I Am A Teacher

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An old Jesuit priest told me years back that I am going to be a teacher.  I denied every piece of that statement since I thought I was so right into my course BS Psychology.  As years unfolded I was slowly led into becoming one.  And now after years of battling against the idea, I am now a teacher and serving in a public high school in the city.  I am currently teaching Grace 7 and fourth year students.  And I am slowly feeling the positive effect to my decision. 

Teacher.  Wow that is kind of heavy for me.  What am I teaching my students?  Values.  My God ...that is a lot of responsibilities.  The heaviest …hmmm very challenging for me. But let me first describe my Grade 7 students.  Majority of them come from really poor families in the city.  I handle 6 sections – one is an honors’ class.  I don’t really have much difficulty with them unlike the general sections.   A lot of them from the general sections are not really motivated to learn.  They come to school, making so much noise, forced to sit when asked them to.  Listens  with sometimes blank look in their eyes.  And I felt that I had to prick that spirit in them.  

I had to wake them up so I told them a story of an old woman that has an alzheimer (this part I made it appear so dramatic to make them fall into my "trap" ...that is to be really present in my class).    I described the disease to them and that if they refuse to think, and if they continue to be lazy to think and learn they could get the disease at a very young age.  And voila, I saw the eyes slowly dilating and sharpening.  I started to see the look of interest.  Though at times I feel that they are just forced to be in school because someone may have told them that they have to be in school (to which perhaps they cannot really relate huh).

What about my fourth year students?  I handle two sections.  One from the honors class and other is one from the general section.  During the first quarter, they were complacent and did not take my subject seriously.  For them it was “only” Values Education and so they feel the least weight it could have on their grade.  Hmmm they were just so shocked that some of them almost failed for not submitting the requirements and not really performing in the quarter exam.  To cut the long story shorter, they realize that the subject has an effect on their grades especially those in the honors’ class.  And the students from the other section feared not being able to graduate if they fail in my subject.

Well I loosen my standards.  I stopped checking attendance and focused more on output.  I did not want to be so stiff or rigid with rules.  I want so much to measure how much they learned and what they realize than the attendance (though you might argue with me that attendance has bearing with learning...and i won't argue in anyway for i believe the same also).  I realize that even if some of them may have incurred absences (since some of them are working students...some sell vegetables in the market, drives trisikad, that bicycle with a :=)side car?", etc), they can still produce the desired outcome.

It is still along way to go for me.  There are a lot of things to be done and to prepare for the next school year.  What is so evident for me is that I am so glad I did not make it in the job that I applied prior to my current job.  Though I felt at first that I was deprived of something that I knew I could do well if given that opportunity, I still feel that God answers prayers according to where we could fit in and where we could best help in the mission.  I feel that now.  And I feel that there are many public school students to whom I could pass on that influence that may positively affect them throughout their lives....huh ..really heavy work ha...

Thank you God.  Thank you for leading me into where I am.  Amen.

PS.  I had a flashy job of working in the corporate where I had high salary plus that beautiful car.oohhh that shiny brand new car lent by the company to me to me a month after I was hired.  But…I find more fulfillment with where I am compared to that job. I find myself going out of the classroom with that beautiful smile on my face while my eyes were a little misty from the touching real life sharings that I had in my classes.   God just brought me so close to His Mission…and so close to Him:-)