin siya nandito kasi nakipaghiwalay sa kaniya si Lois Lane.

Masakit ‘yon di ba?

May nakita siyang Pilipina, napakaganda.

Kaya lumipad siyang pababa.

Sinubukan niyang makipagkilala.

“Hi, I’m Superman,” sabi niya.

“Ha?” sabi ng babae.

“Hi, I’m Superman. What’s your name?”

“Sino po sila?” sagot ng babae.

“Sinoposila. That’s a nice name. I really like you.”

Sagot ng babae: “Ah, sayang. Hindi tayo magkaintindihan. Guwapo ka pa naman.”

At lumayo sa kaniya ang babae.

Lumipad si Superman palayo, umiiyak.

Malungkot ang wakas ng kuwento ko. Bakit?

Kasi: sayang hindi magaling mag-Filipino si Superman!

Kung magaling lang siyang mag-Filipino, nailigtas sana niya ang mga Pilipinong humihingi ng tulong!

Kung magaling lang siyang mag-Filipino, nasabi sana niya ang pagmamahal niya!

Kahit si Superman walang nagawa.

Kahit si Superman kawawa.

Kung hindi siya marunong mag-Filipino sa Pilipinas.

May isa pang kuwento. Nalaman ni Superman na may kapatid siyang babae.

Ipinadala rin sa isang spaceship mula sa Krypton.

Pero dito nahulog ang spaceship sa Bulacan!

Dito sa Pilipinas lumaki ang kapatid niya.

Sabi ng kapatid niya:

“Marami pa tayong kamag-anak dito sa mundo. Alam ko kung nasaan lahat sila.Pero dahil wala akong kapangyarihan. Ikaw ang kailangang humanap sa kanila. Naiintindihan mo ba?” sabi ng kapatid niya.

Sabi ni Superman: “What?”

Sayang nakilala sana ni Superman lahat ng kamag-anak niya kung marunong lang siyang mag-Pilipino!

Ikaw, naisip mo na ba

kung ilang kaibigan

ilang kamag-anak

ilang Pilipino

ang hindi mo makikilala kung hindi ka magaling mag-Filipino?

Baka sarili mong nanay o tatay ay hindi mo makilala nang husto kung hindi!

Naisip mo na ba iyon?

Kaya importante ang Filipino. 

Hindi lang paminsan-minsan.

Kundi araw-araw.

At importanteng gamitin ito at mag-ensayo nito

hindi lang tuwing may klase.

Kundi Araw-araw.

Puwede bang sabihin natin uli: Filipino Araw-araw.

Ito ang panalangin namin para sa inyo.

Na magamit ninyo ang Filipino araw-araw.

Na maging mas Pilipino rin kayo araw-araw.

Kung hindi

kahit si Superman ka pa,

wala ka ring kuwenta.

TATLONG SALITA PARA SA LINGGO NG WIKA 2010

TATLONG SALITA para sa LINGGO ng WIKA

(Pagmumuni para sa umaga ng 02 Agosto 2010)

Paolo Ven B. Paculan

Noong nakaraang linggo, naganap ang Sawikaan 2010.  Isa itong kumperensya kung saan pinipili ng mga eksperto sa wika ang salita ng taon.  Ngayong simula ng Linggo ng Wika, tingnan natin ang ilan sa mga salitang nakaapekto sa ating lahat kamakailan.

Unang salita: “Ondoy.”  Salita itong lumilikha ng takot sa marami at nagpapaalala ng masamang karanasan.  “Na-Ondoy kami, pare.”  “Nasaan ka noong Ondoy?”  “Sana hindi na magka-Ondoy.”  Ngunit ito rin ang tawag sa Task Force ng mga Atenistang nagsama-sama at tumulong sa mga biktima.  “Ondoy” ang pangalan ng sakuna, ngunit “Ondoy” rin ang pangalan ng kilusang nagsikap na lumutas dito.

Ikalawang salita: “Wang-wang.”  Para sa ilan, katumbas ng salitang ito ang pang-aabuso, kasingkahulugan ang katiwalian.  Pero ngayon, “bawal na ang wang-wang.”  Simbulo ito at kongkretong aksyon tungo sa pagbabago.  “Wala nang wang-wang,” sabi ng mga tao.  At habang sinasabi, bahagya silang nakangiti na para bang nabuhayan uli ng pag-asa para sa bayan.

Huling salita: “Jejemon.”  Sa iba, katumbas ito ng kamalian sa balarila, kasablayan sa pananamit, kabaligtaran ng astig at panalo.  “Jejemon” na ngayon ang dating “jologs” na dating “baduy”.  Pinag-uusapan ang jejemon sa mga chat room, naitampok sa telebisyon, naging kanta, naging alpabeto, naging paraan ng pananamit, naging isang buong bagong kulturang nadidiyaryo hindi lang dito kundi pati sa ibang bansa.  Sa sobrang laki nito, nagdeklara ng giyera rito ang Kagawaran ng Edukasyon dahil nakasasama raw sa kabataan.  

Ngunit sa kabilang banda, kung hindi natin ito agad huhusgahan, may pinatutunayan ang jejemon.  Ipinakikita nila na puwedeng lumikha ng bagong kultura, na puwedeng magsama-sama ang maliliit na tao, na kahit kung-sino ka lang puwede kang mapansin ng mundo.

At kahit hindi sang-ayon sa panlasa mo ang sabihing “3ow ph0w, mUsZtAh nA?” hindi mo maitatangging may nagawa silang kakaiba sa mundo nating puro na lang remake ng lumang kanta.

Kundi man sa ibang bagay, mahawahan sana tayo ng mga jejemon ng kanilang kapangahasang gumawa ng pagbabago nang mawala na talaga ang mga wang-wang, at kung maulit man ang Ondoy ay handa na tayo.

Manalangin tayo.

Panginoong Hesus, Salita ng Diyos, salamat po na may wika kaming walang katulad.  Tulungan mo kaming gamitin ang wikang ito sa pagsisikap naming unawain, tulungan, at samahan ang isa’t isa.  Amen.

Maligayang Linggo ng Wika sa inyong lahat.  Magsisulong sa Hudyat ng Pagbabago!