essays 101

My World Upside Down

2011-09-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

“Hello, Mom! Don’t worry about me, I am okay, I am doing great! I will graduate ma that is a promise!”
I am Nathan, 19, a fourth year student of a well known university in our city. I have been in the dean’s list for three consecutive years, and my mentor told me that if nothing goes wrong I can graduate as Cum Laude or even Magna Cum Laude or the best part is I may be the Suma Cum Laude for this year. That was the future intended for me, written in very bold letters, scripted in stones but no one thought that those things are merely written and would not be realized. Let me bring you back to that afternoon that would change the course of my life.
It was an ordinary afternoon for a student like me. I was sitting quietly on the bench at the lobby of our school. I was so engrossed with the book I am reading. Well, who would not be, I am reading the 7th of the 7 sequels of the Harry Potter series written by the great J.K. Rowlings. I heard noise coming near me; it was the sound of a shoe having contact with the floor. I curiously looked at the direction of the noise; to my surprise I saw a girl of an extraordinary beauty. She has a long black shiny hair, rosy red cheeks and lips more beautiful than Angelina Jolie’s. I thought I saw Hermoine Gringer, but it was not her, it was a girl who really exists. Her presence blew me away and my eyes, they are anchored on her, and my head could have turned 360 degrees. I anxiously followed her and I confidently introduced myself. “Hi miss my name is Nathan, Nathan Velasco, can we be friends?” “I am Mae, Mae Cruz, third year architecture student. Sure we can be friends, I have to go for now, I have to enter my class so that I can be one of the great architects in the world, bye!” I am so speechless that I just waved my hand as a response. With so much joy, I jumped, I shouted and I dropped harry potter.
We became friends. We go out a lot, I eventually fell in love and one night, I confessed my feelings to her. “Mae, there is something I have to tell you. I am not used to this but all I know is I LOVE YOU! Would you be my girlfriend?” I said as I held her hands so tight. “Yes, I would be very glad to Mr. Velasco!” “Oh thank you, Mae I would take care of you, I would never let you down, I would love you in every way I can!” That was the beginning of the night that has changed me. Our relationship went well; we made it to our first month. I want to make it special for her; I decorated my apartment with a romantic look. There’s candles, roses everywhere and champagne which my mom suggested. She arrived looking so beautiful that made my heart beat faster and faster as she gets near. “boog, boog, boog”. We ate, and exchange romantic gifts and I love you’s. We kissed and because of the adrenaline rushing through our bodies; we made love. I was her first and she was my first too. It was one of the happiest nights of my life.
One morning after a month that night, I woke up with a happy face and excitement in my heart for it is our second month as lovers. I am singing my favorite song by my favorite band. “Make me alive, make me suffer, make me feel.” Suddenly I heard a loud knock, a knock that made me nervous. “Nathan, Nathan, open the door! Nathan where are you, Nathaaaan!” I opened the door and it was Mae with a very worried and distracted face. “Mae, why, what happened, is there any problem?” “I am pregnant Nathan, it is your baby, you are the father and that means I will be a mother. At a very young age I am going to be a mother, this can’t be happening. What shall we do?!” “I don’t know. I don’t know! I’m still young I have lots of dreams for me and for my mother; I am not ready for this Mae. I don’t know how to be a father, I don’t know Mae,I don’t know! I am so sorry!” She slapped my face and ran away.
I returned to my bed, and lied down, confused, weary, worried and anxious. My phone rang, it was the message alert, it’s my mother texting me saying “Son, you are our hope; your degree means a lot. I really hope you can graduate, take care son!” That text even made me sadder. “Oh no, what have I done? My dreams would be shattered. I don’t know what to do! I want to die, my life is useless now. I can’t graduate, I have impregnated someone and I know it would also shatter her dreams, I am going to be a father and I don’t know how to and I don’t know what to do, I’d better put a bullet on my head and leave all these problems.”
I was about to pull the trigger of the gun when I remembered the smile of Mae and my mother. I slowly put down the gun and laid my head on the floor. “I still can’t be a father, I am still a child and I don’t know what to do!” Bob, one of my schoolmates suddenly appeared in my head saying the words he used to tell me “If you impregnate someone, just give me a call and we’ll take her to an abortionist and whoah problem solved!” I am about to call him when another voice talked to me and said “No, don’t do that, that would make the situation worse! Keep the child! Be human, the child has life too!” I don’t know what to do at the very moment! The voice keeps getting in my head! I don’t know which I am going to follow, should I have it aborted or should I keep it. I finally came to a decision and I decided to keep the child, I can still earn a degree even if not now, I don’t want to be a murderer! My father once told me that being a father is not easy but it is not impossible!
I hurriedly went to Mae’s apartment to tell her that I am ready to be a father now and I would take care of her and our future baby. While on the taxi I thought of names that I should give to my baby “Alexander would be great for a boy and Alexandria would be exquisite for a girl.” Because of too much anxiety and excitement I forgot to get my change from the taxi driver. I arrived at the doorway of Mae’s apartment knocking excitedly. I knocked more than ten times so I decided to enter the house for it was left unlocked. “Mae, Mae, where are you? I am here now, I am ready to face my responsibilities, I am so sorry for my behavior a while ago! Mae, please, where are you! I will enter your room I you won’t open this door!” I opened the door, I jumped to her bed hoping to give her a heartfelt hug, to my surprise she was not responding. I felt a thick red liquid running through my hands. “Oh no! Oh no! Mae is dead, she killed herself! Lacerating herself to death! Oh no! Oh my God, Mae is dead! Mae please, please! I am so sorry! Oh no what have I done? Because of my cowardice the girl I love and our future baby is now dead! Mae, I am so sorry, I love you so much! Mae!

Lost!

2011-07-05T07:41:00.001-07:00

Lost in the sea of people
I got No one to cling on
Lost in the ocean of emotions
I am not sure of what to feel

A figure came my way
I thought the puzzle would be solved
It turned out another part was opened
In which I see that many pieces are still missing

The figure that I thought would complete it
Was a shadow of the pieces left unconnected
Now my puzzle is bigger
Confusing than I could ever imagine

The Pain Reliever

2010-08-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

I stood steadily before the coffin of my best friend. I was wearing a blank face and tears suddenly fell on my face. I was not really crying. I am not sad about the fact that she is already gone, actually I am happy. I am happy because finally my dying friend is finally at rest. I turned away from the bronze coffin with silver edges. I sat down staring blankly at the floor when a tin foil wrapper of a capsule caught my eyes; I stood up quickly and excitedly picked it. I examined it thoroughly then I realized it’s the same pain reliever my friend used to take whenever her heartburn strikes. I hold it tightly and returned to my seat. I was looking around, keenly observing the people in the funeral parlour, I’m looking for someone actually I just don’t know who that was. A man standing before the coffin caught my attention. He stands there meticulously observing the body lying on the box of eternal life. He wears a white coat paired with denim jeans, his hair properly done and he stood smartly. He feels the coffin through his hands and he slowly turns away from the coffin. But the direction of his head shows that he is still observing the body. He raised his head, a memory flashes into my mind.

“Just calm down, everything will be alright” I said to my friend as I held her hand tightly while rubbing her on the back to comfort her. “I’ m afraid, what if... “Sssshhhh” I interrupted. The door opened and a man of good posture entered the room. It was the doctor. He wears his long medical gown with the stethoscope around his neck. He was holding a long brown envelope. He gave it to me and commanded me in a gesture to open it. I took a deep breath at first I was hesitant but when I saw her facial expression permitting me to do so, I opened it with my heads up looking up to the ceiling, no to the heavens. I looked at the files. It says that her heart disease is severe. I confided her. She stood up and ran away. “Thank you doctor, please excuse me” I said. I hurriedly followed her outside.

“If ever my heart aches severely you must only buy a pain reliever from this pharmacy. Let the guy with the clean cut hair serve you. The moments he entertains you, say these words “I need a pain reliever for the heart”. He will give to you what you want even if you will not present the prescription.” She said in a calm voice. She walks slowly as if she was floating. Instead of following her, I headed directly to the pharmacy to buy the pain reliever she asks me to. I said the words she wants me to say. I observed the man detail by detail. He is a man of good posture, he is neat. The uniform fits his complexion. His name tag suggests that he is Mr. Ian Flores. “Is this right?” He asks gently. I was surprised because it was the medicine I intended to buy. “Yes” I said surprisingly. I paid it then I directly went in the car. “Did he entertain you?” she asks with a blank expression. “Yes he’s kind” I said in response as I handed her the pack of medicine. She smiled. It was the same smile I have been witnessing every time she will take that medicine. I just smiled back instead of giving her the usual insult.

We arrived at her pad. She has been living alone for five years. Her parents migrated when her sister grant her parents petition. I put the groceries in the tall silver French door fridge. After doing it, I went to the sala where she was calmly sitting as she examines the medicine I bought her. When she was holding it I feel that she was happy. I can’t figure out why. I just observed her.

“How I wish there is a pain reliever for the heart” she said in a monotonous voice. “Well, you’re holding it” I said confidently. “I mean the one that will really cure the pain” she commented back as she stands on the doorway while holding the medicine near her heart. “Isn’t that effective enough?” I asked. “ Never mind” she said turning away. “Bye, I’ll be here tomorrow at 9 am I have to pick up the files at the office” I said as I head to my car. When I got into my car, I took a deep breath and stared blankly to the stirring wheel. I was confused. I am clueless of what she had said. Actually my confusion started when she asks me to buy the medicine from the pharmacy. With the directions she has given me to the response I got from the pharmacy attendant and to the statement she had said. I turned on the engine and drove at my usual speed.

I arrived at her pad at exactly 9 am. She was still in her bedroom. I went to the kitchen and found no signs of her that she had her breakfast. I opened the fridge and took the cereals, the loaf bread and the box of fresh milk. I prepared everything and I went to her room. “Breakfast’s ready.” I said in an inviting tone. “Good morning” she replied as she stretched her hands and yawn. She stood up and followed me to the kitchen. We ate. It’s the usual routine we have together.

“About last night” I said starting a conversation. “Why, what about it?” she asks me back as she takes a sip of the milk. “About the pain reliever” “Ah that? Never mind that” she commented as if she doesn’t want to talk about it. I respected it. I looked at my wristwatch; it is 10:30 am. “ I have an appointment by 11 am, I have to go.” I said as I take the last bite of my bread.

The usual routine continued for nine months. “Breakfast’s ready! Come it’s bacon and eggs this time!” I said in my usual inviting tone. There was no response so I got near her, I tickled her but there was no movement. Her skin was cold. My heart pounded. There was no pulse from her, no heartbeat and no single breath. I stayed as calm as I could but my tears keep falling. She’s gone.

Those are the hurtful memories that flashed when I saw Mr. Ian Flores. He sat down with my friend’s parents. But the mother stood up and walked sarcastically. She walked fast with her eyebrows raised high. “Wait, Im so sorry tita” Mr. Ian Flores uttered as he tries to held her back. “Leave now, we don’t need you here” she said in an angry tone pushing him away. She walked away from him heading to the CR. Myla, my friend’s beautiful sister offered him a hand. “Go now... you have no place here anymore. You’re no longer connected to us the moment you broke her heart” she said in a low voice but with obvious anger in it as she looks towards my friend’s coffin. I keenly observed them. He walked away and Myla got near me. She explained to me everything. My friend and Ian is engaged for two years before they migrated to Canada.

I head to the coffin slowly feeling her and I said “There is no medicine proven b science to cure the pain in our hearts but it’s only us who can cure it. In time everything will heal.”

