Striving for Excellence Amidst the Pandemic

 by: Lynneth Mariz M. Libued

 

            Seasons may change, but not the love for learning. Tibag High School is one with DepEd that strongly believes education must continue amidst the pandemic.

 

As always, Tibag High. School gives its best to provide quality basic education services even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the changes brought by the new normal, every day is a new opportunity for the Tibag High School teachers to give their service all for the love of their learners.

 

           As a way to prepare and to cope up in the new normal, the teachers attend different webinars for upskilling and reskilling conducted by DepEd and non-DepEd organizations that can be incorporated into the teaching strategies in the adapted learning delivery modalities of Tibag High School in consonance with the Department of Education’s mandate regarding distance learning as the mode of learning for the school year, 2020-2021. 

 

Tibag High School aims to provide all the possible learning needs of the learners without forgetting that the utmost priority is the safety and welfare of its stakeholders. The school prioritized enhancing physical facilities put floor signages, improvised foot bath sanitation, alcohol, and thermal scanner conforming to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and Department of Health (DOH) safety protocol guidelines. 

 

           Tibag High School’s learning delivery modalities are modular in print supported by radio broadcasting instruction. The threat brought by the health crisis will not hinder the teachers from working heartily as for the Tarlaqueño learners. Each student will be receiving a set of learning materials, such as the learning activity sheet per subject area, DepEd learners’ textbooks, and others. The school has 3 planned schemes in distributing and retrieving modules: school-based, barangayan, and house-to-house. Every child deserves to learn regardless of his socio-economic status, especially now that everyone is affected by the pandemic.

 

           In school, the parents will be filling out a form at the entrance of the school followed by thermal scanning to check the temperature, sanitizing using the footbath sanitation and alcohol. The floor signages will guide the parents to the way where the teachers are. The transaction between the teacher and the parents is limited by proper social distancing. The teachers do not forget to remind the parents to wear a face mask and face shield. The parents are also ought to bring their alcohol and ballpen. 

 

           For those parents who cannot go to school due to personal reasons, the selected teachers of Tibag High School bravely bring the learning kits to the barangay, in which the same procedure is done in the school is followed by the teachers and the parents. While the teachers with private vehicles are doing house-to-house distribution and retrieval of learning kits all for the exigency of service.

 

           In support of the modular distance learning, Tibag High School took the initiative to level up the learning process amidst the pandemic through radio broadcasting instruction. The hardworking and passionate school head of Tibag High School, Ma’am Juvelyn L. Esteban spearheaded doing benchmarking in RBI, implementing schools together with the selected teachers. After the benchmark, Tibag High School teachers equipped themselves through attending webinars conducted by the school master teachers and ICT teachers and with the full support given by the school head and head teachers. Tarlac City Schools Division also provided teachers a proper training and workshop about scriptwriting, technical skills in the delivery of lessons via radio, radio production, and infomercial writing. 

           Tibag High School teachers work their fingers to the bone in planning, implementing, and monitoring radio broadcasting instruction to reach its purpose – helping the learners to make them feel that they are not alone on the battlefield. 

 

The school provided the equipment needed to make the radio broadcasting instruction possible. While the work-driven head teachers carefully planned for the schedules of the teachers per learning area. In entering the RBI workplace, the teachers are required to still wear their facemask while they broadcast. The teachers still practice social distancing inside, and the workplace is only limited to three teachers to ensure safety and convenience. The workplace is being sanitized in between during the morning session and the afternoon session. 

 

The teachers use the developed Learning Activity Sheet as their basis in the flow of their lesson, in which all the ideas are put together in the script and PowerPoint presentation. The teacher-broadcaster makes sure to double-check everything in between for quality assurance before the broadcasting. 

 

Radio broadcasting instruction is limited to the usage of radio and through the usage of FB live. In promoting this new delivery modality to the learners, the advisers inform their advisory class to increase the number of viewers on FB live. The teachers work hand in hand to make every radio broadcast session smooth sailing. 

 

           In terms of monitoring, the school head together with the head teachers of Tibag High School often conducts an open forum to get the concerns, comments, and recommendations coming from the teacher-broadcasters and ICT coordinators.

 

           To address the learners who do not have a radio and lack of chance to listen to the lesson broadcasted via FB live, Ma’am Juvelyn L. Esteban prioritizes this concern right away by asking help from the Local Government Units and non-LGUs to be the donors of radio to be given to selected learners. Through the strong relationship, the request was granted, and the radios were distributed to the learners who needed it the most for them to catch up with the lessons. 

 

           This roller coaster transition in the education system will not stop the teachers, parents, and other stakeholders to help and support one another to contribute meaningfully to the building of the nation. The pains and sacrifices of the stakeholders are nothing compared to the fulfilled dreams of the learners to continue their education amidst the health crisis.

 

Sulong Edukalidad!

 

Soar high, Tibag High School!