(updated January 5, 2010)

Joy, bliss, delight, happiness, glee… *cartwheel* Trying on synonyms for a very recent answered prayer. The memory of last weekend’s hopping and shopping spree is a very nice post Christmas gift indeed.

Thus, I am inspired to create a wish list for 2010:

1. Finish all my MA academic subjects, including the Damocles’ sword hanging over my head (aka EDL 251 INC). Also, THE thesis topic and my favorite prof as thesis adviser

2. Revisit Visayas and Mindanao. Other islands/cities this time

3. Use my still blank passport before it expires

4. Career/professional growth and opportunities. In short, rakets galore

5. Better relations with my family

6. Musical theater workshop

7. Dual sim phone

8. Stewardship in practice

9. More passionate people, glorifying God and transforming communities

10. Missions Trip: Apayao, Thailand, ends of the earth.

11. ECHO camp

12. EARC Singapore

A man’s reach must exceed his grasp, else what’s a heaven for?

… or sweetness, or lambing of any form, DO NOT go to these humans:

If you want to laugh for hours, or get well fed, then DO approach them … with caution. =)

Reconnected with old Cosmo Annex dorm mates and college leadership camp friends.

Overdosed on:
funny cartoons
camwhoring
medical advice
brutal doctor stories
vegetarian food
fireworks
moon adoration
carol of the bells
lovelife stories (of course!)

Friends make life interesting indeed. =)

DIALOGUE EDUCATION WORKSHOP:

Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach

Experience a new approach to training! Improve on the process and results of your current teaching methods!

How?

Join the Dialogue Education Workshop: Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach. Learn the basics of curriculum design and facilitation based on the insights of Jane Vella’s book Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach. Learn more about the Dialogue Education Approach, which gives special emphasis on learning styles, group dynamics and setting verifiable learning objectives. It includes practice teaching sessions where the learners apply what they are learning and receive feedback.

Who should attend?

Participants are typically people from the voluntary, private, academic and government sectors who are involved in facilitation, in-house training, public education and outreach, capacity building, managing organizational learning, and organizing business and strategic planning meetings. Up to 16 participants may complete the workshop each session.

What is Dialogue Education?

Dialogue Education provides a safe, structured, and accountable framework for designing and facilitating learning events. It switches the focus from what the instructor says about a topic to what the participants do with the content to demonstrate their learning. It takes advantage of the fact that adult learners are professionals and decision makers in their learning process while providing enough rigor in the design so that everyone can clearly evaluate what they have learned. For more information on this innovative approach to learning and training, visit www.globalearning.com

Who will facilitate learning?

The workshop facilitator, Joseph “Boyet” Ongkiko, is a certified trainer of Global Learning Partners. He has over two decades of experience in training and development work. To view his professional profile, click this link: http://ph.linkedin.com/pub/joseph-boyet-ongkiko/a/687/680.

Tell me more!

When: December 26-30, 2009 (stay-in)
Where: Kubo Camp, Mataas na Burol, Silang, Cavite (near km 48 of Aguinaldo Highway)

Registration Fee: P8,000. The workshop tuition includes:

Class size: 16-20 (due to participative, learning-centered approach)
Length: 5 full days
Languages: English, Filipino

How do I sign up?

To register, send a message to Rita Mariano via 09208119961 and mricmariano@yahoo.com with the following details:

Full name

Cellphone number and/or landline

Email address

Occupation

Company or organization

Mode of payment

We also welcome questions about the workshop and the Dialogue Education approach.

This training workshop is organized by Passionate Community for Christ, Inc. (PCCI).

This year, I’m jumping off the traditional gift-giving wagon. To be honest, it’s partly from necessity (student life does decimate one’s budget). I believe that celebrating Christmas does not have to be expensive. It’s giving from the heart and giving with impact.

So I start my Life Transforming Giving series this December 2009. At least once a week, I’ll be posting articles about links, stories, people, stuff and experiences that have had a positive impact on my life. They have these in common: they let me live, laugh and learn.

Life Transforming Giving 1: Personal finance blog sites

Like most fresh graduates, I was not ready for the responsibility of handling my own money when I was let loose from college. In the past few years, though, I have learned a lot of principles about managing my personal finances.  These learnings came from my own successes and failures, from mentors, blogsites and books.

Here are my favorite 5 websites regarding personal finance and investments. Try to draw out principles that will apply to you, since most are written from a US context. For example, we don’t have Roth plans and our stock market has a different taxation system. In general, the ideas in these websites are sound and practical. Most of the authors are earning money from their blog sites and are freelancers. Enjoy!

www.thesimpledollar.com

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/

http://www.wisebread.com/

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/

Personally, I learned these important things from these sites:

• Spend less than you earn.
• Save! Save! Save!
• Invest according to how much you’re comfortable with risk.
• Give back generously. Give back sacrificially.
• Do what you love and excel at it.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart ” Psalm 37:4