ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and learnings that I have achieved during my class observations in Don Vicente Rama Memorial Highschool is dedicated to all those who believed in me: God, Parents, Classmates, Professor and Mentors.

Thank you Almighty God for the strength and passion that you have provided me. As well as the resources that I am privileged to have during the hardships in my life.

Thank you my beloved parents for instilling in me the values of perseverance, determination, and hard work. I am forever grateful for your sacrifices and the countless ways you have shaped me into the person I am today.

Thank you my Social Studies 3B family as your presence has made the journey enjoyable, and your contributions have enriched our collective learning experience. Thank you for being an amazing support system and for pushing me to achieve my best.

Thank you as well Professor Christopher for the words of encouragement,advices and instructions that allowed us to push through until the end of the observations. Lastly, thank you my dearest mentors, Mrs. Villegas, Ms.Largado and Mrs. Yngayo, your patience, encouragement, and belief in me have been a constant source of motivation. However, the greatest lessons that I have learned during my observations were the best thing that you have given me. I am immensely grateful for it.

About The Author

This is Marie Lorienne B. Penafiel, a vibrant and imaginative individual, is a remarkable young Normalite from Fatima Road, Labogon, Mandaue City. With an undying passion for the color green, a profound love for teaching, and a penchant for throwing corny banters and jokes, Marie's zest for life shines through her words and stories.

I knew that my calling lay in the realm of education. As early as elementary school, I dreamt of being a teacher, nurturing young minds and making a positive impact on their lives. This aspiration is a testament to my kind and caring nature, as I has always possessed the innate ability to empathize with others. Well, my shyness, I have gradually overcame, strengthened my resolve to become a beacon of inspiration for my future students. While my quiet demeanor may deceive some, I have many things under my sleeves. Some of these were released through my words and writing. May this help me reach my students and inspire them with my learnings.

Then and Now: Transformative Learning from my Class Observations

Before we were deployed for the class observations in Field Study 2, I spent almost three years of my college days learning and studying on how to become an effective educator. One who not only facilitates learning but also inspires and touches the soul of my students. I have spent my college days mastering strategies and educational philosophies. Hence, my beliefs on teaching and learning were relatively deprived of real-time experiences. Although we had our class observations in Field Study 1, it was just on an online platform. With that my perception about teaching and learning were theoretical. I looked at it from the perspective of a student and compared it to my educational experiences in our classes. I thought that teaching is primarily the idea of imparting knowledge and delivering information to my students. Where they learn from me through listening in class, actively taking down notes and answering my questions when called. On the other hand, I thought that learning is a passive process where students receive and memorize information they are exposed to. Learning is thought to be an action where students live up to the responsibility of doing good in class. I was idealistic in visualizing what a classroom should be and how a normal class should work out. Where the teacher is the main star of the night and students are ought to follow their command. However, after my class observations, my views on teaching and learning have undergone a significant transformation. I was exposed both in observing a Science class and regular class, the gap between them is seriously big. This realization made my belief in teaching and learning evolve especially during our class observations where I was able to collect real time information and assess behaviors of students from a teacher's perspective.

Then and Now: Transformative Learning from my Class Observations

My experience in the classroom has revealed that teaching is not simply about delivering content but rather about facilitating meaningful learning experiences. I now understand my teachers when they constantly initiate activities that foster cooperative learning. Teaching is not just focusing on the content and focusing the spotlight into you, the teacher. However, it involves creating an inclusive and interactive environment that encourages student participation, critical thinking, and active engagement. Especially in the subject Araling Panlipunan, learning is a dynamic process that goes beyond rote memorization, emphasizing the development of critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and the application of knowledge in real-world contexts. As a teacher, you have to encourage your students to see situations in the present as reflections of the past and vice versa. Teaching now has something to do about facilitating while the concept of learning is now encouraging your student to think on their own. My expectations for the classroom environment and teaching methods were pleasantly challenged and exceeded during my class observations. The important thing is that we have to keep a balance between utilizing a student-centered and teacher-centered approach inside a classroom. As teachers we should foster collaboration, inquiry, and creativity among our students. My actual experiences exceeded my expectations, revealing the transformative power of effective teaching methods and student-centered approaches. I am now inspired to adopt innovative strategies in my future teaching practice and provide my students with the best possible learning experiences.

