Keeping a Learning Log (from Writers Inc)

Writing is important in many ways.  One of these ways is using writing for learning and this can be done by using a learning log.  Writers Inc gives some ideas on what to write in your Learning Log.

1. Writing a summary.  After reading something, or hearing a lecture or taking part in a discussion, state your conclusion.  Write the information that you found useful or interesting.  Also state if there were opinions that you agreed with, or disagreed with, and the reason for your decision.

2. Personalize new ideas or concepts.  Relate this new information to what you already know.

3. Write about what you still want to know about the topic.  Make a list of the things that you want to look up and the pssible places, such as the library or the internet, where you can find the answers.

4. Discuss the topic with a particular audience.  This will help you set the tone of your writing.  Talk to a child, an acquaintance, an imaginary friend, or your favorite toy.

5. Question what you are learning.  How important is this new information?  Try to write a dialogue and discover the answer.

6. Express ideas and information in pictures.  You can make drawings, or cut out drawings and pictures from magazines.  You can also make charts or maps.

7. Start a glossary.  A glossary is a list of important and interesting words related to the subject and their meaning.  Try using the words in your log entries.

8. Argue for or against a topic.  The topic can be anything that you can think of.  It may have come up as a result of discussion, or a lecture or from readings.

9. Write how you are doing in your work, or in your class or in your subjects.  Are you learning as much as you can, or doing as well as you had hoped? Are some materials hard for you? What can you do to improve?

San Clemente, Tarlac: the Bautista part

Bing and I, with Ysa, Sid and Eyn increased our Luzon mileage by going to Tarlac last Tuesday.  Lolo Apring, Tito Ruben's father passed away.  The initial plan was for Janel and I to go to San Clemente to represent the Jacinto Rigor family.  We learnt though that the interment was scheduled Wednesday and not on Saturday as we assumed.  Janel was not available Tuesday which was the day we needed to go to Tarlac if we wanted to attend the 8 am requiem mass.  I was not sure if the kids were up to being left on their own in the condo for two days so Bing and I decided to bring them along for the Tarlac trip.

Tito Ruben suggested we get the late afternoon trip so that we can avoid the heat.  I mustered my planning expertise which was largely Iloilo-based and pegged our Manila departure time at 4:30 in the afternoon.  We decided to leave the condo at Evangelista St., Bo. Santolan Pasig at about 2pm.  Our travel plan: take a tricycle to the LRT2 station, board the LRT and disembark at Cubao station, transfer to the MRT line and travel from Cubao to Pasay, and in Pasay, go to the Five Star or Victory Liner terminal.  It was a flawed plan from the start.  For one, there ARE bus terminals in Cubao which means we could have saved time and energy if I made a more thorough preparation.  For another, the buses from Pasay pass by the Cubao area, which meant that on the way to Tarlac, we again passed by the cities of Quezon, Mandaluyong and Makati albeit in reverse order.  For yet another, I was not good in remembering where exactly the bus stations were in Pasay so from the MRT Taft station, we crossed two overpasses to reach the Victory Liner station only to learn that the buses do not pass by Camiling.  I learnt later that the Victory Liner buses in Cubao are the ones that pass by Camiling.  It was past 5pm by then and we were all set to go back to Santolan.  Eyn remarked that we made a good enough effort.  We agreed to make another attempt, this time to reach the Five Star bus station but since nobody was up to making another overpass crossing, we took a taxi.  The distance from the Victory Liner to the Five Star bus station was hardly one block but since there was no direct line from one station to the other, we paid about PHP100 for the trip.  When we reached the Five Star bus station, we realized we can go to Tarlac after all.  There was a via Camiling bus, and there was no long queue for it.  The bus was supposed to leave 640 pm but it was nearly 7pm when it pulled out from the station.  The traffic from Pasay to Balintawak was heavy.  We were able to clear EDSA in one hour.  This meant we will be reaching Tarlac around 11pm which was way later than we planned.  The bus made two stops: in Mabalacat and in Tarlac City.  We bought snack foods to tide us over.  There were toll gates before we reached Tarlac.  For me it was somewhat reassuring to see well-lit structures in places that are very far from the town proper.

It was nearly 11pm when we reached Camiling.  Tito Ruben was there with Tita Clarita's Revo.  San Clemente was about 7km away yet and there were already no minibuses plying the Camiling-San Clemente route at such late hour. (to be continued...)