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BY SONIA DAQUILA
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Teaching
TEACHING is so rewarding but it could be a torture, too. Encounters with the students could be engaging but for some, it would also feel like a punishment.
I still remember a Jesuit, Father Dalton, who spoke about his simple rules for teachers. The first rule is for a teacher to make his class student-centered and interactive.
For lady teachers, they must be dressed appropriately to teach comfortably and effectively. It means no revealing attire of unsightly liabilities or suggestive attire for titillation of imagination of desirable assets. No heavy makeup that it would be difficult to smile nor 3- to 4-inch high-heeled shoes that constraint walking around or standing before the class.
Teachers should know the lingo or even the secrets of students (without becoming nosey) so they will understand where they are coming from: their “hugot” or “makaka-relate” expressions.
Make your examination a measure of what the students should have learned.
A smile, compassionate gestures, a touch mean a lot. But of course, be careful of sexual harassment.
Communicate. Listen carefully when they speak to you and when they share their joy, fears and secrets. keep them in confidence.
Teaching is beyond books or classrooms. When we teach, we give away a part of ourselves. As epitome of virtues, teachers are teachers 24 hours a day.
I know a teacher who taught without multi-media. His classroom haD no air-conditioning unit, no microphone, neither chalk nor black or white board. He sat on rocks. He delivered his lectures in the mountains, in the storm, in the rain, under the trees, on a boat, in the market, at sea…
He spoke powerfully, even in silence. His topics were varied but they were mostly focused on life.
When asked about his lessons, the teacher answered by analogy or by parables. He sometimes wrote answers on the sand. What made this teacher different from the monotonous and dogmatic ones?
There was something strange in Him. His loving gazes penetrated the students’ whole being. His touch healed. His gestures invited even a stranger to come nearer to listen to him, and a multitude followed him because they wanted to hang on to every word he uttered.
His name was Jesus, the first and the best teacher, ever.
For those who love this noblest profession, teaching is a panacea of all ills. I have been in the teaching profession for 40 years now. I still do not know many things and I feel the need to learn with my students, to wonder, and to laugh with them.
Being with the young has an osmotic effect, too. You will feel young and alive. All of these perk me up.
Although teachers are usually overworked but underpaid, many still choose teaching as a profession because the sense of fulfilment is beyond pecuniary estimation. When you prepare to teach today, ask yourself: “Do you teach to live, or do you live to teach?” (delsocorrodaquila@gmail.com/PN)
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