We are the World

2010-08-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Divided by Two

2010-08-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

I arrived home last night at 7pm, the rain started to fall, and the wind is calm but breezing cold. The house was peculiarly quiet and the bulb on the garage was not turned on. I walk calmly with my face on the ground and my mind running (i really don't know what I was thinking about, all I know is I am thinking) not minding the rain nor the coldness of the wind. I stopped at the doorway like I always do, taking a deep breath before opening the silver screen kitchen door. I put my pointed black shoe off and put it on the shoe rack. I entered the house, I was expecting a yell coming from my hyperactive cousins 5 and 7 years old, and a Justin Bieber music played loudly from the phone of my music lover cousin. But I was disappointed, I was welcomed by no one but the disturbing silence. Nobody was at home, I hurriedly went to the master's bedroom expecting a folded note, to notify me there whereabouts, but i found none, I got no clue of there whereabouts. I went directly to my room, took off my peach polo and black pants. I put on my favorite apple green shirt with the word "ATHLETICS" on it, I paired it with a blue floral short. I went to the unusually peaceful kitchen and ate my supper. It was pork adobo and rice.

After eating, I turned on the TV and switch from channel to channel to find a good show to kill the time while waiting for them. I ate a toasted bread while watching "Glee". But I find it boring, so I went to the laundry area and washed my pants which was soaked for three days. While silently doing it, a face suddenly appeared in my mind and that is the face of the person I was trying to forget. I paused for a moment and said to myself "just a little time and I will get over this person". But it sees that I am battling with my self. The other half says let go but the other contradicts it saying hold on let time heal the wounds. I urgently stopped and went back in to the house, turned off all the lights. I went to my room, got my mickey mouse pillow and covered my self with my checkered blanket. I want to empty my mind but the more I try, the more he gets in. I excitedly stood up and quickly turned the TV and watch a film to distract my self. But the cd tape left is about a person begging to be loved, I turned it off and turned the radio on instead. I listened to the music played by the fm tation. I unconsciously fell asleep. In my sleep, I dreamed of him, he is inviting me to go with him. We walked and talked, but I struggled to go afar. He hurriedly followed me and said in a loud voice "Wait, why are you running? Let's give this a try" I paused and refused. He held my hand tight that I could not escape, until I woke up, it was my favorite cousin squeezing me.

Moving On

2010-08-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of moving on. Technically I am single but my stupid heart already belongs to someone I can't even call mine. I know that I don't have the right to complain about the pain that my heart feels now. He does not belong to me. He doesn't even know it.

The first time I saw this person my heart beats faster. It's as if the time had stopped but my heart beats even faster. I never saw anyone but him. He overshadowed the things and the persons around me. I see nobody but him. Whoah! What a feeling! This is a familiar one. This is what I felt the first time I fell in love. But this is even greater ( and the worst). I hoped and wished that one day he can notice me the way I wanna be noticed.

I always do some crazy stuff just fro me to be noticed. I shout loudly, I keep quiet disturbingly and sometimes just ask favors from him. Even if I knew that it's a one in a million chance (if there is) that he will notice me the way I wanted to be. At first I took it as an inspiration. I can do things extraordinarily and sometimes I can be the best that I can be. Every time he watches me (or am i just assuming that he is?) I see to it that I am at my best, I am perfect! I see to it that my polo is properly buttoned and pressed, my hair perfectly done, my face exquisitely presentable and my self astonishingly framed. I see to it that he sees the best in me, and the best in everything I do.

Later, I realized that I might be obsessed with him already. I am so engrossed with he thought of doing things to impress him. I'm not even sure anymore if I am striving because I wanted to or because I just need to do it for him. The sad part is he is committed to someone. Someone owns him and I can see it that they're happy . I was torn apart. It's as if a knife was plunged into my chest and reached my heart. It's like my chest was ripped into shreds and m heart pounded in a mortar and pestle. It is so broken, torn into several tiny useless pieces. Right now I can say I am in the gloomiest part of my life. And the problem is I've got no one to blame but me. No one but my stupid heart! No one but my foolish feelings! It could have been better if I was committed with someone and that person has cheated on me, at least i have someone to slap and someone to quarrel with. But this, this is very absurd. I got hurt by myself! I am a hopeless case, why do I go on? Why do I always fall for the wrong person?

As I have said I am in the process of moving on. In the process of healing the wounds my stupid feelings had caused me. But how can I do that if I always see him and I'm in contact with him (contact's not the right term though). Nonetheless I will try. how I wish mending a broken heart is just like gluing a broken figurine and after that it's whole again, just like the figurine before it was broken. But my heart is shattered and torn apart! I guess in time this will heal, maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow but some other time. I'm sure this will heal, as they say it takes time to heal. If ever that time comes that the shattered pieces of my heart will soon be one, one fact remains I have loved and got hurt by my self!

My Kabagang

2010-07-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Telephone

2010-03-28T02:25:00.000-07:00

Vanilla Twilight

2010-03-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

Summer Hot Spots

2010-03-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Baguio City

Baguio City is located some 1,500 meters above sea level, nestled within the Cordillera Central mountain range in northern Luzon. The city is enclosed by the province of Benguet. It covers a small area of 57.5 square kilometers. Most of the developed part of the city is built on uneven, hilly terrain of the northern section. When Daniel Burnham plotted the plans for the city, he made the City Hall as a reference point where the city limits extend 8.2 kilometers from east to west and 7.2 kilometers from north to south. It is the highest major Philippine city in terms of elevation.

The city is known for its mild climate. It is because of this that Baguio is nicknamed the "Summer Capital of the Philippines". Owing to its high elevation, the temperature in the city is 8 degrees Celsius lower compared to the average temperature of the rest of the country. Average temperature ranges from 15 to 23 degrees Celsius. It is usually lower during the late and early months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature was 6.3 degrees Celsius on January 18, 1961. This is in contrast to the all-time high of 30.4 degrees Celsius recorded on March 15, 1988 during the 1988 El Niño season. Baguio seldom exceeds 26 degrees Celsius even during the warmest part of the year.

Boracay

WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY ON BORACAY ISLAND.
The Boracay Beach Resort is located at the heart of Boracay Island -- midway along White Beach between Boat Station 1 and the island's newest center, D'Mall. Our beachfront location makes the Boracay Beach Resort a quiet respite from the island's bustling party scene, but close enough to its heart for those who want a complete Boracay experience.
SWEET SUITES!
Our resort frontage was designed by international architect Mike Batchelor. Our oceanview suites offer a stunning 180-degree view of the world's best beach. You can entertain guests in your very own living area, have breakfast on a veranda overlooking our inside garden, or sit out on the patio and be mesmerized by the island's fiery sunsets.

PERSONAL CARE.
The Boracay Beach Resort is the only establishment on the island with a personal butler or maid dedicated to every suite room. We're here to cater to your every whim so you can enjoy the island to the fullest.

Tagaytay

The city of Tagaytay is a tourist attraction for local and foreign visitors. It is a vantage point of Taal Lake and Volcano. Tagaytay also offers a view of Taal La ke - a lake within an island within a lake.

Tagaytay is an hour and 15 minute drive from Manila via the South Luzon Expressway, or may be reached via the Coastal Road Expressway and the Aguinaldo Highway. If going through the South Luzon Expressway, take the Carmona Exit and drive down through the Governor's Drive and Silang up to the entrance of Tagaytay City. Or through South Luzon Expressway, take Sta. Rosa exit going straight to Tagaytay City. There are two possible ways to get to Tagaytay via the Coastal Road: Taking the Coastal Road to the Aguinaldo Highway and continuing south, and using the Indang and Mendez Roads in the Trece Martires City and Amadeo areas. If coming from the neighboring town of Ternate, Cavite take the Naic Road and drive straight to Indang and Trece Martires City. From Batangas, the best way to reach Tagaytay is through the new circumferential road. From Laguna, you may enter Tagaytay through the Carmona exit. There are buses that ply to Tagaytay from Manila on a daily basis. Several bus companies have their terminals in EDSA, Pasay City, and at Baclaran, below LRT, Manila.

Dumaguete City

Places To Go

* Dumaguete Belfry.

The city's most popular architectural landmark. It was built in 1760s and 1870s to warn townfolks of attacks by maurading pirates.

* The promenade along Rizal Boulevard, facing the Tañon Strait.

* Dumaguete Cathedral and a monument to José Rizal in Quezon P ark.

* Dumaguete is best known for Silliman University.

Wednesdays at Malatapay Market

Zamboangita, Negr os Oriental

In the municipality of Zamboangita, Barangay Maluay, is Malatapay Market -- known for its beachside restaurants that cook the freshest seafood catch of your choice. They also have lechon (roast pig), grilled pork, and pork barbecue.

Malatapay is also famous for its tabo (or market day). The locals and other people from neighboring towns gather around in this spot every Wednesday to sell their fruits, vegetables, grains, livesto ck, and plastic wares from sun up till sundown. These vendors are all in healthy competition so haggle if you must.

Wednesdays at Malatapay are crammed full not only of people but of a variety of produce. It’s busy and chaotic, but ultimately loads of fun.

Zoo Paradise of the World

Zamboangita, Negros Oriental

The Zamboanguita Zoo was heaven on earth for its late founder, Dr. Eleuterio V. Tropa, who always walked barefoot around his spread. He led a unique trail of conservation and environmentalism movements, had followers who obeyed as well as greatly revered him.

Less than an hour’s drive from the Dumaguete City proper, this Zoo Paradise holds the collection of Fr. Tropa’s memorabilia, stuffed wild animals including that of his huge pet orangutan and lion, and of course, live animals enclosed in perimeter fences or cages.

Surrounding the zoo are i pil ipil trees, known for their natural healing properties that the Fr. Tropa’s followers still use for medicinal purposes. Hi s descendants and supporters reside within the zoo’s grounds even now.

Twin Lakes of Balinsasayao
Sibulan, Negros Oriental

Tucked away in the remote hills of Sibulan are the Twin Lakes of Negros namely Lake Balinsasayao and Lake Danao. A good 45-minute drive on a winding road will lead you up to the extensive rainforest ecosystem that surrounds the lakes.

This portion of Sibulan is said to be the home of a remarkable number of 180 species of trees, 113 of birds, 27 mammals and 49 reptiles and amphibians, making it deserving to be dubbed a Natural Park.

Activities like kayaking, horseback riding, and trekking can be done. They have picnic cottages, restrooms, snack sho p, camping grounds, and a souvenir shop.

The serene, placid waters of the Twin Lakes make you gaze at it in awe. It emits an aura of being in a lost civilization – what with the sound of crickets and frogs that punctuate your every sentence.

Bais City
Dolphin and Whale Watchin g
Bais City, Negros Oriental

The Bais City Tourism Council generally oversees and organizes the tours. The cruises take you out to Tañon Strait, t he natural habitat of dolphins and pygmy sperm whales.

Out in the sea, the boat comes to a stop and the guests are told to clap their hands or whistle to encourage the dolphins to play. True enough, you could view them leaping in the air in pairs or groups. Children can only squeal in delight. Meanwhile, the whales prefer to emerge when it is calm and quiet.

The dolphin and whale watching package tour usually comes with lunch consisting of seafood and traditional Filipino dishes. It is served right on the boat for that unique, worthwhile experience. If you plan your own trip and rent a boat from for your dolphni and whale wathing trip on the pier in Bais, then make surer you have packed a lunch and plenty of drinks. for lunch you c an bring fish and meat and have the boat crew BBQ it for you while you swim and enjoy the sun.

Central Azucarera de Bais
Bais City, Negros Oriental

Central Azucarera de Bais wa s the first sugar mill of the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas SA (or Tabacalera) in the Philippines. Established early in the year 1918, it became the gateway for the province’s sugar industry. Up until the present, CAB continues to be fully operational.

The CAB staff houses are reminiscent of the Spanish culture. The architecture is greatly influenced by it, a standing m emory of a bygone era.

