Sea Lions at Manila Ocean Park: What to Expect as a Field Trip

I was privileged to watch Manila Ocean Park's first sea lion show. When I arrived in the area it was already packed with students, chaperons and teachers. As a teacher myself, I was wondering how the students will react watching the sea lions perform tricks and dances. Basically as a SPED teacher, I was wondering if the sea lion show would be able to sustain the student's attention.




When I arrived, there is a group of students having a field trip. They were looking over the viewing area (which is about chest level for me) and below them is the stage for the show. I noticed a couple of boys running around already and not minding the show that much. However, most of the students were just enjoying to watch the sea lions or to take their pictures and videos.



If the students were in preschool and relatively small, they can still watch the sea lions because the wall of the viewing deck is transparent.

When the announcement was made about who threw the water bottle in the pool, I thought did somebody from the audience do that or was that part of the performance? I saw the trainers throw water bottles on the floor and asked the sea lions to pick it up but the one floating in the water I did not see the trainers throw it. When that announcement was made, it seemed the audience became quiet and there were whispers "Sinong nagtapon nun? Nakita mo?" (Who threw that? Did you see what happen?) The trainer asked one of the seals to swim and get the bottle and of course it was done successfully.




Finally, the captivating voice of the announcer informed the audience that the sea lions will perform a dance. Once the music started, the kids who were playing behind me pushed themselves to the viewing area to see the performance. So I guess, kids really want to see these mammals dance. After the dance, attention started to dwindle again. Reminders were provided to practice the three R's (reduce, reuse and recycle). The kids were waving at the sea lions. I guess they were hoping that sea lions will wave back at them and you know what they did! Of course, after a cue and a treat from their trainers. Nonetheless, the kids were thrilled.

So if your school is planning for a field trip, here are some unsolicited advice I could give:
1. Make sure the kids are the ones in front of the viewing area. I know the adults want to take pictures and they are excited as well but let's not stray from the purpose of the field trip which is exposure to these animals that our students don't normally see everyday.
2. Again I cannot ascertain if the water bottle thrown in the pool was part of the performance or not but advise our kids to not throw their trash in the pool even if it was just a candy wrapper.
3. Advisers please keep an eye on your students. I understand they are with their chaperons but still this is a school activity; hence, the adviser/teacher is the person-in-charge in making sure the students get the point of the field trip. Maybe you can enjoy the show more when you visit with your families.
4. For chaperons, please help the advisers. They might be the head of the class but two hands are still better than one.
5. Keep the students in their section or group. Don't let them stray around. Remember this is still a public place. The staff from Manila Ocean Park will be there to assist you but still an ounce of prevention is still better than a pound of cure.

If your students need special attention, here are some pointers:
1. I heard the show can run from 30 and even up to 45 minutes. I was able to watch only 15 minutes of the show. There is a big tendency the students' attention will be lost and there will be issues on asking them to stay standing on the viewing deck for that period. Hence, prepare how will you manage behavior given that period of time.
2. The viewing deck is wide so there is lots of space. Be wary of tendencies to push.
3. The area behind you is a perfect place to play and run around. You can opt to give kids who need to move a break if they are tired of watching the show but like I said once the sea lions dance they might want to go back and watch them.



So far, in my limited time to watch the show those are the most obvious things I observed as a teacher. I have not seen the show wherein the audience are just walk-in visitors so the dynamics may be different. Nonetheless, the show is different and I hope your kids will appreciate sea lions more.

Equus: A Teacher's Perspective on the Impact of the Play

Last July 25, 2010, my new theater-play buddy, Teacher Ada, and I watched the play Equus at Greenbelt 1. We caught the 3pm play featuring Red Concepcion as Alan Strang.
To give you a brief background on what the play is let me quote the synopsis taken from the programme:

Pyschiatrist Martin Dysart is brought the most challenging case of his career. Alan Strang, seems like a normal seventeen year old. His life appears routine and his family loving. However Alan's passion for horses and an encounter with stable hand Jill has led him to behave in the most devastating way. Dysart must discover why this severely troubled teenager, has gouged out the eyes of six horses with a hoof pick. Dysart slowly realizes hat Alan has evolved his own bizarre religion, in which horses are his gods - and has enacted a strange Passion play.

Only Dysart seems able to grasp the answer to this psychological puzzle. He understands that to cure the boy, he must take from him the richest and most profound experience of his life. The boy's fierce passion forces Dysart to recognize the barrenness and aridity of his own existence.

