 |
| Amazed. |
Alternate title: My
first semester as a part-time instructor in a college situated in a non-urban
environment
Also: How life has
been so far, for the first whole year (it’s not actually a year but I feel like
it has been) that I spent in a non-urban environment
I know I do this all the time. I come to you and delight in
you and then I leave you because I become too busy with my life. But remember
this, you’re always in my mind.
Chos. What a cheesy line to this blog –an allegory to
Writing and to the Lord who gave me Writing. Yeah. I’ve never written a single
thing since the last blog entry. There are always huge gaps in the timeline of
my entries. I know. Work is no excuse if I want to remain true to what I have
to do. Chos. Work is also not an excuse that I haven’t paused from the everyday
tasks that I do for even just a single moment to actually listen to God’s
voice. I haven’t read my Bible as regularly as I did before I got a job. Sorry, po.
And so here I am again, trying to redeem myself to Writing
and the Lord who gave me Writing. And like I always do, forgive me, but I shall
once again start with a summary of the things that has happened since the last
time I’ve actually paused and listened to my soul and the Lord having a meaningful
conversation.
Before everything else, let me say, “Thank you, gid, Lord,
for all these things you have let me experience.”
The Joy of Teaching
Non-English Subjects
 |
| Unpublished, un-posted poster for my Educ 202 Roleplay. Just wanna make it! LOL. |
Well, the months of my first semester of teaching zoomed
fast with the many lessons, activities and events filling my time. June, July and August were amazing as I think
I did my very best in teaching and enjoyed myself splendidly in discovering and
learning new things with my students. It is really refreshing because of the
eight teaching loads that was given to me, only one of them was English – Eng
102: Study and Thinking Skills. Three of them are Educ 202: Social Dimensions
of Education, two classes are Psy 101: General Psychology and another two are
HELE: Livelihood and Non-Formal Education.
I was like, “WT??” when I received my assignment sheet
containing all these SS and Educ subjects, but my Subject Chair (English) told
me, when I asked her if there was some sort of mistake, looking very confused
indeed, well, she told me that this is it for now because all the other English
subjects had been already distributed to other English teachers before we
part-timers were hired.
 |
| BEEd students from my Educ 202 class, during a Roleplay on Gender Development. |
So there, I had taught and greatly enjoyed teaching Social
Dimensions of Education which is a lot like Sociology, only applied in the
Educational sense. This subject, because it deals with people and how people
behave and interact with each other, I learned, has a better grip on the
students’ interest than my grammar lessons with previous classes before,
because of course, in this course the kids can actually relate to the lesson
simply by observing on what is going on around them. We’ve had many an
afternoon spent debating on whether girls achieve better grades than boys and
whether it is acceptable or not to have a child without marrying than actually
marrying and not being happy with your husband/wife. It’s amazing to discover
that many of my male students have conservative views about this particular
subject and that many female students are brazenly outspoken with their
liberalist views. I am most amazed at how one question can erupt into a frenzy
of sharp words exchanged among the my Education students. I only wish I have
done my best in shaping their thoughts, and hope that they can graduate and
become better teachers than I am.
 |
| Me and my BEEd 2-B students after their roleplay (final project). |
And I also enjoyed teaching Psychology where I taught the
freshmen about Lolo Freud and Tiyoy Carl Jung, which they also rather enjoyed
immensely. Favorite moments were when they learned, aghast, that swimming in a
pool or sharing a towel with their boyfriend, won’t actually put them in danger
of getting pregnant. Kids here are really far, far different from the kids in
the city when it comes to what they value the most. Most of the kids under me
come from families who can barely support their education and it’s kind of sad
sometimes to think that some of the sharpest minds in my class could actually
have gotten better opportunities in a better university, say, like the main
campus (not that I doubt the capabilities of my co-teachers, just that I know
we lack facilities and other learning tools that could have greatly helped both
teachers and students), or some other university or college. But, like me, we
all just strive to do the best with what we are currently given.
 |
| Fourth year students from my HELE class in their own roleplay. |
That’s just what I put
in mind. It’s not exactly contentment, nor resignation. With them, I also hope
to see a better future for education.
Many Firsts this Year
 |
| A view of the Philippine Carabao Center across the WVSU-CC ricefields. |
This year also saw many firsts for me. Maybe the most major
one is this is my first time to actually stay put in Lambunao for a long
time—I’ve been here since March of 2012 (sounds like so long ago, right?) and
well, my everyday routine of going to school commuting by bus, going home
commuting by bus, the sights and smells all around, being able to eat a good
meal every time—one that I didn’t buy from a fast food chain or one that didn’t
come out of a plastic bag from a carinderia, spending time with my little
nephews and nieces – being able to experience all these things tames me, softens my heart, makes my eyes see that
these things are actually the most important.
