Classroom Management

When I was a fresh graduate, I thought that I'd be easily able to make my students listen to the discussion If I just present interesting visuals and be animated in my classes. I had my lesson plan prepared and my powerpoint ready, and I was so eager and idealistic that I felt a lot of disappointment when I noticed some of my students chatting or doing assignments for other subjects while I was there in front explaining the history of English Literature. So why did my students not listen to me even though I was really prepared to discuss the lesson?

Then I realized that even before the discussion starts, there are routines that I must never forget to do. These are the things I do to make sure my class is well managed.

1. At the beginning of the school year, make sure students know what your expectations are.

Even before I introduce myself, I make them familiar with the vision-mission of the school, the core values, and the rules and regulations. Next, I orient them on my own house rules. When explaining these rules, students must know the reason behind implementation of the policy, and how it will benefit them in the long run, or else they will just ignore it. For example, if the rule says that they should raise their hand and wait for their turn to be recognized when giving an answer, you may say that this rule is to maintain order in the classroom and keep the discussion smooth and organized. This helps save time that may be used later on for production of their written outputs or performance tasks. Again, make sure that they know what your expectations are. Two to three days of orientation will result into a year of students that are well behaved and easy to get along with.

2. Be punctual.

They themselves will keep quiet once they notice that the teacher is already outside the room even before the bell rings. In our school, we dismiss the previous class five minutes before the period ends so teachers have time to move from one room to another. We play music, Fur Elise, over the PA and we tell our students that this is their time to rest and prepare for the next subject. The students are expected to keep quiet and the officers of the class, especially the president and vice-president, supervise as the teachers move from one room to another. Not only does this practice result to better performance for students, it also helps teachers to see the value of their subject when they see students prepare for it even before their classes start. Again, be punctual. Coming to class on time is expected for both students and teachers.

3. Come to class prepared.

Students have a keen eye. They can determine whether their teacher came to class prepared or not. A student's grin, knowing his or her teacher is disorganized, is something all teachers want to avoid.
Once entering the room, a teacher is supposed to look confident, even if one is stressed or haggard, because some students rely on that confidence of the teacher to get motivated to learn. The way a teacher handles himself or herself in front of the class may determine a student's readiness to listen and be attentive to what is being discussed.

Since we have Smart TVs in our school, a majority of our teachers use powerpoints or other presentation software to complement the use of the whiteboard for lectures. These powerpoint designs can also tell the students if a teacher is prepared or not. Some students even know if a teacher just downloaded the powerpoint from the internet. Not only do these visuals show a teacher's creativity, it also shows how prepared he or she is with her lesson.

4. Set objectives.

A student must know what he or she is expected to learn at the end of the class, at the end of the week, and at the end of the unit. This is why we post essential questions. I have noticed that in my classes, students work hard when they know what the final output is. We do mini-tasks and even in these mini-tasks we set objectives. Which skills are to be developed? How are these skills relevant to the output expected of them? What will they be able to do in the future if they are to develop these skills? How can this activity be replicated in the real world? Students simply need to know the answers to these questions in order for them to get motivated to learn.

5. Make discussions more interactive.

In my classes, I use a random number generator to elicit answers from the students. Every student is expected to be ready to answer any question I throw at them. But before I use my random number generator, I make sure that I give them enough time to answer. For my grade 7 students, I give them three to five minutes to think of an answer. For the senior high school, a minute or two is enough. Maximum participation in the class is encouraged. If I have 40 students in a class, I try to have 10 of them recite per day, and since I only meet them four times a week for English classes, I try my best to make everyone recite at least once per week.

Discussions can also be made more interactive when students' interest are integrated into the classes. In my grammar lessons, I usually integrate a topic I know my students will be interested in. We talk about their favorite TV shows, movies, artists, celebrities, music, and even games that they play. This way, they will be able to learn better since the lessons are more relevant to them. And if they find something interesting, they'll surely pay attention.

