My Story for Your Future Story
(Delivered last March 10, 2019 as an invitation from Teach for Japan.)
Hi! Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for having me here today. As early now, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the invitation. 本当にお礼です。
Ikuko-san asked me to share about my Teach for the Philippines’ 2-year fellowship with you today. But, why? this day isn’t about me. It is about you. Your decision to teach. Your decision to make a difference, then later on, it will be about your students.
My personal goals for this invitation: to be able to share a few of the activities I do in my classes for learning how to communicate, not just using the English language, but to be truly able to communicate with confidence, honesty, kindness and curiosity.
Let’s get started!
Ask Me Anything
For the next 10-15 minutes, I would like you to ask me about things you want to know about me.
Why?
To provide an opportunity to use a second language in a meaningful context
To be able to answer questions that may not be part of the next part of this activity
How:
Ask me anything about the Before TFP and After TFP or anything under the sun.
No need to be particular about grammar.
Let’s come up with at least 10 questions. 1 question/person, if we still have time, we will consider more questions.
Ask the first question that comes to your mind.
To help you get started, I have flashed a few photos to help you come up with questions.
Wrap up 1
Was it hard? Other than the goal of providing that opportunity to use a second language to communicate, realize that to be able to connect with others, we first need to open up ourselves. I would also like you to realize that sometimes, what we want to share to others may not be really what they need, and to really find out what they need or want, all we have to do is ask the right questions and create that safe space where people can ask the questions.
My TFP Story
I will tell you about my 2-year fellowship experience with Teach for the Philippines. I will talk about my story, hoping that in the end, it will inspire you as you make your own story, which then will inspire more people to join us in this movement.
Intro to Stages of Teaching by Harry Wong
According to Harry Wong, there are four stages in teaching. I am presenting it in a cyclical order, because, teaching is just another way of learning and we all know that learning never stops.
Fantasy
My fantasy started together with other young leaders from different places of the Philippines, most of them were fresh graduates from university, a few moved from the US and some were already working in another sector just like me.
Before being placed in a school, we had undergone, an intensive training on many things, but honestly, it was never enough to make us all ready. We thought we had foreseen everything, only to realize that we really know nothing.
My placement school was the biggest school in the Philippines in terms of number of enrollees that they decided to split the school into two schools, still, it ended up being the most populated elementary school, with more or less 12,000 students from kindergarten up to Grade 6, coming in two shifts. With around 10-12 sections per grade level, a maximum number of 55-60 kids per class. Morning classes from 6AM-11:30 AM and Afternoon shift is from 12:00NN-5:30PM. It is a very popular school, both for good and bad publicity. It is always featured on TV on the first days of school too.
I was placed there together with other 7 fellows. We were also split into shifts, 4 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon.
They thought we were so good at what we do already that they decided to place us in the least performing classes!
In my class, I was welcomed with this data:
June 2013 Pre-Test Results (Class of 51 kids)
4 - Non-Readers (7.84%)
41-Frustrated and Instructional Readers (80.39%)
6- Independent readers (11.76%)
This didn’t include Math and Science yet.
And the goal at the end of the school year:
100% readers
100% Passing Rate
How to do:
Find a miracle.
Fantasy Stage Complete.
Survival
First year of teaching for me, has become all about survival. I can go on and on with a lot of crazy and unbelievable snippets about my school experiences, but for now, let me share to you how I survived my first year of teaching, hoping that you might pick up something useful for yourself:
State your Why.
On my first year of teaching, I needed to keep reminding myself about the reasons why I
made the decision to teach, why I moved out of the comfort zone.
Repeatedly.
Choose your battles.
On my first year of teaching, I have seen a lot of questionable and wrong practices, data manipulation and work negligence due to many factors not under our control. I learned to work on things that were under my influence-- that is my classroom.
Celebrate small success.
On my first year of teaching, this was the toughest thing to get used to. Coming from a target-driven working environment, I got so used to hitting the mark, I don’t take time to appreciate the process and the small details. I learned to look into the smallest stories of success in the classroom like: a kid came to class for 5-straight days; a 10% increase in overall mastery after 6 weeks; no kids fighting during recess; kids can fall in line without pushing one another; a veteran teacher thanking me because I taught them how to use MS Excel, it made their grade computation and storage, a lot easier.
