As July approached, a number of Marikina Teach for the Philippines Fellows received news that we will be having partner teachers from the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California who are also either current Corp Members or alumnus of Teach for America. When I received the news, I honestly did not know what to feel. We were still at the early stages of the school year; my students and I were still gaining momentum. Nevertheless, it was an experience I welcomed as not everyone was chosen to be a part of the program.
I met with my partner, Jenna, and a few other of the LMU students on their first Sunday here in the Philippines. Since it was our first meeting, we were still getting to know each other: our backgrounds, what they might want to do during their stay here, as well as what they may expect when they enter our classrooms.
When the day Jenna came into our classroom, we were both unsure on what we would do together. We did not really plan out what will happen during that first day. For most of the day, she observed how our classes went but when I asked her to join me in my last class for Math, she readily accepted the challenge. I say "challenge" because the language we use to teach Math is Filipino, and we did not plan any co-teaching activities or strategies we would use. After our teaching, we went to have lunch together at Pan De Americana with all our other co-Fellows and their partner teachers. Our first day experience as well as our conversations during lunch made me want to have Jenna, as well as our other partner teachers fully experience what teaching was like here in the Philippines.
The next day, we came in more prepared. We talked prior to starting class and slowly I let her establish herself as my students’ teacher as well. What I really liked about our second day though, was that we were able to bring our partner teachers: Jenna, Shireen, and Alex around our students’ community. They were able to see how far our kids walk just to get to school as well as the environment the kids live in. As we walked around, our kids guided us to their houses and we shared stories with each other. Slowly, I saw that they understood the stories we were telling them from our experiences from our previous year. One thing that struck me while we were doing home visits was what Alex said, “There’s not a lot of opportunities for the kids.” And from that day, I slowly saw them not just as visitors or partners for some time but really as a co-adviser for my kids as well.
We made our partners teach a whole period, sell from the trays during recess, help our kids get in line, and even help during our earthquake drill. But something we did not forget to do during their stay was to also have some fun. We took them around Marikina showing them some of what the city had to offer. We also brought them to the Division Office of Marikina to meet one of our co-teachers who is now a Supervisor; but something that I really appreciated the program for was that the kids were given an opportunity—something that our partners noticed themselves—and a rare one at that. Before our LMU partners came, our students were having a hard time learning and appreciating the English language no matter how much I stress it with words, examples, and my own experiences. Now that they were able to see that they too would eventually need to the English language in their lives, I saw them strive to learn and speak better English so that they would be understood by both of their teachers. I saw a new appreciation for English in their eyes, one that I still see now even after our LMU partners have left.
We may have come from different backgrounds and countries, but one thing remains the same for all of us: we want our kids to have a bright future. A future that is both the best that they can have and one that they deserve.
I met with my partner, Jenna, and a few other of the LMU students on their first Sunday here in the Philippines. Since it was our first meeting, we were still getting to know each other: our backgrounds, what they might want to do during their stay here, as well as what they may expect when they enter our classrooms.
When the day Jenna came into our classroom, we were both unsure on what we would do together. We did not really plan out what will happen during that first day. For most of the day, she observed how our classes went but when I asked her to join me in my last class for Math, she readily accepted the challenge. I say "challenge" because the language we use to teach Math is Filipino, and we did not plan any co-teaching activities or strategies we would use. After our teaching, we went to have lunch together at Pan De Americana with all our other co-Fellows and their partner teachers. Our first day experience as well as our conversations during lunch made me want to have Jenna, as well as our other partner teachers fully experience what teaching was like here in the Philippines.
The next day, we came in more prepared. We talked prior to starting class and slowly I let her establish herself as my students’ teacher as well. What I really liked about our second day though, was that we were able to bring our partner teachers: Jenna, Shireen, and Alex around our students’ community. They were able to see how far our kids walk just to get to school as well as the environment the kids live in. As we walked around, our kids guided us to their houses and we shared stories with each other. Slowly, I saw that they understood the stories we were telling them from our experiences from our previous year. One thing that struck me while we were doing home visits was what Alex said, “There’s not a lot of opportunities for the kids.” And from that day, I slowly saw them not just as visitors or partners for some time but really as a co-adviser for my kids as well.
We made our partners teach a whole period, sell from the trays during recess, help our kids get in line, and even help during our earthquake drill. But something we did not forget to do during their stay was to also have some fun. We took them around Marikina showing them some of what the city had to offer. We also brought them to the Division Office of Marikina to meet one of our co-teachers who is now a Supervisor; but something that I really appreciated the program for was that the kids were given an opportunity—something that our partners noticed themselves—and a rare one at that. Before our LMU partners came, our students were having a hard time learning and appreciating the English language no matter how much I stress it with words, examples, and my own experiences. Now that they were able to see that they too would eventually need to the English language in their lives, I saw them strive to learn and speak better English so that they would be understood by both of their teachers. I saw a new appreciation for English in their eyes, one that I still see now even after our LMU partners have left.
We may have come from different backgrounds and countries, but one thing remains the same for all of us: we want our kids to have a bright future. A future that is both the best that they can have and one that they deserve.