a break from teaching

March 4, 2011 1 Comment

It’s been a long time since I posted an entry in this blog and I would like to start this entry by writing how much I missed teaching, but that would make me a fraud because that is not how I feel. Not even close, not even a bit.

I don’t miss teaching at all. I don’t miss the endless preparation for lessons, the stress, the full schedule, the unpaid working hours, and the bratty kids. As I think about it now, I am really glad I have a break from teaching. I am more relaxed, happier, more at peace with myself.

I am really enjoying being able to stay away from teaching at this point. Not just because I am pregnant but because of the time I get to have for other things. I have time to learn new things (web design), to catch up on my hobbies, to catch up with old friends, to take long walks, to sit and be idle. These are some things I was not given so much chance to do when I was still teaching.

I hope I don’t sound like I hate teaching. I don’t. On the contrary, I love teaching but it made me feel so burned out that I am happy to be away from it for a while. If there’s really a thing I miss about my work, it’s not the teaching per se but the kind parents who later became my friends and their sweet kids.

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the complaint

June 29, 2010 2 Comments

All of the teachers in the learning center where I work experienced some sort of complaints already and about two months ago, I also got my share.

The complaint was: I don’t have a British accent.

It was coming from a grandmother who sat twice in my class to observe me. Normally, children ages 5 and above are going in the class without their guardians but then one day, this particular grandma asked me if she could sit in my class and being the polite person that I am (*wink), I said okay. After the second time of observing me, she talked to my head teacher and told her that she wants another teacher for this group (where her granddaughter is in). And the reason she said is because I don’t have a British accent.

The bad thing is, this gradma talked to this group’s kids’ parents and told them that the group will be better off with another teacher (Note: This group was previously handled by another teacher before I took over).

Firstly, I never claimed that I have a British accent and secondly, I never even tried to speak with a British accent. So I am quite irked that the complaint is based on such shallow reason.

My head teacher is of course, on my side. She told me, it is not her first time to hear a complaint.  She said she got worse already but she said that the learning center is more than just a learning center, it is also a business and therefore; we should give the clients what they want no matter how shallow it is.

I didn’t try to reason out. For me, if they want another teacher then it is fine with me. I have too many classes anyway.  So everything’s agreed between me, my head teacher, and the grandma. We agreed that as soon as the LC gets a new teacher, this group will have a new teacher.

So yesterday, the new teacher came and starting next semester, she will teach this group. The sad thing is, not all of the parents agree to have a new teacher for this group because their kids want me as their teacher. So half of the kids would like to stay with me and the other half would be separated and will continue with the new teacher. But the problems are: the LC doesn’t have enough rooms for this particular time. So they don’t know where to do the separated class. They (parents themselves and my head teacher) don’t seem to agree on another schedule so they have to find a way settle that.  Another problem is the fact that “half of the group” is not enough to continue a group. 8 is the maximum number of kids in a group, 5-7 is ideal, but 4 is just too less (the LC won’t earn enough). So if things are not settled, this group could be abolished completely just because of one guardian who complained.

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the next step

June 13, 2010 Leave a Comment

In my last post, I expressed the negative feelings I have towards my job and until now I still have those feelings but I decided to something about it.

Teachers here in Austria are paid well. They have very good benefits and very comfortable work conditions. I want that for myself too but that means I have to get a teaching job at a public school. Right now, I am teaching in a private learning center that is why I don’t enjoy all the advantages a public teacher has. I honestly like my job at the learning center and I could imagine working there longer if I were better paid and if I would have better work conditions but I obviously don’t.

So it’s time to move on.

Or, at least, prepare to move on and that’s what I am going to do this coming September.

I am going back to school.

I will take the required German courses in order for me to be eligible for nostrification. I’ve completed A1, A2, and B1 in Goethe Institute Shanghai but that’s not enough. I also have to take the last three courses, B2, C1, and C2. If all work well and if I successfully completed those courses, I can then apply for the nostrification. That means, the university (where I would like to study) will evaluate the degree I’ve completed in the Philippines and then they will tell me what courses/subjects I still have to take up. I think I also have to pass a certain exam to be given a place in the university.