Create your community.
On my first year of teaching, the veteran teachers were so helpful and parent-like most of the time. They are the best sources of wisdom for the class. Make them feel important and that they matter because most of the time, the real teachers aren’t recognized. Also, the classroom is a very good place to experiment on building communities.
Keep Calm.
On my first year of teaching, I learned to be a broken record, when giving instruction or using a certain strategy in class, I didn’t get mad when the kids do not follow your instructions the first time, I tried again the second time, and on the third time, if they still didn’t get it, I go back to the instruction and break it down, step by step.
If it doesn’t work the first time, it doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. You probably just missed a step.
Use the internet.
The internet is a tool. Use it to your advantage. Search for lessons, share your stories.
Google is a useful tool, never treat it as your teacher.
My 4Cs of survival: Choose. Celebrate. Community. Calmness.
The internet is an add-on. The foundation is my Why.
Mastery
On my first year of teaching, the only thing I got to master and I am so glad I did, was to master the “Teacher Look”. I have to conserve my energy, it’s always 1 teacher vs 50 students. I was able to learn how to impart a message just by a stare.
Impact
On the first year of teaching, the impact I wanted to see, the impact we want to achieve was still not visible. Too early. But the impact that the kids had on me was just so strong that I wanted to be better the next school year. The simple thank you letters, the sorry notes and text messages from parents make me realize that maybe I am doing something good after all.
Second Year of Teaching
The fantasy stage was still ambitious: I want to be a better teacher.
The second year was a bit better, just a tiny bit. The Survival Stage got a bit better with:
Redefining my Why.
Finding a mentor.
Learning from others.
Never stop learning.
Mastery leveled up a bit. From Mastery of the Teacher Look, I also learned different classroom management techniques and other effective teaching strategies. I learned that, we get to master one thing a time. We cannot master everything, all at once.
In 2015, The impact of the 2-year fellowship to me is just so strong that after fellowship, instead of getting stable at my corporate job, after 6 months, I decided to go back to teaching instead, then in 2017, I moved to Japan to be a language teacher.
Asia Pacific Alumni Gathering
Last September 2018, I got the opportunity to facilitate a learning session with teachers from different Asian countries about how and why we teach the English language. From the historical, political, social and cultural points of view. We focused our conversations how the English language affect the society we live in—is it empowering people or is it oppressing others? We wanted to address the larger issues of inequality brought about by the demand for the ability to communicate in just one specific language.
We were able to start discussions about how we view the English language in general. Teach for Bangladesh also adopted the topic in their Winter training camp that had resulted to a very engaged cohort and had brought a lot more space for discussion and reflection. Japan has a different political and business landscape about language learning, but the philosophical ideal that we want to learn English so we can communicate with one another is still very much solid. We just want to make sure that our strategies are aligned to the goals.
What I do in Japan Now
So now, I am on another level of teaching:
Fantasy
Contrary to what I would always get from the local Japanese teachers, I believe that every Japanese teacher can have the ability to be effective Communications teacher, they just need to be able to get the right training and believe that they can—both in the first and second language.
Survival
How to pass the Comprehensive Exams to complete my Master’s Degree
How to find a new job
Continue living in Japan
Mastery (in progress)
I am learning Japanese.
I am learning how to connect with the local culture without
compromising my personal values.
Impact (to be determined)
All these are anchored to my personal Why:
One random follower on facebook asked me this:
Him: What makes you interested to help kids reach higher attainments in education?
Me: Because, when I die, I will be leaving this world and kids like you will need take over. I don’t want some sloppy kid to take over my job.
As you embark in the 2-year journey, know that it is not easy, and always remember that you are not alone in the journey. Across the city, across the seas, different people are having their ways of addressing social issues through education.
For now, I hope you:
Open up yourself.
Always remember your Why.
Ask the right questions.
Choose your battles.
Teach yourself to celebrate small signs of success.
If you cannot find your community, create it.
Keep calm and just keep pushing forward.
That is my story. What will be your story?
