The musings of a wandergeselle about faith, literature, music, dancing, culture, food, travels, art, fashion, photography, life experiences, and everything in-between from journée to journée.
Isa rin sa mga pinagpe-pray ko na gusto kong gawin aside sa hospice project sa farm ay maging isang volunteer teacher kapag retired na (kung will ni God umabot until this age). Andami mong gustong gawin, Tin. Kaya ka nagkakasakit e. 😁
My eldest sister also plans on setting up a foundation or school inside the farm later on since marami ang professional teachers sa family although I did not pursue a career in teaching because writing is my first love. ♥️
Oathtaking of Secondary Education Professional Teachers
It looks like naaayon naman sya sa possible na maging growth trajectory ng bukid namin later on as one of the town’s “agrihoods.” I encountered the term “agrihood” just last week and I shared it to my siblings and told them na ang mga future plans namin para sa bukid ay so far on track naman sa mga developments and environmental changes within the local community. I am also praying we will be able to collaborate with my Aunt and her family who own the farm next to us for future projects para mas diverse ang ma-cater na market and communities. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write an article about agrihoods once I gathered enough data.
I can’t share the business plan I made here though due to privacy concerns. Unless I want my siblings to obliterate me from this planet. lol But, I am grateful that when I first proposed the business plan to them a few years back (mga 100 slides lang naman sa PPT 😅), they all agreed to the mission and the vision, which is all that matters to me.
We all know that plans change depending on God’s will kaya ang mga minutest details, most likely magbabago at magbabago. In everything, let God’s will be done always. For now, I’ll be sharing volunteering opportunities lang muna dahil isa ito sa mga hilig kong gawin bilang isang advocate who supports different causes. 🙏
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…” – Colossians 3:23
Para sa mga nagnanais na maging isang Gurong Pahinungod, kindly refer to this poster shared by the UP System Ugnayan ng Pahinungod and the UP Office of Alumni Relations.
“MAGTURO. MAGLINGKOD. MAGING GURONG PAHINUNGÓD!
Open to UP alumni and graduating students (this second semester) of any course from any UP constituent unit!
Teaching experience is NOT required — as long as you have the heart for service, you can be a Gurong Pahinungód (GP)!
The GP program is a program of the UP Ugnayan ng Pahinungód, the volunteer service arm of the University of the Philippines. We deploy UP graduates to underserved and marginalized communities as volunteer teachers. Learn more about the program at bit.ly/aboutgurongpahinungod
Register at bit.ly/becomeaUPGP to receive the Zoom link for the orientation. Check the photo for the orientation schedule.”
Source: UP System Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Facebook Page
Circa 2020: Flexing the UP face mask, an initiative of a UP alumnus to support the UP Diliman campus jeepney drivers during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. ✊
And so I’m back. ☺ Hi there beloved reader of this post!
As promised, my next article will be about my “remote working feels.” God gave me the grace to have just a few hours to squeeze this in.
To those who will be reading this for the first time, this is a “sequel article” to my previous articles about remote working, freelancing, telecommuting, and the likes. It was a total career shift for me from the field of education to my first love which is writing. If you will ask me why the shift from being a teacher to a writer, let’s just say classroom management is my waterloo. But I do love teaching. Yet, I love writing more. It was actually one of my prayers to God to give me a career opportunity where I can pursue both my passion for teaching and writing.
The answer?GOD MADE IT POSSIBLE. (Yay!)
How did it happen? I’ll explain later. 😀
This will be my first-hand experience on remote working and if you are already a remote worker like me, maybe you can relate. But if you’re still considering the option to work remotely, this might give you a heads up.
When I wake up, I do my devo first, do household chores, take a bath, then have my breakfast. I sometimes start working on my articles while eating breakfast. Or sometimes, I don’t eat breakfast and start working right away.
2. Weigh your tasks.
This will mean prioritizing what you are going to do for the day. If I need to do errands on that day, for example, I have to assess if that errand will consume more time. If yes, I would need to finish my pending articles first. But if the errand has a time deadline too i.e. banks, bills payments, etc., then I would prepare everything I needed for the article the night before so I wouldn’t have to cram in finishing it the next day.
3. Create a deadline for yourself.
This is, by far, the most difficult. Because if there’s one challenge that any remote worker faces every day, it would be this – procrastination. So yes, beat yourself to that deadline and practice discipline at all times. Even if that bed looks so comfy and the weather is all gloomy and pretty much a bed weather, never forsake work over comfort. 😉
4. Check your productivity.
This will make it possible for you to keep track of your work’s progress. Always make sure you’re getting towards your goals and not falling behind.