Honestly, I went to the play with the most simple or in Filipino we call it "babaw" of reasons. To see what was the play that made Harry Potter boy "Daniel Radcliffe" controversial as a theater actor. Is is true that there will be nudity? Is this really about a guy who gets turned on by a horse? OMG!

But alas, I left the theater a changed teacher? (While still gawking at my favorite horseman, yummy guys) Ooops wait, I said changed right? No seriously back to the topic at hand, the last thing I remembered Dr. Dysart say in the play was "Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor.It cannot be created."

As a Science teacher, it rang a familiar bell. Sounds like the first law of Thermodynamics.

As a teacher it pinched my heart with the mention of the word "Passion".

A shoutout in my Facebook inspired me to write this blog. It was just too long to say in my shoutout. I had to post it in two parts.

The shout out goes like this:
Sabi ni Dr. Dysart, "Passion can be terminated (destroyed) by doctors... but not created"- Equus July 25, 2010. Ang play na ito ay muling naganap pagkatapos ng 37 na taon since una syang pinalabas dito sa Pinas. Feeling ko connected sya sa video na Faculty [HD] at sabi ng theater play-buddy ko connected rin daw sya sa Inception (di ko pa napanood).

So ano ba talaga ang purpose ng isang titser or sino pa mang nagtratrabaho kasama ng mga bata? Magturo ba na maging normal sila para mapabilang at tanggapin ng society or tulungan silang hanapin ang passion nila? Ano nga ba itong si passion, paano mo malalaman kung meron ka ba tlaga nito? Hay naku, masyado ng mahabang shoutout baka i-blog ko na lang...haaaay! Mag-isip. Mag-isip titser. Paano ka nga ba ginawa?

So as a teacher what was my take for this play?

The quote I provided about doctors killing passion should not be taken literally. Dr. Dysart in this play is a psychiatrist. I don't want anybody thinking that I am dissuading parents from bringing their child to a pediatrician or any health doctor because they might kill their child's passion. That is so out of context.

Anyway, I think it's better to read the continuation of what Dysart said in his ending speech as he holds Alan's body close to him.

You won't gallop anymore, Alan.
Horses will be quite safe.
You'll save your money every week...
and change that scooter for a car...
and spend glorious weekends...
grooming that.
You'll pop round to the betting shop
and put the odd pence on the nags...
quite forgetting they ever meant
anything more to you than...
bearers of little profits and little losses.
You will, however, be without pain...
almost completely without...
pain.

So what does Dysart want to do for Alan? In simple words, he aims to bring Alan back to normal. But what is normal?

The Normal is the good smile
in a child's eyes.
It's also the dead stare in a million adults.
Both sustains and kills...
like a god.
It is the ordinary made beautiful.
It is also the average...
made lethal.
The Normal is the indispensable...
murderous God of health.
And I am his priest.

Who is the priest? The people who work with children to prepare them for the adult world. How do these priests do it?

My tools are very delicate.
My compassion is honest.
I've honestly assisted children in this room.
I've talked away terrors,
relieved many agonies.
But beyond question...
I have cut from them
portions of individuality...
repugnant to this God, Normal,
in all its aspects.
And at what length.
Sacrifices to Zeus took,
at the most, seconds each.
Sacrifices to the Normal...
can take as much as...
sixty months.
Can you hear me?
Can you speak normally?
Say "yes" if you can.
I can.
Good.
Now raise your head.
Open your eyes.

So now let me ask you, as a teacher who inevitably has a high probability to influence and mold each child that enters your classroom as they go up each level, each grade until adulthood, were you able to reach your goal to help these kids become normal adults? or in that same process did you kill their passion?

In the small things you say:
...pay attention
...stop singing
...stop laughing
...slow down
...stand up properly
...read this
...listen to this
...follow me
...walk this way
...Say "yes" if you can.
...Raise your head
...Open your eyes

Or in the things that you did not say...

If passion and dreams were like fairies in Neverland, how many fairies would have been dead by now every time you curb out a child's imagination and passion so that they will look and sound normal and acceptable to society.

Am I promoting disorder or chaos in the educational system? Heck no! As a Science teacher I am fully aware of a phenomenon called entropy. Wikipedia defines it as "a thermodynamic property which serves as a measure of how close a system is to equilibrium — that is, to perfect internal disorder." I think as a teacher we should always check our level of entropy, our internal disorder, as a measure if we are still honest to the vocation we pledged to take and the life we are bound to live.

I wish more teachers and parents will have a chance to watch plays like this. I wish I could have written this review earlier? or watched the play earlier so I could have promoted it to my fellow teachers and parents? But I watched the second to the last scheduled play last July 25. Still, I guess if someone wills it, there is always a way.