6. Lastly, and most importantly, be more considerate of the students.

The policies and rules may be important, but there are lots of reasons why a student may misbehave in class. Even if we try our best as teachers to make the class more interesting, a student may still behave. Some reasons I've encountered are family problems, low self-esteem, feeling like they are bullied, or just simply feeling down because of circumstances that can't be helped: their parents may have gone abroad, relatives arguing at home, or just simply being in a bad mood for the day. Sometimes I just remember how I was called "pikon" by my classmates because I was so short tempered. Then, I try to understand as much as possible. I try to be as gentle in my approach when I correct student behavior.

For those that are chatting, just go near them and they will get more conscious. No need to shout or scold them. For those that are doing their assignments in class, tap on their armchairs and motion with a hand gesture that they are to keep their materials and focus on listening. For those that are looking away, daydreaming, or even sleeping, a gentle tap on their shoulders will do. If those who are sleeping don't wake up, they should be left alone and at the end of the class, you may set an appointment with them to probe into the reasons why they sleep in class even though you've made it as interesting as possible.

Embarrassing students is never a good way to discipline. Even if it might be effective in a short period, students will always remember teachers who've embarrassed them. But those who showed concern, care, and effort to mend their behavior through kindness and gentleness, these teachers will always be remembered lovingly by their students.

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P.S.
I'm back after five years and since I had time this morning, I just wrote this as a day starter. I'm going to edit my articles here and make them more formal soon.

Got questions? Send them to prop262@gmail.com
I'll try to reply whenever I have time.
God bless us all.

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How to Handle Student Misbehavior

In the course of being a teacher, you will often run into students who need a little more attention than others. Problems students often cause disturbance in the class and most of the time do not perform well. So what is the proper way to handle such students?

Approaching the Student

First, you would want to talk to the student, in private. Do not let the student be seen by his or her classmates being singled out of the group or else these classmates may gossip about him in the wrong way. He could be embarrassed in front of them and this may worsen the situation. While walking around when they are taking a quiz, or perhaps doing boardwork or when they are making a project you can tell him, discreetly, to meet you in the office after school.

Introduction Phase

The next step would be to introduce yourself to your student. Tell him or her that you are his teacher and show him or her that you can be trusted since if your student can't trust you, how will he or she confide in you? Treat him like a friend. Ask him about his hobbies. Short talks about stuff that he likes can lead him to trust you instead of fearing you. Ask your student how his social status is. Does he have many friends? What are his hobbies? What does he do in his spare time? You may also give him or her a contact number so if he or she has any problems he or she can call you, whenever possible.

Probing the Root Cause

Preferably only when you are sure that the student is ready to open up to you can you ask probing questions to enlighten yourself on the root cause of the problem. Some common problems among misbehaving students are lack of financial support, emotional instability, heartbreaks, and lack of motivation. Going to the root of the problem will enable you to come up with the appropriate solution to the problem.

Monitor the Situation

Once you have your solution ready, do not just implement it and walk away. You still have to monitor the situation so you can be sure everything is going well. A positive sign that you may see will be a change in the behavior of the student. But, if the behavior doesn't change, then your solution may not have been the best one.

Guidance Counseling

One type of solution would be to go to the guidance counselor. Students often associate going to the guidance office with something negative, like they made a mistake or violated the rules, and that they were going to be reprimanded. To clear this misconception in the mind of the student, you may explain the objectives of going to the guidance to the student.

Home Visitation

When nothing else works, then you can visit his parents so you can have an idea of his home environment. Problems can be caused by poor home environment, and only when you have an overview of the situation can you plan out a more appropriate solution to the problem.

I hope this article helped you in any way. Godbless.

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10 Extraordinary Acts a Teacher Can Do