5. Always look for online crash courses which could help you advance your skills in your area of expertise.
Ah yes, this, I totally love. And I just discovered this with LinkedIn. Yup! They offer a “free” trial period of their online courses and I haven’t used mine yet. 😀 Let’s just say I am still waiting for that right online course.
6. Continue to challenge yourself to do not just the given tasks but be proactive in what else can you do to help in the betterment of your team’s performance.
Let’s admit it. Your team leader and the rest of your teammates are balancing priorities left and right too. So, it’s not just about getting things done but making sure you are also contributing to your team’s progress.
#1 and #2 are interchangeable depending upon your current needs. For example, in my case, I am currently juggling two jobs as a remote worker. Yes, the answer to my prayers. ☺
But before I get on with the how, the when, and the what, I just want to mention that before I finally got what I prayed for, it required me to seek first and foremost God’s wisdom over my plans. Honestly, I went through several job rejections too. I had a hard time balancing my priorities. I also had to give up my master’s degree. And a whole lot more of struggles left and right.
There were also things which I insisted I will do and I so wanted to have for as long as I put my 100% effort and will-power and yet, God closed those doors a thousand times too. So I finally got it that that door is not the one that God intended for me no matter how much effort and sacrifices I make just to have it. This verse reminded me of that:
“Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” – Proverbs 3:6
So I came to those moments of placidity – a moment of idleness. Those moments where I had my “serious” heart-to-heart talk with my Father.
“What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go?”
Answers did not come as fast as I’d expected. The enemy played a part in it too by deceiving and tempting me with other opportunities. Sometimes the temptation comes in the form of my own motives.
But it’s a good thing the Scripture is around and the Spirit is greater than he who is in this world. So, God won, of course. 😉
I waited patiently. Always keep in mind that when you seek God’s will in your life, it requires patience. Why patience? Because patience is required for you to have faith. And faith is believing in the things that you do not see. If you aren’t “seeing” any outcome and you don’t have patience, your prayers, sad to say, are useless. Because most likely, you’ll easily give up and move on to your next prayer request.
As they say, believe in the power of your prayers, seek for God’s wisdom and His will over your plans, and lastly, be patient. This, I guess, is the formula in making sure in everything you do, you are assured that you are honoring God with everything.
So let’s now proceed to the job opportunities and I will lay them down one by one according to how each one has played a role in my decision-making.
First, I have a high tolerance for traffic congestion, long lines in the jeepney and taxi stands or walking far just to get to work and to get home. For me, they all require will power. As they say, “if there’s a will, then, there’s a way.” Unfortunately, my body can’t keep up. 😦
The first time I tried going back to the corporate world, my first week at work welcomed me with a cough and flu which went on for about several weeks and I had to take antibiotics for a week because it became severe and it just won’t go away. Another thing, I am a possible candidate for breast cancer. Yup, you can read more about that here in this link: https://thejourneymansmoments.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/the-borrowed-life/.
Last Friday, my husband and I went to this mall in Makati’s business district to buy birthday gifts. When we were about to go home, heavy rains poured, and as expected, the traffic jam was a killer. It was also around rush hour so our usual 15-minute travel coming home was extended to an hour and a half. Pretty saddening, right? Oh, and so exhausting too. While inside the jeepney, I was staring at all the corporate employees and all their haggard, tired, and sullen faces and I was praying silently to God for more options to us working and commuting people.
Better options.
I cannot speak for all as we all have our own reasons why we work, why we chose that kind of work as well as our goals and dreams. We’re all different but for me, my decision to be a writer and work remotely certainly falls for only one reason: health.
I am not really the pro-promotion kind of employee as I am aware that promotions are most often equated to heavier responsibilities which require more of your time and more of your effort. It requires you make your career as your #1 priority. However, there are those who were really called to be in higher positions at work. But personally, I do not see myself as one of them. It is not even my main reason why I pursued a master’s degree.
My goal as to why I work is to earn money to provide for our needs and to use the extra money to help those in need also. Now, the latter is part of the reason why I can say that one of my jobs right now answers this. I am a content writer for the Emerging Business team of an e-commerce company. I have never thought about writing business articles or anything related to business.
But I am very eager to learn some business concepts even before I started this job. I have this feeling God is leading me towards this field from opportunities to interests. I cannot see clearly now what His plans are for me in this area, and yet I trust Him that I am right where He wanted me to be. 🙂
I have one guess why it has to be in the field of business. When we say “business,” oftentimes it has something to do with money. Yes, money is the root of all evil, as they say. And yet, it will only be regarded as such if you have the wrong reasons for having it. But if you are using the money to honor, glorify, and expand God’s kingdom, then money, in that sense, cannot be regarded as something evil.
