MOST people know me as a sportswriter and a sports analyst. Some even know that I once held day jobs as a marketing professional while doing my journalistic duties.
What most don’t know is that I teach part-time. I have and still do.
Yesterday, October 5 was World Teacher’s Day.
This has been celebrated all over the world since 1994 after UNICEF and the International Labor Organization put this date of recognition together. And to be honest, this is the first time I ever thought of reflecting about it which is strange considering I have taught for a while now. As is the case with many other people in various trades and industries, the pandemic is time for some reflection. And this is my World Teacher’s Day reflection.
When asking students to write, I tell them that I will pay more attention to the substance as opposed to their grammar. I am not saying that I will overlook grammar. I’ll work on it, but I believe that I need to inculcate a love of writing and draw out that confidence and expression before thinking about grammar. Through my journalism classes and now my purposive communication classes, I have done that.
It isn’t to say, it is easy. Some of what is written is sheer murder.
Last night, I went through an essay from one of my students that was part of their prelims requirements and while I liked what he was trying to say, I was still bothered about the subject-verb agreement and other mistakes.
I immediately consulted my co-teacher in the Brooklyn school where I once taught and Ms. Debbie told me they tried an alternative approach to teaching grammar—by doing the same thing as I am doing—which is expression and writing followed by working on the technical aspects. When the sentences and paragraphs are done, Ms. Debbie reiterated, it is easier to appreciate the corrections in form.
The results, Ms. Debbie said, were better than the traditional form they knew.
That was reinvigorating.
Maybe it doesn’t work for everyone. At least in our cases, it does.
And that method is exactly what I have been doing since I returned to teaching this past July not only for my journ classes, but also my communication classes. When I began teaching in Ateneo, I never had that problem with my students. I guess, that is explanatory. But these past four months, I have had to adjust and rethink my methodology.
While people have no problem expressing themselves on social media, in a proper structure such as writing, making a speech or a presentation, or doing a video, they struggle.
So even in my journ classes, I worked on extracting that creativity and building confidence in their expression whether through writing or through photography. I can see the marked improvement and I couldn’t be happier.
Well, my college classes still need a lot of work, but I think we’ll be able to bridge that gap.
As far as my approach, since I began teaching in 2003—intermittently I might add—my methodology was built around how I was taught as a kid. I struggled when teachers were less than patient and very dismissive. Some teachers were even cruel. I believe it affected my learning curve.
I told myself that should I ever teach, I would be the exact opposite. I’d really work hard to nurture and encourage and well, teach. Make learning fun and interesting which is why I have an unorthodox style.
I learned more about my craft when I attended that seminar at the New York Times when I lived in the US a long time ago and befriending one of the speakers who got me to blog and do more. That has been a game changer for my career. But so has teaching.
When I think about it, what I have done professionally and even teaching-wise fits right with this year’s celebration of World Teacher’s Day—“Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future.”
I currently teach 10 times a week and I find myself exhausted after every class. And to think I have my writing deliverables as well.
And yet, I truly enjoy what I am doing. When I see my students get opportunities, to improve, and get a glimpse of their potential…it makes this old man proud.