DO you remember this song? We used to sing it in our school every Teachers’ Day. We would celebrate this the week of September 28 in honor of Confucius’s birthday. However, today, the celebration of the National Teachers’ Month is officially celebrated
from September 5 to October 5. National Teachers’ Day is officially on October 5 based on the Presidential Proclamation 242 (s. 2011) and Republic Act 10743 (s. 2016).
I thought this week’s article would be a great way to share my even stronger appreciation for teachers, as I review for the upcoming Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).
These past few months have been a big challenge for me to say the least. I definitely have a new appreciation for licensed professional teachers. Imagine, last year more than 200,000 aspiring teachers took the test and only around 36 percent passed it. For me, I am taking the Secondary Level LET which includes 150 questions in General Education. This part of the test checks one’s knowledge on English, filipino, math, science, social science, and information and communication technology (ICT); then it’s 150 questions in Professional Education, which includes social dimensions, principles of teaching, facilitating learning, and assessment; while the last set of questions is for one’s specialization. Since my undergrad is Management Engineering, I was assigned to be in math.
It was both amazing and intimidating to be taught by “LET top notchers.” Each one has their story; some teach public schools with multiple classes, some teach in private institutions. They all warned us aspiring teachers that being a teacher is difficult and many times very discouraging. Coach Anna, who teaches in an international school, gave an inspiring talk on our last day. She shared the deep struggles and triumphs of people. One of them was Mabinty Bangura from Sierra Leone, who was adopted by Elaine DePrince. After facing all her struggles from losing her parents and to being abused because of a skin condition called vitiligo, she later on became one of the first African prima ballerinas. Bangura was even handpicked by Beyoncé to do a choreography for her music video.
I felt humbled by our head coach, Albert Basa, whose credentials extend from education to public administration, philosophy and government policy-making, but whose only verbal introduction to us was that his mom was a public-school teacher. It was also refreshing to be among young people who were half my age. My constant studymate is Christian, a fresh graduate from Quezon. He would commute every weekend to Manila to attend review classes. I am so proud of his dreams to pursue teaching, then take the CPA board exams and maybe eventually Law.
Honestly, there have been some weeks, especially during the specialization classes, when I felt like throwing in the towel. I even went to our math coach, Ma’am Emjoy Macayayong, one evening to ask if she felt I could make it, given that I am not a true math major and have been off from college for 20 years. Her encouraging words and patience helped a lot. After that, I spent many nights til 4 am doing the math practices and taking practice tests. I was so grateful that I actually messaged her on our last day: “Hi Ma’am Emjoy. This is Maye Yao, one of your students in Batch 3. I just wanted to thank you so much for being patient with all my questions. Honestly, I was prepared to give up halfway in our math specialization because I’ve been 20 years out of college already. I asked myself if I really needed this. Your enthusiasm and encouraging words to us, especially when I asked you kung kaya ko po that one evening, really made such a big difference. Pass or fail, high or low, the Mindgym review experience has opened my hope that our country might still have a fighting chance through education and I am not alone in that dream. Ingat po always.”
One time, my daughter saw me studying so intently and asked me, “Mom, why are you doing this?” My seatmate for General Education review class even asked me, “Ma’am, parang stable naman ho ’yung trabaho niyo. Bakit pa ho kayo magli-LET?”
I guess I am one of those idealistic individuals. I believe our nation can be stronger when our people are fully equipped. Being fully equipped for me involves a healthy heart, mind and body. I believe that as much as teachers are doing their best in teaching our kids content and character, we as parents must also discover and understand our role in the process.
Next week, let me share in more detail the “why” in my passion to pursue teaching.
1 comment
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