I want to sponsor one or even more scholars in the Real Life Foundation in our church; I want to help send missionaries all over the world; I want to take part in every community outreach/medical mission event; I want to put up my own SpEd school which will cater the needs of Special Education students here in the Philippines; I want to put up a foundation for all the children with special needs who cannot afford to have the therapies; and a whole lot more of other advocacy.
I cannot do all those if I lack in finances. Volunteering, for me, can only do so much. I want to help in a way that I can see these people slowly reach their dreams and see them aim towards better opportunities in life.
The recent killings of juvenile delinquents here in the Philippines are very alarming. If only the spiritual family can reach out to them before another young life becomes a collateral damage again, the better opportunities for these kids to have another chance in life. Poverty is not reason enough why these kids should resort to crime, robbery, and drugs and vice versa. Poverty has an end. Education can be a tool for that – financial education, family planning education, livelihood education, and regular schooling. Faith makes it all happen.
If money is the problem, there are foundations willing to provide scholarships to students as long as students meet a certain criteria and fulfill a set of obligations. Just to mention a few, we have in church the Real Life Foundation. World Vision and Operation Blessing also provide that. These kids don’t actually need a one-time volunteering outreach event. What they need is serious mentoring making sure they’ve been given the right opportunities towards a better life through empowerment.
I am never a fan of spoon-feeding when it comes to succeeding in life in general. Just the way my parents have taught me, it is all about personal effort which consists of persistence, patience, and resilience. And yet faith has taught me too that it is only God who provides EVERYTHING we need and to trust in God alone.
So this, I am guessing, is one of the reasons why I am learning a lot from all my research in business, finances, and entrepreneurship. As much as I hate money when it becomes the root of all evil, I also know I needed it that much to help others. I did tell my husband a few months back that I wanted to take up a business management course. He told me that we are not financially capable for that. So he asked me why. I told him that one day I might have to take over our family business in Bicol along with my other siblings.
My guess again is that this job sort of hit two birds with one stone: I get to do what I love and I get to learn all about business and finances for free from all my research.
So I did mention that I love teaching. I love literature. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in this field and I have the passion to share knowledge or pass it on to anyone who is willing to learn. The next job opportunity came in the form of an English content specialist for an e-learning platform. This job is project-based and it gives me the opportunity to impart what I learned from the academe to the younger generations and help them achieve their goals as a student through additional learning supplements in the form of lesson plans. Teachers also get to benefit from these lesson plans (calling fellow teachers out there to check it out). 🙂
Now isn’t God amazing? All it took was persistence in prayers, more personal time with Him, more immersion in the Scripture, and complete trust in His leading alongside disappointments, failures, and sacrifices.
As this verse goes on to say:
“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.” – Proverbs 16:3
Those were the good opportunities. The not-so-good ones came, for example, in the form of a teaching opportunity abroad. I am not saying that working abroad is a bad opportunity. But let’s just say that it isn’t for everyone. I, for one, can’t see myself working abroad if my husband will be left here all alone. I will be going against my marriage oath and commitment to God to be with my spouse AT ALL TIMES. The compensation is far greater than what I’d be earning here but I am also thinking about the collateral damages and the consequences.
This now brings us to priorities. As a wife, the mandate from God when it comes to priorities is God first, second is the spouse, third is family, fourth is the career, and last is the ministry. One of my prayers to God during the whole decision-making process is to help me align my priorities right and balance everything making sure each priority is getting its intended attention, time, and effort. The article below is a favorite of mine as it shares how women can both be successful in their careers and their family lives.
That is now my current prayer – to be able to balance all my priorities well as a wife, as a content writer, as a content specialist, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a sister-in-Christ, including weighing of tasks and managing of time. I know God has brought me in this certain season for a purpose which includes serving Him and others and though I may have a few doubts and worries, He will lead the way for sure. 🙂
As God has promised:
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
And as my life verse says:
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4: 13
P.S.
My special thanks to my family for all the support and to my sisters in Christ for all the prayers. ❤
I am down with my usual migraine attack (on its 5th day now), but this time accompanied by a high fever and eczema too. Whew! It’s kind of difficult to manage everything when every illness you have bolted in altogether. Though I took medicines yesterday, my husband (a nurse) and the doctor at the university infirmary advised me to take 3-5 days of bed rest for my follow-up check-up on Monday, and limit physical activity. While in bed, I thought about writing something.