I hate the nostrification. I think it’s just a bureaucratic nonsense. I do agree with the regulation that I have to have a perfect German to be able to teach here but for me to get a nostrification? It’s like them telling me that they don’t trust in the quality of education I got just because I got it outside the EU.

I’ve been avoiding this nostrification thing for a year now but I realized that I have to face it eventually if I really want to have a better teaching job here. I am still NOT 100% sure if I want to go through it but I will take a step towards it because anyway, learning German could only be good. If I decide to take a completely different path later, having good German skills will still be an asset.

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this year will be a very busy year

January 27, 2010 4 Comments

I haven’t updated this blog for more than a month and based on how things look like at the moment, posts will be scarce for the following months.

Remember when I told you that I have 10 groups each week? Well, that changed on the second week of this month. I now have 15 groups. One of my colleagues is at an early stage of pregnancy and because she is experiencing some difficulties, her doctor advised her not to work. Her classes are now divided between me and another teacher.

I think, 15 groups a week is not a big problem. I can handle all of these groups smoothly if they were of the same program (level) but they aren’t. These 15 groups are scattered in five different programs. I could, of course, still do 15 groups in five different programs easily if the groups in each program were in the same lesson.  So it would be like preparing 5 lesson plans and 5 set of props each week but then again, that is not the case. The groups in each program are not in the same lesson. Some are in just in second lesson of Unit 2, others are in another lesson in another unit, and etc. In short, I always have to prepare 15 lessons plans and 15 sets of props each week.

Our learning center badly needs new teachers but the problem is; the next teacher training course will only be in the summer of this year so even if there were applicants now, they won’t be able to teach until the first school semester (September 2010).  By right, I could refuse to accept the additional classes but I don’t have the heart to do that to my head teacher. If I won’t accept these classes, there’s no choice for the learning center but to let these classes go.

I am now in my third week of this unbelievable stressful work load and surprisingly, I am able to cope with it. By “cope” I mean, I am able to prepare my lesson plans and deliver them properly, I am able to prepare the props needed in each lesson, I am never late, and I am never absent from any of my classes. But my “coping” doesn’t extend to housework and blogging.  Gosh! Our flat looks like a bomb just detonated in it and I can’t even begin to think of the pile of clothes waiting to be ironed! I could go on and on about how I am lacking time for other things but this blog is supposed to be about the joy of teaching and not the woes of a housewife or the frustrations of a blogger so I will stop now.

I do love to teach even if it means that I have to stay up all night preparing props and lesson plans but sometimes I wish that things were a little bit less taxing.

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salute to efren piñaflorida!

December 13, 2009 4 Comments

I would, of course, quote my source if I could remember where I got it but unfortunately, I can only be sure that it is from one of the innumerable blogs I came across with. I normally take note of nicely written, powerful, amusing, or interesting lines from the blogs, books, magazine, and newspapers I read and while going through my notes, I found this:

With the preponderance of rotten kids these days, I don’t think that teaching is such an ideal profession anymore.

The one who wrote this has a point. I am not sure if she (or he) is writing this in a teacher’s point of view but the part where she says that teaching is not an ideal profession is a part I can agree with. The part where she says that rotten kids are preponderant these days is also true but there are still nice kids so that sort of even things out. Having rotten kids is hardly the reason why teaching is not ideal.

Why is teaching not an ideal profession?

art.efren.penaflorida.cnnFor one thing, it is noble and that explains it all. I think we could see it better if we put ourselves into the shoes of those teachers teaching in public schools in poor countries. Those who still, even under extremely difficult situation, practice this profession.

How many teachers have decent salaries? How many teachers have decent classrooms? How many teachers teach appropriate number of children in one class? How many teachers have access to necessary teaching materials? How many teachers have a manageable number of working hours per week? How many teachers have the chance of availing further education?

Not a lot.

