Teacher’s Corner 
Good Teachers have Lesson Plans... BAD Teachers have BLOGS. |
I had a busy weekend. I had to attend a whole day training last Saturday as required by the State for Child Care licensing. It was a very enlightening and productive training except for the crappy weather. And one of the things that really struck me was the topic on the “responsibility” of a child care provider and/or teacher.
This pledge made a great impact on me in such a way that I thought it would be nice to share it here.
A Pledge of Responsibility for Children
We are responsible for children
…..who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
…..like to be tickled,
…..who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
…..who sneak Popsicles before supper,
…..can never find their shoes.
And we are responsible for children
…..can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
…..who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,
…..who never go to the circus,
…..who live in an x-rated world.
We are responsible for children
…..who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
…..who sleep with the dog and bury the goldfish,
…..who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing off key,
…..who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
…..who slurp their soup.
…..who never get dessert,
…..who have no blanket to drag behind them,
…..who watch their parents watch them die,
…..who can’t find any bread to steal,
…..who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
…..whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
…..whose monsters are real.
We are responsible for children
…..who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
…..who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
…..who like ghost stories,
…..who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
…..who get visits from the tooth fairy,
…..who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
…..whose tears we sometimes laugh at, and
…..whose smiles can make us cry.
We are responsible for children
…..whose nightmares come in the daytime,
…..who will eat anything,
…..who have never seen a dentist,
…..who aren’t spoiled by anybody,
…..who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
…..who live and move, but have no being.
We are responsible for children
…..who want to be carried and for those who must,
…..for those we never give up on and
…..for those who don’t get a second chance,
…..for those we smother, … and
…..for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
~Ina Hughes~
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 As a teacher… I am responsible to teach my students not just the basic skills to help them live a normal life but life-lessons that will help them live a productive life.
As a mentor… I am responsible to mold them to become not just responsible citizen but hone their abilities and God-given talents to help them became effective contributors of the society.
As a human being… I am responsible to provide them not only endless opportunities to see themselves as important individuals but to give them a chance to share their blessings to humanity.
These are the reasons why there are teachers who despite their meager salary chose to teach the children even the unteachable ones… why there are mentors who despite rich opportunities being offered to them opted to render valuable time to hone children’s’ skills and teach those who lack them… and why there are human beings who despite their weaknesses are willing to share their time and talents to give students the strengths that they deserve.
 My ear was literally glued on the radio’s speaker as I listen to the news. It was not a good day. You could tell when you see those buckets in every room in the house almost half filed with rain water dripping from my dilapidated ceiling caused by the leakage on my rusted roof. We had a storm signal number 3 and for a teacher like me… it was a good sign.
It means no classes… no students to deal with… another lesson plan spared!
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Storm is Mother Nature’s lesson plan. It teaches us lessons of survival. It gives us a chance to see blessings in a different light. And it helps us to hone some skills to get through with tough times.
Dry spell likewise, is Mother Nature’s teaching tools. It equips us with strength to face hardship. It allows us to use our God-given abilities to live life to the fullest. And more importantly, it gives us an opportunity to grow strongly rooted on the ground to weather any storm.
 Having been out of work for almost a year now gives me the stress I have never experienced when I was still working. Strange but true. Work is one of the reasons why people are stressed out. But I have never realized that being at home and not working is more stressful than having a real job. Well, I guess housework is a real job now.
I have also realized that housework is more taxing than making lesson plans, checking papers, computing grades and other teaching-related functions that I used to do. My mind is more restless just to think what I will cook for supper than when I was thinking about the next lesson to teach my students.
Well, being a stay-at-home wife is a noble profession. And just like any profession, you also get some benefits from it. You may not get paid as much as a regular employee but certainly you get the rewards that you cannot get elsewhere.
That was my sentiments a couple of years ago.
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Fast forward to the future… my sentiments turned 360 degrees. Is it normal? Is it just a passing of time? is it just human instinct? Is it just common as common cold? Is it just seasonal as the season?
Moments like these come and go. Holding on or holding your head up above waters makes the difference. Life is always a learning and re-learning experience. And only one thing is sure… it is always inevitable.
 It was just an ordinary morning at work. About few minutes before the school bell rang, my staff approached me and told me… “That teacher is so mean!”
I was surprised by his remark then out of curiosity I asked him… “Why? What did she do?”
“She told the kid to sit, in a very mean way.” He replied.