Speaking of my husband, though, I appreciate him for his nonchalance. That is one thing I wanted to learn from him – how to maintain a worry-free attitude despite the disarray or when things have gone awry. I am, on the other hand, the exact opposite – I worry about everything! 😀 But through time, I have learned to control my worries, and I’ll share how in the succeeding paragraphs.
Dealing With Life’s Atrocities
I know there came in your life wherein you have never felt good enough – as a spouse, as a child, as a parent, as a student, as an employee, as a friend, as a relative, and ultimately as a person.
As a Christian teacher, I have learned that it is even more important to speak life than to criticize students. We might never know; we are already crushing the dreams of a young spirit because of the negativity. Though trials produce resiliency, positive reinforcement is still best. The world is already complicated enough, mainly because we, humans, made it that way.
Every person is different. It’s the same as how every seed grows to be a different plant. Every plant has its own tender and loving care requirements. Yet all plants need sunshine; they all need light.
The Breaking And The Making
When I was a grade school student, I had my first taste of disappointment when I didn’t win as president of the student council, and I was reprimanded during the campaign period along with the rest of my running mates. The offense? We were late in Math class for just a few minutes, and we weren’t allowed to enter the classroom. I took it as my responsibility to take the blame, being the running President, and seeing your peers crying out of shame was enough to break your heart to pieces.
When I was in high school, I had another major disappointment when I only graduated as “special mention” in class after consistently being on the top 3 honors list from 1st year until 3rd year, but failed to meet the criteria for the extracurricular activities, which comprised a huge percentage of the final grades. One of my high school best friends suffered the same fate. We were advised by our parents to never receive the award during the graduation ceremony, though our names were called because they said that we do not deserve it, but we were present during said ceremony.
When I was in college, I wasn’t able to finish my thesis on time because the adviser from our concentration was on sabbatical leave. We were assigned instead to another adviser from another concentration. After submitting my first draft, I got it back only to see red marks written everywhere, and the one thing that was retained in me was this comment: “How did you reach this far if you don’t know how to make a research paper? This is not the work of a UP student!”
I thought, maybe I should also ask my former professors why they passed me in all my other subjects if I am undeserving to be in UP. 😀 Little did I know that there were several of us who got the same remarks. Yep, in our university, you’ll encounter all sorts of professors, but when it comes to critical feedback, I understood it all as part of doing their jobs as teachers.
Then I worked, a dream job it was. But disappointment once again came. The mission and vision of the workplace weren’t met because one of the figures of authority behaved otherwise. I was the recipient of that very unprofessional behavior, and many have seen it. It happened a couple of times, too. I stayed and chose to keep quiet. But after praying about it, I had to let the job go.
God’s Path Towards Salvation
So these were all hang-ups of the past, which I am sure most of us have experienced one way or the other. Others may have gone through even worse than all these, and if given the chance, they are very much entitled to unleash their grievances as much as they want. But unfortunately, as much as we would like to shake them off, they are already embedded in who we are.
All those years, I have struggled with the need to impress, to seriously meet expectations, to be perfect, to excel always, and to prove myself to people. I suffered from anger and resentment boiling in me, and the need to take revenge and retaliate was so strong. I blamed life for bringing me people who did nothing but criticize me for my weaknesses, and only that, and went beyond in criticizing who I am personally, without even the slightest hint of who I really am and what I can do. This resentment and anger included some issues in other areas of my life, too, which I will not share due to their sensitivity. I really thought I was the unluckiest person alive back then.
For 27 years, I have battled with insecurity, the by-product of low self-esteem, poor self-image, and self-worth – the mentality that “I am never good enough.” Failures, wrong decisions, and disappointments became the stronghold that corrupted my entire being until it led me to a major depression – the breaking point, as they say.
Depression robs you of the beauty of life. It makes life look bleak, bland, and distorted. It affects your every decision, and it just kills life itself. Before I was born again in 2013, I committed suicide twice – both were failed attempts.
No, I do not easily give up. I did arrive at that breaking point on the verge of quitting everything, but I still fought hard against it.
I had two options: let the darkness corrupt me and become those people who plagued others or themselves with it OR choose to search for the light, the hope.
Knowing The Savior
The opportunity came for the latter – I was given HOPE.
The greatest moment of my life was when I was born again through my faith. Why? It’s because when I found out who I was in Christ, that was the greatest and the best thing that I have heard about myself for 27 years.
It was on that day when I surrendered myself to Christ that ALL chains got loose – I was set FREE.
The moment has already come for me to look at things from a very different perspective – a total paradigm shift. It wasn’t everything I hoped for, BUT it’s exactly what I NEEDED which no one else could give me except God.
