Throughout the last two weeks, I have had the privilege of working with Teacher Vince and his two sections of 3rd grade students at Sto. Nino Elementary School in Marikina. Our initial reception at Teach for the Philippines gave us a quick introduction to what to expect, but left much of it to our first impressions. After just a day, I left with such respect for the hard work, dedication, and stamina of teachers in public schools in the Philippines They put in long hours with no breaks, and teach challenging students in very challenging circumstances.
Today, Vince turned his class over to me to teach a math lesson. I attempted to teach adding three digit numbers using hundred, tens, and ones place. Having never taught 3rd grade before, I stole some strategies from my elementary school colleagues and introduced expanded form and place value drawings. The lesson was structured fairly traditionally, with a few teacher examples, partner work, individual work, and an exit ticket. Vince helped with translation of instructions for each activity, but the students were able to follow along surprisingly well. The students seemed to have more fun than most math classes I’ve seen! Many students made connections with what they had learned and seemed to benefit from the new ways of representing numbers, particularly the visuals. They definitely need further reinforcement and practice with addition, but I was surprised by how much they caught during the lesson.
Aside from their capacity to learn, I am continually blown away by the eagerness of the students at Sto. Nino and their hunger for knowledge. Most of the time, they probably had no idea what I was asking, but they sure wanted to answer the question anyway. Much of the discussion we have heard (and had ourselves) while being here has focused on what the schools here lack: space, resources, facilities, time, materials, faculty, and more. Obviously, these problems are real need to be addressed. However, my experience so far has shown me that the students and teachers in these schools possess other resources in excess of my students in the US. They have levels of enthusiasm, eagerness, energy, gratitude, and respect beyond what you will find in my classroom or in many others back home. I hope to carry their stories with me to help my students back home appreciate what they have a little more and view the world more broadly.
Today, Vince turned his class over to me to teach a math lesson. I attempted to teach adding three digit numbers using hundred, tens, and ones place. Having never taught 3rd grade before, I stole some strategies from my elementary school colleagues and introduced expanded form and place value drawings. The lesson was structured fairly traditionally, with a few teacher examples, partner work, individual work, and an exit ticket. Vince helped with translation of instructions for each activity, but the students were able to follow along surprisingly well. The students seemed to have more fun than most math classes I’ve seen! Many students made connections with what they had learned and seemed to benefit from the new ways of representing numbers, particularly the visuals. They definitely need further reinforcement and practice with addition, but I was surprised by how much they caught during the lesson.
Aside from their capacity to learn, I am continually blown away by the eagerness of the students at Sto. Nino and their hunger for knowledge. Most of the time, they probably had no idea what I was asking, but they sure wanted to answer the question anyway. Much of the discussion we have heard (and had ourselves) while being here has focused on what the schools here lack: space, resources, facilities, time, materials, faculty, and more. Obviously, these problems are real need to be addressed. However, my experience so far has shown me that the students and teachers in these schools possess other resources in excess of my students in the US. They have levels of enthusiasm, eagerness, energy, gratitude, and respect beyond what you will find in my classroom or in many others back home. I hope to carry their stories with me to help my students back home appreciate what they have a little more and view the world more broadly.