“The kid might not be listening and had to tell him again in a more authoritative way.” I said.
“Well, she could have said it differently.” He said judgingly.
I laughed by his remarked and said… “When you become a teacher, you’ll see, you will lose it too.”
“No, I will be kind and nice and the best teacher ever and kids will love me because I will always be nice.” He replied very confidently.
I just laughed and said… “You don’t know what you are talking about. Trust me!”
“Wanna bet?” he snapped quickly so sure of himself.
FAST FORWARD: “Are you threatening me? Do you think I am scared of your mother?” Those were just some of the words that I clearly heard my [same] staff was saying this afternoon when one of the kids was arguing with him about “breaking the rules” issues. His face was so red and his voice was a little frustrated and perturbed. It was the first time I saw him so pissed off and the first time I heard him raised his voice.
He totally lost it!
I should have placed my bet! Darn!
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When I was “not” a teacher yet, I have these entire huge plans for my future dream career. I was able to picture in my mind the kind of teacher I will be and the kind of teacher I will not be so that kids will love me. I was all so consumed by my idealism that one day… I will change the world.
When I was a teacher, I came face to face with the reality of my [then] future dream career. I was able to find the hard truth of what kind of a teacher I am and the kind of teacher I am not. I was devastated by my own idealism and one day… I changed not the world but my personal perception in life.
When I was no longer a teacher, I still dream of an idealistic career that will change the world. Teaching is a noble profession and indeed the best venue to start making the difference. I am not saying that I totally lost my faith in my profession but rather. .. I learned that the world is not what you think it is so I changed my mind.
What I am saying now is that when I finally become a teacher I became more realistic than idealistic. Teaching truly brought out the best and the worst in me. It is the best time of my life when I fully comprehend the true meaning of compassion, patience, understanding, perseverance and humility. On the other hand, I realized that I too have weaknesses… that I am vulnerable and that there are things that I cannot change because it is what it is. My teaching career taught me that life indeed.. is full of surprises.
I was watching the Today Show earlier and one of the feature news is about No Kidding – a unique International non-profit organization devoted to singles and people who are “child-free by choice”. In simpler term… this is the organization for people who don’t only have any kids but they have no kids because they don’t want any, period!
Well, in our present imperfect society, we are all familiar with the typical nuclear family system which we all know has evolved into different categories in our now more complicated culture and altered social orientation. However, despite this truth, when we talk about family we always think that it is not complete without kids. Without kids… there is no such thing as family or so we think.
I am not a member of No Kidding or its British counterpart – Kidding Aside which is a more politically motivated movement on the other side of the planet nor have anything against having kids. In fact I do want to have a kid and almost had one until that fateful day in April of 2008. Since 2008, my desire to have kids have diminished but not totally forgotten. But given a choice, at my age which is both a physical and psychological disadvantage on my part and with my step-son’s Autism, my desire on having my own is taking a back seat until God decides on my future.
Working with kids for almost half of my life, I know I will make a good mom. Kids taught me compassion, patience, humility, commitment and endurance. Working with kids keeps me young and energetic. But like any other job, it is also exhausting, draining, and frustrating in some aspects. Working with kids for the longest time now… experiencing their ups and downs… being able to survive each day without dealing with their tantrums and whatnots or without breaking down, I know I am done with kids. Hahahaha.
In my personal option, I find kids cute. They are adorable and charming but they can turn into little monsters given a particular time of the day or a specific trigger to activate an outburst. Their sweet little faces and fascinating innocence make me smile but their meltdown melts me down, literally. They are funny but messy and I hate cleaning up. And being able to see both sides of the coin I know that there are advantages and disadvantages of not having kids. To be able to send them back to their parents after the day or when things are not turning up well is just one. Needless to say, raising kids nowadays don’t only take a lot of courage, patience and understanding but financial consideration too.
In my line of work, I somehow gained some expertise on kids. You don’t need to be a parent to be able to know if you can raise a child because I believe that not all parents are capable of raising one. Trust me! There are parents who should not have kids at all. As for me, I think that kids are cute up to 5 years old only. When they grow older and begin to analyze things themselves and gain more independence and knowledge, they are not that cute anymore. If only they can be very independent and can start working for themselves at that age… they should move out and live on their own once they reached age 5. hahahaha
To those who do not want to have more kids or don’t really want any… working with them is the best Birth Control ever… no side effects. But kidding aside… a child is a blessing and this I still believe is – true, period!
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