John Angelo G.

Basa

FACLERN L85

Enter: My old school. Run by nuns, fueled by money, an unhappy school body.

You could see kindergarden students running about, it was their recess period for them.

Some, eating, some playing, you know, things that kids do when they’re bored. I saw no

familiar faces when I entered the gradeschool building. It’s been 2 years since I left and

swore to myself I would never come back under any circumstance. But there I was.

Everything looked smaller. The corridors, the doors, classrooms, stairs. Nothing much

changed in the layout of the building: A 4 storey structure with a small sort of field inside,

within the field was 4 large trees and a small stage. I remember the days when I hung

out there. Mosquitoes and ants were my best friends. I never liked this school to begin

with, but I had no choice. I was guided around by a security guard, never seen her face

before. From what I’ve heard from my brother, the administration replaced all the guards

with new ones because of some incident. I don’t know if this had to do with some kid

bringing a screwdriver to school and the guards searching me if brought any sort of

weapons. I know I look like the maniac type but Jesus Christ, I’m not going to shoot

down a school. I mean, there’s no gain in it, no profit for me. Anyway, here I was right

before the door to the classroom. Looking above the door I saw the words: VI-Simplicity.

Back then, they’d name our sections after saints. Guess a lot could happen after 2

years.

Enter: The classroom. Entering, I could feel all eyes on me. Discussion stopped

and everybody was looked back. The teacher pointed to an empty wooden chair to back.

Slowly, I took the seat and observed. I seem to have entered in the middle of the
discussion. He was teaching them how to write use those subject verb agreement

things. I remember when I first studied those, agreement after agreement, structure

after structure. It felt like I was being taught how to speak , how limited the english

sentence structure is, that this is how you speak. I felt so trapped when studying that.

Anyway., the teacher repeated the same sentence at least 3 times for each structure.

Three sentences for this agreement, another three for that one. The students would

glance but would not question him. Occasionaly, the teacher would ask but all of them

would fall into a dead silence. When nobody would raise their hands, the teacher would

ask some unfortunate fellow. He’d stutter, then say a sentence:“I was running to the

store” He said. The teacher told him to sit down, a sigh of relief from the student. The

teacher wrote something down on his notebook, perhaps a point to the student. He’d

then tell them to turn to a certain page on their english books and read aloud a certain

paragraph. Their voices, so monotone in dull. I felt no intellectual excitement from them.

It was like they were dead inside. Or maybe perhaps they were aware that I was here, a

visitor. That they need to act seriously or else they’d bring a bad name to their school.

After reading, the teacher would discuss. Again, the same routine, he’d give the

students some examples and ask them if they have any examples of their own. This

time, some guy raised his hand and confidently answered. The teacher acknowledged

and told him to sit down. The teacher then got a piece of manila paper and plastered it

into the board. Telling them to answer this long piece of paper, the students brought

their sheets of intermediate paper. After the excercise, the teacher told them to submit

their papers to the front. He packed up his things and told the students to answer a

page on their books which will be checked on their next meeting.

 Going outside, I met with the teacher and I asked him a few questions. The
questions are based on the teaching approach he used

1. What method of teaching do you prefer? Humanistic, Behavioral or Cognitive.

He has told me that he would very much prefer a humanistic approach as it

stimulates students to think better, letting their imagination roam. But at the present, the

approach that would make students learn english better would be a mix of behavioral

and cognitive. If the subject was something more liberal, like Literature for example,

then a humanistic approach would be perfect.

2. Do students abide to any house rules?

To this he answered most of the time.

3. Do you use punishments and rewards on students?

He said it sometimes depends on the class. There are some classes which are

often rowdy which to the point it becomes impossible to teach that he is forced to use

the punishment and reward system. If the class is too disruptful, he would punish them

through extra work, if they behave accordingly, they are rewarded through plus points in

quizzes or bonus work that involve little effort.

4. What are your thoughts on this?

He says that it motivates the students, makes them strive for something and work

for it. But fears that it may also ruin the image of the topic and subject it to nothing if

punishment is used too much.

 Leaving the school, I looked on the empty street. I never really imagined myself

being a teacher. I wanted to write. Make stories of people. Create a new world. Guess

things didn’t go as I planned. Dreams are like sand castles, you know. Easy to imagine

and mold. But then bam! One wrong move, a wave of water and it all crashes down.

Remembering the students, they were dead. They had no emotion, as if they

just wanted to get out of this hell hole and be done with everything. They were
graduating in a few months afterall. Then they’d go to highschool and start anew there.

The teacher, he didn’t look like the kind of guy you’d love to share a drink with.
No he looked like the kind of guy he wanted everything to be over with. Repeat the

same process over and over and over again. The loop would never end.

This jaded feeling would not escape my mind. I feel as though I’m really confused

about the world of teaching: A clash of an old generation and a new generation. I felt

like there was no connection between the students and the teacher. To the teacher,

they were nothing more than a bunch of kids going out of their way to make their

parents happy or just because they were told to study. To the students, the teacher was

nothing more than a grumpy man.