Bird Sanctuary and Mangrove Park
Bais City, Negros Oriental

A short boat ride and a walk through bamboo pathways are all it takes to reach this park.

This protected sanctuary is inhabited by a diverse collection of bird species and other wildlife. Here, they continue to nest and propagate amid a 400 hectare mangrove forest.

Negros Oriental is a province laden with natural resources. It is blessed with an exquisite blend of both land and sea bounties, making it a sought after vacation spot and eventually, a place of residence.

Manjuyod White Sand Bar
Manjuyod, Negros Orient al

During low tide, a 7-kilometer stretch of pristine white sand seems to float right in the midst of Bais Bay’s sparkling blue waters. Known among the locals as White Sand, this strip of beach is a popular destination for families on vacation. It is also a stopover point for dolphin and whale watching cruises of Bais City because of its proximity to Tañon Strait.

There are several cottages dotting the strip, all of which look like pretty little houses on stilts. This is so because during h igh tide, the water could rise u p to its floors. They can be rented for the day or for overnight stays.

Mabinay Caves
Mabinay, Negros Oriental

Approximately 87 miles northwest of Dumaguete City, Mabinay has a hilly and rugged terrain. It takes about 2 hours travel by bus.

Mabinay has a total of 22 caves. The most popular ones are Pangligawan Cave in Barangay Lamdas; Pandalihan Cave and Mambajo Cave in Barangay Paniabonan & Crystal Cave in Barangay Bulwang. The O dloman Cave, one of the longest caves in the Philippines is also found in Mabinay. It was discovered by a team of 15 Dutch explorers.

These caves have very interesting rock formations and have been deemed safe by both local and foreign enthusiasts. Cave guides can be hired for as little as a thousand pesos a day.

Tirambulo Highland Resort
Mabinay, Negros Oriental

The Tirambulo Highland Resort is nestled in Barangay Paniabonan in the town of Mabinay. It is an extensive spread of grass and thick rows of trees with a giant man-made lake in the middle of it and 6 other smaller ones around the resort. Surrounding the lake are several fishing spots where you can actually throw in your hook for some freshwater catch. There also is a camping area and a conference hall. They also arrange for cave tours.

They have native cottages for rent ranging from P800 for double occupancy; P1400 for four and P1500 for seven. The restaurant serves authentic Filipino dishes and delicacies.

Pamplona Golf and Country Club
Pamplona, Negros Oriental

Only an hour’s drive from Dumaguete City, Pamplona Golf and Country Club is an 18-hole golf course in the midst of a lush coconut plantation. With all basic amenities such as a clubhouse that serves snacks and refreshments, golf carts for rent at P600 per round, 3 cottages rent with a minimal daily rate, caddies and umbrella girls that you can hire for the day, and a pro for quick lessons.

Pamplona Golf and Country Cl ub has well kept greens and fairways, hosting at least 3 golf tournaments in one year.

Lake Balanan
Siaton, Negros Oriental

An unspoilt natural beauty that has been preserved by time, Lake Balanan is nestled between the mountains of Siaton. At present, development projects are ongoing at the site. In addition to a restaurant, a few cottages and a swimming pool, a guest inn is being constructed for those who might want to stay for a day or two.

Activities include taking a banca ride, fishing, camping or simply having a picnic for the day. Lake Balanan’s tranquil waters teem with fish and a peaceful boat ride is a fantastic way to while away the time.

Canlaon City

Canlaon City, located north of Dumaguete City, is home to the famed Canlaon Volcano. Many avid trekkers and mountain climbers consider Mt. Canlaon as one of their top destinations.

Quipot Falls
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

Located 5 kilometers from the Canlaon City proper, Quipot Falls drops from a 100 feet high mountain range and cascades over big rock formations down to a wide and deep river that is ideal for boating, fishing and swimming. It is well known in Negros Oriental for its odd bottle shaped waterfall. Its tributary rivers are the rivers of Binalbagan, Malaiba and Linothangan.

The municipality of Canlaon is located 168 kilometers from Dumaguete City and is also home to the highest peak in the province, Canlaon Volcano.

Oldest Tree
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

The Balite or Lunok Tree was known to have first evolved in the year 678 AD. Historians, botanists and scientists have proclaimed it to be the oldest and biggest documented tree. It has lived 1328 years as of the year 2006. Tucked away in the remote hills of Barangay Aquino in Canalon City, this large sized tree can be seen from the water reservoir dam and the OISCA farm. It is an ideal stop over during a nature trail hike especially because the environment is cool and it also has cottages nearby. In the evenings, the tree is lighted up by a thousand tiny firefly lights akin to a Christmas tree.

Two Waterfalls of Sudlon
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

In the northeastern portion of Mt. Kanlaon at Sitio Gaboc, Barangay Malaiba and approximately 6 kms from the city proper is a stunning pair of waterfalls only 120 meters apart from each other -- better known as Sudlon 1 and Sudlon 2. It is fenced in by two hills covered with lush plants and vegetation. The name “Sudlon” is derived from the Visayan dialect that means “to go inside”. True to its name, one has to literally get in between the two hills to be able to find the secluded waterfalls.

The cool and tranquil waters of Sudlon cascades down from a 25-meter peak and into a wide basin that is great for swimming. For nature lovers and avid photographers, the Sudlon Waterfalls is an enchanting vista especially when captured when the sun peeks through the surrounding forest trees. It is only a 20-minute hike from the nearest Barangay of Canlaon City.

Mt. Makawiwili Ridge
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

Also dubbed as a “saddle in the sky”, Mt. Makawiwili Ridge is nestled 8,000 feet high in between two mountain peaks. It is officially the observation platform from where scientists, tourists and locals could study and observe the movements of the legendary Canlaon Volcano. It is usually where a team of trekkers or scientists set up camp because it is a very ideal spot for VHF or UHF relay posts and it also provides great visual adv antage for observers of the volcano.

Mt. Kanlaon
Canlaon, Negros Oriental

The stately 2600-meter high mountain draws the boundary between Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental and is the highest peak in the Visayas Region and one of the five highest in the Philippines. It has been declared the most active volcano in the province, constantly emitting signals, its last eruption though mild being only this year (2006).

At the base of Mt. Kanlaon and 9.5 kil ometers away is Canlaon City, the last town to the west of Negros Oriental. Mt. Kanlaon continues to be a lure to adventurers because of its awe-inspiring majestic crater that is 400 m deep and 100 m wide. It usually takes three days to fully explore this mountain but aside from camping grounds there are also available pension houses for a more comfortable stay.

Lake Sebu

Lake Sebu is a natural lake located in the municipality of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato and within the Alah Valley region. The Philippine government has recognized it as one of the country's most important watersheds. Lake Sebu is one of the many bodies of water supplying important irrigation to the provinces of

Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato.

The villages around the lake have been

turned into an independent municipality called Lake Sebu after being a former village of Surallah.

The T'boli and Ubo tribes have been the traditiona l dwellers of the lake. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources have recognized, through Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2, Series of 1993 , the claim of these tribes that the lake and its surroundings are under their ancestral domain.The Department of Tourism and the local government unit of Lake Sebu has promoted the lake as one of the prime eco-tourism destination in the municipality

Aristotle's Theory of Happiness

2010-01-31T02:31:00.000-08:00

Aristotle’s Background

Aristotle was born in Stageira, Chalcidice, in 384 BC, about 55 km (34 mi) east of modern-day Thessaloniki. His father Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was trained and educated as a member of the aristocracy. At about the age of eighteen, he went to Athens to continue his education at Plato's Academy. Aristotle remained at the academy for nearly twenty years, not leaving until after Plato's death in 347 BC. He then traveled with Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor. While in Asia, Aristotle traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Aristotle married Hermias's adoptive daughter (or niece) Pythias. She bore him a daughter, whom they named Pythias. Soon after Hermias' death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander the Great in 343 B.C.
Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time he gave lessons not only to Alexander, but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander. In his Politics, Aristotle states that only one thing could justify monarchy, and that was if the virtue of the king and his family were greater than the virtue of the rest of the citizens put together. Tactfully, he included the young prince and his father in that category. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and his attitude towards Persia was unabashedly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be 'a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants'.

Plato’s Theory of Happiness (Summarized)

" He finally finds happiness by ascertaining the specific function of man. In the case of flute players, sculptors, and all craftsmen - indeed all who have some function and activity - 'good' and 'excellent' reside in their function. Now the same will be true of man, if he has a peculiar function to himself." - Aristotle
In his theory, he (Aristotle) stressed that man can only attain or acquire happiness if he can determine his function in life. In other words, knowing one’s self, playing our part and doing what we must do in accordance to the function that we are to do, are the only ways in which happiness can be attained by us. He (Aristotle) also cited in his theory that we do does are the things that makes us human but not those that would separate us from the rest. But on the other hand he suggested that the only way we can do better with our chosen function is to do it in an extraordinary way; thus, we are required to walk an extra mile. For example, if you are a teacher, it is expected from you that you will teach your students, so that they will be academically trained and fed. But actually, a teacher can do better than this. One of which is to train them (the students) to be productive and responsible citizens of their country.
In addition Aristotle also stressed that the function of human is activity of soul in accordance to reason. Meaning that as humans, the origin of our actions is the soul guided by certain reasons. If one could do the two types of reasoning (both practical and theoretical) and following reasoning, he would be the happiest person.

Why Aristotle did came up with this?

Aristotle analyzed the nature of the soul. Aristotle saw the soul as existing in three parts, each of which had a specific function: a.) Nutritive Soul (vegetative soul) - found in plants, animals and human beings; responsible for growth and reproduction; b.) Perceptive Soul (sensitive soul) - found in animals and man; responsible for perception via the senses; and c.) Rational Soul - found in humans only; responsible for thinking.
"it would be absurd if the end were amusement and if trouble and hardship throughout life would all be for the sake of amusing oneself." – Aristotle.
He (Aristotle) came up with this theory (in my own viewpoint) structured this way because he believes that humans are not petty, if given the chance they would always walk the extra mile. He would not be contented on doing what gives him pleasure but rather what could make others happy.

State of the Union Address

2010-01-27T05:55:00.000-08:00

Obama's first State of the Union Address focused on health and jobs. And another highlights is the reviving of "yes we can attitude". However it is of utmost important the way he can reconnect with the public. He also gave an undivided attention to terrorist threat.

Being laid out with a divide congress and a problem in the economy, Obama is expected to walk his talk to ensure the economy as well as the countrymen and also to ensure the confidence of his voters such that his term will be on the more stable grounds.

Eighty-eight percent of Democrats surveyed approve of his job performance, while just 23 percent of Republicans do.

Brangelina Not to Attend Oscars

2010-01-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

"Everything is fine" was the only thing that a reliable source utters. But since December Brad and Angelina were never seen in public together. Brad's movie INGLORIOUS BASTARD is given a handful of nomination from the oscars but this does not seem to bother Brad and Angelina for rumors have been heard that they will not be attending the Oscars.

IS THIS A BYE BYE FOR Brad and Ange?

Pompe Disease

2010-01-25T07:22:00.000-08:00

Pompe disease is an inherited disorder caused by the buildup of a complex sugar called glycogen in the body's cells. The accumulation of glycogen in certain tissues, especially muscles, impairs their ability to function normally.

One type of Pompe disease, known as infantile onset, begins within a few months of birth. Infants with this disorder typically exhibit symptoms such as muscle weakness (myopathy), poor muscle tone (hypotonia), an enlarged liver and heart, and heart failure. Affected infants may also have poor feeding, failure to gain weight and grow at the expected rate (failure to thrive), and breathing problems. Most infants with Pompe disease cannot hold up their heads or move normally. As the disease progresses, swallowing may become difficult and the tongue may become abnormally enlarged (macroglossia). Most children with this form of Pompe disease do not survive beyond the age of 2.

