I wanted to be a sociologist. I wanted to be exposed and be immersed to communities with different ways and norms which is not part of the world I know. Yes, I never dreamed to be a teacher. An ELEMENTARY PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER?! NEVER!!!
I ate all those things when fate steered me to this profession.
At first, I found this profession as a salvation from a life without a certain direction. I've seen my board mate then, Thea Marie A. Busa, so busy with her projects (she was a BEED stude, then) and I thought, I wanted to do those things, too.(Copycat? Envy? Not really.) Realizing that A.B. Sociology was not my cup of tea, I decided to shift to that professional path in that same school. Yet, some problems came along (which would be a long story so don't ask me to talk about it now) so I had to volunteer to come back to Butuan to continue my studies. I enrolled in Bachelor of Elementary Education at Agusan Colleges, Inc. As I progressed from year to year, my heart burst open with the gladness I felt whenever most of my pupils understood the lessons I gave them. I feel elated whenever children come to me and ask me questions (related or not related to the subject or topic I am teaching). The once shy and timid, errrr...., not that talkative person that was me has now the ability to talk nonstop every time I conduct my classes. I love sharing the knowledge and ideas to my pupils and getting information from them. That made me decide, I AM GOING TO BE A TEACHER.
Teaching for me is not just a career or a profession; it is public service. This is the kind of service where you will not reap the results instantly but wait until one of your students become the President of the Philippines or wave at you and let you ride in their Sportivo and get that satisfied feeling that you have contributed to the success of that child. It is not about accomplishing all the topics written on the syllabus given to you but being able to instill in the minds of the younger generation the things they need and want to know. Of course, you have to let them absorb all the lessons you taught them or it would all be worthless. It is not about just talking; it is about listening. Why? Because Teaching is Learning.
As a teacher, it is not easy to teach these young minds new things especially that their brains are busy entertaining their own world of ideas and imagination. How to captivate them into listening and participating in the class? Nobody really knows how to captivate them but I discovered just this June that letting them watch a movie which caters to their interests and views as a child and not just the movies given to schools by the government touches their listening and taliking skills, whichever they are most inclined to. It tickles their emotions and imagination. It's like giving them a new flavor to the delicacy they were always served. I made them watch RPG Metanoia (please search for it) which is a cartoon made by Filipinos using the Filipino language (yes, I teach Filipino subject). After two days of movie viewing,many skills were tested. The children were able to determine the important events in the story, sequence the important events, give comments on the events and on the characters, express the idea on how they want the story to end or what will happen next after watching the first half of the story, make an outline of the story and finally, make a summary of the story using the outline that we drafted together. There may be other skills to discover but admit it, for now it is much. Of course, not all the pupils are good at speaking and writing skills so it's good if you group them together in three's at least.
I stoop low as a teacher, well, I mean I bend down to the level of thinking of my pupils. If they are a herd of eleven year olds, I try to use my imagination the way they do. That's why I try to study what are the "ins" for the certain age group I am teaching. I try to learn computer game terms if most of my pupils are gamers, I watch teledramas if my female pupils are fans of it so we can talk about it in class and use it for some lessons. I share my comic books to those few who love my "best buds." But all these are in exchange for them to watch or listen to the local and national news then share them to the class the following day. I like them to remember me as someone who they learned something from, nothing else. I don't think being remembered as strict or kind or beautiful doesn't add up to the work a teacher does. It's indescribable, being a teacher.
I remember that long time ago, the teaching profession was the only path some parents push their child to if he or she is not intelligent enough to become a doctor or engineer not realizing that the child they placed in that profession are the ones who educates the future professionals. It's hard yes, but being a teacher is as important as eating. The future leaders, doctors, engineers, craftsmen, laborers, janitors and such, lies in our hands. If they become corrupt leaders, become thieves or beggars is part of our responsibility.
One teacher I remember most is my grade one teacher, Mrs. Daylinda Reveche. She was the one who taught me how to write and read. I noticed that she wont let my classmates who can't read until past 5 pm if they can't identify and understand that single word she is teaching them. And she does it everyday until all of us was able to read. She was the only one I listen to. I would not listen to anybody else, even my mother! I listen just to her. Unfortunately, she passed away. Even if we haven't seen each other for so long, I cried hard when I visited her wake. She was such a great teacher and I learned a lot of things from her.
I don't know if I left an impression to my pupils as a teacher like Mrs. Reveche left to me. Let's wait until one of the first pupils I had taught have their own say. 'Cause you see, I never wanted to be a teacher.....but I LOVE it.
