5th International Conference on Teacher Education (ICTED '08) to be held in the Philippines this July!

The 5th International Conference on Teacher Education or ICTED will be held at the Manila Hotel from July 24 to 26, 2008. The conference theme for this year is "Teacher Education Reforms: Access, Participation and Quality."

The ICTED organizing committee said more than a thousand participants are expected to attend the conference, including presidents and heads of universities and colleges in the country, as well as regional directors, schools division superintendents, deans, and faculty members.

International and national resource speakers and lecturers have been invited to share their expertise on education based on their fields of specialization and discipline.

According to the organizers:

Access to education for all children is usually tied to political, economic and social reforms that affect teaching, curriculum, research and development, admission and promotion and quality assessment of schools, classrooms and teachers. ICTEd ’08 provides a unique opportunity for all teacher educators around the world to share their country experience in making their teacher education programs respond to the learning needs of all students.

International movements to eliminate barriers to learning have come and gone. How much progress has been made by countries in enhancing the learning of all children and eradicating the barriers that hinder access to schooling? Have teacher education institutions taken initiatives and leadership in helping schools promote access, participation and quality in their programs, projects and services?

Through ICTEd ’08, countries can learn from each others’ experience and plan strategies for greater global collaboration by way of research, exchange fellowships and joint program initiatives.

This year's ICTED is organized by the College of Education, University of the Philippines. For more information, click here.

My Plans After College

By Ken

My plans after high school are, first, take a 2 year course and second, join a basketball clinic. If I have time, I will play with my friends in the computer shops or play basketball with them in the court or do anything interesting. I will take a 2 year course in photography, auto mechanics, computer programming, or culinary arts. My reason is that so I can develop my learning and share it with my loved ones. I could put up a restaurant business for me and my family. I also want to be a professional chef and play basketball professionally as well. I wanted to be famous in playing basketball. In photography, I want to be professional also, because I want to take many photos of anything nice in the world. If I get married, I want her to help me to manage the restaurant business. I will also join in the lotto so I could win a lot of money. So I could go anywhere and to have whatever I want. I wanted to have many friends. I don’t want my wife to be involved in politics because there are many problems in politics. I want to fix my own car so I can be famous and rich in making new styles of cars.

If I don’t enter college, I will still help my family to expand our grocery business. So I could have work. I will join some basketball leagues so I can be famous without entering colleges. I will follow what my parents want. I will still join the lotto. So If I would win I could solve my problems, enjoy life, use it for business and lastly, I could travel the Philippines.

If I have to choose, I would still want to go to college so my life will be fine.

My Summer Vacation 08

By Paolo T.

My first memorable experience in Whistler was zip trekking. To begin with, I was nervous to try zip trekking. And I was afraid, too, because they said it’s 10,000 feet long, and I might get stuck in the middle. Then, I rode the zip line and that was the one that made me confident. Next, I was second in line to zip line and it’s longer and steeper. Afterwards, we were about to do the hardest zip line in the Bear Tour and I was scared. After that, we tried the longest zip and I was sure it’s going to be alright. Finally, it was my turn to try hanging upside down and I was one of the few people who did it.

My second memorable experience was skiing. To begin with, I went to ski school because my mom, my dad and tita wanted me to learn how to ski more. I took up skiing three years ago but my dad was not yet satisfied with my skiing skills. On my first day of ski school, I was very nervous because it was my first time to be in Whistler mountain and Black Comb. On the second day, I improved a bit on my turning and my skiing. Also, on the third day, I could do edge turning that would make me go quicker. And now I could do black and blue runs. Finally, my mom took me to a treat. Now, I could ski with my whole family.

In conclusion, I was satisfied because it was fun.

My Palawan Experience

By Peter

I and my family went to Coron, Palawan last May 5- 10. We were riding a jeep at the time when we arrived at Coron. After that, we took a boat ride to one of the Palawan islands. While we were on the boat, I saw a lot of mangrove trees and also a big group of red and white jellyfishes. The white ones were big and the red ones were small.

We stayed at a resort called Club Paradise. Club Paradise is a big resort with two sides. The back has a beach and also the front. A band would play every night at the restaurant. Also, everything is already paid for in the buffet, so it’s "all you can eat" buffet. The lounge is next to the pool. Inside there is a bar, a pool table, ping pong table and also a video room. There are two types of rooms you can stay in, the cottage and in the building. There is a tennis court, and a small trek around the island. There is the Eagles Point, a lagoon and an organic garden. The employees have their own rooms and cottages. There is a gift shop, aqua sports store, diving tank store and a diving center called Dugong Diving. They are all around the pool.

The first activity we did was island hopping. During the island hopping, we stopped at a place called 7 Islands. Around the small area we snorkeled, the place is a sea life sanctuary, so under water, I saw vibrant colors of corals and fishes were abundant. After that, we went to a lake area, but to get there we put on Off lotion. We hiked up then back down another way. We saw a big lake in the middle of the island. There were needle fishes and shrimps in the water. After that, we went back on the boat and over to twin lagoon. I was too hungry to swim down to the underwater passage. So I stayed and ate on the boat. Lastly, we went to the hot springs, natural hot springs from a dead volcano. It was warm and very refreshing. On the next day, after that island hopping, we took a boat that took one hour. As we arrived at the island were the safari was, we took a big tram to go and look at the animals. The animals were the giraffes, small deers, bear cats, porcupines and a crocodile. The crocodile was small though. I’ve actually seen bigger ones. I fed the giraffe and petted it. I’ve also fed the bear cat and the deer.

In conclusion, my vacation at Coron Palawan was fun. I hope you too could see what I have seen. So try going to Palawan and share the beauty with your family.

The Story of a Teddy Bear

By Gabby K.

The title of the story is "Teddy Bear For Sale." The main character is Teddy Bear. The story happened in the toy store. The problem in the story is nobody wanted to buy him. The problem was solved when a boy did buy him.

Friends

By Ken

A friend is someone you can talk to, share a secret with, a person who will help you if you needed help, play with you, someone you could trust and lastly, and someone who would do naughty things with you.

Friendship has many meanings. Friendship is a relationship where two persons have similar activities, believes, and interest.

I choose my friends if they have similar hobbies with me. I choose my friends if they understand me and if they join me in doing naughty and fun things.
I and my friends have the best time laughing together in school because we are just "tripping." I and my friends have the worst times, too, when some of them join the other groups because they could be my enemies.

These are the qualities you need to build a lasting friendship. First, you should give time to your friends so you could have long lasting relationships. Next, you should trust your friends so you can tell your problems and secrets with them. Then, you should appreciate things they could do and not do. Last, you should care for them especially in times when they need you.

Friends are important because they do good things for you to become a better person and live a happier life.

*photo courtesy of carf brazil