Quotations about the Teaching Profession

1. Teaching is a vocation.

Teaching really is a vocation. Teacher training itself is already very exhaustive. We need strong feelings and dedication in order to carry out our mission - that is, to make the students learn. It is our job as well as our commitment.

2. You will never get rich in teaching.

True, salary for teaching may be low here in the Philippines. And the insurance and benefits system by the government isn't so dependable. Yet, I dare tell that it is still up to the person if he/she will get rich or not. Maybe it will take awhile, say 30 years. ^^  But with a starting salary of 16k (average), it will be a better career than being a call center agent in terms of its financial aspect. Tutoring pays a lot, especially for those who are teaching foreign and special students.

3. Teachers find it hard to marry.

This may be because teaching is very time consuming. Preparing lesson plans everyday is an arduous task. Preparing for the instruction itself, creating instructional materials, and managing with technology is even more difficult. Sometimes, meetings and trainings could add up to a tight schedule that you will almost have no time for yourself. But all this I believe can be addressed by proper time management. Teachers are not allowed to engage in time wasting activities. Since we are role models for the students, we must always make it a point to use our time wisely and spend it prudently.

4. Teaching requires expertise.

A teacher must have mastery over his/her subject matter. Quite true. But it does not end there. How many teachers have we had that are so good in the subject themselves but fail to deliver because their methods are so ambiguous that you don't even know what their objectives are. Traditional methods of teaching has proven to be ineffective time and again. Teaching does not only touch on the cognitive, but it also must affect the emotions, interest, motivation, and application of learning to real life.

5. It is better to teach abroad.

The role of teachers in nation building is very apparent. It is us who build the careers of future professionals. We lay down the foundation for them. And these people are the ones who will be the future generation of businessmen, engineers, accountants, doctors and the next teachers who will take our place. There are a lot of good teachers in the Philippines, but they are not yet enough. They say teachers are jobless, or underemployed. The quality of some employed teachers though, are below standard. It is up to us now, to raise this overall quality of teaching that our quality of graduates will also increase. But how can we do that if we are going to teach abroad? The Philippines need your skills. In the future that we may never know, we might have had the chance to teach the next great people of the world.

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Things You Should Not Forget to Write in Your Detailed Lesson Plans

1. Always start with a prayer.

This is especially important if you are working in a Catholic school. Well, if you aren't, then its still great to know that the Lord almighty is with you as you teach your students and as they learn from you.

2. Next step is always a heartfelt greeting. (Good morning!^^)

A great way to make students feel your presence is to give them a greeting with a big smile. It presents your enthusiasm and good will towards students.

3. Ask them to clean their Personal Area of Responsibility

Attention to small details is a part of having good classroom management. Remember that the learning environment also affects the attainment of your goals.

4. Recall

A review of the past lesson is a good way for students to test their retention of ideas. Confusing parts may also be cleared out in this step.

5. Processing of Activities

This is what I've learned in the recent seminar on Structured Learning Experience. We must always make the students know why we did an activity. They must know the purpose of the activities done in the classroom. Processing helps students know what they should've gained from doing the activity. Processing is also more focused on how they have learned, not on what they have learned.

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Erasures are NEVER Wrong

How many of us have encountered this instruction in the test papers and have overlooked it. Or maybe it was just some clumsy mistake due to confusing numbering on the test papers and inconsistent with our answer sheets that we made an irrevocable mistake which we attribute to our being careless or sometimes even "palpak" way of doing things.

It hurts to see this instruction in test papers

ERASURES ARE WRONG.

First of all, what is the objective of this instruction? Some say that it is to lessen cheating in the classroom.

But wait, isn't that the responsibility of the teacher? Getting rid of cheating is part of classroom management. If the teacher is not lazy to watch over the students as they take test, then they won't have a chance to cheat right? No matter how creative students are, teachers should be more creative than them.

If you have a class which you know are used to the habit of cheating, then make two tests which fulfills the same objectives. Set A, Set B. You can even make Set C if you want.

Putting the instruction "ERASURES ARE WRONG" is a big big mistake.

How can you take the right of the student to change his answer, to change his mind, to correct the incorrect. Is this not part of life? It is human nature to want to correct mistakes we've done. Don't do this to your students.

Take action, strive to be heard.

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