If you are a teacher who has all these, consider yourself very lucky. I could understand if you’ll say that teaching is indeed ideal. But if you are not, then you have my (and others’) respect for pursuing this profession.  Not all of us can be as noble as Efren Piñaflorida but I believe, and I think a lot would agree, that by being in this profession and by trying hard to make the best out of what we have, we are, in our own rights, noble.

Photo courtesy of cnn.com

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let them take responsibility

November 24, 2009 5 Comments

When I was younger, I often hear older people say “kids are different these days”  and that always connotes something negative. Now that I am an adult, I also have the same opinion on children of today– they are quite different from how we were. And yes, I also mean that in a negative way.

Back then, when a child did something bad and teacher says “I want to talk to your parents,” it is enough to make that particular child feel guilty or make him/her think about all the punishments the parents/teachers could do to him/her. Then the child will try to behave better to sort of even out what he’s done.

So if my generation is worse than my mother’s generation and the generation after my generation is worse than mine, then that could only mean that  the behavior of children humankind (because they will be adults later) is deteriorating. Why is this so? It is because the times change.  Many would blame it to popular culture and media but I don’t like to go into that now.

I have a class in a private Volkschule (primary school) here in Austria. I go there once a week to give them extra English lessons. In one of our lessons, two of the six boys started fighting out of the blue. It turned out that these two kids have a long history of previous fights and of not liking each other in general.  It wasn’t easy but I manage to break up the fight and then I told them, with all the calmness that I could muster, that what they did is wrong. I also told them that I would like to speak to their parents. To my surprise, none of them seemed to care. One of them even suggested that he’ll call his mother immediately.

After the class, I managed to have a word with their mothers. I talked to them separately and I am really disappointed on how these mothers see their kids’ behavior. Both mothers claimed that it could not have been the fault of their kid. They told me a lot of things that made me further conclude that they (the mothers) also don’t like each other.

I honestly don’t give  importance on who started the fight or whose fault it is because it was obviously both of them. It is bad enough that these kids don’t care what they do in front of a teacher but parents who don’t let their kids take responsibilities for their (kids’) actions could only mean worse. Parents like these are not helping in the positive development of their childrens’ personality.

I am not saying that they should beat their kids until they’re blue or that they make use of grounding or any other form of punishments. I just wanted them to talk to their kids and explain that they did something wrong and that they shouldn’t do it again.

The role of teachers in children’s development is great and some would even claim that the teachers have more influence on children than parents actually have. Still, we could all agree that parents have influence on their children and no matter how big or small that is, it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Parents letting their children take responsibility for their actions is directly teaching them discipline, respect and responsibility.

Based on this experience, I hope that these two particular mothers and other parents like them could learn some sense on how to use their influence on their kids.

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are you a native speaker?

November 4, 2009 9 Comments

Many Filipinos, although they had an English subject at school, still can’t really express themselves in English. I think the reason to this is because they didn’t have the chance or were not encouraged to talk in English.

Give an ordinary Filipino an English text and he will be able to read and comprehend all of it but if you ask him to tell you in English what’s his opinion on something, he will most likely have a difficulty expressing himself.

Why is this so?

It is because Filipinos don’t have the chance to use English in their speech.  Or if they do, they just put English words in Filipino sentences.

We started learning English at a very early age. Most of the school subjects are taught in English. Most of the textbooks are in English. We watch a lot of TV programs and movies in English. We are exposed to songs with English texts. But that’s about it. We don’t converse to each other in English so our English skills go as far as comprehending English texts and understanding spoken English. When it comes to expressing ourselves in English, most of us hesitate.

Of course, we’ve come a long way and compared to other countries who have their own language (not English), we are definitely more advance with our English. Philippines recognizes both Filipino and English as the country’s official languages but most of us still can’t claim to be native speakers of English or Filipino-English bilinguals.

When being asked, I always say that English is my second language. In China, admitting that means you are waiving your chance of getting a better teaching job so I can’t blame those Filipino teachers in China who claim to be native speakers even if they obviously confuse their p’s with their f’s (no offense but we have to admit that this is true).

