I am very young in the teaching profession – I’m only over six years serving as a college instructor here in Central Luzon. Oh well, of course I do love teaching… I love teaching students who love to learn. But I get turned off when I encounter students who, at times, don’t care about what you teach them. There are many of them. And until now, I couldn’t believe what my very own eyes have seen.
Well, welcome to reality. I am going to open some world of reality for you. I want to know if you can “chew” it.
Reality 1: Teachers can’t please all students. As an instructor, I don’t intend to please students though I realized that a good rapport between the students and the teacher is necessary in creating an atmosphere conducive to learning. So what do I do in order to at least pretend to please them? The best thing I can do, I guess, is to wear a smile upon entering the classroom so that they would think that I woke up on the right side of the bed, only for them to find out that the smile can turn into a frown once I knew that they did not accomplish their assignments.
Reality 2: Most students don’t have a passion for reading and writing. Few students know the value of knowledge we can get from reading and the level of satisfaction we can get out of writing. All they desire is to hear (not really listen) the teacher’s ‘monologue’ about the day’s lesson. But more than that, students love to do `blabbing' all the time. Well, I’m not trying to generalize here because I know that there are always exceptions. In fact, I encountered a particular class which was composed of students who were very receptive, very much willing to listen to the teachers and very quiet. The sad thing is most of them failed in major examinations. So being quiet, I’ve learned, is never a guarantee of good learning. Oh, by the way, I think the challenge for us teachers is to motivate students to develop their interests in books and encourage them to utilize pen and paper in expressing their hidden thoughts.
Reality 3: Teachers are only as good as their last performance in class. This is a sad thing. I personally feel very much fulfilled after handling a class with students who are cooperative. If I did not perform well in my last class, I feel so bad about it. I quickly ask myself 'what went wrong' so that I would be able to correct my mistakes or the students' errors. Believe it or not, some faculty members feel the same way. This is the very reason why we try to do better the following day in the next class.
Reality 4: Attitude matters. Yes, it really does. A respectful not-so-intelligent student is an asset in class while a proud and arrogant student with a high IQ is a target of criticisms instead of praise. There are students who admit that they would rather be like the former than the latter because they put more value on friendship and relationship with others rather than on medals and trophies from the college.
Reality 5: Most students always find a way to get what they want. At times, students tend to act like spoiled brats. For instance, if a teacher asks them to write a two-page expository essay, they usually respond in chorus saying “ma’am one page na lang.” And then when you tell them to submit the paper next meeting, they would shout “ma’am next week na lang!” So it’s up to the teacher if he would give in to these `routinary requests’ from students. Oooppss… how can I forget the kind of students who don’t like attending classes, and during the final period, ask the teacher for a make-up quiz, special exam or special project – as if they deserve it.
Reality 6: Students know how to appeal to the human side of the teacher. Teachers sometimes find themselves in a dilemma. Just last week, I heard a particular teacher having difficulty deciding whether he/she would give a certain student a passing grade of 75% or not. The problem? The student was a “victim” of absenteeism. He was frequently absent in most of his classes. His record would show that he didn’t deserve to pass. But, fortunately or unfortunately, an influential person in the university requested the teacher/s to give his son/daughter a passing mark. Now one of them didn’t know exactly what to do. I didn’t hear anything about this issue the following day. This is just one story. I also encountered such kind of “appeal” from parents before but I denied their request. I uttered what was supposed to be said -- that I would never give their child a passing grade just because he was a scholar and wouldn’t be able to study the following semester had he failed in any subject. Worse, there are parents who give gifts to teachers, hoping that they would get what they want. But for several times, I refused to receive anything from parents. Those parents are an insult to my being an educator.
You see, we, teachers, are doing everything to teach students the right thing and to inculcate to students how to do things right. So why should parents intervene to ask teachers to do wrong things to patch up wrongdoings of their own children? Grades can be earned through listening in class, doing homework, submitting projects on time, attending classes regularly, reviewing for exams, etcetera, etcetera. There are numerous ways to earn good grades but please not through making an “appeal” to us teachers. Teachers are not saints or evils (however you want to address them) to give in to all the desires of students. Teachers are in the university to facilitate student learning and encourage independent learning by always teaching them the right thing – i.e. the right theory, the right formula, the right rules, etc.- and demonstrating how to do things right. Period.
