THE complaint, it seems, is universal. From teachers, students and even parents alike. Almost everyone involved in the modular learning, or even blended learning, has picked up a bad habit or two.
Wake up late. Check. Spend too much time in front of a gadget. Check. Bumming around. Check.
Milo and the Department of Education want to change that with the Milo habit.
What is this animal? Well, they are just four simple exercises, done for 30 seconds each. Jog in place, with your knees hitting your palms, jump from side to side or to and fro, jump from a squat position or a push-up, but instead of having your legs stretched straight, you bend them.
I tried three of four and the soon to be 42-year-old knees managed them. Except for the pushups. I haven’t done any since high school and I thought a modified one would be too much.
DepEd and Milo want this to be a habit for the students, and hopefully, for the parents too. We all know the benefits of a sound body and let’s face it, a little exercise at home is helpful. Luigi Romero, Milo’s sports executive, also said that exercise boosts cognitive abilities.
However, Physical Education in the blended learning setup, depends a lot on honesty. DepEd 7’s Salustiano Jimenez told us of the challenges of teachers of making students comply with requirements. Some teachers, mostly from private schools, require students to submit videos of themselves doing their exercises.
That’s why they call this a habit, not a simple exercise or routine. They want this to become a habit for the students. And hopefully, for the parents too.
Habits, as we all know, are done whether anyone’s looking or not. Whether anyone’s checking or not and DepEd hopes there won’t be a need for any checking for compliance with this one.
They hope it would become a habit, a part of the students’ routine just as, sadly, playing mobile games under the pandemic have become part of theirs.
Just four 30-second exercises. Two minutes per day. Back under my old internet service provider, two minutes would be the time to open up my e-mail account.
Yeah, yeah, it’s a marketing ploy but hey, this is one marketing ploy that’s helpful.