Striving To Be Better This 2013

Be Better

A wide array of information over the internet helps educators prepare lessons and test on time without too much effort. But that can work as a double-edged sword because “wide array” can also mean “wide disarray” with thousands of websites and blogs out there on education. So unless a teacher finds that reliable website in his or her search engine quest, there’s going to be some trial and error to be done.



SMPC President Jerry Vicente Catabijan started a website that will cater educators’ need in preparing their lessons. www.bebetter.com.ph of  Saint Mary’s Publishing Corporation (SMPC) aimed at providing information and material for teachers who want to further their learning online in order to become better at what they do. 

“While it’s great that the Internet is just abounding with information for the teacher who wants to learn,” says SMPC President Jerry Catabijan, “it just might frustrate someone who has limited time and patience to look for that site that can be of help. So I thought, humbly, how can I help here? So that’s what led me to create an online resource site that will cater to teacher solely. Here, teachers can read up on a lot of practical articles that can help them become better educators, plain and simple.”

Jerry Catabijan didn’t just stumble upon this idea while surfing the Net one day. Coming from a family who’s been in the textbook publishing business for over 47 years; ever since he began working for Saint Mary’s Publishing Corporation (SMPC), he’s been finding ways how to give back to the teachers and schools his company works with. And putting up www.better.com.ph is the culmination of all his efforts.

Launched last year, www.bebetter.com.ph, provides free articles on a variety of topics from teaching tips, book features, profiles on writers and other educators. The website has other contributing writers who are teachers themselves and developed by a dedicated editorial team.
From its articles on practical matters like “How to discourage cramming” to pointers on how to make students more reflective by using a journal to features on “Notable Pinoy Scientists,” bebetter.com.ph aims to become a complete resource material for teachers who simply want to get better at what they do. With regular sections like “Feed your need to read” that presents a list of recommended books based on certain themes to “Shaping the self-learner,” a series that aims to live up its name to the “Be Better Spotlight,” which has profiles on notable people in education, bebetter.com.ph has something for every teacher out there.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” notes SMPC President Jerry Vicente Catabijan. “Learning is an endless topic, so what you see now is just the start. We plan to grow the site and hopefully reach a wider audience.”

More than just an online resource material, the website stands for something so much more to the publisher. “Be Better is not just a website – it’s a philosophy that my company lives by and the website is perhaps its most visible expression right now,” says SMPC President Jerry Vicente Catabijan. The word “better” in Be Better is actually an acronym which stands for “Better Education Thrives Through Endless Reading” – such sums up what Jerry Catabijan is doing to achieve. “When we talk about ‘endless reading’, we’re not only referring to the students but the teachers as well,” he adds.
With the website and a Facebook page, SMPC President Jerry Vicente Catabijan hopes to aid teachers in the country for starters, particularly those who don’t have access to further education.

“Of course, our website, like any material, will have its limitations but any kind of learning helps and goes a long way than none at all,” he adds.

Aside from our parents, teacher plays the role of creating the Right Learning Mindset to his students. So anyone who is in the field of education, or simply has an interest in education, check out www.bebetter.com.ph and sign up for its regular newsletters, stay up to date, learn and start to be better this 2013.