Articles/ Reflection

Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.

Untidier of Blanks (My Teacher, My Hero)

Once I stand amid a space which was totally engulfed by darkness. I wander round its dimensions to know if there was somebody around besides me. In every step I take I stretch my arms forward as if trying to search for something to grapple upon on the fear that I might bang against something undesirable. I don’t know where exactly in the space I am or whether the space has an end on itself. I am certainly going to nowhere. Certainly aimless. Certainly lost.

This is a scenario of my uncultivated, unlighted self. My whole system is totally clouded with darkness that even a single step I may take initially costs numerous doubts and fears. I totally know nothing. I even don’t know how is it to properly move so I may not loss my balance and eventually stumble down as I trudge. Awareness is absolutely nowhere. I am extremely a blank.

Blankness means a lot. It denotes illiteracy, uninformedness, and nescience. It implies uneducatedness, unawareness and ignorance. So much in the wide horizon does it signifies. These concepts might even vary from the simplest to the most complex, from the most literal to the most connotative, and from the most convergent to the most divergent. They may even bear on themselves further implied definitions with heavy implications.

Blankness should not then be an end on itself. Like a clean sheet of paper which little by little is untidied as the pen starts to realize its strokes, so an empty mind should be. In this case, a creation of skillful techniques and deeply- rooted wisdom is necessarily a requirement for a very great transformation to occur; so a blank may be untidied and hence enlightened.

As far as this youthful days of mine is concerned, only one masterpiece do I know who definitely had qualified. He is a teacher- the molder of the universe.

In mainstream living, he stands before 50- 80 blanks for eight hours and above a day. He dusts himself up with fine particles of chalks as he exalts life’s realities at the top of his lungs. He shares experiences that touch lives to the deepest sense. He skillfully embraces the varied onsets and offsets of his being a teacher. He affirms that he stands for a reason. And that is to untidy the blanks and enlighten the universe.

Endowed with heavenly abilities, he started to write at each blank stroke by stroke every day. As he writes, he signifies that each blank is different from the other and that nobody may lie necessarily similar with anybody. And so, he strategically employs his varied creative skills on writing to the unwritten minds which actually made his strokes more and more indelible. His writings on the real sense give meaning to a worthless paper. His teachings concretely shape the unformed. He changes fate.

He moves on each day giving better and better view of life. He made this while embedding time- treasured values in all his activities. He talks about courage, then honesty, then patience. He then would speak about trust, humility and love. He clears his vision from dark imaginings so he may share purely without prior uneasement, guilt and reservation. He lights the torch of wisdom and pulls the blank out of the insurmountable darkness.

Awareness. This is what he causes each blank. From being too narrow, he transforms a life to a vast horizon. From the quagmire of ignorance totally covered with fear and self- pity, he raises a creation to the heavens of purity and extreme glorification. He changes destiny.

He is a hero. His influence ranges from the peak of the mountains to the depth of the seas. His greatness soars to the highest sky. His power disrupts the unimaginable strength of benightedness. His illumination ruins fear and inferiority. He changes life.

He is a teacher, the molder of the universe. He builds a nation through building individuals. He enlightened the world through lighting each person’s torch. He makes the world joyful through giving joy to every heart that lives.

He is a teacher. A hero. An untidier of blanks.

-        Sarah Mae D. Consolacion

Teaching: The Noblest Profession

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.

A Teacher is considered to be the second parent of the child while in school. Parents trust their child to be in good hands with the care of their teacher.  And as a teacher they are expected to educate the child, to mold and develop his/ her potentials to become a good citizen and/ or be the next leader of a nation, to learn the value of respect and be respected.

A teacher refers to a person responsible in imparting lessons, guiding, instructing and training a person or group of students in a particular academic knowledge or skill. Being a teacher is a professional occupation usually employed in formal schools and institutions. Some colleges and universities require teachers who have professional qualification.

School teachers use lesson plans that they follow for a certain time frame, say a month or a whole year. These lesson plans must be in accordance with the school's standard curriculum. Teachers use this as a guide to make sure that the students are able to learn the subject matter in an organized manner.

There are different methodologies in teaching. As a procedure, teachers will decide their methods of teaching based on the level of understanding of their student, the school environment and the available resources in the school.

Aside from teaching students in classroom environments, these mentors have other duties associated with the activities in the school. They are responsible in assisting their students during field trip, outreach programs and other outdoor activities. Teachers are also tasked to organize and manage extracurricular activities such as sports fest, festivals, school programs and seminars. It also involves imposing disciplinary measures for students when it is called for. It is in line with the belief that misbehaviors should not be tolerated.

Public and private schools are committed in nurturing the skills and knowledge of their school teachers. Educational institutions provide continuous training and development programs for teachers. They undergo series of trainings in order to update their knowledge and become efficient in teaching their students. They are also updated on the latest methods of teaching, if ever. In addition, the government established several institutions to provide certification and enforce specific standards for professional teachers. This aims to protect the interest of students and parents.

Teaching is a difficult job. It requires utter dedication and selflessness to be able to impart your learning to the students. It not only deals with academic knowledge alone. Being very knowledgeable will not immediately qualify as a good teacher. What is more important is the attitude and the skill of being able to transfer the lessons effectively to the students. It is a gift.

We know that it is not  an easy task to handle so many students in one classroom, when we as parents sometimes lost our patience when our child become unruly or stubborn and very hard to discipline. There’s a saying “If you don’t love children you don’t belong in this job” because it will take a lot of understanding and tolerance to deal with children. Hence it is regarded as a noble and selfless profession.

It's not a profession alone, it's a vocation. It's not just a choice, it's a calling.

Scott Gil Clara

Reflection

Field Study is one of our tools in a pre- service as a teacher. It has many episodes to venture. These field study episodes are our guides on how we get closer to our destination; that is, to become an effective teacher.

The important aim of Field Study is to link theories with practices. It reminds us to make connections with what was taken up in our theory classes and what we observe in actual settings.

Observe. Analyze. Reflect. These 3 words is what we bear on our as we have our field observation.

Observation makes us more keenly aware of and sensitive to the students and the learning environment. With observation, we orchestrate plans that led us to create outputs uniquely of our own that recognize our problem solving skills and creativity.

Analyzing what we observed and done, trained us to become critical thinkers. Reflecting on our experiences makes us lifelong learners. They help us to become sensitive teachers who care with full tenderness to the needs of the learners. Further, we were transformed into good problem solvers beaming with creativity.          

FS sets a new direction in our education. It gave us opportunities on first- hand encounters in the world of teaching and learning as well as a wide array of activities and opportunities in the field that helps us actualize the theories into practices.

Our learning experiences cannot therefore be paid. The learning experiences embedded in every lesson created meaningful experiences that ensure us feelings of joy of teaching and learning.

Overall, the experience is a turning- point. It’s instrumental for us to take another step higher to grow and respond to whatever situation the profession would demand from us in a more serious manner. We thank God for making FS3 and FS4 a part of our journey in our education course. Really worth spending time with!