Other forms of Pompe disease are known as late onset and may not show signs and symptoms until childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. Late-onset Pompe disease is usually milder than the infantile-onset form of this disorder. Most individuals experience progressive muscle weakness, especially in the legs and the trunk, including the muscles that control breathing.

Source: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=pompedisease

Aerosmit Searches for new singer

2010-01-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

Joe Perry of Aerosmith said that their band is now looking for an established singer that is on their level. The said search for singer is due to the fact that Steven Tyler the former vocalist is sort of leaving. But Joe Perry did not confirmed that Tyler has left the band "As far as I am concerned he has not left the band, But he has to have leg surgery and foot surgery and it's basically going to take him out of the picture for about a year, year and a half.", Says Perry.

Aerosmith is now on the process of fitting the pieces. And for 2010 they have the following tours:

Jan 23: Victoria, Save-On Foods Memorial Centre
Jan 24: Vancouver, GM Place
Jan 26: Calgary, Saddledome
Jan 27: Edmonton, Rexall Place
Jan 28: Regina, Brandt Centre
Jan 29: Winnipeg, MTS Centre
Feb 1: London, John Labatt Centre
Feb 2: Quebec City, Colisee Pepsi
Feb 4: Toronto, Air Canada Centre
Feb 5: Montreal, Bell Centre

S. California braces for 4th day of rain, wind

2010-01-21T07:32:00.000-08:00

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. – With more than 1,000 homes already under evacuation orders, already-drenched Southern California prepared Thursday for a fourth powerful storm and mudslides below fire-scarred mountains.

S. California braces for 4th day of rain, wind

Only scattered showers were reported before dawn but the brunt of the storm was expected by midmorning. The National Weather Service predicted up to 3 inches of rain throughout the day, accompanied by gusts up to 50 mph and up to 20 inches of snow in the mountains.

Waves of 15 to 20 feet pounded the coast, bringing the threat of flooding in beach communities.

Flash flood watches were up for foothill communities below mountains that were denuded by wildfires last year. A week's worth of rain has soaked hillsides in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of downtown Los Angeles, where 250 square miles of forest burned in a summer wildfire.

The rain filled catch basins with muddy slop.

Motivation Theory

2010-01-21T06:17:00.000-08:00

Theory Of Motivation

To try to solve a motivational problem that any manager may face with his employees. we have to discuss the different theories of motivation.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs:
According to Maslow, there are general types of needs (physiological, safety, love, and esteem) that must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly. He called these needs "deficiency needs." As long as we are motivated to satisfy these cravings, we are moving towards growth, toward self-actualization.

Physiological Needs
Physiological needs are the very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc. When these are not satisfied we may feel sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc.
Safety Needs
Safety needs have to do with establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world. These needs are mostly psychological in nature. We need the security of a home and family.
However, if a family is dysfunction, i.e., a rude husband, the wife cannot move to the next level because she is constantly concerned for her safety. Love and belongingness have to wait until she is no longer feeling fear. Safety needs sometimes motivate people to be religious. Religions comfort us with the promise of a safe secure place after we die and leave the insecurity of this world.
Love Needs
Love and belongingness are next on the ladder. Humans have a desire to belong to groups: clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. We need to feel loved (non-sexual) by others, to be accepted by others. We need to be needed.

Esteem Needs
There are two types of esteem needs. First is self-esteem, which results from competence or mastery of a task. Second, there's the attention and recognition that comes from others. This is similar to the belongingness level; however, wanting admiration has to do with the need for power. People who have all of their lower needs satisfied; often drive very expensive cars because doing so raises their level of esteem. "Hey, look what I can afford-peon!"
Self-Actualization
The need for self-actualization is "the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming." People who have everything can maximize their potential. They can seek knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, and oneness with God, etc.
How will we recognize this idealized self-actualized person?
1.     More efficient perception of reality and more comfortable relations with it
2.     Acceptance of self and others
3.     Spontaneity
4.     Detachment - the need for privacy
5.     Continued freshness of appreciation
6.     Mystic experience or oceanic feeling
7.      Interpersonal relations
8.     Democratic behavior
9.     Sense of humor
10. Creativeness
11. Resistance to enculturation

Motivational Factors:
Frederick Hertzberg, contributed to human relations and motivation in terms of organization development, two theories of motivation as follows:
·         Hygiene Theory
·         Motivation
The first part of the motivation theory involves the hygiene theory and includes the job environment. The hygiene factors include
·         The company, Its policies and its administration, The kind of supervision which people receive while on the job, Working conditions, Interpersonal relations, Salary, Status, and Security.
These factors do not lead to motivations but without them there is dissatisfaction.
The second part of the motivation theory involves what people actually do on the job. The motivators are
·         Achievement, Recognition, Growth / advancement and, Interest in the job.
These factors result from internal generators in employees, yielding motivation rather than movement.
Both these approaches (hygiene and motivation) must be done simultaneously. Treat people as best you can so they have a minimum of dissatisfaction. Use people so they get achievement, recognition for achievement, interest, and responsibility and they can grow and advance in their work.
Therefore, the hygiene and motivation factors can be listed as follows:
Hygiene
·         Company policies and administration
·         Supervision
·         Working conditions and interpersonal relations
·         Salary, status and security
Motivators
·         Achievement
·         Recognition for achievement
·         Interest in the task
·         Responsibility for enlarged task
·         Growth and advancement to higher-level tasks.

Implications of Motivational Theory:
Douglas McGregor Managerial Style Theory X/Theory Y
Theory X
The Manager who believes in applying Theory X (The Authoritarian) Style tends to believe that
People inherently dislike work
People must be coerced or controlled to do work to achieve objectives
People prefer to be directed
So he gives close supervision and defines jobs and systems that structure how a worker allocates and applies their time. They place stress on workers being calculative.

Theory Y
The Manager who believes in applying Theory Y (The Participative Style) tends to moh moh 4 4 2002-02-16T12:17:00Z 2002-02-16T12:41:00Z 6 942 5375 emc 44 10 6600 9.2720believe that
People view work as being as natural as play and rest
People will exercise self-direction and -control towards achieving objectives they are committed to
People learn to accept and seek responsibility
Authoritarian behavior is not usually appropriate. Managerial behavior can be based on the theory Y assumption that others want to do good job.

Behavior Modification:
B. F. Skinner devised a theory of behavior modification that advocates positive reinforcement. Namely rewards for good behavior.
Thus if a designer does a good job in your project, it is appropriate to send him a memo and send a copy to his boss and perhaps to his personnel folder, conversely you do not have to do anything if on another occasion she does a poor job. The absence of positive reinforcement will be message enough.

Management By Objectives:
MBO focus management and worker attention on the outcome (objectives or results) rather than on the process By which a worker chooses to achieve the outcome .this frees the manager to concentrate on what is desired, and it leaves the worker free to concentrate on how to accomplish it in his or her own style , progress toward objectives is periodically reviewed, and rewards are allocated on the basis of this progress.

MBO Principles
Cascading of organizational goals and objectives
Specific objectives for each member
Participative decision making
Explicit time period
Performance evaluation and feedback
The technique draws upon the motivational factors of responsibility and achievement .the worker may be motivated because he or she is consulted in a responsible way in defining the task to be carried out . and , as the worker is doing the work, there may be clear progress during the work that provides a periodic sense of achievement.

  Expectancy Theory:
An individual will act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. The following are propositions of Expectancy Theory:
When deciding among behavioral options, individuals select the option with the greatest motivation forces (MF).

MF= Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valance

Expectancy: The expectancy is the belief that one's effort will result is achievement of desired performance goals. This belief is generally based on an individual's past experience, self confidence (often termed self efficacy), the perceived difficulty of the performance standard or goal.
Examples include:
i.If I spend most of tonight studying will it improve my grade on tomorrow's math exam?
ii.If I work harder than everyone else in the plant will I produce more?
iii.If I make more sales calls will I make any more sales?
a.Variables affecting the individual's Expectancy perception:
i.Self Efficacy-: Does the individual believe that he or she has the require skills and competencies required to perform well and the required goals?
ii.Goal Difficulty: When individuals perceive that the goals are beyond their ability to achieve, motivation is low because of low Expectancy.
iii.Perceived Control Over Performance: When individuals perceive that the outcome is beyond their ability to influence, Expectancy, and thus motivation, is low. For example, many profit-sharing plans do not motivate individuals to increase their effort because these employees do not think that they have direct control over the profits of their large companies.
Instrumentality: The instrumentality is the belief that if one does meet performance expectations, he or she will receive a greater reward. This reward may come in the form of a pay increase, promotion, recognition or sense of accomplishment.
a.Examples include:
i.If a get a better grade on tomorrow's math test will I get an "A" in math?
ii.If I produce more than anyone else in the plant, will I get a bigger raise? A faster promotion?
iii.If I make more sales will I get a bonus? A greater commission?

b.Variables affecting the individual's instrumentality perception:
i.Trust: When individuals trust their leaders, they're more likely to believe their promises that good performance will be rewarded.
ii.Control- When workers do not trust the leaders of their organizations, they often attempt to control the reward system through a contract or some other type of control mechanism. When individuals believe they have some kind of control over how, when, and why rewards are distributed, Instrumentality tends to increase.
iii.Policies- The degree to which pay and reward systems are formalized in written policies has an impact on the individuals' Instrumentality perceptions. Formalized policies tend to increase Instrumentality.

Valance: The valance refers the value the individual personally places on the rewards. This is a function of his or her needs, goals, and values.
a. Examples include:
i.How much I really want an "A" in math?
ii.Do I want a bigger raise? Is it worth the extra effort? Do I want a promotion?
iii.Do I need a sales bonus? Is the extra time I spend making extra sales calls worth the extra commission?
iv.Is it important to me that I am the best salesperson?
b. Variables affecting the individual's Valance for outcomes:
i.Values
ii.Needs
iii.Goals
iv.Preferences
c. Potential Valued Outcomes may include:
i.Pay increases and bonuses
ii.Promotions
iii.Time off
iv.New and interesting assignments
v.Recognition

Equity Theory:
An employee compares her/his job's inputs-outcomes ratio with that of referents.
The comparisons individuals use fall into five classes of comparison:
a.Job Equity- Individuals compare their pay to the pay of other individuals in the same position they hold within their organization.
b.Company Equity- Individuals compare their pay to the pay of other individuals holding the different positions within their organization
c.Occupational (Market) Equity- Individuals compare their pay to the pay of other individuals holding the same position in other organizations
d.Cohort Equity- Individuals compare their pay to the pay of others in similar cohort groups, generally age and education.
e.Self Equity- Individuals compare their pay to the pay they received at another point in time.
The individual responses to inequity include:
a.Leaving the organization
b.Reduction in performance, generally extra role behavior
c.Attempting to increase one’s pay
d.Attempting to reduce the performance of others

Sources:
http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_05_herzberg.html
http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/~jarvis/bola/motivation/mcgregor.html
http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/FIS/Courses/LIS1230/LIS1230sharma/plan4.htm
http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/policies_guidelines/general_guidelines/G-100.htm
http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/FIS/Courses/LIS1230/LIS1230sharma/motive6.htm
http://www.cba.uri.edu/Scholl/Notes/Motivation_Expectancy.html

Theories of Motivation

2010-01-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

A supervisor at any level is responsible for using a work group's resources efficiently to achieve the organization's objectives. Understanding how to motivate and lead a group of workers is the supervisor's most important job.

By involving employees more fully in the organization, it is gaining broad acceptance and is becoming an integral part of the continuously improving quality.