And also, there’s nothing quite the same as re-learning to
speak proper Kinaray-a. I am so proud of myself when friends from the city tell
me that my Kinaray-a has become crispier! J
I know, right? There’s nothing quite like it. I know I should at least write
something in Kinaray-a in this entry, or, okay, at least in this blog, but
speaking is quite different from writing. It’s actually one of my goals for the
next year—be very fluent in Kinaray-a to actually write a whole short story
using the language! As of now, it’s just one single poem. I know I shouldn’t
dwell in little victories while there is still a whole kingdom to conquer, but
I’m quite proud of this little poem (which I will post as a different entry).
One other first that I experienced within the last four
months is my first art exhibit! Can you believe it? My first art exhibit! It
was actually an invitation extended by Nong Don, an INHS friend, who got
invited by his artist friends to join this exhibit in UPV (Iloilo City) for the
National Children’s Month. So, I joined. Despite the many hindrances and other
conflicts that occurred at that time, almost prompting me to just ditch the
idea, I managed to submit a watercolor painting I made of Jesse Emmanuel a.k.a.
Panoynoy, one of my nephews. And so I was able to submit an artwork, and attend
my first ever opening and meet my favorite Ilonggo artists in the process! I
promise to post pictures of the exhibit as a different entry, promise.
Another thing is for the first time, I was able to organize
and coordinate my first seminar-workshop, not in anything related to the
English subject, not Creative Writing, not Journalism, nuh-uh, but guess which
subject? This seminar I organized was for the Social Science Department. Unlike
the art exhibit, this wasn’t met with any kind of resistance whatsoever,
however, the days prior to it were just so filled to the brim with lots and
lots of activities, exams, requirements and other personal distractions that I
if I didn’t get a lot of support from my colleagues, supervisors, my invited
speakers (Ma’am Van and Sir Donne!) and the students themselves, I’m sure I
wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.
Like the students, I’ve also learned a lot from this
seminar, such as the importance of time, of money, of valuing the needs of
everybody. I’ve also learned that if the river appears to be flowing smoothly,
and the winds feel like they’re going the correct direction, go ahead and set
sail. The Lord had His hand on this event, and it just needed unfolding by
human hands.
So, there. So far, so good. Thank you. This sem break, I
didn’t actually had real rest since I was still doing my grades, and financial
reports, and other requirements for clearance and for the accreditation, but
I’m happy in the belief that everything has a way of falling into place at the
right time. I know people might say that I’m not really where I should be, or I
can be somewhere better, but as of right now, like I mentioned somewhere above,
I’m doing the best out of what is given me right at this moment.
Placid, tranquil, quiet, still. This describes the place
(literally and figuratively) where I am now. And this is exactly where I want
to be. I’m through being angry and restless and depressed and uncomfortable
under my own skin. Right now, I’m happy letting things be.
Lots of Positivity at
Work (Around and Within Me)
One thing also of note that has been happening is how I felt
so much at ease in the university. I’ve never had so many concerned yet non-intrusive
colleagues. I’ve been dogged and nagged in about every school that I’ve ever
taught and this here has been much of a reprieve.
I love Calinognons! They don’t walk around with their
noses in the air as much as city people and my fellow Lambunaonons do. They just
are. They let things be while at the same time making sure to do what should be
done in the best possible way. My co-teachers and the rest of the staff that I’ve
gotten to know are just oozing with positivity.
Of course there is the usual shouting bout between some of
them, but the teachers here easily reconcile with each other and the gossip vines
have never really grown thick here as they have in say, Arts (INHS-SPA). As
long as you are efficient in what you are supposed to do –teach properly and
passionately, people here don’t really bother with other people’s private lives
or whatnot.
Aside from the positivity, kindness floods here like the
Ulian River almost overflowing during heavy rains. My co-teachers will go out
of their way to help somebody in need, may it be monetary or something trivial
such as lending people who’ve ruined their heels their own (this was Ma’am
Jean, our school director, lending me her spare heels when the straps of mine
quit on me one fine, normal, nothing-could-have-gone-wrong day).
Though there are I’m sure a few who are negative about
things and life in general, I don’t want to highlight them, as I’ve already
resigned myself not to have anything to do with negative things and people. I’ll
just awe them with my positivity that they’ll have no choice but to smile and
be cheery and look at the brighter side of things as I do! Chos. But really.
According to my Social Dimensions book, one goal of education, of the school, of
teachers, is to be “an agent of change.” So, that’s what I’ll do!
 |
| Me and the Ulian River. Again. |
Okay, this has turned out kind of lengthier than
anticipated, and also, I have to go somewhere, so until next entry!
No comments:
Post a Comment