I hope to hear your stories in the next few months and years.
Hi! Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for having me here today. As early now, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the invitation. 本当にお礼です。
Ikuko-san asked me to share about my Teach for the Philippines’ 2-year fellowship with you today. But, why? this day isn’t about me. It is about you. Your decision to teach. Your decision to make a difference, then later on, it will be about your students.
My personal goals for this invitation: to be able to share a few of the activities I do in my classes for learning how to communicate, not just using the English language, but to be truly able to communicate with confidence, honesty, kindness and curiosity.
Let’s get started!
Ask Me Anything
For the next 10-15 minutes, I would like you to ask me about things you want to know about me.
Why?
To provide an opportunity to use a second language in a meaningful context
To be able to answer questions that may not be part of the next part of this activity
How:
Ask me anything about the Before TFP and After TFP or anything under the sun.
No need to be particular about grammar.
Let’s come up with at least 10 questions. 1 question/person, if we still have time, we will consider more questions.
Ask the first question that comes to your mind.
To help you get started, I have flashed a few photos to help you come up with questions.
Wrap up 1
Was it hard? Other than the goal of providing that opportunity to use a second language to communicate, realize that to be able to connect with others, we first need to open up ourselves. I would also like you to realize that sometimes, what we want to share to others may not be really what they need, and to really find out what they need or want, all we have to do is ask the right questions and create that safe space where people can ask the questions.
My TFP Story
I will tell you about my 2-year fellowship experience with Teach for the Philippines. I will talk about my story, hoping that in the end, it will inspire you as you make your own story, which then will inspire more people to join us in this movement.
Intro to Stages of Teaching by Harry Wong
According to Harry Wong, there are four stages in teaching. I am presenting it in a cyclical order, because, teaching is just another way of learning and we all know that learning never stops.
Fantasy
My fantasy started together with other young leaders from different places of the Philippines, most of them were fresh graduates from university, a few moved from the US and some were already working in another sector just like me.
Before being placed in a school, we had undergone, an intensive training on many things, but honestly, it was never enough to make us all ready. We thought we had foreseen everything, only to realize that we really know nothing.
My placement school was the biggest school in the Philippines in terms of number of enrollees that they decided to split the school into two schools, still, it ended up being the most populated elementary school, with more or less 12,000 students from kindergarten up to Grade 6, coming in two shifts. With around 10-12 sections per grade level, a maximum number of 55-60 kids per class. Morning classes from 6AM-11:30 AM and Afternoon shift is from 12:00NN-5:30PM. It is a very popular school, both for good and bad publicity. It is always featured on TV on the first days of school too.
I was placed there together with other 7 fellows. We were also split into shifts, 4 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon.
They thought we were so good at what we do already that they decided to place us in the least performing classes!
In my class, I was welcomed with this data:
June 2013 Pre-Test Results (Class of 51 kids)
4 - Non-Readers (7.84%)
41-Frustrated and Instructional Readers (80.39%)
6- Independent readers (11.76%)
This didn’t include Math and Science yet.
And the goal at the end of the school year:
100% readers
100% Passing Rate
How to do:
Find a miracle.
Fantasy Stage Complete.
Survival
First year of teaching for me, has become all about survival. I can go on and on with a lot of crazy and unbelievable snippets about my school experiences, but for now, let me share to you how I survived my first year of teaching, hoping that you might pick up something useful for yourself:
State your Why.
On my first year of teaching, I needed to keep reminding myself about the reasons why I
made the decision to teach, why I moved out of the comfort zone.
Repeatedly.
Choose your battles.
On my first year of teaching, I have seen a lot of questionable and wrong practices, data manipulation and work negligence due to many factors not under our control. I learned to work on things that were under my influence-- that is my classroom.
Celebrate small success.
On my first year of teaching, this was the toughest thing to get used to. Coming from a target-driven working environment, I got so used to hitting the mark, I don’t take time to appreciate the process and the small details. I learned to look into the smallest stories of success in the classroom like: a kid came to class for 5-straight days; a 10% increase in overall mastery after 6 weeks; no kids fighting during recess; kids can fall in line without pushing one another; a veteran teacher thanking me because I taught them how to use MS Excel, it made their grade computation and storage, a lot easier.