Theories of Motivation

The study of management has increased our understanding of what motivates people to commit themselves to a group or leader and how a supervisor can influence this motivation. Research has shown that allowing people to take part in managing their work lives improve productivity and morale.
Participative management has grown out of the theories of psychologists and sociologists who have studied worker productivity.

Here are academic theories about motivation.

Acquired Needs Theory: we seek power, achievement or affiliation.
Affect Perseverance: Preference persists after disconfirmation.
Attitude-Behavior Consistency: Factors that align attitude and behavior.
Attribution Theory: we need to attribute cause, that supports our ego.
Cognitive Dissonance: non-alignment is uncomfortable
Cognitive Evaluation Theory: we select tasks based on how doable they are.
Consistency Theory: we seek the comfort of internal alignment.
Control Theory: we seek to control the world around us.
Disconfirmayion Bias: Agreeing with what supports beliefs and vice versa.
ERG Theory: We seek to fulfill needs of existence, relatedness and growth.
Escape Theory: We seek to escape uncomfortable realities around us.
Expectancy Theory: We are motivated by desirable things we expect we can achieve.
Extrinsic Motivation: external: tangible rewards.
Goal-Setting Theory: different types of goals motivate us differently.
Intrinsic Motivation: internal: value-based rewards.
Investment Model: our commitment depends on what we have invested.
Opponent-Process Theory: opposite emotions interact.
Positive psychology: What makes us happy.
Reactance Theory: discomfort when freedom is threatened.
Self-Determination Theory: External and internal motivation.
Self- Discrepancy Theory: we need beliefs to be consistent.
Side Bet Theory: aligned side-bets increase commitment to a main belt.
The Transtheoritical Model of Change: Stages in changing oneself.
Taylor's Scientific Management

Frederick S. Taylor is known as the father of scientific management. In the early 1900s, he applied the principles of scientific observation and analysis to managing work. He concluded that work should be broken down into simple, specialized tasks that be easily taught.

The Hawthorn Studies

The Hawthorn Studies, found that social relationships and values of the workers significantly affected productivity. The studies also showed that being questioned by researchers encouraged workers to be more productive because theyfelt that their ideas matter.

Maslow and Herzberg

Later, research by Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg demonstrated that workers are likely to be motivated by an opportunity to grow, a sense of achievement, responsibility, and recognition.

Abraham Maslow Hierachy of Needs My Needs Frederick Herzberg Theory
Self Actualization “Being” Motivator Achievement
Creative Needs Recognition
Using your Potential Learning Growth
Determiner of your own life Independence
Creativity
Challenge
Help Society Risk
Self Esteem “Doing” Hygiene
Recognition Needs Salary
Feeling worthwile Work with others Job Security
Respected Community Supervisor Behahiour
Belonging Friendship Company Policy
Love Contact with People
Acceptance Recognition
Part of a group Being Expert
Promotion Status

Safety “Having ”
Protection from threat and danger Needs
Security Security
Money
Physiological Routine
Food, water, shelter Peace

McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas mcGregor, an American social psychologist, developed his theory X and theory Y of human motivation. It has been used in human resource management, organizational behavior, and organizational development. They describe two different attitudes toward workforce motivation. McGregor felt that companies followed either on or the other approach.

A Theory X manager makes the following general assumptions:
Work is inherently distasteful to most people, who will attempt to avoid work whenever possible.
Most people are not ambitious, have little desire for responsibility, and prefer to be directed.
Most people have little capacity for creativity in solving organizational problems.
Motivation occurs only at the physiological and security levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Most people are self-centered. As a result, they must be closely controlled and often coerced to achieve organizational objectives
Most people resist change
Most people are gullible and not particularly intelligent.

Essentially, Theory X assumes that the primary source of most employee motivation is money, with security as a strong second.

In strong contrast to Theory X, a Theory Y manager makes the following general assumptions:
Work can be as natural as play if the conditions are favorable.
People will be self-directed and creative to meet their work and organizational objectives if they are commited to them.
People will be commited to their quality and productivity objectives if rewards are in place that addresses higher needs such as self-fulfillment.
The capacity for creativity spreads throughput organizations.
Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common in the population.
Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility.

Management by Objective

Management by objective was introduced by Peter Drucker in the 1950s and written about in his 1954 book, The Practice of Management

It is a system that seeks to align employees' goals of the organization. This ensures that everyone is clear about what they should be doing, and how that is beneficial to the whole organization. It's quite easy to see why this type of managing makes sense – when the parts work is in unison the whole works smoothly yoo. And by focusing on what you're trying to achieve, you can quickly discriminate between tasks that must be completed, and those that are just a waste of valuable time.

Reinforcement Theory

B.F Skinner, who propounded the reinforcement theory, holds that by designing the environment properly, individuals can be motivated. Instead of considering internal factors like impressions, feelings, attitudes and other cognitive behavior, individuals are directed by what happens in the environment external to them. Skinners states that work environment should be made suitable to individuals and that punishments actually lead to frustration and demotivation. Hence, the only way to motivate is to keep on making positive changes in the external environment of the organization.

Japanese Management

Within the last fifteen years, the focus of American companies has shifted to the techniques used in Japan to motivate workers. These techniques involve workers at all levels of the organization in an effort to continuosly improve the process of making a product that meets customer needs.

The Effect of Values on Motivation

To engage workers fully in the goals and efforts of the organization, supervisors must understand their needs and motives. Rather than issuing commands, an effective leader influences workers to achieve thier own goals by working to achieve goals of the organization. To exert such an influence, leaders must know how values shape behavior.

Shaping Behavior

Each of u develops our own system of values that may be the source of conflict with other people, organizations, or even ourselves. The better we can understand how a person thinks, why they act and choose the priorities they do, the greater opportunity we have of working effectively with that person – and that also goes for ourselves.

Motivating Workers

Firms use incentives to encourage efficient behavior. Appropriate incentives increase output and decrease internal monitoring costs. Regular increases in wages over time, vested pension funds, piece rates (the worker is paid according to the number of units of output produced) bonuses and contests, and stock ownership can improve internal efficiency by providing incentives for employees to work harder.

Shaping Worker Attitudes

The example supervisors set helps mold the work group members' attitudes toward their work and toward management, cutoners, and each other. Furthermore, a supervisor's response to suggestions may encourage or stifle worker's initiative or creativity. Supervisors who want to encourage initiative and positive work values should be open to ideas about change.

Reference:
Supervision: Skills for Managing Work and Leading People. By Judith G. Bulin

Motivation

2010-01-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation may be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality, or avoiding mortality.
Motivation is of particular interest to Educational psychologists because of the crucial role it plays in student learning. However, the specific kind of motivation that is studied in the specialized setting of education differs qualitatively from the more general forms of motivation studied by psychologists in other fields.
Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and how they behave towards subject matter. It can:
1. Direct behavior toward particular goals
2. Lead to increased effort and energy
3. Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities
4. Enhance cognitive processing
5. Determine what consequences are reinforcing
6. Lead to improved performance.
Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.
These are the two kinds of motivation:
• Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant.
• Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades).

Student Motivation from http://www.priceless-teaching-strategies.com/teaching-strategies blog.html
Motivation is a necessity so that learning becomes a continuing, improving, interesting and hopefully enjoyable process.
I say "hopefully enjoyable" because although you as a teacher try to make learning fun, your students should understand that learning is the goal, the fun part is just nice to have.
As I'm sure you know, most people can be intimidated when it comes to doing or learning something new - they would just prefer to maintain the status quo, it's easier.
You as a teacher, must develop and encourage classroom motivation, i.e. think of and find ways to motivate students to reach their potential, their goals and their dreams.
However, having said that, students must also share in the responsibility by doing some things for themselves, such as:
* Set realistic goals for themselves, (based on their desires, not on what others may say) and thus become more motivated to attain their goals.
* Understand that achieving one's goals takes work and may involve some risk. Learning is work and can be risky to your self-esteem when you try something new, admit you don't know something and have to ask for help.
Create Student Motivation in the Classroom.
There are so many ways for you to develop classroom motivation:
1. As mentioned above (but worth repeating), encourage them to set goals.
2. Give students more control - a chance to create their own personal choices. Establishing their own rights is a very resourceful motivational technique. I'm talking about students choosing their own ways (with your agreement of course) of completing assignments, learning new or complex tasks, etc.
3. As much as possible relate assignments and class projects to real life situations.
4. Practice the assertive discipline (positive discipline) techniques
5. Of course most teachers will come across students who will be very difficult to motivate
and who will not care about what happens in school. You have to create incentives. There are ways to motivate students such as these.
Doing unique activities, creating situations where they can work in small groups, creating a reward system are just a few ideas.
Teaching in primary grades is quite different than in junior grades and so is student motivation. Read about the reward systems that I have set up for students in primary grades to motivate them to learn and for students in junior grades to increase their level of motivation;
BUT please keep in mind that the reward system should be treated as a reward for finishing a task not for just participating.
Want some of my helpful suggestions on Classroom Awards as well as many very useful and colorful certificates, awards and school passes without having to design the them from scratch?
6. Having students help with some of the many jobs that need to be done in the classroom, will not only make your life as a teacher easier but classroom jobs are also a great student motivational tool.
7. Games are fabulous classroom team building activities which are great for creating motivation in the classroom. It's amazing how it does wonders for students' self esteem and camaraderie. Read about a few of the motivational classroom games that I found successful.
8. Another of my favorite classroom activities for team building was a classroom meeting that I called Special Talk and Student of the Week . My students loved it! This is another excellent student motivational tool.
9. Read about two very successful classroom contests that I implemented, that my students loved and were invaluable in motivating my students and helping to establish discipline in my classroom.
10. Motivating students to read has always been a challenge for teachers. Motivating students to read doesn't have to be taxing and stressful.
Two important thoughts to keep in mind as you finish reading this page:
1. Always display care, concern and encouragement for your students.
2. Never give up on any unmotivated students or they will give up on themselves.
Teacher Motivation from http://edtech.wku.edu/~swininge/teachermotivation/index.htm
Teachers are almost always exposed to content about student motivation, as they should be. However, very few teachers are provided with any instruction on teacher motivation, i.e., how does one get motivated or maintain ones motivation for teaching?
As an Educational Psychology professor I was challenged with this omission. I teach aspiring teachers about student motivation and I have a plethora of resources to draw from on the topic.
Every Educational Psychology text has one or two chapters on student motivation. However, I have yet to identify an Educational Psychology textbook (or any Educational textbook) that has a chapter or even a section on teacher motivation.
Over the past five years I have offered my students a limited presentation on teacher motivation. Most of the content has been borrowed from my experiences with teaching of psychology resources and teaching in higher education literature. I encourage students in my classes to:
-join a professional organization and attend professional conferences.
-stay abreast of new teaching methods and research by regularly reading professional journals.
-schedule brown bags with their peers to discuss teaching ideas and issues.
-identify a mentor who is open to discussing teaching ideas and issues when needed.
-identify some inspirational aids so that you have something to re-energize yourself with on bad days or when you are in a slump.
-engage in self-reflection about your teaching and subsequently set goals for improving your teaching.
-have your teaching evaluated periodically by administrators and peers.
-solicit regular feedback about your teaching from your students.
-view teaching portfolios, additional education and certifications as opportunities to improve and not a dreaded task to be completed with the least amount of effort possible.
-last, take the theories you were taught to apply to student motivation and apply them to yourself.

Because some of what I recommend has to do with identifying resources I have endeavored to create and maintain a website with lists of:
-Professional organizations related to teaching
-Journals on teaching
-Sources of inspiration for teachers

The Mastery of Motivation
By Heather Skipworth Craven
"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."
- Author Unknown

It is that time of year when one stops and cannot quite fathom that half of the school year has passed. It is also the time of the year that the winter doldrums firmly set in and we find ourselves perhaps in as much of a slump as our students. So how do we as teachers persevere in the mastery of the ongoing challenge of motivating our students?

