Eto ang bayad sa sampung buwang kalbaryo

I've said nothing but gripes about my first ever teaching stint. Why not? I was utterly bored and miserable most of the time, exhausted and frustrated the rest of it. So it was a real wow moment to receive this from one of my students.

Ma'am Abi,
I want you to know how grateful I am that I met a genuine person like you. You inspire me deep in my heart. I saw you as a teacher inside the four corners of our dirty classroom, giving all we need just to learn. You give and share us knowledge and lessons not only just related in your subject, but also knowledge for us to be prepared in the real world. A mother who sacrifices time, a kind-hearted daughter, an intelligent independent woman. I want to say "Thank you" for all the moments that we spent together. I always appreciate all your advices and I will never forget all the things you told me, about academics, family, college & even those little things. Thank you, Ma'am, for inspiring me. I will always take this with me as I faces the true life. I love you, Ma'am Tan.
Always God bless you and your family.
-Jelly


To have touched a life of at least one person makes that entire tag-hirap period ALMOST worth it. My real reward is to see at least one of them reach his or her dream and be truly happy with life.

Thanks for this. You have a head start, Jelly. Don't let me down. :)

Out of the mouth of babes

I had to do some crazy cramming a few nights ago; I had eleven modules to finish for my Ethics subject. Poor time management on my part [tsk]. Bad time for Mark to not have his Internet access stuff, so we had to leg it to the nearest computer shop. The place was pretty packed with DOTA-playing teenage boys, understandable as it was a weekend night.

As we got settled in front of our units, I started hearing the now typical form of banter between warring sides:

Boy A: P******na, 'ndun ka pala nagtatagong g*go ka! Hayop ka talaga! Ang galing mo.
Boy B: Sige, dito ka lang tumakbong k*pal ka, bibirahin kitang p*ki ng ina ka.
Boy C: Hoy, ano? Bibili na ako ng [beer brand] ha. Ilan? Ilan? Hoy g*go, ilan?
Boy D: Bwakananginamo (in one breath), dalian mo na nga...

I think you get the picture. It was as if we were in a Cussing Conference. And believe me, I hear this all the time from my students, so it didn't affect me as much as it used to.

And then I heard one voice that really REALLY got to me... it was from a young boy, about 10 years old (or younger, I didn't want to look) and he was using "B*llsh*t" in every sentence. It disturbed me so much that I wanted to leave immediately. Among the grown up voices was this cute voice going "Ay, b*llsh*t, namatay ako. B*llsh*t naman." The word sounded so off, you know? I couldn't explain exactly how I felt. Afterwards, I told Mark that my feeling could be akin to how a parent would feel if he watched his child get run over.

The boy was trying so hard to fit in with the older group and the words sounded so forced, so alien, coming out of his mouth. It really made me sick. And on our way out, we saw this little girl, no older than 6 probably, and she was playing The Sims quietly, soaking in the obscene language. Bets on how long it would take her to start using the same cuss words... What is wrong with these babies?!!

January
3 high school girls got stone drunk in a sari-sari store in front of the school. When asked why they did it, they said, "Trip lang."

A grade 5 boy and a first year hs girl got caught making out inside the school. The girl said, "Tuloy natin yung lp natin mamaya ha." LP, we found out, meant laplapan.

Every week, 3rd year and 4th year students compete in DOTA, picking up bets amounting to 2,500 up.

I feel so helpless. If this is the norm, and I think it is, how do we keep our own children from growing up like them? Do we lock them inside the house until they are of marrying age? Because I don't think we, parents, have enough power to counteract this disease. It's so easy to say, "If you raise your child 'correctly', this wouldn't happen. You just need to set the rules and stick to them, et cetera." But is it really enough?

Okay, I sound hysterical. I am.

Alex's First Trip to the Dentist - Kwento and Tips for Parents

I've read in one of the baby magazines (that I've been hoarding) that a baby's first trip to the dentist should be when he or she is about 6 months old. Since lately ko lang nabasa yung article, 1 year nang late si Alex for his first appointment. :( Well, in my defense, when he was six months old, he only had one tooth, so I didn't feel any need to consult a dentist right away.

We were brushing his teeth semi-regularly naman ( a very frustrating practice kasi 1 - he doesn't like people touching his mouth, 2 - he wants to do the brushing himself), avoided giving him sweets, etc. so I felt fairly safe na it won't be too, too late. Kaso, he started developing yellow stains on his front teeth so I started looking for dentist candidates.

