Recess Time!

Everyone knows him as Daddy Rex and that is how he has been introducing himself every time. In this episode, we took time to talk about his school life back when he was young, his family, things he is passionate about, and a quick note on how he is choosing his candidate for the upcoming election in 2022. It was quick and easy conversation. Something like, we bumped into each other in a mall, took a quick coffee break to catch up and wrapped it up inspired and in a good note, knowing that when we see each other again, we will be sharing good stories about our lives and things we love to do.

Meet Chess and Gybel, two of the many coaches and supporters of Girls Got Game Ph. In this episode, they share their personal journeys on how sports and an active lifestyle honed them up to be leaders and on how they became active volunteers of GGG Ph. GGG Ph is a volunteer-powered NGO who aims to empower young women through sports. This organization is kept strong by Pinay athletes and sports enthusiasts. They organize roving sports camps, reaching out and opening opportunities to thousands of girls in underprivileged locations. They started in the Manila areas and had expanded in Visayas and Mindanao! When the pandemic hit, they got more creative on how to keep moving and GGGClub 2021 is born.  GGGClub 2021 pilot program designed to support distance learning of different types of sports. It combines different aspects such as: personal commitment, essential sports equipment, technology and digital community, modules, and parental supervision.  It is always a wonderful experience to listen to people talk about their passions and dreams, moreso if it is for greater good. The future is a bit brighter for younger girls because a lot of Ate-s got their back. From here, we dream of developing many more Pinays that will bag gold medals and spread kindness all over the world through sports. 

In this episode, I talked with Pokemon Go enthusiasts, Emil and Julio, how it all started, how they formed lifelong friendships, international goals and personal thoughts about a game that we all love since childhood. Surprised with Psyduck being Emil's favorite Pokemon and Julio's vast knowledge on the variety of Pokestops and the gifts one can send and receive, Pokemon has evolved from a "Gotta catch 'em all" goal, to an international community of people from different walks of life and interests ranging from collectors, raiders, AR photographers and many a lot more!  As always, editing had always been a challenge, as every talking point in this interview had been very meaningful to me, but crunching the entire conversation to focus on how this game helped them in getting through their days, for me, had been worth it.

Alvie is currently working as a College Instructor in a state-run university in Federated States of Micronesia and it is quite a story to hear how he kickstarted a career that combined both his passions for education and agriculture while still doing volunteer tasks on the side. The entire interview took about 51 minutes, a total travel down the memory lane as we share our experiences as first-time teachers in the public school in the Philippines. As I review and edit on this episode, I felt like there are still a lot of questions to ask to unpack why people still choose to volunteer  in so many different ways, how one can find fulfillment with being of service for others. Maybe those questions aren't for us to answer in this episode, but its for others to understand for themselves in their own context. This is Alvie's.

I have never thought I will ever experience in my lifetime and never wished for it, but here we are, the entire humanity is threading it's first year in COVID-19 Pandemic. My friends, Chess and Karis, and I, delved down into how the year had challenged, changed and continually make us move forward as individuals and advocates of education in the Philippines. From learning to embrace work from home environment, to deep-diving into hobbies for sanity and then, talking about how the teaching-learning platforms are evolving and of course, how voting in the upcoming election can make things way better and improved as we work on surviving this pandemic. This conversation is bitin as always and probably still missing a lot of thoughts, and you are encouraged to open up this type of conversations with people around you and reflect on the pandemic year it had been and still going on. 

Last hour hirit before Feb 14, 2021 ends! As a contribution for the sensational Feb 14th, this season of love, this conversation with Teacher Eloi was just so chill and fun-- the exchange of personal thoughts about being single, "intimidating" and how to make the best out of the opportunities in front of us. Every now and then, it is good to open that good space for talking about topics we tend to take lightly but honestly have deep meanings for all of us. Happy Valentine's Day 2021 peoples! 

This episode was so laidback and fun! No proper introductions about the guest happened and it all just opened up into the duration of the conversation itself. I haven't talked to Ryan Bestre since we both finished our 2-year fellowship program as public school teachers but kept in touch with him through social media, reading his blog: https://greenmindedryan.wordpress.com/ and when we started recording this session, it was as if we were just on one of those breakfast sessions during our training days! It is always nice to be reminded that I have a circle of strong and passionate people about making the world, the Philippines a better place to live in for the future generations.

Starting 2021 with thoughts about Minimalism The struggle is real! From one social media post to another, I had always been fascinated by Carmina is working on with her life goals of becoming a minimalist in many aspects of her life while making the best out of it! It was a challenge to clip and stitch the contents of this episode as we talk about how to move towards possessing lesser material things, focusing on the important aspects of relationships, time and financial management. 

Libraries and museums play a role in a nation's education, healing and identity (Sofia Santiago, 2020) It was difficult to edit this one because every second and minute of the conversation counted for me personally. Sofia and I worked together as public schools teachers and since then had kept in touch as we chose to take different routes rooted on the same grounds of advocation for education and equality. This episode was great come back after taking break being overwhelmed with the disasters, pandemic and academic requirements along the way. As much as I can, I will continue these conversations, with people that I know I could learn from and feel safe to share my uncertainties and open up my questions. After all, learning takes place in our the most uncomfortable situations and we can courage in asking and seeking answers. 

Neil Capumpue, a SPED Teacher, shares some thoughts and things to consider when around and working with children with special needs. Though a big chunk of the conversation revolved around the whys and the hows of becoming an effective SPED teacher, it isn't surprising to note that in teaching, we all end up the one learning from those we teach. Even the most challenged (physically and cognitively) human beings that we know can teach us lessons we can never imagine. 

In this episode, Rox and I talked about our experiences in UP Open University. I used to think that Distance Learning is an option, but now, due to unexpected world events, distance learning is the mode of learning to go to. Listen how Rox started her big step to lifelong learning, survived the many firsts challenges and how she learned the ropes of this type of independent learning. We did it, so could you! 

This episode's guest is Regina Pasion. She is a mom and a co-parent to a very smart toddler, works at the development sector while completing her graduate degree in psychology.  She shares her thoughts about all these things and it is a different kind of joy, pride and admiration for her as she unfolds her story. After the call, I really had a lot of personal takeaways and I couldn't be more grateful for her openness so others can pick up something from her past experiences. 

Happy World Teachers' Month 2020! Back to school for the Ph public schools on Oct 5th, too! So, I talked to two of my teacher friends in the public school about the things they personally think are important and necessary as a teacher at this time of pandemic and beyond. Feel free to share your own U.R.L.s too! You don't know who might find it useful in the long run. 

Welcome to our podcast channel, Recess Time! In this episode, we introduce ourselves, our goals and our big dreams for the education sector. Thanks for sharing your recess time with us!