Motivation is defined as the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to something. The cause or driving force behind something that somebody does. I believe that success is the end product of consistent and appropriate motivation.

The word success is defined as (1) achievement of desired aim, the achievement of something planned or attempted; (2) attainment of fame, wealth and power (Encarta World English Dictionary). I thought the second meaning of success was rather ironic.

Coincidentally the day I looked up these words, I also came across a powerful point in a daily devotional series I study. "There are many things that fame, power and wealth can do-and there are many things they cannot do. They can buy happiness, but not joy. They can buy control of people, but not what people think. They can buy cars and airplanes, but they cannot keep them from crashing. They buy pleasure, but not peace or purity. They can buy education, but not integrity or honor. They buy lots of things for children, but they cannot keep children from hurt of addictions." (Progress Magazine Daily Devotional Series, 9/9/00)

There are several important variables that can affect our student's motivation.
• Goals
Students need to have clearly defined goals and direction. What are they working for? What are they striving to master and why?
• A Plan
This can be either general or specific, but students benefit in knowing how they are going to attain their goals and what the process looks like.
• Charting Success
It's important to come up with a method of charting progress and recognizing success. Showing students how far they've come has a profound impact in motivating them to continue.
• Flexibility / Creativity
Providing a classroom environment that is flexible and encourages student creativity is highly motivating.
• Real Life Application
It is vital for a student to be able to relate learning to his own life situation. Helping a student make those real life connections and applications are extremely motivating.
Motivation and success are defined in many ways to different people. As educators we CAN instill and motivate in our students a positive attitude and help them become invested in their own learning. If we keep ourselves motivated as well, we will able to nurture and motivate our students’ natural ability to learn and succeed.

What do students want (and what really motivates them)?

Educational Leadership
Sept 1995
Richard Strong, Harvey F. Silver and Amy Robinson

Students who are engaged in their work are energized by four goals - success, curiosity, originality, and satisfying relationships. How do we cultivate these drives in the classroom?
Ten years ago, we began a research project by asking both teachers and students two simple questions: What kind of work do you find totally engaging? and What kind of work do you hate to do? Almost immediately, we noticed distinct patterns in their responses.

Engaging work, respondents said, was work that stimulated their curiosity, permitted them to express their creativity, and fostered positive relationships with others. It was also work at which they were good. As for activities they hated, both teachers and students cited work that was repetitive, that required little or no thought, and that was forced on them by others.
How, then, would we define engagement? Perhaps the best definition comes from the work of Phil Schlecty (1994), who says students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics: (1) they are attracted to their work, (2) they persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles, and (3) they take visible delight in accomplishing their work.
Most teachers have seen these signs of engagement during a project, presentation, or lively class discussion. They have caught glimpses of the inspired inner world of a child, and hoped to sustain this wonder, enthusiasm, and perseverance every day. At the same time, they may have felt stymied by traditions of reward and punishment. Our challenge is to transcend these very real difficulties and provide a practical model for understanding what our students want and need.

Goals and Needs: The SCORE
As the responses to our questions showed, people who are engaged in their work are driven by four essential goals, each of which satisfies a particular human need:
* Success (the need for mastery),
* Curiosity (the need for understanding),
* Originality (the need for self-expression),
* Relationships (the need for involvement with others).
These four goals form the acronym for our model of student engagement - SCORE. Under the right classroom conditions and at the right level for each student, they can build the motivation and Energy (to complete our acronym) that is essential for a complete and productive life. These goals can provide students with the energy to deal constructively with the complexity, confusion, repetition, and ambiguities of life (the drive toward completion).

Rethinking Motivation
The concept of "score" is a metaphor about performance, but one that also suggests a work or art, as in a musical score. By aiming to combine achievement and artistry, the SCORE model can reach beyond strict dichotomies of right/wrong and pass/fail, and even bypass the controversy about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, on which theories of educational motivation have long been based.
Extrinsic motivation - a motivator that is external to the student or the task at hand - has long been perceived as the bad boy of motivational theory. In Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn (1995) lays out the prevailing arguments against extrinsic rewards, such as grades and gold stars. He maintains that reliance on factors external to the task and to the individual consistently fails to produce any deep and long-lasting commitment to learning.
Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from within, and is generally considered more durable and self enhancing (Kohn 1993). Still, although intrinsic motivation gets much better press, it, too, has its weaknesses. As Kohn argues, because intrinsic motivation "is a concept that exists only in the context of the individual," the prescriptions its proponents offer teachers, are often too radically individualized, or too bland and abstract, to be applied in classroom settings (See "Punished by Rewards? A Conversation with Alfie Kohn).
Perhaps it is the tradition of separating extrinsic and intrinsic motivation that is flawed. Robert Sternberg and Todd Lubart recently addressed this possibility in Defying the Crowd (1995). They assert that any in-depth examination of the work of highly creative people reveals a blend of both types of motivation.

Knowing the SCORE
After taking into consideration the needs and drives we've mentioned, our model poses four important questions that teachers must ask themselves in order to score the level of engagement in their classrooms.
1. Under what conditions are students most likely to feel that they can be successful?
2. When are students most likely to become curious?
3. How can we help students satisfy their natural drive toward self-expression?
4. How can we motivate students to learn by using their natural desire to create and foster good peer relationships?
Much of what we will discuss is already taking place in classrooms across the country. The point of our SCORE model of engagement is first to help teachers discover what they are already doing right and then to encourage the cultivation of everyday classroom conditions that foster student motivation and success.

Convincing Kids They Can Succeed

Students want and need work that enables them to demonstrate and improve their sense of themselves as competent and successful human beings. This is the drive toward mastery. But success, while highly valued in our society, can be more or less motivational. People who are highly creative, for example, actually experience failure far more often than success.
Before we can use success to motivate our students to produce high-quality work, we must meet three conditions:
1. We must clearly articulate the criteria for success and provide clear, immediate, and
constructive feedback.
2. We must show students that the skills they need to be successful are within their grasp by
clearly and systematically modeling these skills.
3. We must help them see success as a valuable aspect of their personalities.
All this seems obvious enough, but it is remarkable how often we fail to meet these conditions for our students. Take skills. Can you remember any crucial skills that you felt you did not successfully master because they were not clearly taught? Was it finding themes in literature? Reading and interpreting primary texts? Thinking through non-routine math problems? Typically, skills like these are routinely assigned or assumed, rather than systematically modeled or practiced by teachers.
So how can we help students master such skills? When teaching your students to find themes, for example, deliberately model interpretation. Ask your students to give you a poem you have never seen, and then interpret it both for and with them. If they are reading primary texts, use what we call the "main idea" strategy. Teach them how to find the topic (usually a noun or noun phrase), the main idea (a sentence that states the text's position on the topic), and reasons or evidence to support the main idea. If students are concerned about writer's block, remember that perhaps the most difficult task of a teacher is to teach how to think creatively. Model the process of brainstorming, demonstrating that no idea is unworthy of consideration.
These are not revolutionary ideas. They simply illustrate how easily classroom practices can be improved, thus increasing the chance that your students will succeed.
But what of the criteria for success? Teachers define success in many ways. We must not only broaden our definition, but also make sure the definition is clear to everyone. In this way, students will know when they have done a good job, and they will know how to improve their work.

To achieve this clarity, we can present examples of work that illustrate high, average, and low levels of achievement. Such exemplars can significantly motivate students, as well as increase their understanding of their own ability to achieve.

Arousing Curiosity
Students want and need work that stimulates their curiosity and awakens their desire for deep understanding. People are naturally curious about a variety of things. Einstein wondered his whole life about the relationships among gravity, space, and electromagnetic radiation. Deborah Tannen, the prominent linguistic psychologist, has spent years pondering the obstacles that prevent men and women from conversing meaningfully.
How can we ensure that our curriculum arouses intense curiosity? By making sure it features two defining characteristics: the information about a topic is fragmentary or contradictory, and the topic relates to students' personal lives.
It is precisely the lack of organization of a body of information that compels us to understand it further. This may explain why textbooks, which are highly organized, rarely arouse student interest. We have stimulated students' curiosity by using a strategy called "mystery." We confront the class with a problem - for example, "What killed off the dinosaurs?" - and with the actual clues that scientists or historians have used to try to answer that question and others. Clues might include:
* Mammals survived the changes that killed the dinosaurs.
* Chickens under stress lay eggs with thinner shells than do chickens not under stress.
* While flowering plants evolved, dinosaurs increased in population and in number of species.
* Some flowering plants contain alkaloids.
Students then work together in groups, retracing the steps scientists took in weighing the available evidence to arrive at an explanation. We have seen students work diligently for several days dealing with false hypotheses and red herrings, taking great delight when the solutions begin to emerge.
As for topics that relate to students' lives, the connection here cannot be superficial; it must involve an issue or idea that is both manageable and unresolved. We must ask, With what issues are adolescents wrestling? How can we connect them to our curriculum? Figure 1 illustrates some possibilities for adolescents.

Encouraging Originality

Students want and need work that permits them to express their autonomy and originality, enabling them to discover who they are and who they want to be. Unfortunately, the ways schools traditionally focus on creativity actually thwart the drive toward self-expression. There are several reasons for this.

First, schools frequently design whole programs (art, for example) around projects that teach technique rather than self-expression. Second, very often only students who display the most talent have access to audiences, thus cutting off all other students from feedback and a sense of purpose. Finally, and perhaps most destructive, schools frequently view creativity as a form of play, and thus fail to maintain the high standards and sense of seriousness that make creative work meaningful.

How, then, should self-expression be encouraged? There are several ways.
* Connect creative projects to students' personal ideas and concerns. One of our favorite teachers begins her study of ceramics by having students examine objects found in the homes of a variety of ancient civilizations. She then asks the class to design a ceramic object that expresses their feeling about their home.
* Expand what counts as an audience. One of the most successful creative projects we have seen involved an audience of one. Each student in a middle school class was linked to an older member of the community and asked to write that person's "autobiography."
* Consider giving students more choice. The medium of expression, for example, is often as important to an artist as the expression itself. What would have happened to the great tradition of American blues if the early musicians were forced to adhere to traditions of European music? This is one more argument for instructional methods that emphasize learning styles, multiple intelligences, and cultural diversity.
* Use the "abstracting" strategy to help students fully understand a genre and to maintain high standards (Marzano et al. 1992). Too often, students prefer video art to a book because they perceive it as less demanding or requiring less commitment. Teaching students to abstract the essence of a genre will change their perceptions.

Begin by studying examples of high-quality work within a genre (the science-fiction story, poster art, sonnets, frontier diaries, television news programs, and so on). Examine the structure of the works and the standards by which they are judged. Then, ask students to produce their own work in that genre that expresses their own concerns, attempting to meet the high standards embodied in the original work. Finally, have the students ask themselves four questions about their work: How good is my technique? Does my work truly express my own concerns? Does it demonstrate my understanding of the genre in which I am working? Does it successfully relate to its audience?
Some people worry that the stringency of this model might actually block self-expression, but our experience is precisely the opposite. Students' drive toward self-expression is ultimately a drive to produce work that is of value to others. Lower standards work to repress, not to enhance, the creation of high-quality work.

Fostering Peer Relations

Students want and need work that will enhance their relationships with people they care about. This drive toward interpersonal involvement is pervasive in all our lives. Further, most of us work hardest on those relationships that are reciprocal - what you have to offer is of value to me, and what I have to offer is of some value to you. In general, unbalanced, nonreciprocal relationships prove transient and fail to generate much energy or interest.

How does this insight apply to life in the classroom? Consider a student's perception of homework. The only relationship that can be advanced through the typical homework assignment is the one between student and teacher. And this relationship is essentially unbalanced. Students do not feel that the teacher needs their knowledge, and the teacher, with possibly 145 students a day, probably isn't seeking a deep relationship either.