This HOPE taught me even more than what I have learned in the academe or even from life itself. It taught me how to patiently wait for the right opportunities and how to patiently endure every setback. It taught me that there is a time for everything. It taught me to decline job offers and business opportunities that could’ve made me rich in wealth and possessions. It taught me to pass up on chances of earning titles that would’ve given me some sort of self-entitlement and self-fulfillment. It taught me to weigh options, sacrifice if I must. All of these, if they will, in the end, forfeit my soul.
It taught me to choose God’s will over mine. It taught me to rely on God’s plans rather than rely on my own understanding of the circumstances around me. It taught me to relinquish control and allow God to take over. It taught me that GRACE is a gift freely given, even if undeserving. It taught me how to love others even when they do not deserve it. It taught me to find joy, peace, and contentment even when darkness, chaos, and bitterness are all around. It taught me how to let go of the past and forgive.
It taught me what true humility is all about. It taught me to be grateful always. It taught me that simplicity matters most in life. It taught me to look outwardly and consider what others are going through as well. It taught me that if there is a void that the atrocities of life have caused in me, either by wrong choices or by fate, no one and nothing else can fill it up except God.
I found this hope in Christ alone, and I find strength in the Word every day, which is my guide in this life – not any textbook, novel, or company brochure.
“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” – Hebrews 11:1
Faith Anchored To Our Souls
Faith did not make my life free from criticism, condemnation, trials, and suffering. Yet it gave me a way to view life beyond that – salvation in eternity.
I still find myself in situations I have stated in the first part of this article. But this time, I have learned to see these instances from a different standpoint. I have learned to understand first where some people are coming from and why they are that way. I have learned to understand that maybe they are still in the darkness, too, driven perhaps by the need to compete, to be the best, and to meet expectations, dealing with their own insecurities and personal struggles, too. Or they have this false motive to instill in those who are next in line exactly what they went through, because in this “dog-eat-dog” world, repaying evil with evil is normal. Only God knows everything. What I observed, though, is that when people prick each other to bleed, it’s better to choose to be the rose among the thorns – the salt and light. 🙂
There are times the past comes all rushing back; it haunts. Another disappointment will ruffle your feathers. The need to lash out and punish calls. But I choose LIFE. I will speak LIFE.
Because Christ has given me LIFE. He, alone, gave me LIGHT. It is my duty as His follower to use that light so others can walk in and with Him, too, despite the darkness around them.
Ah, yes. Them.
One day, they will be brought out in the light, too. They will break standards, cultural traditions, and not conform to this world wherever they may be and whatever they may be doing. They will choose to fight for faith and spread light when hope seems dim. That was the reason I was smiling because I was praying for them silently, and I am claiming it all in the Mighty Name of Jesus, who made it possible for me, too. 🙂
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
P.S.
It’s been 3 years now since I got saved, and when things don’t go the way I’ve expected them to be, I have this bookmark to remind me of who I am. I thank the sister in Christ who gave this when she facilitated a talk during my baptism of the Holy Spirit. I have carried it with me since then. The last verse listed is my life verse. 🙂
What matters is who I am in Christ. 🙂
Oh, and yes, one new thing I have learned too from our couples’ bible study Vgroup 2 Sundays ago (thanks Tito Tony and Tita Len for the wisdom) – the boiling water concept. If you put eggs in boiling water, they become hard. But if you put the potato in it, it becomes soft. I choose to be a potato – a couch potato. Kidding. *wink*
Seriously, it only means that when life and circumstances knock you down, don’t bear any grudge and don’t be hard on yourself and on others. Instead, let it soften you, let it refine you, and let it make you better. Be a better potato, I mean, a better man/woman. 😉
Last but not least, reach out to God, and then God will send His people (spiritual family) to help usher you out of the ordeal. I am praying for your struggles, too, my dear reader and brother/sister in Christ. If you also need to share a tough ordeal and are in need of a prayer intercession, you may always pop me an email. ❤
I am a teacher and yet I am also a student. That is, a student of life – I learn from life experiences. Technically though, I am a student.
I was advised to take a penalty course alongside my thesis for overstaying in the university where I am taking my graduate study. We have the privilege to choose which subject are we going to take and I opted Art Education being a lover of arts in all medium – visual, dance, language, music, etc.
