Teachers and Teaching

Our country’s celebration of Teachers’ month will end this week, particularly on Oct. 5, which is also the World Teachers’ Day as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994. The celebration focuses on the nobility of the profession itself and intends to promote the international standards for the teaching profession.

I was a teacher for some time (how could I forget).  I was an eager English tutor during college at schools for Koreans in Camp. 7, served as an ESL teacher at BSU-ILC after I graduated, a College Instructor at King’s College of the Philippines for three years, and I also had a very short teaching stint at Saint Louis University . When I was in college, I dream of becoming the coolest teacher in town. I also made it my goal to teach in my own alma mater even for a short period – I just have to cross that experience in my bucket list. I was inspired by the Anime, “GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka”, which tells the story of a former gangster who became a teacher for some deviants. With his unorthodox methods in the otherwise traditional educational system, he taught life lessons beyond the routine school work. In the real world, however, the teaching profession does not approve the ‘unconventional’ or eccentric methods. That is why teachers are imposed with standardized lesson plans, uniform method of teaching, regularly scheduled grading periods etc. One cannot simply pull out a class to a smoky bar and justify their exposure to such ‘real life elements’ as part of a valued lesson or strategic teaching.

On my first day of classroom teaching, I walked straight to the front chairs and pretended that I was just another student like them. That was simply no. 77 of my bucket list that I have to cross. Since I still looked like a teenager that time, I started chatting with my seatmates/students with a grin. After some twenty minutes, the class became agitated and some even started walking out of the room. Before, they could take their complaints to the Student Affairs or to the College Dean, I announced that I was actually their teacher. “Sure you are!”, the students nevertheless laughed at my proposal.  I looked around and it hit me: nobody would believe me with my gothic wear and earrings. Eccentric is cool, but not effective. I would have a memo that day for that useless stunt. But hey, I crossed some lines in my bucket list.

The most challenging and tiring work for any teacher is ‘grading’. A teacher can stand and talk in front of the class all day with a smile, but the grading job after class hours will suck all those energy away. Add the daily lesson plans and researches, and the teacher will age considerably. Add the required graduate school, and family life, and the teacher’s brain is fried. No wonder we all look like hell sometimes.

But teaching is really a noble job; it is not an 8-5 duty but a 24-hour responsibility, not a routine, but an everyday hustle to survive before the bell, and an opportunity to change people’s lives. Despite its comedies and tragedies, a teacher finds comfort on the thought that his or her students will take over the world someday. Who knows, one of our students might even become the future President of our country. At least the teacher can boast: “Insurwak dayta nga ubing!”

Try the Free Online Courses!

For most of us who are too busy to upgrade our skills and knowledge, and consequently our resumes, online learning or e-learning may be the answer! Of course if we can just divert some of our energy from surfing facebook to this, we may take advantage of the many free online courses we find in the web. Among the sites I found for this are; COURSERA (https://www.coursera.org/), KHAN ACADEMY (www.khanacademy.org), OPENCULTURE.COM, and of course ALISON (www.alison.com). 

  

I’ve completed two courses in the online learning site Alison (This is something I can add-up in my Resume); one is Tourism Studies, the other is Psychology. Among the e-learning sites I mentioned, Alison has, by far, the most organized materials albeit too simple. However, I recommend this for those who are just starting (the other sites may require you to submit research).

My Advice: Yup, you can cheat your way to completing the course online (e.g. by clicking ‘done’ when you haven’t read the materials yet) but in the end what matters is how much you’ve learned.  The Diploma or the Certificates are mere scrap papers if you have not acquired the skills and the knowledge identified in the course’s learning outcomes.

Note however that most of these learning sites (like Alison) require payment for the Diploma/Certificate (the parchment is shipped from outside our country, and the frames are awesome;). The ‘transcript’ or the ‘Learner Record’, however is free and is downloadable as PDF file. Further, upon completion of a course, Alison will e-mail you  an 'evidence' (a personalized company letter) that may be attached in your resume as a record of such ‘accomplishment’ if you can't afford the Diploma/Certificate (haha!). 

If that does not motivate you, just imagine inserting “Diploma in Social Studies” in your Resume’s ‘Education’ part!

Another teacher's day

My student headed immediately to her seat with that stiff and noticeable heaviness. I gave her an 80 and I sensed that I have to do the ‘drill’ again. “Class..”, I waited for them to tone down, “…if you think that you deserved more than what I’ve given, please talk to me…”. This is just one of the ‘teacher’s drill’ that I try to avoid as much as possible; giving grades comes next to grading their papers. “If we have to adjust them because your scholarship depends on it…perhaps you can talk to me so we can come up with a way to adjust it…although, you have to invest extra hours on it”. I was consciously searching for a loophole in teaching ethics to justify what I just said, to no avail. “I’m so kind..”, I whispered to myself -  I wish that I was my instructor in college. I encountered heartless teachers; teachers who will fail you because you were unlucky enough to be 'targeted' in their 'dart-grading system', or because your haircut simply irritates them, and I came to the conclusion that indeed, I am still ‘nice’.

What happened with being contented with 75? I recalled that I even failed my Statistics subject, dropped two other subjects because the teachers are "mean" (plus my college-rock-and roll-habits and absences), and 80 is a depressing grade? Back in our days, we celebrate 75 like how we celebrate birthdays. So what is it today? I decided to finish giving the rest of my class their good/bad news before I resume my ‘lecture’.

“Grades are just numbers”, I continued, trying to recall random lines in drunken debates I had with college friends. “You know,  I can give you 98 or even 99, but can you justify it?” For three seconds, I let them absorb what I said. Their puzzled looks hinted me to continue, “Let us say you apply for work and they are impressed with your grades. They call you for an interview, a demo of some sort. Can you do it with the standards of a student who gets 99 as a grade? Most heads finally nodded to my relief; I don’t know if I can continue with the lecture anymore. It is time for another ‘life-story’ telling (which may be inspiring to some, and annoying to...many). I can show you my transcript tomorrow and you’ll laugh at it. It is not really a good sight to see…But, I am surprisingly here as your teacher…why? Not because of the grades, but experience, and not merely experience, but the skills you gain from it. Before we graduate, most of us are tutoring already. It means that when we graduate, may edge na kami. We get excited in job hunting and before we know it, madami na pala kaming napagdaanan. I realized that I am already 25 years old.

“Sino ba kasi mga working students dito? I’ll give plus…direct to the grade”. Their eyes finally gleamed and six proudly raised their hands. “I want certifications before I give it, and don’t ever think of faking one because I’ll call your boss.” Who am I to talk that way anyway? With all my past mistakes, I realized that it is all by duty as a mentor to encourage righteousness even if I am far from being righteous.

We have yet to dismiss our class after ten minutes but I decided to call it a day. I rushed to the faculty room avoiding eyes to hide my suspicious ‘early arrival’. I turned my laptop on, pulled my drawer and grabbed the thick yellow papers I failed to grade a week ago. Being a teacher really demands most hours of your life, especially the grading part. Two hours to prepare lessons, Five hours to draw X-marks and ‘check’ marks, another hour to advice students – I let out the usual sigh. Add your graduate school requirements and it usually and mysteriously forces one to go 'sleeping' or go 'facebooking' instead. I was heading out of the school when I realized that irony. "Kamusta ka naman buhay-teacher hehe" , I reflected as I walked away from the building.