But suppose student work is complementary: one student's job is to learn about tortoises, another's is to learn about snakes, and a third student is boning up on lizards. After they do their research, they jointly develop a poster comparing and contrasting these three reptile types. The students actually need one another's knowledge.

Annemarie Palincsar Brown has applied this "jigsaw" strategy to inner-city students using in-classroom computer networks (Brown et al. 1993). She found that it significantly improved their motivation, reading, and writing. Elizabeth Cohen (1994) builds reciprocal groups by asking students with different talents and abilities to work on one project that requires all of their gifts.

Orchestrating Classroom Performance
As teachers, the first thing we should try to "score" is our own performance. Different people value the four goals we have discussed to different degrees in different situations. Which ones are particularly important to you? How does this preference affect the way you run your classroom? By observing and understanding how classroom conditions can create or repress student engagement, we can gradually move toward a more successful, curious, creative, and reciprocal school system.

All students, to some extent, seek mastery, understanding, self-expression, and positive interpersonal relationships. But they are all different as well. Imagine what could happen if we engaged our students in a discussion of these four types of motivation. What might they tell us about themselves and their classrooms? Could we actually teach them to design their own work in ways that match their own unique potential for engagement?

Last, we can score the change process itself. What professional conditions block teachers' motivation? We can redesign staff development to promote understanding and respect among school staff members.

By seeking to break down boundaries between teacher and teacher, teacher and student, student and the learning process, we will learn what students want and need. As a result, more and more teachers may go to bed at night remembering the images of wonder, enthusiasm, and perseverance on the faces of their students.

Administrating Schools

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Examples Focusing on School Administrators

Here are academic theories about motivation.

Acquired Needs Theory: we seek power, achievement or affiliation.

Example: It indicates that the school head with a strong need for achievement , makes the best leader–provided he develops the people skills necessary to get the best results from their people.

Affect Perseverance: Preference persists after disconfirmation.

Example: A school head supports the program that even if it has disadvantages he still advocates it.

● Attitude-Behavior Consistency: factors that align attitude and behavior.

Example: The school head’s attitudes are based on personal experience, rather than being copied from others.

• Attribution Theory we need to attribute cause, that supports our ego.

Example: The school head acts when a teacher has erred, he will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When he has erred, he will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming oneself. And vice versa.

• Cognitive Dissonance: non-alignment is uncomfortable.

Example: If the school head believes he is good but do something bad, then the discomfort he feels as a result is cognitive dissonance.

• Cognitive Evalution Theory: we select tasks based on how doable they are.

Example: If you tell me that I have to run for President, I will not exactly throw my heart into the job. If, however, you tell me how the local council is looking for someone like me, who wants to head in local schools, then I'll be there before you have finished the sentence!

• Consistency Theory: we seek the comfort of internal alignment.

Example: If the school head makes a promise, he feels bad if he does not keep it.

• Control Theory: we seek to control the world around us.

Example : If the school head takes control of everything, the endless effort to control can lead to misery as he fails in this impossible task of trying to control everything and everyone around .The alternative is to see the world as a series of choices.

• Disconfirmation bias: Agreeing with what supports beliefs and vice versa.

Example: It shows that the school head is trying to be open when faced with evidence and view points, even if it is contrary to what he knows to be true.

• ERG Theory: We seek to fulfill needs of existence, relatedness and growth.

Example: The school head looks into the relative state of the pupils’ and teachers’ needs for each of existence, relatedness and growth.

• Escape Theory: We seek to escape uncomfortable realities.

Example: The school head has boring and unfulfilling job and have difficulty sustaining

professional human relationships. He often applies for leave to escape from the responsibility.

• Expectancy Theory: We are motivated by desirable things we expect we can achieve.

Example: The school head creates expectations about future events. If things seem reasonably likely and attractive, he knows how to get there and believes we can 'make the difference' then this will motivate us to act to make this future come true.

• Extrinsic Motivation: external: tangible rewards.

Example: He is the school head that says, extrinsic motivation is when I am motivated by external factors. Extrinsic motivation drives me to do things for tangible rewards or pressures, rather than for the fun of it.

• Goal-Setting Theory: different types of goals motivate us differently.

Example: He is the school head who chooses goals, notices the difference between diving into action and careful thinking.

• Intrinsic Motivation: internal: value-based rewards.

Example: He is the school head that says, am motivated by internal factors, as opposed to the external drivers of extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation drives me to do things just for the fun of it, or because I believe it is a good or right thing to do.

• Investment Model: our commitment depends on what we have invested.

Example:He is the school head who wants to stay in the position because of the significant

investment laid.

• Opponent-Process Theory: opposite emotions interact.

Example: He is the school head who tells people good and bad news in close succession. Then in the confusion gets them to agree to his real request.

• Positive psychology: What makes us happy.

Example: He is the school head who talks about our strengths rather than our weaknesses.

• Reactance Theory: discomfort when freedom is threatened

Example: He is the school head who feels that when their freedom to choose an action is

threatened, he gets an unpleasant feeling called ‘reactance’. This also motivates him to perform the threatened behavior, thus proving that his free will has not been compromised.

• Self-Determination Theory: External and internal motivation.

Example: He is the school head who says, I feel in control of my own life. I feel responsible for my actions. I have a high internal locus and motivate myself. My friend is always complaining that they are being 'forced' to do things and that life is not fair. They have a high external locus and are more affected by reward and punishment.

• Self-Discrepancy Theory: we need beliefs to be consistent.

Example: He is the school head who builds tension by showing others how they are less than perfect.

• Side Bet Theory: aligned side-bets increase commitment to a main bet.

Example: He is the school head who makes choices based on assumptions about the world around us and previous decisions made and makes 'side bets' that are based on a main bet or activity succeeding.

• The Transtheoretical Model of Change: Stages in changing oneself.

Example: He is the school head who is helping others change, think about where they are at the moment, and how to get them to the next step, not just straight into action.

Taylor’s Scientific Management

The school head does the following:

Example:

• Increasing specialisation and division of labour will make a process more efficient.
• Systematically analyze the relationship between the worker and task and redesign processes to

ensure maximum efficiency e.g. use a bigger shovel so more grain can be lifted with each action.
• Have written procedures for each task and ensure they are followed by supervision and quality

control.
• Get maximum prosperity for employer and employee alike by linking pay and other rewards

directly to work output.
• Select workers with the right skills and abilities for the specific task and thoroughly train them to follow the procedures.
• Management and workers equally responsible for achievement of goals.

The Hawthorne Studies

The school head finds out that the social relationships and values of the workers significantly affected productivity. The studies also showed that being questioned by researchers encouraged workers to be more productive because they felt that their ideas matter.

Example:

The school head and teachers work as a team. The ideas are presented and the best thought that will benefit the common good is carried. In other words, there is no pressure between the school head and the teachers.

Maslow and Herzberg

A. Abraham Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs

Self – Actualization

Example: The school head knows what he wants to achieve for his school and he works hand in hand with the teachers to succeed. He uses creativity, best potential and focuses on learning up with the teachers to reach his goals, for the good of the institution he is in.

Self – Esteem

Example: The success of the activities done by the school head and the teachers increases their self – confidence and the feeling of being respected, the need to belong; being loved, accepted and part of the group is addressed.

Safety

Example: The school head sees to it that he is protected from any threat and danger that may hinder the achievement of the goals set by the school. He looks into the supply of food, water and shelter, making it sufficient in order for him to be productive.

B. Frederick Herzberg Theory

Motivator Achievement

Example: Any success that the school head achieved motivates him to perform better which gives him recognition. By being recognized, he continues to become better and grow farther as an effective leader.

Hygiene

Example: The school head is cautious in his acts. He patterns his thoughts from good and takes care of his name as a school head.

Salary

Example: The school head deserves what he works for and therefore he receives.

Job Security

Example: The school head needs to be assured of security of tenure in the office and works for it.

Supervisor Behavior

Example: The school head acts as the leader and respected being such by the actions he shows.

Company Policy

Example: The school head follows the school policy and sees to it everybody does. By doing so, he leads by example.

Example:

The school head may have the theory x ('authoritarian management' style)

The average person dislikes work and will avoid it he/she can.
Therefore most people must be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards

organizational objectives.

The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid responsibility; is relatively unambitious, and

wants security above all else.

The school head may have the theory y ('participative management' style)

Effort in work is as natural as work and play.
People will apply self-control and self-direction in the pursuit of organisational objectives, without

external control or the threat of punishment.

Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement.
People usually accept and often seek responsibility.
The capacity to use a high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organizational

problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.

Management by Objective

Example:

The school head works for a system that seeks to align employees' goals with the goals of the organization. This ensures that everyone is clear about what they should be doing, and how that is beneficial to the whole organization. It's quite easy to see why this type of managing makes sense - when the parts work in unison the whole works smoothly too. And by focusing on what you're trying to achieve, you can quickly discriminate between tasks that must be completed, and those that are just a waste of valuable time.

Reinforcement Theory

Example:

The school head holds that by designing the environment properly, individuals can be motivated. Instead of considering internal factors like impressions, feelings, attitudes and other cognitive behavior, individuals are directed by what happens in the environment external to them. Hence, the only way to motivate is to keep on making positive changes in the external environment of the organization.

Japanese Management

Example:

The school head uses techniques involve workers at all levels of the organization in an effort to continuously improve the process of learning that meets clients’ needs.

The Effect of Values on Motivation

Example:

The school head engages workers fully in the goals and efforts of the organization, supervisors must understand their needs and motives. Rather than issuing commands, an school head influences workers to achieve their own goals by working to achieve goals of the organization. To exert such an influence, leaders must know how values shape behavior.

Shaping Behavior

Example:

The school head has the opportunity to administer a positive consequence. For example, John never does his math homework. You would like to have him complete his homework on a daily basis. You decide to break down the desired behavior into sub-steps that are progressively more demanding. These steps might be:

1. John will write his name at the top of the worksheet.
2. John will complete one problem of his choice.
3. John will complete five problems of his choice.
4. John will complete either all the odd numbered problems or all the even numbered problems.
5. John will complete all problems except one.
6. John will complete all problems.

As John masters each step, you will tell him that he must now move on to the next objective to receive a reward. If the jump between two steps is too difficult, then you must break down the steps even further into smaller increments.

Motivating Workers

Example:

The school head uses incentives to encourage efficient behavior. He helps in establishing various systems and structures that help ensure clear understanding and equitable treatment of employees.

Shaping Worker Attitudes

Example:

The example education supervisors set helps mold the work group member’s attitudes toward their work and toward management, cutoners, and each other. Furthermore, a supervisor’s response to suggestions may encourage or stifle worker’s initiative or creativity. Supervisors who want to encourage initiative and positive work values are open to ideas about change.

Participative Management as a Motivator

Example:

The school head provides skills in group decision making and problem solving, leadership, quality and statistical analysis, an understanding of the business, and job skills and cross-training. This knowledge and training enables employees to understand and contribute to organizational performance.

Benefits of Participative Management

Example:

The school head helps in achieving various benefits at all levels of the organization. By creating a sense of ownership in the company, participative management instills a sense of pride and motivates employees to increase productivity in order to achieve their goals. He is allowing a diverse group of employees to have input into decisions, the organization benefits from the synergy that comes from a wider choice of options.

Leaders as Motivators

Example:

He is the school head working with a wide range of individuals and groups from a variety of backgrounds. Some of these people are highly motivated themselves, but struggle to extend this state of mind to the people they manage.

Share the big picture.

Example:

He is the school head seeing to it that teachers more fully understand how their contribution fits into the larger picture and how they can feel a sense of pride and ownership in the final product.

