Clandestine of a Professional

by: Jaycel Gesmundo

Someone told me her one of a kind secret. It’s very complicated, crucial, sensitive and essential. She told me this because she wants me to be one of the best professionals in the near future. She opened my eyes to see the tiny details that surround me, my mind to figure out what’s wrong inside the four walls of the room and my heart that will inspire and will touch the hearts of my future learners. She gave me this important ingredient in her classroom recipe. And guess what, she also told me to share this ingredient with you.

Teaching is not only about the transmission of knowledge, beliefs, and ideas to students. Teachers who do the talking, talking, and talking and students who listen, daydream and even slumber are not the trend anymore. Before telling you the secret, let me tour you to what school is really like based on what she told me.

To plan in our outing is like planning in curriculum. You should know the details of your destination and the route going there. Just like in school, she said that you should know first your students’ behaviour, capabilities, understanding and the like before entering the process.  You tend to plan days, a week or even a month before the trip. In school curriculum as what she said, teachers should have a daily or even a weekly lesson plan to be a guide in the teaching and learning process.  It is for you to not mislead to your destination.

Teachers are former drivers on our route. Before, they are the manipulators of the lesson. They are the one who lead. They are the crux of the process. But nowadays, teachers let their students into driver’s seat. They are now the operator of their own journey. They are the one who understood themselves. They could step on the break if they thought of being too fast. Step on the gas for being too slow.

          “Itapon ang idea sa mga bata at sila na ang bahalang mag-discover,” she said. Ever since she started in her profession, she used student-centered approach. The strategy she used adapts the levels of the students. She thought as if she’s in the student’s shoes. She always used collaborative strategy. But she make sure that every time she used this method, she disseminate the learners very well that every expertise of the students are distributed equally between groups. Aside from this methodology, she made used of inquiry-based method and peer-tutoring. In peer-tutoring, she preferred them to be partner with their close friend because she believed that, “ Ang magkaibigan ay hindi nag-iiwanan. Hindi sila nagdadamutan ng sagot sa isa’t isa.”

Every teacher has so many methods that can be used. She also did panel discussion, debate and interactive method. She also make used of discussion method for which she gave questions and students will give ideas and perceptions regarding the topic. She put in the picture that all answers should be accepted but not all the time that answers that they gave are right. It is on the premise that teachers has a tremendous value that they are in the classroom to correct the wrong beliefs of the students about certain matter.

Back to your journey, every trip has its ending. Whenever the outing finally comes to an end, the thing you did is that you evaluate your expedition. Did you feel satisfied on your trip? Did you enjoy on your journey? Did you wish to come back? All of these are answerable. Based on the curriculum, you also evaluate with varied methods that are also liable. She make used of written examinations and activities to assess the knowledge of the students. She also used oral method and she did it one-by-one with the student sitting beside her. She didn’t particularly used assignment as an assessment for which she believed that not all assignments are made by the student alone because most of the time, they are made by the parent or their siblings.

          Turning back to the year she handled me, I experienced all of what she told me. She didn’t delete the strategy she used before but she actually improved it for the future.

Did you know the role of the educator nowadays? Now, do you want to know the secret? It is the secret that even changing of curriculum or the change on the arrangement of the school happen, this one of a kind technique she used will remain unchanged.

 “Mahalin mo ang batang ibinibigay sa iyo nang walang limit, hindi napuputol at unlimited dapat ang pagmamahal. Walang mabaho, walang mabango, walang pangit, walang maganda, walang mayaman at walang mahirap at the same time, ituturing mo ang mga bata na walang favoritism. Having favoritism is the worst action in the profession. May maling ginawa, pagalitan mo. May tamang ginawa, purihin mo. Walang ginawa, tulungan mong gumawa,” she said. “You should love your student and teach your student to love you.” This word of wisdom she gave opened my inner self. This is one of the ingredients in her top secret recipe. This is the clandestine of a professional. And therefore she told me,

 “Teaching is sharing of God’s love.” –Mrs. Nemia Sales Lane