Anyway, I always tell myself that the fact that they asked, means they can’t really tell if I am a native speaker or not and that’s good.

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building up my English skills

October 2, 2009 5 Comments

Being a non-native English speaker who is teaching English, I always have to worry about my pronunciation and my grammar. I often find myself stopping in the middle of a sentence because I am not sure what grammatical rule to follow. In short, I am not sure how to say things the right way (grammatically speaking).

wallsTrue I got this job only after a thorough interview and an intensive training. In a private school in Austria that goes to say something but I still cannot relax. I want to be better in English especially because I am teaching it so I make sure that I do something every day to further improve my English skills. Among these things is reading.

I read a lot.

As child, I learned the love of reading from my friends who would come to school and talk about the latest Nancy Drew or Sweet Valley High book. Naturally, I didn’t like to be left behind so I also borrowed their books and read them at home. Unlike my friends, I grew up in a simple working class family and although me and my sisters were encouraged to do well at school, the love of reading and writing were not really given importance. In fact I can’t remember receiving a book as a gift. We were given things we need—like school supplies and clothing but books… hmm—the only books that were lying around the house were our public school textbooks.

Now I have stacks of books to read and other than that, there are several blogs I follow. I allot at least an hour each day to read. Although the influence of reading (English texts) on my English skills is not immediately evident, I know that it helps a lot.

I also like to write.

But unlike reading, I can’t write every day because I find it difficult to do so. Sure I can express what I mean in written words but not as beautifully as I want them to be expressed. My English writing skill is very limited but I am also working to improve it.

Living in a German speaking country means that 90% of what’s shown on TV and on cinema is dubbed in German. In a way, this helps me improve my German skills (which I also need to work on) so I don’t mind but if I have the chance, I watch films in English.

And I talk in English—at home and at work.

My colleagues, although their English are really good, are also non-native English speakers like me and my husband but nonetheless, talking in English to them, understanding them and being understood by them perfectly build up a certain level of confidence.

Then of course, I am still studying English when I have the time. I check my reference books when I am in doubt. I review grammar rules and learn new ones.

I hope that someday (if not sometime soon), I’ll reach that level where I can say that my English skills are more than good enough.

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thoughts after the first week of school

September 19, 2009 7 Comments

In China, WHITE English native speakers are always preferred, WHITE non-native speakers come next, then non-white teachers (native speakers or not) come last.  Filipino teachers and other non-white teachers are usually the ones dispatched to teach in far flung places where no white English native speakers would like to go.  White teachers are also paid more. In short, your color is also important in getting a decent teaching job in China. This prejudice had somehow left a complex in me that when I got a teaching job here in Austria, I doubted whether I would be accepted by my pupils’ parents or not.

Native speakers are also preferred here in Austria but they don’t care about your color. Prominent language schools like Berlitz and Goethe Institute hire native speakers regardless of their race. I think that is about fair.

The learning center where I work at is however, special. Sure, they would be happy if you’re a native speaker but you should also meet the other requirement. Fluency in English and the ability to teach well are given more importance than simply having English as mother tongue.

she-teachesHonestly speaking I was terrified that the parents won’t like me because I am not an English native speaker and I didn’t learn how to speak English in recognized English speaking countries (like all of my co-teachers).

As a rule, the learning center where I work at conducts trial lessons where in parents can observe a particular teacher teach their children. If they like the lesson (and the teacher) they will enroll their kids. If they’re still interested but don’t like the teacher, they will request for another trial lesson with a different teacher.

I’ve been doing trial lessons all week in addition to regular lessons and I am glad that the parents are happy with the way I teach. Not one moment in all of my trails lessons did I feel that the parents are disappointed because I am a non-native speaker or because I am brown. Two mothers even asked me if I also do private tutoring.

So far, the parents I met are quite nice. And my pupils? My pupils are just so cute! I made hundreds of mental pictures of their curious faces looking at me while their tiny bodies imitate all my moves.  All things considered, I enjoyed the first week of the school even if it was really stressful and right now… I am sincerely looking forward to the second week.

