Enlightened

I really have a high regard for teaching because most of the people dear to me are teachers and I have seen how they religiously stick to their duties.

However, I am more enlightened now than before.  I have looked into teaching in a much deeper perspective.  I have felt the struggles that teachers encounter and the hope that they keep holding on because of their conviction that they could help the world.

I have been introduced to varied teaching strategies and principles that I would hold dear in my heart as I change career paths.  I am so touched I have known teachers’ real-life experiences that made them stronger in their fields.  I have felt their sincerity and I want to be like them. I cannot help but be excited as I finish this course as it would mean I am almost near my goal-to be an Educator.

The principles and concepts I have been acquainted with during the entire course have added a boost to my confidence, for after all, knowledge sets aside insecurities. I am so full of new learning right now that I feel like I am drowning if I won’t be able to extract some fruits and share them with those worthy to have a taste of them.

These principles will surely be in my bucket list as I handle the things that will be coming my way when I start teaching.  These principles are worthy to be put into action and be experienced by our learners.

After this course, I am intent to do more readings, and finsih the additional resources for I am too excited to read them as I have found all readings that were provided to be very useful.

My Professional Goals?

I will be taking the Board of Licensure Examination for Teachers (BLEPT) so I will have to read and review religiously.  I am planning to teach as soon as I get my License.  I want to be a great teacher.  This , though, is hard to achieve, but with determination, resilience, harwork and faith I know this is a possiblity.

More than the principles I have learned here, I treasure the learnings that took place. I believe I can be a great Teacher.  My merciful God will help me.

If I could change anything?  For now, I guess I will have to start changing myself.  I will be more focused on making myself better so when I will be given the chance to teach I can be a great one. I am longing to change many things with our system but then that cpuld take a back seat for now.

I would like to thank my Professor and the rest of UPOU who are part of this great learning.  I really appreciate your efforts. God bless us all.

More than Principles

The birth of new teaching and learning practices paved the way for a much inclusive, collaborative, reflective, results-oriented and learner-centered pedagogies and educational systems.

Gone are the days of  a one-way rule clasroom or the Aristotle’s linear communication model.  What we have now is the 21st century teaching and learning processes that promote inclusive abd collaborative learning.

Education is indeed for everyone.  Education is being sent on doorsteps, goes through mountain treks or swims through rivers and oceans.  The world has seen the importance and right of every individual to education.  Not just merely education but a quality one at that.

The Reformists have focused on making it clear that it is not the people who must come to education.  It is education that must be brought to the people.  Evryone has the right to it, even those who are too ignorant about their rights.  Somebody will have to get useful to inform evryone that free education is a right they must enjoy.  And this what makes me love the 21st century world the more.

Gone are the days of Yent’l of the Jews or Beauty, In Beauty and the Beast and we welcome Merida of Brave and Ariel of Little Mermaid— fiercely wanting to be educated.

These fictional characters depict the two kinds of people, those who have been born during the age when education is meant only for men and yet fought hard to have it and beat all odds. The other kind are those born in a time when women education had akready been accepted as women’s right too.

We are indeed blessed to be born in a time where more than the principles of justice and human rights, people are more humane and fair in everything, the time when every individual is given great importance in any given ethnicity or statuses.

The quest for quality education is being enjoyed by everyone, in this world where we are as one family , working towards the main goal of producing great individuals for the benefit of humankind.

 

 

Learning is an Eternal Principle

“Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field”-Brian Tracy

I remember I have read Einstein said something about learning, he said that the more one knows the more he knows that he does not know.  Quite complicated right?

When you recognize the fact that you still need to learn many things, everytime you add to your learning the more you realize that you still have lots to learn.  It is being humble and techable that makes one a great and wise person.

The teaching profession is demanding so much from teachers.  “So much” would mean aside from all the duties and responsibilities that the noblest profession holds, teachers are literally required to continuously learn and improve their content and pedagogical skills.  They must forever be flexible and adaptable with the changing times.  Well, so much for teacher expectations huh!

The requirement for continuing education is not only a personal matter now it has become, to many tired teachers’ disappointment, a part of renewing licenses.  No CPD no renewal. Many have violently reacted on this.  Many gave the Department of Education a thumbs-up.  Be it pro or con, I must say that a great teacher will never stop learning.

Teacher education is not only a choice that teachers need to make, it must be a passion to do in order for it to be worthy of emulation.

Let us look at it this way, everytime I teach I give away wisdom, in order for me not to stop giving away knowledge I must fill in myself with more knowledge so that each time I am being drained I won’t be left with nothing.

CPDs and PLCs main objective is to equip the teacher with updated skills that will benefit the students.  Everything is being prepared for the students. We have the educational system not because we want the teacehrs to be compensated, instead, we are all doing these for the students.