1. Home Visit In movies like “Freedom Writers”, teachers who see a problem or misbehavior in students find time to try and find out the cause of this problem or misbehavior by talking the friends of the student, or sometimes doing a home visit. A home visit shows that the teacher is really concerned and that he/she cares for his/her student. 2. Praising a child B.F. Skinner’s principle of reinforcing the child’s behavior through positive reinforcement is sometimes the least followed teaching principles as some teachers only focus on teaching the content or the subject, rather than teaching the content to students who need some form of encouragement for their effort in trying to learn what is being taught. 3. Consideration Nowadays, students are forced to learn concepts far beyond their level or capability, so some students find it hard to cope up and thereby get low marks on their performance assessment. Sometimes, their best just isn’t good enough and so as teachers, what we can do is try go give them some credit for their effort, a little consideration for them trying to do what they can with what they are presented with. A students’ failure is also a teacher’s failure, so we can’t blame it all on them if they get low marks, right? 4. Make your own sample of the project you give your students Have you ever had a teacher who told you to make, let’s say, a model of the solar system, and yet presented no example of his own? Sometimes, teachers give their students projects which seem easy but not really. If a teacher asks his students to make a poster, or a comic strip, or a miniature building, that teacher must present a sample as reference for the kids. If the teacher cannot produce that sample, how much less is the possibility that the students can produce it? 5. Smile What will be your impression if you see a teacher talk with a straight face all class long? Would you be interested to listen? Of course not. First impressions last and that first impression that the students see in each and every day would be your expression when you go through that classroom door. Your students won’t be so eager to listen to you unless you have that peaceful and beautiful aura sorrounding you. 6. Be the first to greet your students Inside the school, our students often meet us along corridors. Outside, we sometimes bump into the students unexpectedly and having our pride as teachers, we wait for the students to be the one to approach or say hi to us. Wrong. We need to act as role models to our students, so if ever we see them, we should seem more approachable to them by being the first ones to greet them. 7. Memorize all your students’ names Yeah, I know it’s tough. Especially when you have more or less 70 studens per class, with around 5-7 classses handled. That’s around 350+ students, all with different names, different personalities, but it’s not difficult when you get used to memorizing names. 8. Perform - Sing or dance or act - at the start of the class to get your students’ attention As a teacher, one must be a jack of all trades. You must have several talents which you can showcase to your students. 9. Hold your anger in and try to be more understanding of your student No matter how difficult one student is, there is always a reason for his/her actions. Being open-minded will allow you to see through the action and more of the person and his or her reasons. Keep off the fatty foods to avoid the high blood. 10. Have one teaching principle that you would like to keep in mind for a day Improving little by little everyday can have a huge impact on our teaching. One principle a day can keep the principal away. Godbless

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10 Tips for Passing the LET

What does it take to achieve a goal?

A successful person always has a goal in mind. There can be no person who have made it to the top without hard work and effort.

"Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential"

~Winston Churchill

That said, effort here means not just doing work for a day or two. It should be continuous. Needless to say,  a person who does just a day or two of hard work will benefit a day or two of reward. When the reward has more worth, then it requires effort which has more worth as well.

1. Stop procastinating.

Often the biggest hindrance in achieving our goals are the distractions of everyday life that we let ourselves be drawn into. Things like always opening our facebook accounts, playing online games, window shopping (online and offline), or just plain laziness can cause us to lose so much of our precious time which we should've used for something more productive like trying to achieve whatever goal we have set for ourselves.

2. Make a timetable.

This is often one of the suggestions for solving problem #1.

3. Follow your timetable strictly.

Really now, what's the use of a timetable if you don't follow it? Do not make excuses. The only thing that stands between you and your goal are your crappy excuses.

4. Learn to socialize.

What one can do, two can do better no? Be friendly to everyone.

5. Avoid overheating.

Take time to rest. It is not good to overstudy.

6. Remember that everything is a learning experience.

No matter what you do, keep in mind that anything, any concept or idea can be useful when the time comes. So remember as much as you can, from words to events, to skills and everything else. There's worth in everything.

7. Be resourceful.

Do not rely on just books or the internet. There are a lot of sources for information.

8. Get organized.

Your environment affects your learning. Having a cozy environment makes you feel sleepy. Having a messy environment makes you lazy. There should be a balance, but its really up to you. Just make sure that your study environment really looks like one, else you get demotivated to do anything.

9. Research.

Do not be discouraged when you read highfalutin words or words which are very difficult to understand. When the situation becomes difficult, then all the more you should exert effort. Never give up until you understand everything.

10. Ask yourself this question: Do you really want to be a teacher? For what purpose are you doing this?

Unless you are sure of what you want, none of these would really matter to you. As Socrates said, "Know thyself". On the other hand, if you are sure of what you want to be, then there will be no problem.

