OCTOBER TEST

DT IT 1-B_Communication Arts class

It's October! Yes, it is. For the youthful, it's the best time to paint the town red by joining Oktoberfest. For the faithful, it's the month for the Holy Rosary. For the students, it's semester break. For me as a teacher, October is another month to hold on and to let go.

As to teaching philosophies, I admit I am a pragmatist. I make it sure (sorry to sound too personal) that learning causes to practical applications in the real life scenarios. For I believe that education is life itself. In this way, I never put too much pressures to my students. I set standards but I don't compel my students to meet these standards. As it usually turns out, this set of standards ends up just to become learning modifications. At least, meeting halfway such standards is the next best thing to "just enough." I never play the role of a terror teacher. I just don't know how to be so. Inside the classroom, I am just a typical Morrie to my students--enjoying the journey of learning being personalized, simplified, and modified. Teachers have the choice as to what teaching styles they're going to practice. They have academic freedom to do so. I think, therefore, that I am entitled to be just the big brother inside the classroom.

I never consider my students as my children under the loco parentis principle nor I see them as blank tablets as to John Locke's concept of tabula rasa. (For God's sake, I 'm teaching university students at that.) I do facilitate learning with them as their big brother. For that reason, I keep fraction of my time to study my students' whereabouts, daily expressions, Twitter-asked "What's going on?" among others. This is my way to reach them where they are.

My apology for sounding too personal. Well, I do hope I don't. I just can't help but have these stuffs shared with you. Because I'm a bit emotionally-attached to my students, October is another challenge for me to overcome separation anxiety. It sounds childish but it's true. I'm always trying my best to be professional enough to handle this separation anxiety, but I just can't hide it. I know I can't control parting ways like this. Somehow, I come to believe that being emotionally-attached to my students is just my coping mechanism to keep going. It's the answer to my longing for relationships based on trust and respect. 

To come to think of it, it's sad to separate ways with my students. Being big enough, I know that for the teacher's life, students do come and go. Shakespeare was really right when he once said, "Parting is such a sweet sorrow." We don't see each other that often but the good thing there is that, we still have all the time in the world to meet some other time in the future. Isn't that lovely?