Dr. Elizabeth Nsubuga

Our Lyceum of the Philippine University Cavite oozes an elite façade and sophistication that can be quite intimidating to incoming Lyceans…

In 2016, when I had the privilege to teach our first batch of senior high school, I surveyed what my eleventh-grade freshmen students felt about our LPU (https://youtu.be/sHREkX_Hwjs). The results from about three hundred ninety (390) students under my instruction, most of whom were not junior high school alumni, suggested that indeed, most freshmen perceived our LPU as an elite institution; they were proud to be part of it.

Our LPU is an inclusive institution, an internationally accredited university dedicated to excellence and innovation in the service of God and country (LPU Vision). Therefore, our students come from all levels of society and from diverse economic, social, and religious backgrounds. With LPU Vision as my springboard, I initially set my teaching objective to instill good manners and to achieve academic excellence. I used to lecture and rumble about how being a good person wrought incredible benefits that could result in academic excellence. I later found out that, behind my back, my senior high school students used to call my rumblings sermons! They were not wrong but from the positive feedback I am getting from our alumni, I must have done something good and effective during that period, AY 2016-2017.

It was at the end of my stint with our LPU International School in 2017, that I noticed the words of wisdom engraved in stone below the statue of our founder Jose P. Laurel: “I would rather see the youth of the world, steeped in moral education and self-discipline rather than selfish possessors of the accumulated knowledge of the world”. I was extremely inspired by these words, and they became my MANTRA and the basis for the objectives for my Best Practices in Teaching and Learning as a Lycean Educator to this day.

With the ideals of our founder Jose P. Laurel and our LPU Vision as my backdrop, I formulated onsite class teaching strategies toward assuring students under my instruction every Semester that our LPU was not a runway for the elite and wealthy but an ideal education institution for good people who would like to pursue higher education. This is my Best Strategic Practice in Teaching and Learning as a Lycean Educator that is also flexible to evolve with the changing times:

Post the Class Agenda as early as possible…

It is my tradition to notify my students early in the morning about what we are going to do during our class hour from beginning to end, using our LMS platforms in particular MS TEAMS. Students then come to class completely aware of what is going to transpire…

Prayer at the beginning and end of the class…

Some aspects of our LPU Policies are not enforceable and this is one of them. During class orientation, I assure all students assigned under my instruction that even though the founders of our University are Christians, our school is nondenominational. No one will be forced to pray the Christian way, but since they chose us, they must respect our LPU tradition by standing up silently during prayer time. To avoid conflict, I lead these prayers most of the time. Praying at the beginning of the class has a calming effect on the students, and those who might have had some other no-so-good intentions might have some conscience to abandon them…

Start the class with a Reflection…

It is my tradition to start my class with a reflection after prayer, as a form of daily motivation… I strive to present quotations that are not inclined to religion so that all my students can relate.

Establish daily means of communication…

Establish daily means of communication without overstepping the teacher-student boundaries. At the beginning of each semester, it is my tradition to enroll students assigned under my instruction in MS TEAM and MOODLE in that order. But my daily communication platform is MS TEAMS. And this is where I conduct my student consultation. I advise my students to use MS TEAMS as their phone device chat mode to communicate their concerns to me on any day at any time.

During class orientation, I select a maximum of five students from each section assigned to me and create an exclusive group of representatives for each section in MS TEAMS… Through the representatives, I post important matters like the Class agenda, special meetings, and Assessment dates. The representatives will, in turn, pass my messages on to their classmates using their informal group platforms…

Set firm guidelines about digital devices in class…

There is no denying that our students are digital kids! Unfortunately, we do not have any established guidelines for using hand-carried digital devices in class or anywhere for that matter… and we must admit that most of us have next to no discipline when it comes to mobile devices. Therefore, at the beginning of every class, it is my tradition to require my students to put their mobile devices in silent mode and place them in their bags. With this, I am assured of less distraction from the physical environment during lecture time…

Assessments and Submission…

It is my tradition to give at most six assessments every period, three individual assessments that I term Quizzes and three group Assessments that I term Seat works. Each group must consist of a maximum of five or a minimum of three students. The objective of the group assessments is to help those students who are experiencing challenges in the subject to augment their class scores by taking advantage of the group score even though their contribution could be lackluster. In most cases, group assessments must be presented in class to complete the score… All assessments are formal and have a time limit with a penalty of five points deduction for late submission…

References

Lyceum of the Philippine University Vision

Jose P. Laurel