Before Christmas, we happened to visit Mall of Asia and luckily, I saw this clinic that seemed to be specializing in pediatric dentistry. We didn't go in yet kasi it was really not on our to-do list for the day and there were so many peeps inside. So, I just noted the address and decided to come back after the holidays.


Fast forward to today: We are back in MOA and inside Little Ones Dental Clinic. There was one patient already inside with the dentist so we had to wait for about 30 minutes (an eternity for Alex). Our kulit baby enjoyed walking around the small waiting room, interacting with the other patient's dad, and playing with the toys and boards that the clinic provided.

Playing with the Fishy

Watching TV (yup, super taas)

Waving at the people outside

When it was his turn to see pretty Dr. Kristel, I explained to the dentist that he doesn't like it when people touch his bibig, even his pedia, she told us that instead of the big blue chair, we had to transfer to the small chair and sit in a "knee-to-knee" position. This position allows Alex to sit on my lap with his head on the dentist's so he can look at me.

So many hands holding him down

It started out so well, Alex was even giggling when the dentist started scraping his front teeth but then he got scared and started crying.

Pa-smile smile pa kasi maganda yung dentist

Scrape scrape scrape... cry cry cry

Medyo may build up na ng dumi yung teeth ni Alex, as expected. Hindi talaga proper yung pag brush namin sa kanya. (Sorry, baby) Pero the good news is no holes, no cavities. Yey!

Wipey with Spiffy

Last na, flouride na lang...

Dr. Kristel also applied flouride on his teeth and advised us to buy tooth mousse. Kaya lang the mousse was really expensive, we opted to come back na lang to buy it. She did a good job in explaining every step of the procedure and also gave us helpful tips on how to take better care of Alex's pearly whites (na medyo yellowish pa rin, which is normal, says his pedia because he got it from me, genetic flaw... tsk).
We ended up paying a total of 2,090 pesos. Promised to come back and buy the mousse, which is supposed to prevent cavities. All in all, it was not as traumatic as I expected it to be. The staff were very nice. And the place was really clean (I think, I didn't look closely). We will see them again come July. :)

Post cry, still tasting the bubble gum-flavored muck on his teeth

Trying to scrape the gummy flouride off, holding on to his froggy prize

So after that loooong kwento, here are some tips that i've found to make your baby's first trip to the dentist as pain-free (figuratively, my dears) as possible:

1. Don't wait for the first cavity. As soon as the baby's teeth starts appearing through their gums, you ought to try looking for a good dentist.

2. If you can, try to bring the child to a dentist who specializes in treating kids. Iba talaga ang patience nila and they know how to handle kids. Alex bit Dr. Kristel several times, really hard, pero she didn't get mad (halos hindi nga nag react).

3. Make an appointment. This is to avoid having to wait for a looong time. Toddlers pa naman are really mainipin so it might help to call ahead and reserve a time slot. It will also ensure that you do get a slot pag madaming nakaisip na magpa check up on that day. VIP!

4. If the child is old enough to understand, it might help to do a bit of role-playing. Kunwari baby is the dentist and mommy is the patient. Let him or her brush and check your teeth. Just to set the mood and let the child know na dentists are not to be feared. Buy face masks and have them wear it in front of the mirror. Some kids kasi might freak out pag nakita nila yung dentist naka mask.

5. Make sure to tell the dentist about your child's medical conditions, medications being taken, allergies, etc.

6. Make sure to remain calm. I'm sure there are some adults who also have some degree of dentist-fear. Try not to let your child pick up on this vibe.

7. make sure to bring your child to the dentist every 6 months! In fact, we should all visit the dentist at least 2 times a year, dba? Naku, patay ako. Kelan pa ba last dentist visit ko?! Haaaay.

(Little Ones Dental Clinic at the SM Mall of Asia 2nd level South Parking Unit 226 Telephone No. +(632)5560391 -- This is not paid advertisement, mommies and daddies. We really loved the service they provided. Expensive, yes. Good, yes!)

What is a Teacher?

"What is a teacher? I'll tell you; it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows."

- Nabil Alaihi
in The With of Portobello by Paulo Coelho

The end of the Christmas break is here. I'm back in my "house of loneliness" preparing for my class this coming week. I just finished reading Paulo Coelho's "The Witch of Portobello," and the line above is reverberating in my brain. It made me reflect on my past seven months as a "teacher."

Am I a teacher?

