10 LESSONS Teaching taught me (and what I need to remember a lot when I go back to the profession) YAY

          This entry was conceived last Friday when I visited my former principal Mrs. Selene Olvido (whom every one in the school fondly calls "Mrs. O"). These are our conversations born through time and experience. These are not just comments; they are experiences we had to overcome. I am sure that we are not alone in these comments/ burdens/ insights, as Philippines is a country whose regard for education and the teachers have gone so corporatist; hence the understanding of learning in this context have only gone and reached the surface level.
                 *SIGH*. But as the saying goes, "every cloud has a silver lining". So this is what this blog entry is all about. The silver lining in a teacher's cloudy day/everyday/future/struggle/career...

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{Left} So she's Mrs. O -- our inspiration and mentor whom we dearly love as our mother. I really admire her because she weathered the storms of being a teacher/principal and has stood strong through the test of times as a gold who has been purified.

                For the past months since I left fulltime teaching, I can't help but marvel at teachers who stayed and is still staying in the profession. Fulltime teaching in the General Education indeed is a test of character, as I've come to describe it in a nutshell! You can't go on teaching and staying in there if you don't have the conviction, willpower, courage, willingness to sacrifice, and above all, sincerity and love day-by-day (if you're really serious about it).
The most unforgettable part of our conversation was when she mentioned how 'depth' seems to be a curse rather than a blessing...

MRS.O: Parang 'yun pagiging malalim minsan curse pa siya kaysa blessing e. 'Yun 'pag 'di mo naman   talaga nakukuha 'yung lalim at meaning ng ginagawa mo, wala lang. Go with the flow ka lang. Masaya ka lang. Pero kapag nakuha mo 'yun lalim at purpose nun ginagawa mo talaga, 'di mo matanggap. Nahihirapan ka sumabay lang. Kasi alam mong mali. Alam mong 'di dapat ganun. Gusto mo itama. Buhat-buhat mo siya.

ME : Kaya minsan mahirap po maging seryoso. Haha. Pero kung lahat naman ng tao go with the flow lang, wala lalong mangyayari. 

MRS.O: Mahirap nga lang talaga, like one of the young teachers I know, gusto na rin talaga mag-change career. 'Di niya maintindihan at matanggap kung bakit 'yun sistema parang 'di naman talaga concerned sa pagkatuto ng bata. Business na lang talaga. Ang hirap lang talaga kapag naapakan 'yun alam mong tama at ginagawa mo. Mahirap magturo.
ME : Sa Pilipinas po. Pagod na pagod ang teachers sa trabaho, 24-7 kahit bakasyon. Plus the meager salary haha. Kukuwestyunin pa o sasabihan na kulang pa 'yun effort or 'di ka competent. Haha. Kaya kahit miss na miss ko po ang klasrum at ang mga bata (mga bata lang talaga e), ayoko pa bumalik. Hihinga lang muna ako. Mag-iipon ng lakas at tapang. Di ko pa po mareconcile sa sarili ko na babalik uli ako sa GenEd fulltime teaching.
MRS.O : Minsan mas masarap na maging 'go with the flow' na lang din, pero ganun-ganun mo na lang iiwan 'yun alam mong tama at prinsipyo mo?

[Conversation kept on rolling]

          That is the type of real-talk that every serious teacher in US and the Philippines (and educational systems patterned after the US will really relate to. Nonetheless, we lose when we don't realize things along the struggle. So i tried to collate my realizations in 10 points.

My Realizations / Take on this : 

(1)More than anything else, I think "it's a matter of BEING'". Will you choose to be a deep and principled person yet it means your life will be harder than anybody else's? Or will you choose to be a person whose life is easy, yet it means you're going to live a life of shallowness and you will just be like everybody else?The issue here is, "who/what kind of person do you become in the process?" Your choice.
(2)How will you balance 'being deep' and 'being shallow'? As it is said "There is a time for everything.."(Ecclesiastes 3:1).
(3) How will you determine whether an issue is worth your attention or not? For a sage once said, "choose your battles (wisely)."
(4) There is a time to surrender and a time to not accept defeat. Sometimes we win by surrendering. Sometimes we win by fighting until we win. *HI TEACHERS, YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Teacher-factor na lang palagi 😂*
(5) Hanggang saan ka dadalhin (at ang mga bata) ng pride at prinsipyo mo? Hanggang saan din ang kaya/dapat mong isakripisyo? Hanggang saan lang din ang susundin mo at kailan ka tatayo sa sarili mo?
Learn to define your limits. The art of balancing is a virtue here. We also apply here The Art of War haha.
(6) Dear teachers, OWN THE CLASSROOM, OWN THE HEARTS OF THE KIDS AND PARENTS you can influence on your way ahead the teaching journey. The system can't take away from us what we speak in the classrooms, what we show our students,how we treat our students and parents and how we make them feel.
(7) Teaching and learning does not have to end in the classroom, in the school system. Carry your name everywherr with pride and dignity.#Teachers are #needed in this country!
(8) At the end of the day, we can only do so much. We work with humans with freewill of their own. We are only humans. Always do your best and let go and let God. It's okay.
(9) Learn to play the game gracefully. Never compromise your integrity. Haha.
(10) The ultimate secret how the 'seasoned teachers', weathered the storms in teaching: they CHOSE TO ENJOY the good and bad times and they FOCUSED ON OTHERS (the kids, specifically). That's something that can be learned through time, choice and endurance.

             So yep, I guess those are all the lessons and realizations I got from my 4-year of teaching (which was inspired by that conversation I had with my dear mentor Mrs. O. ).  

               #Teaching REALLY IS a #Heartwork (heartwork / artwork / hardwork ).