We haven’t met our professor yet but when I saw our course syllabus, I smiled and thought, “I like this professor.” Not that there are professors that I don’t like because honestly, I loved them all even though back in college I had harsh experiences with some of them. I love them for the sake that without them I won’t be where I am now and I won’t be who I am now. I appreciate what they teach may it be in a terrifying or encouraging manner. It doesn’t make any difference at all anyhow – the important thing is I have learned. But if I am to choose though, I’d still want to be a teacher who uses positive reinforcement. 🙂
Going back to Art Education, you might have wondered what made me assume that I am going to like my professor. It is because of this, the one which I encircled in red. It may sound simple enough but we share the same advocacy:
Amazing our God, isn’t He? He not only gave me the course I wanted, but even more than that. It is always hitting two birds with one stone when God does His ways. I can only hope and pray though that more educators will become like my professor – teaching how to set the limit and the balance in preserving and conserving the natural in the midst of the ever developing modernity through man-made technologies.
I saw myself in my professor. I was given the opportunity 3 years back to teach Grade 3 and 4 pupils in a private school as their sub teacher in English. I have always loved reading and writing even when I was a kid. Why reading? It enhances critical thinking skills and improves vocabulary, creativity, and imagination. Why writing? This is the avenue to use the vocabulary learned while reading so it would be stored up in the memory bank.
I wanted to gauge the students’ English vocabulary so I gave them an activity which will test their visual learning and writing abilities. In a sheet of bond paper, I printed various photos of different kinds. I asked them to write their answers at the back of the bond paper to encourage recycling. They are to write a paragraph of at least 5 sentences wherein they will make a story out of all the photos coming up with one coherent essay. In short, they have to connect each photo with the other to come up with a story line.
I advised that the mode of writing is freestyle meaning they do not have to follow any criteria other than what I have instructed above. I personally love learning outside the box so I am in favor of social and experiential learning wherein learning is not just limited inside the classroom nor textbooks. I tend to miss out a lot of details in the instructions when I was a student so I know how it feels for a student to strictly adhere to teacher’s instructions and guidelines. *wink*
When it was time for the worksheets to be submitted, I couldn’t contain my excitement to read all their works. I was expecting I’d be seeing really fascinating stories knowing that children of today’s generation are more cognitively advanced than the generation my age. My expectations were all met – I found myself laughing out loud with all their brilliant ideas. That is, when you let kids be kids. *smiles*
Most of the kids had fun doing the activity even for those who were kinesthetic learners and opted to add more to the illustrations in relaying their stories or those who preferred to share them verbally just because they learn best when there is physical activity or movement. Now for this latter, this is a challenge since in teaching, there is no “one size fits all” medium of instruction. Lesson plans and activities have to be prepared and presented in a manner that will meet the needs of most students regardless how diversified they may be and depending upon their learning styles. Not to mention the values and discipline that they have to acquire in class.
This may sound too challenging to a teacher and even more challenging if you are to teach in a public school (my next article). BUT if the passion for teaching is there, the greatest reward is nothing more and nothing else but to impart knowledge. 🙂
P.S.
Sharing some of my former Grade 3 students’ works:
This is the printed photos of the activity.
The output of my student who learns best kinesthetically.
His ideas are well-presented…BUT he couldn’t finish 5 sentences. 🙂
First and foremost, I’d like to give God the honor and glory for this wonderful blessing that He has bestowed upon me – the opportunity to be a teacher. 🙂
I took the licensure examination last March and I wasn’t expecting I’d pass it. I was assigned to take the exam for the Secondary Level because of my undergraduate course which is Literature and I am not yet done with my master’s degree in Special Education. During the Licensure Exam For Teachers, the specialization part of the exam for the Secondary Level takers was difficult. I had a little distraction too as the day before I took the exam, husband and I had a little argument. Not to mention I started reviewing just a week before the said exam as I have a short span when it comes to memory retention. But despite all that accompanied by heartfelt prayers and quiet time conversations with God, He remained faithful – I still passed the exam.
To God Be The Glory: March 2016 LET
This has made me believe in this – I was indeed called by God to be a teacher. Our family was called to be a family of teachers, from grandparents to aunts and uncles, to parents and siblings.
Yup, I am not the only teacher in the family. I have to thank them too for all the love and support they have given to me in all my endeavors and in my plight to becoming an educator. 🙂
When people finds out that you are a teacher, the first thing they say is that you are brimming with patience. As much as it is true, what people really don’t know are the obligations that a teacher truly have in performing her role in society.
I’d like to share the Preamble from the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers to highlight said role:
“Teachers are duly licensed professionals who possesses dignity and reputation with high moral values as well as technical and professional competence in the practice of their noble profession. They strictly adhere to, observe, and practice this set of ethical and moral principles, standards, and values.”
