// 6/12 - Tuesday afternoon, 5:04pm - Happy 120th Philippine Independence Day
Today (June 12th) marks 120 years since the Philippines declared themselves independent from the Spanish, in 1898.

Historical fact: the Spanish had "colonized" the Philippines from 1521 up to 1898! There was a Revolution / Uprising in 1896.... two years later, Emilio Aguinaldo, declares the Philippines independent!

But the fight was not over, as the Spanish continued to assert their hegemony (don't know the word? Look it up) over the natives on the island. America and Spain did not recognize the Philipino people's Declaration of Independence. The fight continued. Spain ceded its ownership of the Philippines to the USA in 1898, and the Philippines remained an American colony until 1946.

The struggle and the story of Philippine Independence is actually quite complex, and continues into the present day. However, in recognition of the revolutionary leaders of the late 1800s, we celebrate June 12th! Happy Day of Freedom!

What will you do with your freedom?

// 6/3 - Sunday morning, 10:46am - Windows of Opportunity
Windows of Opportunity are Finite in Duration (meaning, they end) and usually Finite in Quantity (meaning there aren't an infinite supply of them).

Sometimes, there can be Infinite Opportunities, or pretty much Infinite. Such as when a Spacecraft wants to go to Mars; it has to time its launch with the relative positions of Mars and Earth, since both objects are moving. This Mars-Earth System leaves Spacegoers on Earth with a narrow "Launch Window," which is a finite duration/band of time that gives the best opportunity, and requires the least amount of energy, for a successful launch.

However, there are infinitely many windows, since Earth and Mars are celestial bodies that will orbit indefinitely. So not exactly infinite, it's more like indefinite. 

Here's a good read and activity made by Jet Propulsion Lab, about how to calculate the Launch Windows to Mars. 

There is a Language Learning Window (and many other "Learning Windows") due to the way the brain develops. The human brain is keen at learning languages at an early age, but not at a later age. You only have one language learning window, so that's finite.  

The aging brain is said to "crystalize" meaning an old brain can be good at applying "old knowledge" but not good at learning "new knowledge." Generally, as one gets older, it becomes harder to learn new things, though there are ways to keep the brain elastic [Those ways are 1) Exercise, 2) Conscious Learning, and 3) Healthy Diet]. The best time to learn is while the brain is young.

Every day is a Window of Opportunity. Every day is finite in duration, but there are an infinite (or indefinite) number of days. 

Life is full of Opportunities. But they come and go, and are easy to miss.

Every music lesson, Every class session, is a Window of Opportunity. If you don't make the most of the Opportunity, then you miss it, and have to wait for the next Opportunity, if there is one.

5/21 - Monday afternoon, 4:21pm - Rate Your Effort

On a scale from 1 to 10, how hard are you trying? Are you 10 out of 10?
Then you've already won (1). 10/10 = 1.

Effort beats Talent when Talent makes no Effort. Natural gifts don't beat grit.

The Proper Plan to Prevent Poor Performance is: Purposeful Practice, Patience, Perseverence, and Positivity.

 5/15 - Tuesday afternoon, 4:06pm - 3 Keys to Understanding more in Class

Beneficial Note: There are more than 3 keys, but these are the ones that I feel are most helpful...
1) Be open to learning,
2) Be engaged in the lesson, and
3) Have fun while you learn. Learning should be FUN!

Let's not get it twisted though, learning—just like anything worthwhile—is a lot of hard work too... but for me, because I find joy in the work, and benefit from the rewards the come with learning, it's hard work with a smile :)

5/13 - Sunday morning, 10:45am - Free Time

You can learn a lot about people based on what they choose to do with their free time.

Let's just leave it at that!

// 5/11 - Friday night, 10:12pm - Faith and Ambition

Who you want to be, and what you want to have in the future, shapes who you currently are, and what you currently do in the present. This is why those with prodigious goals and daring dreams are so motivated and excited to take on the day. They welcome challenges, rebound from setbacks, and overcome obstacles with an unstoppable, untoppable spirit.

For this reason, it is SO important to have Ambition, Vision, and Faith.

"Where there is no hope in the future, there will be no power in the present.
If you have Faith in your Future, you will have Power in your Present."
               -John C. Maxwell

// 5/11 - Friday afternoon, 1:41pm - Don't Trip on the TRAP!

Part I.

 Don't slip, don't trip, and don't fall into the THE TRAP.

Society/Media/Bad Influencers trick a lot of people into thinking school is bad, that it's supposed to be miserable and make you suffer. NOT TRUE AT ALL!

There are plenty of students who enjoy school, and enjoy learning.

If you think school/learning/self-improvement is bad, then you're being fooled~!

Education doesn't have to be bad, and teachers aren't your enemy.
Teachers are trying to help their students.
We're trying to give you knowledge, skills, and experiences for a better future, and at the very least exercise your brain to keep it sharp.

Teachers are going to challenge you. They will push you out of your comfort zone, because that is what allows you to grow and improve. It's not supposed to be easy. The easy path is the path to mediocrity and failure. The comfort zone is the no-growth zone.

Treat school like a game—it should be challenging and fun. A game that is too easy is not fun. The difference with school is that if you're good at this game, it can mean REAL rewards, not fake video game points.

School can be enjoyable if you approach it in this way.

Part II.

I heard in the sermon today about how the difficulties of labor are necessary to bring about new life.
Fact: ONLY through labor, can new life be created.

And so it is with education... laborious as it is, it transforms students into different (and hopefully, better) people than who they were on the way in.

However, let's be clear.... School ≠ Education. School does not equal education. You can go to school and leave without an education, if you didn't learn anything (that's the trap!).

Conversely, you don't have to be IN school to get educated; you can be educated outside of school, after school, before school, during summer. Some of the best learning happens outside of school...that's where I learned to dance, play piano, rhyme, cook, fix my car, do my taxes, and code HTML to make these websites. Learning never needs to stop. That's a MAJOR Key.

But if you fall victim to the trap, you can spend 6 hours a day, 30 hours a week, 600 hours a year, in a school, and STILL not learn very much. That's a waste of time! Don't fall into the trap!!!

// 5/10 - Thursday evening, 7:29pm - Ruminations on Academic Honesty

I don't enjoy watching my students fail.
My dream is for them to become successful, respectable, and competent people.

But cheating is worse than failing!

At least with failing, a student gets a chance to see their mistakes, and maybe learn from them to improve for next time. But cheaters just cover up the mistakes and look the other way, hoping it never catches up to bite 'em (spoiler alert: it always bites, EVERY year).

Being sneaky just adds an extra layer of stress to one's life, because a dishonest person must worry about covering up their deception, lest they be revealed as dishonest! It's not easy, and quite stressing to juggle multiple deceptions. I find it easier and more preferable to live with a clear conscience.

Honest failure is better than fake success. We need Morality before Mathematics.

#upsanddowns #bounceback #makeworkfunagain

// 5/3 - Thursday - Started this Website

Hey why not? Let's take my (super basic) website skills and apply them to someplace useful. I kinda like the start-from-scratch element of it all.