CHILD OVER IDEALS: TECHING WITH PASSION

Learning is a continuous process, indeed. Like a scientist, I have come and observed, took note of my date and analyzed it. In DVRMNHS, every Friday is their activity day. This meant that during this time, the class is expected to do performance tasks. One notable class interaction that I have seen from Mrs. Yngayo and her students from the regular class, was the introduction of the topic "Kolonyalismo at Imperyalismo" through a fun game. What the teacher did first was to divide the group into four groups and assigned them into countries who lead the age of colonization and imperialism. Thereof, Mrs. Yngayo enumerated what the performance task is all about. According to her, since the class is physically active, she took the opportunity to have a task that utilizes their athletic capabilities. They will perform a game of seizing the flags (bahaw-bahaw) of each group which constitutes to the nature of colonization and imperialism. It did pique the interest of the class as they flashed off their many questions. In terms of classroom setting, it is evident how regardless if they are a science class or not, it is not conducive due to poor maintenance. The students were also hard to contain as they were really active.

With all that being said, you can actually draw out the trickiness of keeping the class immersed in your discussion. It challenges your creativity patience and intellect as a teacher. Every time schedule meant that you are about to face a class of different upbringings in life and personality. Sometimes, they can get overexcited or chaotic during participations, what the teacher did was to impose her own authoritative command. Mrs. Yngayo would stand in front, in silence, until the class gets back on track and they'll lend their ears. This was a continuous response from

CHILD OVER IDEALS: TECHING WITH PASSION

her when such situation takes place again. Yet, it was an effective classroom management and also a teaching strategy. It teaches student tobe organized and maintain order in class. However, one of the most challenging part for Mrs. Yngayo was on how she can make her students understand the essence of her topic. Most of their answers wander around and won't answer the question. In order to improve that, she would always accomodate every student's questions even if it makes no sense. But in order to make it sense, she extracts relevant meaning from it to let the students understand. While, contextualization is also of great help to address such challenges.

To conclude, teaching requires strong grit and extreme patience. To teach means you are ready to adapt with the environment in the classroom. When I get to observe the Science class and regular class, you can easily point out their big differences in terms of behavior. With that, it is necessary to always follow the principle of differentiated instruction. As it is not a one size fits all approach, a teacher must know how to be a humanist and essentialist at the same time. An educator knows how to keep her class attentive while also learning wholeheartedly. I have realized after being exposed to the reality of education, being idealistic won't take place in it. Hence, one must always keep up!

TOO BLAND OR TOO BITTER? : TEACHING WITH TASTE

When one unmasks the reality of every class, it would be hard to know how each action of the teacher reflects on what kind of professional she is. I was observing the Grade 8 Araling Panplipunan of Mrs. Villegas. Since it is Friday, it was meant for her as the assessment day. Unlike any other, we are observing the Alpha Science Class, one can attest that the students are minimal to their actions and know how to maintain order in class. However, there were students who laughed a lot and picked jokes from time to time. One way of showing her classroom management is when she counts from 1-3.It keeps students on track especially those who are hard to curb. Moreover, I can easily tell that Mrs. Villegas is an essentialist. She would always remind the class to act decent and accordingly. While, when giving assessments she did it through dictation but I can assess that most of the test questions were testing the lower order thinking skills of students.

During the class session, preliminaries shouldn't be forgotten as it sets the mood of the class. Its interesting execution can help start the class on a good note. On the other hand, it was an ineffective strategy to provide a long test that would only test the lower order thinking skills of students. Aside from the fact that it revolves around rote memorization, it doesn't test the critical thinking skills of students and also on giving importance to the essence of their learnings. However, it was effective that Mrs. Villegas affirms the student's feelings at the end of the class

TOO BLAND OR TOO BITTER? : TEACHING WITH TASTE

session, her words of encouragement gave students a sense of validation on their scores. It magnifies that its fine whether they got good scores or not, the fact that they did without cheating makes it meaningful. Yet, given the fact they are students in a Science Class, it is expected that they behave well or not too much. Yet, there were times when the student's jokes would go overboard. What Mrs. Villegas would do that, to lecture the class of the importance of good manners and right conduct.

Personally, being in front of students, teaching and inspiring them gives you a big role to perform in the society. You are not just standing there for the sake of teaching—giving facts and dry activities. As a teacher, I have a vital work to do in the educational experience of my learners. Hence, it is just right for me to put my shoes into theirs. See the world in the perspectives of my students, so that I can connect more to them. Although, just like Mrs. Villegas, it is necessary to impose authority, however it is also urgent to become sensible and relatable with your students. I believe that it is edgy to teach with class, and taste.