Afterall, we are student-cented.

To Impart

“Imparting is taking something from yourself and letting others have it.  You cannot impart what you do not have.”

I have always looked back on the stories of Jesus Christ from the Bible to make me remind myself about how it is to be a great teacher.  He is the greatest teacher and he lives the strategies and attitude that a boble teacher must possess.

Even in this contemporary times the teachings of Jesus Christ is still making such an impact on me that I started wondering how to emulate Him.  His strategies could not be obsolete for it always hold true until these days.  His teachings and Impact on students  always leave such a martk that I would like to  look into the way He taught:

1. He taught with such gentleness, His voice seemed to signify calmness and comfort, that you wouldn’t want not to listen to Him.  This is what I want to be when I will start teaching.  I want to be known as somebody who can tame even the most hardheaded, rebellious, lazy and delinquent students.  I believe I better start practicing Jesus’ great patience and sincere concern for the students’ well-being.

2.  He taught by giving examples and sharing stories.  These skills have been one of the main reasons why I do not get tired of watching Bible Stories especially that of Jesus’ stories.  Jesus always had a knack in making His students understand what He was trying to tell them because He always shared stories to make His lessons come alive.  I believe this is also effective to students nowadays.  They still adore listening to stories and the lessons would be remembered when they are accompanied by these representations.

3. He taught by testing the comprehension of His students after His lessons.  I remember there were many instances in the Bible when Jesus would ask His listeners questions regarding the stories He was telling them about.  His strategy is so evident now.  Reflective Assessment, the way He asked questions to His students, is the deeper aspectto teaching and learning.

4. He taught with such great motivation that His students learn by trusting Him.  I remember the time when Peter was with Jesus on a boat and He got worried with the immense storm and rain that He told Jesus about it, waking up Jesus.  Jesus stood amd walked through the water wothout it touching His feet.  Peter was so shocked s could do that.  Then Jesus told him to do the same.  Peter confidently stood on the water and walked  but got worried he might shrink that he started shrinking.  Jesus told Him not to fear and have faith.  Peter stopped shrinking when he started having faith in Jesus.  Figuratively speaking though, Jesus would not let us shrink if we obey and trust Him.

5.  He taught with great love that He was able to attract many people who started to be willing to listen to Him.  I believe that teachers could have such great impact on students if they would make students feel the love  more than the lessons that they need to impart, for once a student rejects a teacher the more the lessons.

Teaching has gone to such great heights that both students and teachers are now taking active participation, engaging with such intensity as to make learning not just a worthwhile endeavor but something that would surely make history take on a new proportion towards a more productive world where minds are set free and genius ideas start to be brought to existence. The birth of true wisdom.

 

 

Teaching to Understand

“To teach is first to understand.”-Shulman, 1986

 A Teacher does not just impart wisdom, a Teacher creates beautiful lives.

This is is what a teacher-friend told me one time I asked her.  To her there is more to teaching than the everyday lessons, activities, projects, assignments and quizzes.  Seldom do teachers notice this, but she believes students notice every single thing teachers do to make them feel loved.  And they give importance to that.

This teacher would take the time to have selfie pictures with her students.  You would notice her fixing her make up during breaks with her students.  While they are talking and asking her all sorts of questions and she would every now and then hand a student her make up while asking if the student would want to try it on.

When she is walking down hallways and corridors and students would greet her, she takes the time to stop a bit, or if she is in a hurry on her way to her next class she would still do everything to make sure she throws them a smile or a tap on the shoulder.  She is consistently showing these students that they are important to her.

She has a way of making her class more interesting than the usual classroom even if it means buying her students chocolates or some little treats that would still tickle their fancy.

She is not is not easily bothered by student noise for she looks at it as them being healthy.  However, she lets her students know how she feels when the noise seems to mean she isn’t being respected anymore. And her students would listen to her.

She never gets tired reading teaching resources to help her in guiding her students into knowing important concepts.  She wants to grasp every learning she could so her students would benefit from her.

She does’nt stick with one pedagogy, instead she experiments so she would know what her students would find more interesting and when lessons would stick to her more.

She believes that a Teacher makes a big difference in the students’ lives.  She can either make or break them.

The Ideology of Teaching Professionalism

More than the Examinations that need to be passed to get a Professional Teaching license, Teaching Professionalism is  performing the necessary obligations in a way that is in accordance with the duties and responsibilities of the teaching profession.  Teaching professionalism is so vast that it even goes beyond the prescribed duties and responsibilities  and to the point of embracing the whole of humanity and everything about it.

I once had this idea that if I finally have the chance of taking the Board of Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers, of course once I finish the 18 units of Professional Education, and I pass I could be a Professional  Teacher. The piece of paper that would determine my title. Just my Title. I know it would not be enough to determine my Professionalism as a teacher.  I know there is more to it than meets the eye.

