Archive for the 'Random Ramblings' Category

Pulling The Trigger Benefits Both Parties

Published at December 2, 2007 in Attitude, Random Ramblings and School/Teaching. 12 Comments

Student As a teacher, I always have mixed feelings about making grades, because at the back of my mind, I know there are students who are going to fail even before the marking period officially ends.

I hate doing this. As much as possible, I want everyone to pass. I want the kids to enjoy their childhood: play, watch TV, be with their friends, or even chase butterflies in the fields. The thought of them being grounded by their parents because of a failing mark upsets me.

That’s why I implemented preventive measures: I told them our schedules beforehand so they can plan ahead; all tests and class works have extra credits; although we have homeworks and seat works almost daily, I gave them contests to make Math more fun and not horrible (I have no problems with my Computer Classes).

The students were responsive, and yet, I didn’t see the results I expected to see. One student was having a high-and-low scores trend, and based on this stat, I expected him to pass. But his Final exam was extremely low that I couldn’t pull his grade up.

I was thinking, did this kid even realize how important the Final exam was? I repeatedly told them to study, to the point of postponing the test for one day so they can review their lessons even longer.

Was this my fault? Why am I feeling guilty?

Then I realized, I religiously did my part as a teacher. I gave them good chances and several opportunities, yet, they chose to walk away from it. I should stop feeling guilty about it and pull the trigger. I have no control of what they do outside school.

A co-teacher warned me about parents that will complain. I told her, everything is documented so I have nothing to worry about. So I penned an “F” in the report cards of those flunking students. Otherwise, they will think they are doing the right thing and be forever lost in mediocrity. They need a reminder that they have to try harder.

Sometimes you have to pull this kind of trigger. Otherwise, there will always be senseless guilt, and you’ll end up trying to adjust to others when it’s supposed to be the other way around.

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Dear BlogRush, Have You Forsaken Me?

Published at November 11, 2007 in Blogs and Blogging, Observations and Opinions and Random Ramblings. 25 Comments

When BlogRush went live several weeks ago, John Reese – the founder – promised that it would help small, young sites like mine generate more traffic. All you have to do is install a box or widget, which Mr. Reese said, would display targeted blogs’ latest post. For Free.

Free traffic? Music to my ears!

I was excited, so I signed up and installed the widget. I categorized my blog under “Personal Diary.” (The categories back then were limited.) I was one of the many people in the first batch, thanks to John Chow’s post.

I monitored my site’s stats on a regular basis, and checked whether BlogRush was true to its words because I didn’t want only traffic, I also wanted readership.

The first few weeks, I saw people coming to my site via BlogRush. I was happy. Some passers-by even commented on some of my posts. Some awesome bloggers like Vic Grace, Jeni Hill Ertmer, and Awannabe came from BlogRush. That was great. What’s marvelous was when I visited some sites, I saw my blog on their widgets! (In some cases, in mine, too!)

When BlogRush recently launched Phase II, it talked about more promises. But since then, my traffic and click through rates from BlogRush appear to be declining. From experience, I knew that if I leave my latest post on top for 3 or 4 days, it would be syndicated (or picked up by other widget-carrying blogs) at least 800-1000 times with 1 or 2 clicks. However, the last 3 weeks were really below par.

Below is a snapshot of the report since I installed the widget. The posts are arranged from oldest post to latest. You will see that the last 3 weeks, I only received a staggering 2 clicks!


BlogRush Report

This led me to thinking: Are bloggers already blinded by BlogRush? Do they still pay attention to the widget? Or does my title simply stink and doesn’t sound interesting? Is BlogRush a scam that many bloggers claim?

John Reese said that bloggers should put the widget on a higher location, to get more credits and clicks. I put mine a little higher. As a matter of fact, it is on the upper half of my sidebar, but I see no difference. So I don’t think location is the case here.

A quick query on Technorati, I have only read black and white stories about BlogRush: it’s either bloggers find it useful or useless. Nothing in between, unlike my story. A certain Rich from Ohio says he’s been “a booster of Blogrush eversince it went live”. On the other hand, Caroline Middlebrook was not thrilled with the 14 clicks she received despite thousands of impressions.

I was wondering if there are others who share the same sentiments as mine: huge traffic rush at the beginning that is now gradually trending down.

To end, I still want to thank BlogRush and still intend to use it. Somehow, it brought me fantastic bloggers whose blogs I also enjoy reading.

But the recent downward trend of blogrush click-rate has led me to ask: Dear BlogRush, have you forsaken me?

——–

If you wish to try BlogRush, get an account here to drive more traffic to your site.

To view more BlogRush stories in Technorati, click here.

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Wild Monkeys, Wild People, Monkey Leaders

Published at October 29, 2007 in Politics and Random Ramblings. 6 Comments

A week ago, deputy mayor S.S. Bajwa from India died. Cause of death: Wild Monkeys.