For the past seven months, I have lectured, and cajoled, and bullied my students into trying to understand the concepts of Grammar and English composition. We played games, held contests, sang songs, written personal and business letters, drawn posters... we have done almost everything that we can humanly do inside a classroom to make the lessons more interesting, more understandable, more memorable.
Every day, since school started, I have spent at least 3 hours a night making visual aids, researching on how to present concepts better, writing exams, checking papers, etc.
I have constantly talked to my students AND their parents to try and find out how I can prepare them for their future... a future where they will no longer be shielded by their parents' money or presence. A strict, no-nonsense, cut-throat future that they are utterly, utterly unprepared for.
I shared my life stories, both the happy times and the numerous failures. I have told them what I did wrong and how they can avoid committing my mistakes. I have given them reminders, tips, shortcuts, even ways to copy and cheat without getting caught (hey! In this world, it's either you're matalino or matalinaw, right?)

Am I a teacher? Did I inspire anyone? I certainly hope so. Am I a good teacher? Ah, that, I still have to work on. I know that I can do better. There are avenues that I have not explored, methods that I have yet to maximize. Wells of patience that I still need to discover. I am not done, not by a long shot.

Phooey to "The Anti-Corporal Punishment Law of 2007"

There are days when I just wish I can give a kid a smack upside the head. I know I've said this a million times, but I still feel like saying it again - This job is so frustrating! And the students are so disappointing.

Makes you wonder why kids nowadays have no respect for authority (on top of every-bad-thing else). Maybe it's because the world started prohibiting corporal punishment! Not that I have any plans of spanking Alex... but it gives us something to think about, eh? Why are people of the older generation morally "superior" compared to our young'uns? Maybe it's because parents stopped spanking their children...

Really... some parents nowadays are doing a fuck-up job of raising their kids. During the Parents-Teacher meeting, one mom asked me to help her discipline her son. She asked me to tell him that if he commits another offense, the school will suspend him for a week (which will happen when HELL FREEZES OVER! **) When I told her that it might help if she refrained from giving him computer rental money instead, so he won't have a choice but to go home early, she told me that it's too harsh and her son might rebel against her. Hello, mommy?! Wake up and smell your son's failing grades! He IS rebelling against you NOW... You supply your son with the means to oppose you, then you get mad when you see the consequence. Really! And to ask me to lie (para ako yung kontrabida) is just wrong.

** suspension in our school is a myth... One student had the gall to tell his teacher, "T*angina mo, eh kung banatan kita dyan," and all he got was a stern lecture from the principal. Cheating will and can only be penalized by grade deductions (minus 5 on whatever test they were caught cheating on). I remember, back in high school, if anybody gets caught cheating, he or she will get an automatic zero in that test and a failing grade in deportment. What happened to that rule? It works! Honestly, this school is breeding criminals-to-be.

If only more moms and dads would take the time to introduce the concept of discipline and responsibility to their kids, teachers all over the world will have a much easier time. Let's take this kid's mom for example, she made him stand with this sign after he misbehaved in class:



Full story here. I'm still undecided whether the punishment was too harsh, but like what the experts say, her heart was in the right place. My students' hearts, on the other hand, will never be in the right place... because they don't have any.

The cure for road rage

On my way to Paranaque to visit Alex, I faced what was probably the worst road conditions for a half-blind person like me -- a dark, slick, and congested EDSA crawling with cars... cars driven by people who've been stuck in traffic for over an hour and are over antsy to get home.

Mind you, I only got 3 hours of sleep last night AND I spent the entire day yelling at teaching my students.

So how did I keep from nodding off or succumbing to road rage? I had a scream-a-song session. I sang at the top of my lungs all the lyrics of whatever song was playing then... with matching head bang! Well, semi-head bang, I had to keep my eyes on the road.

When I got to Shaw, I happened to look to my left and saw a Manong cabbie giving me a she's-gone-mad look. Normally, I would've stopped immediately, but I was thoroughly enjoying my self so just kept on singing:

So, so what?
I’m still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don’t need you.

How appropriate.

Here I go again

... waking up at an ungodly hour of 3:30 am.

... silently collecting my books and notebooks and pens and clothes.

... saying goodbye to my baby. See you on Sunday, I hope.

... blazing down EDSA with other unfortunate drivers, at speeds that doesn't allow for even a fraction of distraction.

... setting up short term goals -- reach Cubao before the end of Jesse McCartney's "Leaving."

Don't stress, don't stress, don't stress
Just stand up to the left, left, left
Don't stress, don't stress, don't stress
Cause we gone and we gone and we gone
No stress, no stress, no stress
Girl you deserve nothing but the best

... stuck behind three slowmofos...

... eating chocolate and drinking coffee for breakfast.

... stuck in traffic, late for school. Screw it, I'll call in sick again.

... doing work at home.

Make it stop... please.