Following even just half of these will surely increase the chances of passing the LET. What is your goal? Do you want to just pass the LET? Or do you want to pass with flying colors? Make your choice.

~At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no regrets.

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Overcoming Test Anxiety in Taking the LET Exam

Everything has already been prepared. Thus, you are now ready to take the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). It’s finally the long awaited day. Or so you thought.

First, you went to your testing place. Next, you look for your assigned room. Nervous, your eyes wander around to check on the people inside the same room you are in. Suddenly, the Let examiner (proctor) comes in the room, and you go to your assigned place. The proctor hands out the test booklets and at the same moment you felt a shiver down your spine as the examiner gives the guidelines for taking the exam. You are told that you have 3 hours to finish the General Education part. You feel cold sweat dripping from your face. Bam! You cannot concentrate. You lose your focus. Everything falls apart.

A lot of students nowadays feel the same kind of pressure when taking exams, especially the major exams. This is called TEST ANXIETY. Examiners experience test anxiety because they are afraid of failure, so they give in to the pressure, especially when they are faced with a highly important situation like taking exams. Here are some practical tips and ways to avoid test anxiety.

1. Disregard every thought not related to taking the exam.

This will help you focus all your energy and mental power into the exam itself. Forget your boyfriend/girlfriend for now. Forget facebook, games, and any other distraction that can make you lose your attention to what is really important. This is a once in a lifetime event in your life.

2. Come prepared.

Prepare everything beforehand, not on the day of the examination itself. It’s better if you have prepared the materials needed (2 pencils, 1 black pen, admission slip etc.) a month before to avoid rushing.

3. Get a good night’s sleep.

It is good to review the topics a lot but if it means losing some sleep, then don’t. Lacking sleep right before taking an exam makes you feel drowsy. Lack of sleep can also make you feel irritated easily, and it also disrupts your appetite.

4. Make sure to eat healthily.

A healthy body equals a healthy mind. You don’t want your stomach to get in your way while taking the exam now, do you?

5. Listen attentively. Follow instructions carefully and precisely.

Failing because you didn’t listen well to the instructions is one of the biggest mistakes you can have in your LET exam.

6. Manage your time well.

If you have 3 hours to answer a 150 item test, then allot at most a little more than a minute for every item. Don’t focus too much on one item that it makes you rush the last items because you don’t have enough time anymore.

Remember, you don’t want to let all your preparations go to waste. It is wise to do all that you possible can to increase your chances of passing, even just a little. So just do your best, and God will do the rest. Good luck to all LET takers.

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History of Licensure Examination for Teachers: A Short Review

                It has been a fact that all who seek to pursue teaching as a career need to take the Licensure Examination for Teachers or the LET, but very few really know what the LET is, its purpose and significance in the education reform of the Philippines.

                The LET was implemented in the Philippines throught the enactment of Republic Act 7836 or otherwise known as the “Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994” on December 16, 1994. The enactment of the law didn’t mean that the teachers in the Philippines were not “professional”. Rather it is a means to strengthen and improve not just the teachers, but also the quality of education and the whole education system in general. By improving the teachers, the students will naturally follow the embetterment of those who lead them.

                Before R.A. 7836 was implemented, education in the Philippines was mostly regulated and supervised by the National Board for Teachers (NBT). Even though R.A. 7836 was signed as law in 1994, the first LET exam was held two years later. On August 1996, a total of 97,560 examinees took the first LET exam administered by both the Board for Professional Teachers (BPT) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

                The examination for teachers at the elementary level consists of only two parts: the general education and the professional education; while the examination for the secondary level consists of three parts: the general education, professional education, and field of specialization. General education refers to core subjects like Filipino, English, Math, Science, and Social Science/Studies. Professional education refers to those related to the teaching profession like Facilitating Learning, Early Childhood and Adolescent Development and Education, Principles of Teaching, Methods and Strategies, Curriculum Development, and the Teaching Profession as a whole. Lastly the field of specialization refers to the specific discipline the secondary teachers have to teach like English, Biology, Chemistry, Math, Filipino, Social Studies, Music, Art, Physical Education and Health or MAPEH. Nowadays, there are usually 150 items for general education, 150 for professional education and 150 test items for the field of specialization which are taken for more or less 3 hours each for each part.

