Thursday, October 20, 2011

UP - IS Stories




Busy ako!

After yet another observation, I talked to Mars about how I felt about our subject and the students. She looked a little worried about how she would handle her class. And I remembered how we were in our EDSC 121 class.
I was the assigned brat for the day. Mars’ demo was about elementary algebra and as a part of her demo; she called me to recite on her class. Being the brat that I am, I told her “Busy ako!” and she felt dumbfounded. I caught her off guard and I thought I was being so mean.So I said sorry afterwards. But I made an impact on our classmates so I became the designated brat for the rest of our demo class. I got this reputation that I am mean, in a good way though.
As we were laughing while recalling our 121 demos, Mars jokingly told me how dreadful I was in her demo that if all of her students would be like me, she would give up hastily. Then she turned serious and looked me straight in the eye and told me, “May something sa’yo na di maipaliwanag. Pag nagturo ka dito, parang may magic! Swear.” She got me there. I was caught dumbfounded.

Walk out!
I am trying to be as patient as I could since it is almost dismissal time. Some are done with the activity so they began walking here and there. I didn’t pay much attention to them since I was trying to teach some of the students how to correctly graph a parabola. But the noise was beginning to take its toll on me.So I stood toweringly on the pavement so that I could reassert my authority once more inside the class. I could sense some of my students felt my insurgency though. They began hushing their shrilling classmates on the side of the door. But those students would not listen as they were playing with a cockroach.

Though I am afraid of the roach, I walked towards the group, then kicked the cockroach outside the room and stared at the students irritably. I almost lost it then.So before I would say something, I erased the writings on the board hurriedly then walked out of the room.
Minutes after, the students were outside the department. They were saying sorry to me. Good thing I kept my coo ldown and just told them to never do it again.

Outsider

Ever since I have been a student teacher in the UPIS, I’ve been extremely cautious about my personal stuffs. Being an outsider, all they knew about me was my first name, not even my full name. I never gave out my full name since I know they will add me up on social networking sites. Besides, I don’t want to them to see how I am as a student. I know I am not the perfect role model for them so might as well not share my life fully. But one funny incident happened int he university.

While my buddy and I were preparing for our buddy performance, we rushed to the SC to buy some sticker tattoos and inflatable balloons. While waiting for our turn at the cashier, I started inflating the balloons to save some time. After doing so, I handed over the pink balloon to my buddy. And to my surprise, I saw one of my students looking at me while I was handing the pink balloon. She started giggling and I knew right there what she was thinking. And I smiled back at her, shaking my head as if saying you are so wrong. The next morning, I smiled once more at her inside the class as if nothing ever happened.
Indifferent

I just finished my discussion on radicals and exponents. I was just glad that my students enjoyed the activity I prepared and they looked like they learned the topic well. I said goodbye to my class and I was busy erasing the writings on the board when one student whom I thought was indifferent, told me stridently, “Sir, apply na lang kayo dito sa UPIS pagka-graduate nyo. Best ST na kayo, Sir.” And his classmates were so shocked that they all stared at me and waited for my answer. All I ever said was “Thank you, mag-lunch na kayo.” But this was definitely one of my best moments in UPIS, ever.