Well, welcome to reality. I am going to open some world of reality for you. I want to know if you can “chew” it.
Reality 1: Teachers can’t please all students. As an instructor, I don’t intend to please students though I realized that a good rapport between the students and the teacher is necessary in creating an atmosphere conducive to learning. So what do I do in order to at least pretend to please them? The best thing I can do, I guess, is to wear a smile upon entering the classroom so that they would think that I woke up on the right side of the bed, only for them to find out that the smile can turn into a frown once I knew that they did not accomplish their assignments.
Reality 2: Most students don’t have a passion for reading and writing. Few students know the value of knowledge we can get from reading and the level of satisfaction we can get out of writing. All they desire is to hear (not really listen) the teacher’s ‘monologue’ about the day’s lesson. But more than that, students love to do `blabbing' all the time. Well, I’m not trying to generalize here because I know that there are always exceptions. In fact, I encountered a particular class which was composed of students who were very receptive, very much willing to listen to the teachers and very quiet. The sad thing is most of them failed in major examinations. So being quiet, I’ve learned, is never a guarantee of good learning. Oh, by the way, I think the challenge for us teachers is to motivate students to develop their interests in books and encourage them to utilize pen and paper in expressing their hidden thoughts.
Reality 3: Teachers are only as good as their last performance in class. This is a sad thing. I personally feel very much fulfilled after handling a class with students who are cooperative. If I did not perform well in my last class, I feel so bad about it. I quickly ask myself 'what went wrong' so that I would be able to correct my mistakes or the students' errors. Believe it or not, some faculty members feel the same way. This is the very reason why we try to do better the following day in the next class.
Reality 4: Attitude matters. Yes, it really does. A respectful not-so-intelligent student is an asset in class while a proud and arrogant student with a high IQ is a target of criticisms instead of praise. There are students who admit that they would rather be like the former than the latter because they put more value on friendship and relationship with others rather than on medals and trophies from the college.
Reality 5: Most students always find a way to get what they want. At times, students tend to act like spoiled brats. For instance, if a teacher asks them to write a two-page expository essay, they usually respond in chorus saying “ma’am one page na lang.” And then when you tell them to submit the paper next meeting, they would shout “ma’am next week na lang!” So it’s up to the teacher if he would give in to these `routinary requests’ from students. Oooppss… how can I forget the kind of students who don’t like attending classes, and during the final period, ask the teacher for a make-up quiz, special exam or special project – as if they deserve it.
Reality 6: Students know how to appeal to the human side of the teacher. Teachers sometimes find themselves in a dilemma. Just last week, I heard a particular teacher having difficulty deciding whether he/she would give a certain student a passing grade of 75% or not. The problem? The student was a “victim” of absenteeism. He was frequently absent in most of his classes. His record would show that he didn’t deserve to pass. But, fortunately or unfortunately, an influential person in the university requested the teacher/s to give his son/daughter a passing mark. Now one of them didn’t know exactly what to do. I didn’t hear anything about this issue the following day. This is just one story. I also encountered such kind of “appeal” from parents before but I denied their request. I uttered what was supposed to be said -- that I would never give their child a passing grade just because he was a scholar and wouldn’t be able to study the following semester had he failed in any subject. Worse, there are parents who give gifts to teachers, hoping that they would get what they want. But for several times, I refused to receive anything from parents. Those parents are an insult to my being an educator.
You see, we, teachers, are doing everything to teach students the right thing and to inculcate to students how to do things right. So why should parents intervene to ask teachers to do wrong things to patch up wrongdoings of their own children? Grades can be earned through listening in class, doing homework, submitting projects on time, attending classes regularly, reviewing for exams, etcetera, etcetera. There are numerous ways to earn good grades but please not through making an “appeal” to us teachers. Teachers are not saints or evils (however you want to address them) to give in to all the desires of students. Teachers are in the university to facilitate student learning and encourage independent learning by always teaching them the right thing – i.e. the right theory, the right formula, the right rules, etc.- and demonstrating how to do things right. Period.
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