I am imagining the greatest Professional Teacher I could become.  I want to be a Teacher that would treat every student as a learner and a person. I have to delve into their beings and know what  they can do, what they cannot do and what they need to do to improve on their academic performances. I know that my relationship with them will have great effect on their performance as students.  I know that I, as a Teacher, need to  an example of leadership to make great leaders out of them.  For as the quote in the module says,”You can have good teaching without having a good school but you can’t have a good school without good leadership.”

I am so touched with that Bill Gates said about teachers.”We actually need good teachers more than ever, because of the amount of material that’s available on the internet.  Yes, there’s a whole lot of knowledge that’s only a mouse-click away, but we need good teachers to be able to guide our students through all of that material that’s out there at the present time.”

Modernization and the rise of the Communicatio Era as I call it, has not eradicated the importance of teachers instead it emphasizes that the more we need teachers as regulators and informator to guide the human race through the right path.

 

More Than Reflection

As a child I had become fond of sitting alone by myself and thinking about so many things. There were times when It was the most worthwhile thing to do.  We were poor and there was no television or other forms of pasttime that I could delve my interests into.  

There was a time when I thought there is something not normal about me.  While my playmates were busy with their toys I was busy thinking about many things.  The usual things I had been thinking about was from menial things like why I seem to feel full after eating too many cheese curls and drinking too much soda. There was no intense campaign about junk foods and the like those days so I really hadn’t known about those warnings later on in life.

There was a time when I was busy pondering on my religion. I had so many questions about the many diversities when it comes to faith and personal beliefs.  I was a young Abraham Lincoln. Little did I know that what I was doing is going to be the most accepted teaching strategy of the 21st century.

Jenny Moon said that, “Reflection is a form of mental processing that we use to fulfill a purpose or to avhieve some anticipated outcomes.  It is applied to gain a better understanding of relatively complicated or unstructured ideas and is largely based on the processing of knowledge….”

My main purpose that time is to free myself from the tiring activities that a child usually engages on…and not much choice was left for me but to sit there idly and reflect….until I grow tired and go to sleep.

In the teaching world, reflection has become a widely used strategy. To understand learners more a teacher needs to reflect about the many things that may cause him to perform in a certain way. To understand learners more a teacher needs to reflect on how she treats her students.  To understand learners more a teacher needs to reflect on the many consequences of each situation brought in by the various activities in and outof school. To understand learners more a teacher needs tor reflect on each issue about the learners.  To understand learners more a teacher needs to reflect on how she handles her class, how she transfers knowledge and even how she grades her students.

WHY???

The Teacher would only be able to be called as such when she achieves her main goal, that is to make the students learn and motivated into applying the learnings in real life.  This would make teaching successful.

I agree with Dewey when he said that “Reflection begins in a state of doubt or perplexity which, for teachers , is most likely to be encountered when working with learners, particukarly new or unfamiliar learners.

Reflection would indeed begin when the ability to doubt sprouts. And thus, reflection would be critical and realistic.  Just like Driscoll and Teh’s frame for reflection based on these intermitent questions, WHAT?  SO WHAT? And NOW, WHAT?

 

 

 

 

 

Principles of Teaching into Great Practice

Source: Principles of Teaching into Great Practice

Principles of Teaching into Great Practice

The whole world of Teaching has evolved into something more “out-of-the-book” and “out-of-the-theories”.  It has become a Principle of Action, more of the “do it” or it “will never be possible” scheme. It is now all about proofs, evidences, outputs and products.

I must say, I like it.  This is something that I have been conceptualizing in my mind long before I decided to be a teacher.

This is the journey that I will take with a smile.

Module 1 THEORIES OF LEARNING

Enhancing Learners’ Core competencies by facilitating Learning.

It is indeed a general accepted notion that teachers serve as one of the most vital factor in the process of learning. Teachers with their best suited and most effective strategies may allow the learners to reach their maximum potentials by Enhancing their participation and immersion In the Learning Process. Learning by listening may be effective to some learners; nonetheless, learning by doing and with the maximum possible immersion may be seen to be more effective.

The learning strategies, intellectual differences and learning behaviors of each and every learner may vary and may affect the flow of learning, anyhow, by allowing the learners to have the immersion suited for the topic, better results may be expected.

Therefore, I am now realizing after the thorough understanding of this module, that a teacher must have the openness to ideas that will enhance the learner’s activation and development of their core competencies so as opening the keys for the widening of horizons that would lead for the generation of knowledge through and through.

I would like to learn more and develop myself to be the best in facilitating learning so as to allow my future learners to achieve their best potentials ever.