By Fr. Donnie Duchin Duya, SDB

Makati City, the Philippines, 15 July 2020 -- The challenge to the educational sector brought about by the pandemic has been documented by UNESCO since most countries enforced health protocols since March--60.2 million teachers are no longer in the classroom affecting about 1.37 billion students have been affected by COVID-19 in over 138 countries.

With the Philippine government giving its thumbs up to the opening of classes next month, preparations are underway to embrace the challenges brought about by the new normal.

Dared by such adversity, Don Bosco Press has brought its ChalkTalk in cyberspace. ChalkTalk is a teacher-training program Don Bosco Press used to provide for its partner schools before the COVID-19 era, with the same end of equipping the teachers necessary inputs on various topics to make the learning process enriching and interesting for their students.

In collaboration with the Pastoral Animation arm of Don Bosco Educational Centers of the FIN Province, Don Bosco Press has launched its ChalkTalk Online entitled “Christ, Evangelization, and Faith” (ChEF) series in view of accompanying our Youth Ministers, Catechists, and Christian Living (CL) teachers navigate through our changing and challenging educational landscape.

The episode of ChEF this Friday, July 17, the fourth in a series of six sessions, offers participants a demonstration of how CL is conducted in various modes--synchronous, asynchronous, and modular.

Building on the principles they shared in the previous ChEF episodes, the resource persons who are both experts in Catechetics and Youth Ministry--Fr Renato de Guzman, SDB and Fr. Joebeth Vivo, SDB--will walk through and demonstrate how to teach CL in this time of the new normal.

The talk is carried out in the English medium, which affords our teachers an opportunity to attend and have a glimpse of the session which could be applied in various contexts.

Upcoming episodes of ChEF include Organizing Retreats and Recollections (July 31) and Prayer Life and Accompaniment (August 14).

Aside from ChalkTalk Online on Christian Living, Remote Teaching, Google for Education, and Parenting, Don Bosco Press will soon offer other webinar series on Mental Wellbeing, and Curriculum Design in the New Normal.

For updates on their latest offerings, the readers are invited to subscribe to their Facebook page

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