Create your community.
On my first year of teaching, the veteran teachers were so helpful and parent-like most of the time. They are the best sources of wisdom for the class. Make them feel important and that they matter because most of the time, the real teachers aren’t recognized. Also, the classroom is a very good place to experiment on building communities.
Keep Calm.
On my first year of teaching, I learned to be a broken record, when giving instruction or using a certain strategy in class, I didn’t get mad when the kids do not follow your instructions the first time, I tried again the second time, and on the third time, if they still didn’t get it, I go back to the instruction and break it down, step by step.
If it doesn’t work the first time, it doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. You probably just missed a step.
Use the internet.
The internet is a tool. Use it to your advantage. Search for lessons, share your stories.
Google is a useful tool, never treat it as your teacher.
My 4Cs of survival: Choose. Celebrate. Community. Calmness.
The internet is an add-on. The foundation is my Why.
Mastery
On my first year of teaching, the only thing I got to master and I am so glad I did, was to master the “Teacher Look”. I have to conserve my energy, it’s always 1 teacher vs 50 students. I was able to learn how to impart a message just by a stare.
Impact
On the first year of teaching, the impact I wanted to see, the impact we want to achieve was still not visible. Too early. But the impact that the kids had on me was just so strong that I wanted to be better the next school year. The simple thank you letters, the sorry notes and text messages from parents make me realize that maybe I am doing something good after all.
Second Year of Teaching
The fantasy stage was still ambitious: I want to be a better teacher.
The second year was a bit better, just a tiny bit. The Survival Stage got a bit better with:
Redefining my Why.
Finding a mentor.
Learning from others.
Never stop learning.
Mastery leveled up a bit. From Mastery of the Teacher Look, I also learned different classroom management techniques and other effective teaching strategies. I learned that, we get to master one thing a time. We cannot master everything, all at once.
In 2015, The impact of the 2-year fellowship to me is just so strong that after fellowship, instead of getting stable at my corporate job, after 6 months, I decided to go back to teaching instead, then in 2017, I moved to Japan to be a language teacher.
Asia Pacific Alumni Gathering
Last September 2018, I got the opportunity to facilitate a learning session with teachers from different Asian countries about how and why we teach the English language. From the historical, political, social and cultural points of view. We focused our conversations how the English language affect the society we live in—is it empowering people or is it oppressing others? We wanted to address the larger issues of inequality brought about by the demand for the ability to communicate in just one specific language.
We were able to start discussions about how we view the English language in general. Teach for Bangladesh also adopted the topic in their Winter training camp that had resulted to a very engaged cohort and had brought a lot more space for discussion and reflection. Japan has a different political and business landscape about language learning, but the philosophical ideal that we want to learn English so we can communicate with one another is still very much solid. We just want to make sure that our strategies are aligned to the goals.
What I do in Japan Now
So now, I am on another level of teaching:
Fantasy
Contrary to what I would always get from the local Japanese teachers, I believe that every Japanese teacher can have the ability to be effective Communications teacher, they just need to be able to get the right training and believe that they can—both in the first and second language.
Survival
How to pass the Comprehensive Exams to complete my Master’s Degree
How to find a new job
Continue living in Japan
Mastery (in progress)
I am learning Japanese.
I am learning how to connect with the local culture without
compromising my personal values.
Impact (to be determined)
All these are anchored to my personal Why:
One random follower on facebook asked me this:
Him: What makes you interested to help kids reach higher attainments in education?
Me: Because, when I die, I will be leaving this world and kids like you will need take over. I don’t want some sloppy kid to take over my job.
As you embark in the 2-year journey, know that it is not easy, and always remember that you are not alone in the journey. Across the city, across the seas, different people are having their ways of addressing social issues through education.
For now, I hope you:
Open up yourself.
Always remember your Why.
Ask the right questions.
Choose your battles.
Teach yourself to celebrate small signs of success.
If you cannot find your community, create it.
Keep calm and just keep pushing forward.
That is my story. What will be your story?
I hope to hear your stories in the next few months and years.
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