The teacher not only teaches but she is also a catalyst of social change. She instructs and yet she disciplines, she adheres and yet she rebukes. Those are her roles in society – far bigger than what we all commonly imagine. As some would say, teachers are the ones responsible for honing the future engineers, architects, doctors, nurses, lawyers and basically every other profession in our society. In other words, the teacher performs quite a huge part in the raising of responsible citizens of the society.
This is a very big responsibility on the part of a teacher for it means that everything she says and does should match what her profession has called her to do. They should include at all times everything that was discussed in the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers. But greater than that is the set of moral values and principles that she upholds to for these are the moral values and principles that she will be imparting to her students. These set of standards will now become the students’ guide in following who to imitate when they enter adulthood.
Yes, the teacher is the second “Mom.” The things that are being taught at home are also reinforced in school. It comes with great responsibility to be the “mother” of many children and raise them as individuals who will serve the country and their countrymen with the right and proper moral values and principles.
If you are to ask me why they are important, it is actually these values and moral principles that define who we are rather than what family we came from, what school we graduated from, where we work/worked, what are our titles, what place did we come from or what organizations are we affiliated with. The kind of values system that we have basically affects every decision that we make in life for they are the ones that govern the heart and the mind. Whatever governs the mind and the heart will govern our words, our thoughts and our actions a.k.a. how we speak, how we do things, how we react, how we feel, etc.
If you are a teacher like me, this will sound too challenging. A student can graduate at his worst or at his best depending on how the teacher has honed him/her inside the classroom through what she teaches may it be in academics or moral standards. So if one will ask, where can a teacher find the best guide in achieving such high standards of morality?
The simple answer is this: the BIBLE.
No other scripture or written literature can ever contain what the bible contains. What the bible contains are all instructions on living a life with high moral standards because we have a God who has HIGH standards.
I was called by God to be a teacher not just to teach students about English, Science or any other academic subjects but more importantly, to teach them the necessary moral principles that they need in life here in this world and life in eternity.
Some may have questioned why I need to disclose such sensitive matters on Facebook and my reason was this in light of the Scripture:
“Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.” – 1 Timothy 5:20
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17
I have made a covenant that if I am to discipline a student or rebuke someone, it will and it should always be in light of the Scripture. I believe the bible holds much authority than I do and will demand much respect from those who will hear or read it for it is God’s word in written form.
There are so many issues that have been plaguing the society, marriages, personal struggles and families for ages and yet in our society, it is such a taboo to talk about these sensitive issues thus resulting to ignorance and mistakes being committed repeatedly. Name all kinds of issue that this world is suffering from, the bible has something to say about it. More often, what the bible says are all for the good of mankind. It is just that there have been only quite a few teachers who were bold and courageous enough to address these issues by sharing the Scripture pertaining to these specific issues.
They say, “History repeats itself.” Indeed, it is true. What the bible contains are all historical events mainly for the purpose of guiding and teaching us as we will most probably go through the same experiences.
I want to save families from breaking apart, save children growing in hostile environments, and save future generations from committing the same mistakes as their ancestors did only because we did not do our part in rebuking and sharing what should be the right things to do according to the Scripture.
All we need are teachers who will be bold in sharing the Truth and courageous enough to go against what the society calls as taboo or shameful to talk about. Maybe it is time that we, as believers and born-again Christians, shed light upon matters and issues that have been plaguing relationships, marriages and families for decades already.
Wouldn’t this world be a better place for our children to live in when we are assured they’ve been taught how to live righteously so they can benefit from this righteous living and that they will be saved from the perils that their ancestors have went through?
All these can be done with just a simple task of teaching and rebuking when God calls for it. God is calling for us to protect our marriages now, our children’s future families and the families and children of other people as well through the best teaching material which is the bible. He is calling us to LIVE in the BIBLE, teach it to our children and then share it to others so they will be enlightened too.
My challenge? Do not be ashamed of sharing and teaching the Gospel for in it is where all the solutions lies to all our problems. It has been blessed by God for the very purpose of making known to everyone from whom authority does the bible is referring to and the salvation that it offers not just to us but for the future generations.
Another challenge? Obedience and discipline can come too difficult – these have been my struggles until now. My husband and I do not share the same set of values system which oftentimes create the tension in our marriage. But I am assured God will be with me in my every battle and in my every struggle. I just have to fulfill the mission, the tasks that He has set out for me to finish.
In this struggle to abide by the law and to fight for these laws, you will feel pain, resistance, persecution, sadness and yet constantly remind yourself to “fix your eyes upon Jesus, the author and the perfecter of faith.” The early disciples felt all these too and yet they endured it all in the midst of their sacrifices.
