FIELD STUDY 2 - DAY 6: You are still learning and still adjusting

I was asleep and woke up saying, "Yes, ma'am." This day exposed me to the actual and very tiring situation of being a teacher. Since we are in Field Study 2, where we will be assisting our cooperating teachers and somehow participating in classroom management, I have realized that it is really not easy. As a future educator, I should be holistically strong. I should always be physically fit, emotionally stable, and ready to take on a burdensome responsibility.

Ma'am Jenny informed me during the first period that I should be the one to fill her spot in the class because they had something to finish, and as a student teacher, I don't have the right to refuse her request and must accept it positively. With lots of questions and being overwhelmed with nervousness, it ended not so well because I was not that fluent that time in class in the very first sentence I delivered. However, as I gained the confidence to speak and let my actions be on time, I gradually adjusted my ways to speak and feel comfortable, not minding any mistakes I may have made. This period, there should be a student who will perform her storytelling in the class, and then, they should have to practice their performance this coming Monday—the Reader’s Theater. Hence, Ms. Bibar starts her performance, which is impressive since her classmates listen to her quietly. Following the storytelling, I informed them that they could begin their practice. With 30 minutes left before their second period, they were practicing and trying to make their performances shine so that they could get a big score. In this period, the time is passing very quickly, and at exactly 8:28 am, I’ve dismissed the class.

Second period, it was ma'am Jenny's class in Grade 7 Everlasting. As I began the class, their adviser reminded me that their principal had assigned all 7th grade students to clean their respective areas in school.Since it’s a memo, they start cleaning, and the period that they should have to practice will be postponed. But, as a teacher, I’ve informed them that "if you have break or free time in the next periods, they should have to practice their upcoming performance—a graded one this coming Monday." Since the second period will be my break, I return to ma'am Jenny's classroom, and since I am free, I ask ma'am what I can do to assist or help her in her task. Since there are still things to record and encode grades for her students, I did them, and I'm finished in 30 minutes.

At exactly 9:43 am, I arrived at the classroom of Grade 8-Beryl, started my class reminders, and let them practice their reader’s theater activity. Because I don't want them to disrupt the neighboring classroom, ma'am Jenny and I discussed it and agreed that they would practice their performances in the new building at the second gate. Each group was intact, and as a teacher, I supervised their practice and corrected all their errors in speaking, pronouncing, and even their emotions that should be present in their faces. For almost an hour, I just stood, walked to every group, monitored them, and motivated them. It was an insightful and motivating period with them.

    Then, as I am on my way to Madame Jenny’s classroom, there are realizations that really come to my mind. "Is it really for me?" and "Does this profession, teacher, have a future?" are legitimate concerns, because this is a legitimate but exhausting profession. How could we make things go in the right direction? How will I stay organized and enthused in class? These reflections circulate into my mind’s conscious state. I did not intend to sleep when I arrived at my table in my CT classroom, and it is difficult for me to open my eyes—I WAS SLEEPING! Then, a few minutes later, there is a voice saying that I have heard "Lan, Lando" (the voice of ma'am Jenny)"; she is calling me then very "lutang." I said to her, "Yes, po ma'am," in my mind (kaulaw nalang jud nako, nakatulog ka), then she said, "It's okay Lan na nakatulog ka, normal lang  Thereafter, I finished what she requested of me, and it was such a good lesson for me to hold—that I should be holistically ready. I need to be strong, even If you're physically and emotionally drained, you must try to be strong, because even if you’re ready and think that you could be good at it, if an overwhelming situation attacks, you can’t help yourself but to control it before things will fall apart. You are still learning and still adjusting, Sir Pedrera; you can conquer it!