Share your faith and belief in the team.

Example:

He is the school head who trusts the teachers in doing different jobs for the success of the learning activities. He uses team building activities an effective way to motivate and inspire the team to greater success.

Share clear expectations and objectives.

Example:

The school head makes sure he gets feedback from the employee so he knows the needs. He shares the goals and reasons for doing the task or project.

Share frequent feedback.

Example:

The school head uses the good news of positive feedback to inspire duplication of current behavioral patterns. Negative feedback is used as an alarm to prompt the corrections needed to achieve the agreed upon objectives.

Example:

a.) Giving responsibility to employees
b) Training employees to accept responsibility
c) Communicating and giving feedback
d) Giving reward and recognition
e) Process reengineering
f) Employees involvement
g) Total quality management

Share the credit.

Example:

The school head shares the credits to every individual who contributed to the success of any

endeavor.

Leadership Styles

Example:

The school head has a significant leadership style that may either make break or break the school.

Exploitative /authoritative Leadership

Example:

The school head has a low concern for others and uses such methods as threats and other fear-based methods to achieve conformance. Communication is almost entirely downwards and the psychologically distant concerns of others are ignored. He uses fear, threats and very occasionally, rewards. Tends to keep followers insecure, uninformed and afraid of the leader's authority.

Benevolent /authoritative Leadership

Example:

The school head uses rewards to encourage appropriate performance and listens more to concerns lower down the organization, although what they hear is often rose-tinted, being limited to what their subordinates think that the boss wants to hear. Although there may be some delegation of decisions, almost all major decisions are still made centrally. He uses rewards, economic or otherwise. Is often very effective in getting productivity and can develop effective human relationships.

Consultative Leadership

Example:

The consultative school heads often involve others in problem solving, team building, retains right for final decisions, focuses his/her time on more important activities, provides proper recognition, delegates but keeps “veto power”, weighs all alternatives before final decision is made.

Participative Leadership

Example:

The school head makes maximum use of participative methods, engaging people lower down the organization in decision-making. People across the organization are psychologically closer together and work well together at all levels. He considers team member ideas equal with the leader, everyone’s input is considered, leader is team facilitator, leader is coach/player, frequently accepts teams ideas over own, focus is on stimulating creativity, creates culture of innovation.

Your shoes can't be mine

2010-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Every day of our life is like going to a classroom and by the end of the day we learn something. But the difference is that, if in real classrooms teachers are the only one making the lesson plan, in reality it's not! It is all of us, we try to make a plan for us to meet our objectives, but you'll be surprise because the more detours you'll have the better lesson you'll learn!

Here is one thing I learned "no person gets to get in other person's shoes, thus, making us unable to understand and misinterpret others. And sometimes being sensitive makes us look insensitive". True indeed, we try to understand others but we just can't! And sometimes the more we think of them, the more they get irritated. We try to be sensitive so that we can help others, but sometimes situation requires for us to be numb! It's the thought that counts though. But for me I'd rather annoy persons of my sensitivity that kill them being ignored. There are just persons who can't appreciate things you have done to them, instead they seek faults from you!

Another thing I learned "things change when you least expect them to." Just like now I try so hard to squeeze my brain for thoughts to sahre but it just wouldn't come out. As much as I want to prolong this article, I just can't I'm running out of sensible things to say!( Just focus on the paragraphs before this.)

Where are you now (HONOR SOCIETY)

2009-12-28T08:21:00.001-08:00

This song is so meaningful that I can't help but listen to it. It really compliments the feeling i have right now! I'm longing for you all enjoy!

I thank you for coming into my life. If I have not met persons like you I may be the weakest person in the world! You showed me how to be strong. Thank you and I love you!

Cave of Life..,

2009-12-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

Life as we know and as I often said is a journey. Well, through my journey I have learned something (which I think isn't peculiar at all.). I learned that life's journey is just simple and not as complicated as it seems. It does not really require the so-called higher order thinking skills (occasionally may be).

First, life is a journey of a man in a very dark cave. Simply because I'm in the dark part of my life (well not really as dark as dark, I guess you know what I mean). I'm in the middle of the ocean of confusion, swimming in the sea of doubt. I don't really know when this dilemma started but all I knew is I woke up one morning with this unusual feeling of emptiness! At this point in time I'm traveling in a dark and gloomy cave. I can't see a thing and uncertainties are laid before my eyes. I keep on stumbling down due to the fact that I am bumping objects those that can hardly be seen due to too much darkness. But I'm certain of two things though, and that is I' m on a journey and I'm gonna be at the finish line.

Second is that you can't feel the essences of life unless you're on the opposite side. With this I mean that one can't appreciate the beauty of being in the peak of something unless he is below it. It's like the feeling of being lived, you can't really appreciate it unless it's lost. Or simply having a dozen of doughnuts, you can't really say it's sweet and mouthwatering if you still have it.

Third, life is like a pageant. It is composed of many portions namely: production number, festival outfit, casual wear, sports wear, talent portion, formal wear competition and question and and answer portion.

Production number as we all know is the part where candidates are glanced by the audience for the first time. This is where they introduced themselves. This can be equated to the moment you are brought into existence to the world;
Festival outfit competition is the part you show to the world how beautiful an indigenous clothing will be provided it is carried with constant projection. It's like making life more beautiful through doing the extra thing and going the extra mile;
Casual wear competition is the part where you show the real you;
Sports wear competition is where one gets to show how adventurous life can be;
Talent portion is expressing who you are;
Formal wear competition is more than just the suit or the dress but rather attitude.

The question and answer portion highlights the competition for this is the part where on gets to answer tough questions. It's like facing life's difficulties and trials in which in that moment you have to answer the call of life. It's can equate the part of life wherein you need to make moves to make life better or worse depending on the answer

Finally, life only needs common sense!

Eagles players honor Michael Vick with award for courage

2009-12-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

by Chris Chase

According to Philadelphia Eagles players, the most courageous man on the team in 2009 was one who started the year serving time in prison for an act of extreme cowardice.

Today, the Eagles announced that Michael Vick was the 2009 winner of the Ed Block Courage Award, an honor given to a player who shows courage in the face of adversity. Vick's teammates voted for the award, thus demonstrating how tone-deaf and out-of-touch NFL players are with reality.

According to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation Web site:

Each year, the Ed Block Courage Awards honors those National Football League players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Recipients are selected by their teammates for team effort, as well as individual performance.

The Ed Block Courage Award recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication. He is also a community role model.

One recipient is selected from each NFL team, usually for things like coming back from injury, doing good work in the community or long, dedicated service to a franchise. I'd be surprised if the award's founders intended for the honor to be given to someone doing community service as part of the terms of his parole or for showing courage in the face of reporters asking legitimate questions about federal crimes.

The Eagles' vote is not only a slap in the face to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, but to the other 31 players who won the award for their respective teams. Some men are truly deserving of the honor, like Ravens safety Dawan Landry (notes) who was nearly paralyzed last year, but has come back in '09 with four interceptions and a touchdown or Mike Furrey (notes) of the Browns, who does extensive volunteer work in his community. Adding Vick's name to the roll makes the award seem illegitimate and meaningless.

Apparently Philadelphia players confuse Vick handling dogfighting questions and booing with a measure of class as some sort of courage. That Vick only got a chance to show this mild courageousness because of the extreme cowardice it takes to murder helpless animals isn't something that crosses their mind. They confuse Vick's desperation with some sort of integrity.

I'm all for second chances and find myself rooting for Vick to redeem himself both on and off the football field. He's served an appropriate sentence (and then some) and I see no reason for him to keep paying for his past transgressions. But I also see no reason to celebrate his character.

Michael Vick (notes) is very much a work in progress. A few years from now, I hope he will be deserving of such an honor. At this time, however, he has only just started down the path to redemption.

The Best Tech Deals after holidays

2009-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Best Tech Deals After the Holidays

2009’s Top After-Season Sales and Bargains

By Nick Mokey, Digital Trends

Photo: Getty Images

Courtesy of countless post-holiday retail and online sales, Dec. 26 can be the one you score an incredible after-season deal. With consumers gorged to their limits and stores still chock full of overflowing merchandise, retailer desperation reaches a peak, and discounts can easily outstrip the pre-Christmas sales.

Looking to use this opportunity to snag that shiny new smartphone, laptop or HDTV? We've compiled tips to help post-holiday binge shoppers stuff their empty stockings full of today's hottest gadgets and futuristic accessories for a fraction of what they would have cost as little as 48 hours sooner.

Shop smart — buy the gadgets and consumer electronics everyone else isn't.
After-holiday sales typically depend on desperate retailers trying to unload stock that didn't move before Christmas. While that means you won't find hot items that sold out early (i.e. Barnes & Noble's Nook eReader) suddenly under deep discount, you can discover plenty of great deals on equally exciting high-tech gifts that others may have overlooked.

"Look for products in categories that haven't been selling as well, for example desktop PCs or digital music players without Apple or iPod on the box," says Digital Trends' own technology analyst Scott Steinberg. He also recommends keeping an eye on highly-competitive categories where prices reliably drop just weeks after a new product comes out, like CDs, DVDs, video games and Blu-ray discs. In addition, Ben's Bargains' content manager Ken Hoo says that sales of navigation systems have reached a standstill this year, leading to superior pricing for today's shoppers.

Look to retail stores for premium discounts.
Online stores offer many of the best deals in the run up to the holidays, but afterward, brick-and-mortar stores face far more pressure to move stock from their cramped aisles.

Call ahead to make sure retailers carry the item you're looking for. In addition, don't quit looking just because you've found the right item at a single outlet. Even if you end up finding multiple vendors that offer the same price, some retailers offer added perks like free delivery, complementary accessories (e.g. carrying cases and magazine subscriptions) and cash back in the form of store gift cards.

Hoo also believes that traditional retailers offer shoppers the best shot at deals in the days following Christmas, but urges them to buy with caution. Many clearance items may take the form of returned items, factory models or refurbished goods, which aren't always in the same shape they originally arrived at the store in.

Use the Web and online resources to discover the best deals.
Even if you don't utilize the Web to purchase high-tech gadgets and appliances, it's imperative that you seek out its wisdom when doing supporting research. Picking the right bargain isn't as hard as it sounds, with an endless variety of user-friendly deal-hunting sites and resources at your fingertips. These tools can help you cut through the clutter, find the best savings, and know what you're getting yourself into long before ever setting foot inside a local retailer.

Begin shopping the day after Christmas.
You're best off braving stores the day immediately after Christmas, when sales will be going on strong, but shelves won't yet be entirely picked over. "Retailers are not going to wait," says Hoo. "They want to have all these sales out there where they're ripe for the taking."

Steinberg agrees that sharp consumers will act immediately. "Rather than wait until the New Year to shop, you'll find better deals in that window after Christmas and before January," he says. From a retailer's perspective, that's the magic hour to sell, sell, sell, before year-end accounting books swing shut like jail cell doors on the first of January. If you can hold back from buying before Christmas, that's when retailers are going to try to goose those numbers, and if you're there to help them, you stand to be handsomely rewarded.

Don't wait for "the next big thing."
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January is Ground Zero for announcements on an array of next-generation gadgets that manyk shoppers hope will push down prices on current-gen goods. Don't be fooled, however: These unveilings won't deflate current market values anytime soon. Unless the item is question is about to ship or presently hitting store shelves, current prices won't budge.

"These announcements let people know that certain devices will be coming, but usually prices will only drop after a product is actually released," says Hoo. "That's when vendors want to start clearing older models out."

Says Steinbert: "Smart shoppers will hit the ground running and take advantage of post-season sales to stretch their holiday cash further. Act now or forever hold your gift card..."

Source: http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/318/the-best-tech-deals-after-the-holidays/