An Amazing Milestone, Congratulations GEG Philippines!

Congratulations are in order for GEG Philippines! DepEd has recognized the community as a professional learning community! This is a huge milestone for the community that started 7 years ago. My heart is bursting with so much pride and happiness.

The first GEG APAC Leaders Summit was hosted in Manila (2015). 

The teacher community was piloted in the Philippines. The first one was founded in Baguio City and launched in January 2014. Teachers from both the public and private sector came together for the first meet-up. It was a fun day of sharing ideas and challenges on what to do with the community. What was great about it was getting the support also of the business community. 

GEG Baguio launch (January 2014).

Many people ask me why people volunteer to join and lead communities. It stems from the passion to learn, share and help others do the same. I always believed that many people want to help, they just need to be empowered to do great things. I have seen this also in the other communities I have incubated - the GDG, GBG, the mappers and those who volunteered when I did crisis response. 

I've been on medical leave twice now (second one still ongoing). When I had heart surgery I was gone for four months. My colleagues asked me how come my communities were still active even though I wasn't around. I told them it was never about me. It's about the people behind the community. They are spurred by their passion to help others. And that's why I know they will continue to flourish even without me. 

The journey to what GEG Philippines has achieved wasn't an easy one. Teachers are very busy people, but when the pandemic started they all jumped at the chance to help others learn how to use online tools. I have lost count on how many webinars they have hosted. And there's a lot to learn from them, I always pick up something new when I watch their sessions. 

Congratulations GEG Philippines! I won't mention any names here because I might not be able to list everyone (brain fog is real guyz), but always know that all of you are always in my heart and I am grateful for all you do. Give yourselves a pat in the back for all the help you have provided for other teachers. I hope something I could see all of you in person again! 

*I wanted to share more photos, but I have a gazillion! Ping me if you're looking for any photos. 

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I have Bottomless Inspiration

There are days it's hard to get out of bed. Days when I don't feel so motivated. Days when I feel lazy. This happens usually when I don't have enough sleep or when I didn't get a good night's sleep. In the Philippines I hear this question asked a lot, "Para saan ka gumigising?" (Who do you wake up for?). 

Of course, I wake up for my family, but when I need the extra boost I think about my primary work stakeholder, the teachers. Yesterday, I was smiling from ear to ear after a meeting because a consultant praised the event our teacher community is hosting this weekend. He said his friend from an international school told him about it. I told him the recognition should go to all the educators who worked hard to put the program together. 

Through the years I have had the privilege of meeting and befriending passionate teachers across the globe. They are the busiest people, but they still find time to help others learn more. They give their time so selflessly so that others may learn. Just thinking about my teachers inspire me a lot.

Be inspired and learn from the Asia Pacific Google Educator Groups this weekend. They have put together an amazing line-up of learning sessions. You can check out the details here or check out the session list by language -

Bahasa Melayu: https://tinyurl.com/y4lexll7
Bahasa Indonesia: https://tinyurl.com/y438fzw8
日本語: https://tinyurl.com/y263n6mq
中文: https://tinyurl.com/y4ubgbnp
한국어: https://tinyurl.com/y55ahse9
English: https://tinyurl.com/yy6rwon7
Filipino: https://tinyurl.com/y3az6p8z
தமிழ்: https://tinyurl.com/y6xpz2mf
Hindi: https://tinyurl.com/y6ko8r2y
ภาษาไทย: https://tinyurl.com/y4yh2ygf
ગુજરાતી: https://tinyurl.com/y6lsq9q4

Congratulations #GEGapac for an amazing initiative!

#CB//241 #StuckAtHomeDay/271 #StayHome #BeKind   

Today's Happy Thoughts: Turon and Community Recognition

Sweetie brought home a surprise today - turon! He got it from Lucky Plaza since he had to mail some stuff through a courier service. And he also got some much need supply of Del Monte spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce since I'll be cooking more in the coming weeks.

Turon is one of my favorite snacks! I love banana snacks including banana cue and even boiled banana saba makes me happy. Saba is hard to find in our area so I'm always happy when we find some in other places.

I was also so happy that the GEGs got a shoutout from Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, in the latest company announcement.

As early as February the GEGs in Taiwan and Hong Kong have been hosting webinars and creating demo videos for teachers to learn how to use the tools for distance learning. You may now find videos in more languages here. I thought of bringing the value of bayanihan to the communities in other countries to empower everyone who could help. I've been feeling under the weather since yesterday so this was a great antidote! Thank you so much dear teachers for helping :D