Those who were called to fulfill their mission, this is our end goal – KEEP THE FAITH and TRUST GOD COMPLETELY.
Learn from the One Great Teacher, be a teacher, and be a disciple. I am continuously praying that God will prepare and guide me in this new season. 🙂
As a blogger, future SPED practitioner and educator, I believe it is my obligation to inform what goes on inside the academe and be critical about its practices. This was a reflection paper I submitted in one of my classes in my grad study.
First things first, let’s define some terms. What is hidden curriculum? As defined in the article entitled “The Hidden Curriculum and Social Studies,”
“The hidden curriculum, what was once referred by John Dewey as “collateral learning,” consists of all learnings that take place in school as a result of actions by school personnel and students. These learnings are normally excluded from statements of what is to be learned through the formal program of studies specified in each school or school district.”
I have found quite a number of issues that prevail until now in our current educational system most especially in public schools. I have been a “public school baby” since Grade 1 until now. I have seen how the traditional system works, how it is applied and what are its effects to the entire student population, me included. In the article entitled “Schools Kill Curiosity: The Regime of Conformity and Obedience,” I would have to admit that yes, most of what was discussed are all true and these situations do happen in our educational system. In the traditional system of instructing students, for example, it is only the teacher who talks in front of the class while the students are listening. And for the entire duration of the discussion, the students never get to interact and share their opinions. Thus, they have this notion that what teacher and the book say, are all true, correct and valid and most of all, students have to conform to how they were taught in the classroom. This method became the norm, sadly, to most institutions.
In the article entitled “Hidden Curriculum and Social Studies” what is stated about Social Studies being taught in a mechanistic way has been true to most schools. It is taught by a teacher who would just read what was written on the textbooks, instruct students to memorize the important dates in the history of the Philippine constitution without stressing on its social relevance and how significant was those dates to social change, and would ask them to copy everything that was written on the board. In that instance, all that the students will learn was the notion that studying is all about memorization and dictations, which, stifle the growth of learning of a child. How? It doesn’t allow the students to be creative, to exert their freedom of expression and to be confident in themselves regarding the things that they can share. They become, as what the previous article has stated, “more cautious and less innovative.” It freezes the learning capacity of the child disabling him/her to use potentials not to the maximum but only to a limited extent.
One article has stated about “control as conformity and obedience” inside most of the classrooms. We view the teacher as the one who is in control, the figure of authority and gets to decide on all the matters in class. Yes, I do agree that teachers do have to retain that authority in the classroom to foster the values of obedience, discipline and respect. But I also believe that there is another way in enforcing them, which is yes, through classroom management. I agree that when you teach the students how to be responsible for their actions and for their thoughts, you teach them how to have that sense of self-concept and be more relenting to the classroom policies when you give them the opportunity and the freedom to make their own decisions. Being able to address the issues by talking it out to them establishes that teacher-student rapport wherein the students become more open to how they feel and they know that there is always that other side of the coin in every situation.
As for Social Studies being used as the best form to exercise the benefits of the hidden curriculum, yes, I totally agree with it. If I am to relate it in the Philippine setting, the Social Studies textbooks didn’t fall short in informing the students regarding the Philippine history and its culture. Minorities such as the “Aetas” and the “Igorots” are described in some textbooks. I cannot speak for all though, as I would be relating this to my own experience when I was a grade school student. Although I also believe that only selected minority groups were included in the textbooks, which, I think is not sufficient in promoting and raising that social awareness, culture wise. I must agree that there is indeed so much to learn in Social Studies as the texts really do convey hidden meanings/messages that cannot be learned technically but only through experience by acting these concepts out. Values, most especially. That is, I guess, one of the most important issues that a hidden curriculum provides to its students. When students become socially aware and the teacher was able to make the students relate to their environment and/or society, only then can the students realize the essence of his/her relationship towards and with that society.
When people ask me why I have decided to be a teacher, I only have one answer. I have seen too much in the educational system from instructional and classroom policies to governance which made me decide that there is so much to change inside the classroom and the educational system in general – a vision that has always been the dilemma of current educators and the educators before me. Breaking into the system is as difficult as preventing one’s self from being “eaten” by the system and resistance will always be there.
But if there is one key value that I have also learned in our educational system, academics, social and political wise, it would be resiliency. To be resilient and be affirmative in what you believe in – conform if the situation ushers towards a positive change and remain firm in pushing through what is best for all. Too much of an idealist is negative in a lot of ways especially if what you aim at is a major and social change but changes will and will happen no matter how small or big it is and no matter how difficult it is to implement.
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