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to my fellow teacher bloggers

September 7, 2009 16 Comments

Hello and welcome!

You probably got here through a link I left on your blog but if not, you are absolutely still welcome to my blog.

This blog is about my life as a teacher and since this blog is very new, I would like to exchange links with you, my fellow teacher bloggers. Reason to this is because I want to create a list of blogs that I can visit and read.

I was once visiting one of the blogs I found and courteously asked the author (through a comment) if it’s ok to exchange links with her. She said her blog has a high PR and she only exchanges links with blogs having high PRs too so since my blog has no PR yet, she would have to decline my offer. I don’t blame her because she has her reasons but I think she is missing on a lot of things.

If you don’t know about PR (Page Rank), here a quick explanation: it’s a rank that shows how much Google value your website/blog. If you don’t care about that then it’s good. It means, you only blog because you like blogging.

blogrollBlogrolling is a great way to create a circle of blogs that are related to your blog. Now, if your blog is about teaching or education (no matter if you have a high PR or not), please add me to your blogroll and I’ll add you to my blogroll too.

Why?

In this way it would be easier for me to visit your site and vice versa. I would like that through reading and commenting on each other’s blog, we are able to exchange ideas, give tips, share information, share our experiences as teachers , and probably develop friendship.

If you agree with me, please leave a comment on this post and leave your name and URL. I’ll link you up as “Teacher Name” as soon as I read your comment.

Thanks!

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my classroom

September 3, 2009 4 Comments

I had the chance to visit the learning center yesterday to talk to my head teacher about the rules of the learning center and to prepare some teaching props. I also got the chance to look around the place and I have to say that the place needs an extensive cleaning.  I will go there sometime next week to do some more preparations and to decorate my classroom.

she-teaches-classroomAs you can see on the photo, my classroom does not look like a regular classroom. Me and my pupils (including their parents) will be sitting down in a circle on the carpet. One of the principles of the learning center is to make the classroom favorable to learning but somehow different from that of a regular classroom.

I’ve been reading some teachers’ blogs and most of them talk about the start of the school year already and I somehow envy them because I am really eager to start teaching (I haven’t been teaching for more than two years). The beginning of the semester here is on September 14th so I still have to wait until then. For now I can focus on making my lesson plans, my teaching materials, and some decorations for my classroom walls.

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when pupils behave badly

August 28, 2009 4 Comments

I’ve just read the book “A Child Called It” by Dave Pelzer and although I find most of the things in it unbelievable, I was not able to stop myself from being so moved by the story. I’ve read the book in one sitting and in that one sitting; I felt pity, anger, deep sadness and then relief. I am not sure why I am so affected but it could be because I’ve got my small share of physical abuse in my childhood too. Not from my parents, mind you, but from my grandmother whose obsolete principles on disciplining a child lay on corporal punishment.

Dave Pelzer was physically abused by his own mother in ways unimaginable to me. I didn’t know that a human being—a mother at that, is capable of doing such things to her child. How could she? The story implied that Dave’s mother has some alcohol problems and that she was also physically abused as a child. But still. How could she?

theboycalleditSo anyway, Dave’s teachers came in and saved him from his abusive mother. This is where I realized once again how important for us, teachers, to understand our pupils. Dave Pelzer was the school enemy number one. He was not only delinquent but he was also unkempt and stinky so nobody likes him. If it’s not because of that one substitute teacher who cared, he would have died in the hands of his mother or he would have end up being a criminal.

When pupils begin to behave badly at school, let’s not judge them immediately. We, as teachers, should try to understand why they are behaving like that. Dave was stealing food from his classmates. He didn’t do it for fun. He did it because he needed to survive. He was not fed enough at home so he thought of ways to feed himself. Who would’ve thought of that?

When our pupils behave in a disturbing way, let’s try to reach out to them. Let’s be mindful of their school marks but let’s not forget about their individual personalities because it is only when we understand our pupils that we are able to help them with problems they might have beyond our classroom walls.

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