Hordes of wild monkeys attacked the poor fellow at his place causing him to fall from his balcony. You might ask: What are the monkeys doing there? Well, the monkeys are prevalent in that New Delhi area, scaring passers-by and occasionally biting or snatching food from unsuspecting visitors as CNN reported. But people do not cull them because they are kind of sacred as they symbolize the monkey gods.

Do you see some eerie connections here with humans?

In some countries, governments are run by monkeys. Then, there are some people running wild with wrong idealism threatening the peace in the land where the monkeys and the rest of the population live. These people are terrorizing others and scaring the innocents. These humans are not exterminated because the monkeys think they are sacred as they’re made by their God in His image.

Do you think wild monkeys, wild people, and monkey leaders need a place of their own?

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Appreciation Post – Special Thanks and Shout Outs To My Readers!

Published at October 28, 2007 in Personal and Random Ramblings. 7 Comments

When I started this blog 2 months ago, I thanked the bloggers who inspired me to write. Since it is now weekend and almost end of the month, it is time for appreciation post to acknowledge my most loyal readers who have been reading my entries and have been posting comments. This is my way of returning the favor because I believe that loyalty is a two-way street:

(Click on their names to visit their blogs)

1. Vic Grace – Lately, you’re always the first to comment so I guess you deserve to be the first here. :P I love reading your blog, you have great content and it’s easy to read. Thanks and Good luck with the money-making adventure!

2. Jennifer HIll Ertmer – I still don’t know why your “I” is always in uppercase. :P Thank you for the visits and the great comments! I love reading your stories especially about little Miss Maya. By the way, are you going to monetize your blog too?

3. Cris – my fellow Filipino, thanks for always coming by. Keep up the good work with your blog.

4. Squaretan – a Sports fan who never gets tired of updating his readers with Sports events. NBA is just around the corner, maybe you could post about it once in a while? :P

5. Ottayan – A guy who never runs out of ideas. Thanks for the visits

6. Gleb Reys – Thanks for visiting and commenting and good luck on your new webhost!

7. Priscilla Palmer – Thanks for the visits and comments. Good luck on your upcoming book!

8. Ms Whatsit - a teacher who also loves cats and cooking! Hope the cinnamon sticks work for you if you decide to try.

9. Edward Mills – I enjoyed writing about 36-Hours you started. Thanks!

10. Peter C. – one of my brightest students at St. Aedans. Good luck with your studies and thanks for the visit!

11. Jonathan Velazco and Labelle – two of my first visitors here, thanks for visiting and commenting! Keep in touch!

And to the following bloggers who stumbled upon my site via blogrush, google, and/or other sites:

Danny @ Blogs for Money, Chris Velazco, K. Williams, Canuckle Head, Natural Woman, African Boy, Eddie, Rinnah, Tina Kubala, Jaya, GettyCash, My Personal “Keep Me Up To Date On The Top News” blog

To my friends, like Jojit, Elmer, Elaine, Melissa, The Godfather, Adis, Mrs. Perdomo: thanks for stopping by and taking time out to post in the guestbook and/or comment box, I appreciate it!

To my family in the Philippines, I know you’re reading my posts, based on our online calls. To my sisters Shandz and Sade, thanks for posting in the guestbook! Take care of Mama. Special thanks to my Father who keeps on motivating me that my topics are good.

And of course to my girlfriend, Andie. When my eyes are tired, she’s the one who helps me proof-read my entries before I post them. Thank you for supporting me in every endeavor I take. Advanced Happy 3rd Anniversary! :* :* :*

To all MyBlogLog community readers who visit my site, thanks! And to the thousands of unknown unique IP Addresses, thanks for dropping by and hope you become “known” soon — like Alex, Anon, and Guillermo, who already posted even though they still don’t have blogs/sites.

Thanks a million! Feel free to come back anytime!

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Playing The Waiting Game

Published at October 15, 2007 in Blogs and Blogging, Career/Work/Job, Money and Money-making, Observations and Opinions and Random Ramblings. 12 Comments

You’re in a financially unrewarding job you don’t really enjoy, and for some VALID reasons, you’re stuck with it. You feel you have two choices: either 1.) whine and attract sympathy from others, perform lackadaisically, then quit and find another unworthy job; OR 2.) stay, improve yourself, and do your best while waiting and looking for better opportunities. Option 1 seems to be the easier choice because it’s easy to blame others for our lack of progress instead of doing something worthwhile. But do good things happen to those who wait?

You’ve probably heard the news about the fascinating people on the internet popularized by their successful money-making stories. Ordinary people who became internet legends by blogging. And then you’ve asked yourself: “When is it my turn?” You want to be like them: lucky by doing nothing.

You’re wondering: why are some people so damn lucky earning lots of money sitting in front of the computer?

I’ll tell you a secret. I have read about their inspiring stories, too.

You know what I noticed?

Continue reading ‘Playing The Waiting Game’

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