                Because of this law, aspiring teachers must now get a license first before being able to teach in the public schools. Although the law requires a teacher to have a license, some private schools still accept fresh graduates who have yet to take the Licensure Exam. This is in part due to the lack of qualified teachers in teaching specialization subjects or vocational skills.

Since the implementation of the law, there has been a significant change in the method of teaching in the Philippines. Teachers who used to rely on textbooks have now begun to innovate their own teaching methods and strategies. The emphasis on continuing professional education (CPE), or taking the masteral and doctorate degrees, has now been more pursued by teachers who didn’t want to get left behind on the educational changes happening around them. Having more confidence in their teaching skill, teachers perform better and so do their students.

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Personal Educational Philosophy

“Only love can change the world”

If a teacher would like to make the students learn, then the teacher must first love the students. I have seen so many students today in our society that has the problem of lack of affection because of various circumstances at home. Because of this, their only hope is to receive this love in school, from their classmates or their teachers. So it is very important that a teacher learns to love each and every student.

I believe every child is special, and that makes me want to explore their potential. They are the hope of the future, and they are gems that are waiting to be discovered. I want to tap into these hidden abilities of the students by first getting to know the students themselves. As teachers, it is imperative that the students trust us and believe in our capability of making them shine and stand out in this world. We must make them feel their worth.

Teachers cannot teach everything to the children, but they are bound to change something in their lives. The students should learn not just the information and facts, but also of the attitudes and values that will help them live a productive and fruitful life in society or outside the school community when they graduate. Only then will a student considered truly learned.

Education is not just a preparation for life, it is life itself. High school students learn by associating with themselves with the world. Where do they stand? Where is their place in this world? What is their identity? And thus it is the job of the teacher to help them answer these questions and guide them as they themselves discover what their life is all about.

Teachers are like candles. They consume themselves to light the way for their students. If to teach is to love, then showing love means sacrifice. Sacrifice time, effort and sometimes, even financial things. Once a teacher shows love for students, then it is impossible not to make the students learn.

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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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Why do students get bored studying?

5 Factors Which Demotivate Students

1. Boring teacher.

One of the biggest factors students get bored in studying is because of an ineffective teacher. A teacher who does not prepare his/her lesson plans and don't care about what happens to his or her students will not be able to motivate them.

2. Inappropriate curriculum subjects.

Subjects which are unrelated to the course being taken by a student will surely make him/her feel that what he/she is doing is a big waste of time.

3. Being in a class that doesn't fit his/her personality.

A student who is interested in technology related topics would get bored being in a class who is more interested in acting and performing. He would want more to be with people who share the same interests.

4. A distracting environment

Noise, too much heat or coldness, or dirt inside a classroom will be able to get the students' attention away from the lesson. It is best to have a quiet classroom, clean and with an average temperature.

5. A teacher who is always absent.

This is different from a teacher being boring. A teacher might be good in teaching but if he/she is always absent, then a student might just get the idea of reading a book to learn rather than depending on a teacher. This is detrimental for us teachers for if this happens, then our usefulness per se is lost.


It is important to always possess the good qualities of a teacher, both personally and professionally. Follow the teaching principles to make students' always interested in studying for our ULTIMATE GOAL is always to MAXIMIZE THEIR LEARNING.

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What is the difference between approaches, methods and techniques?

When I was an education student, I often had problems in differentiating teaching approach from teaching methods and teaching techniques. For me, it sounded all the same. Which is why now I am up to the task of trying to describe these three in simple terms which will not be difficult to understand and giving examples of situations to characterize their differences. For the purpose of simplifying this article, we assume that strategy and technique are one and the same.

First we define what a Teaching Approach is. A teaching approach is how you view things. Examples are behaviourist approach – drills, constructivist approach - output-based, integrated approach.

A Teaching Method, on the other hand, is the plan you follow when you are teaching. By applying a certain approach, you come up with procedures and practices for teaching your students. This consists of procedures you follow, steps you take, outline of actions that you have to do. It takes some guidelines from approaches and imparts pointers to strategies. Some examples are the inductive method, deductive method, project method, problem method, lecture method, metacognitive method, unit method, Demonstration, recitation, and the audio lingual method.

Lastly, a Teaching Technique are our own/personal/idiosyncratic strategies we use in order for us to be effective teachers. We adapt our teaching to the kind of students we have such that our instruction is different for every class and for every kind of student. It’s our maneuvering or tactic, a personal way implementing methods, highly individualized and tailor-fitted, customized to students learning styles, needs and interests. Some examples are games, activities, rewards and punishments

Now if we take it that method is the most commonly used term, that may be because the methods take some pointers from approaches, and imparts some of its pointers to strategies.

So basically, an approach is an overview which applies to learning for all kinds of learners. The method is the plan suited for a specific type of learner, and when it is applied to a specific group of students (a specific class or section), it becomes a strategy. If the method is the plan, then the strategy is the actual execution of the plan. Some books interchangeably use them.

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Loving Teachers

Loving teachers, you will always be
Wisdom and Joy, you gave to me
In times of trouble, you were always there
To guide and counsel with tender care

Years may come, and we may go
in our hearts you stay, this we know
knowledge and values, we will bring
to the outside world where we will sing

of the wonderful times we've had with you
the discussions and exams we've been through
the games we played, the questions and answers
these experiences, we will forever treasure

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Top Responsibilities of a Teacher

As teachers, we all have different kinds of responsibilities and we know that our students expect a lot from us. Making sure that we know our responsibilities can help us perform better our duty. Several principles of teaching can guide us in knowing what our responsibilities are. This list is in no means exhaustive of the principles which are applicable to the responsibility, but provides a guide of what principles can apply in different types of responsibilities, of which these responsibilities may overlap with one another.

Here are my top 10 responsibilities as a teacher:

1. Making sure that the students learn and master the subject.

Of course, being a teacher means we have to make our students learn what we teach them. The root word of teacher which is "teach" comes from the Germanic word "tæcan" which means to "show or point out". This means we have to show our students the way and point out the important concepts which they must master.

The theory of cognitive development by Piaget tells us that we can do this by making sure the lessons are suited for the ability of the students because no matter how hard we try to teach them, if they are not yet ready for it, then they cannot learn anything. Thorndike's Law of Readiness also supports this notion.

2. Facilitating activities that will help students attain instructional objectives, guiding students to think critically and independently, motivating students to be responsible of their own learning.

This responsibility is somewhat connected to the first, but here there is an intrinsic factor which is the motivation of the students in learning.

Constructivism tells us that students learn when they are involve in the process. Students must think for themselves on how they can achieve the learning objectives so as teachers, the best we can do is to guide them and provide them with the necessary tools and facilities needed for enhancing their learning experience.

3. Checking/Monitoring every student's learning progress

4. Making the students enjoy going to class

One must be unpredictable in order to make students anticipate every class session. There must be a variation of lessons and teaching methods and strategies so students do not get bored.

The psychological environment must also be filled with respect, open-mindedness, patience and other positive values to be shared not only by the students but of the teacher as well.

5. Teaching not only knowledge, but values as well

6. Enhancing each student's creativity and talents

7. Treating the teaching profession as a noble mission and loving it.

What are your own list of the responsibilities of a teacher?

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A Teacher's Prayer

Lord in Heaven, help me never to forget the beauty in a little child.

Never let me forget the wonder and trust and yearning in their bright, twinkling eyes.

Help me to remember that I am shaping the lives of future generations.

And though I am unworthy of this precious charge, give me the the strength to be the best model scholar and the best Christian example that I can possible be.

Give me love to overcome adversity.
Give me patience to overcome trials.
Give me wisdom to overcome my shortcomings.
Give me faith to overcome my dark hours.

And as I find my rest tonight, help me to love my pupils and to remember them in my prayers.

Give me strength equal to tomorrow's task, for I depend on you alone, just as my pupils depend on me.

-Author Unknown

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