I HAVE come across various students with different attitudes, cultures, and personalities. I may say that I always wish I could be like a mother to my students, but certainly, I cannot please everyone. Teachers can be so strict to teaching concepts they feel that students cannot learn solely without their personal and constant touch. And this may irritate some students and will not appreciate a regular follow-up as it may consume a lot of their time.
On the other hand, teachers may also dishearten students when they cannot give more time for consultation, aside from the scheduled class. Students think that teachers need to attend to their needs 24/7. And they gossip about their teachers when reprimanded doing half-baked graded assessments, and they expect the rest of the work should be completed by their teachers.
Yet, it is sad to accept that students can evaluate their teachers depending on how they think teachers should be. Or in the manner they would want to be treated based on their standards. So, when teachers are not student pleasers, they would hate them to death. What should be the anatomy of teaching to prevent misunderstandings, words of pain, and students or teachers giving up?
I believe in the need for teachers to give first the basics before moving to the complex topics when teaching. No matter how intelligent a student is, providing baseline information to a concept should not be missed; that is the art of orientation. Discussing pregnancy should begin with conception and not in the first trimester of pregnancy. And lecturing about mental illness should start with mental health. In this way “dili sila mawala sa dalan sa pag tuon”.
I think it is essential for teachers to listen to their voice tones as it affects the functionality of their classrooms. No matter how capable the students are of listening to their teachers' inputs, the way one presents the topic in a calming, pressing, or demanding voice will be remembered by students, much more than what they have learned in their lessons. Teacher's sounding angry and demanding when giving individual and group work may be misinterpreted as not open to students’ possibilities of committing mistakes during their learning journey. Some studies revealed that teachers' calming voices motivate the students to learn throughout the day. In this way, "ang kahadlok sa tingog mahimo ng suliran sa pagtuon."
Even with the innovations in teaching, I feel that a good teacher remains to be willing to explain, demonstrate, and at the same time inspire. Yes, not all teachers require graded return demonstrations from students, but all teachers are expected to demonstrate values to their students -- being a good example. Teachers indeed need to be "mahimong maayong panig-ingnan."
I believe that teachers need to be sensitive to their students -- knowing what hurts them and what makes them happy can be their extra-role too. Of course, teachers are not paid clowns to cause their students to smile and laugh or doctors to heal wounds. But teaching is nurturing, caring, and bringing out the potential of the students. Hence, teachers are the "suga sa kangitngit."
So, teachers, I guess we need to look back into the anatomy of teaching. If teachers provide the basic knowledge before the complex, learning would be easy. If teachers watch their voice tones, maybe it will decrease students' anxiety. If teachers inspire rather than discourage, perhaps it will cause students not to give up. If teachers listen and feel the students' predicaments, students may be encouraged to give more. So, I must say that the best teacher is not just duty-bound to teach the essential topics, but they teach the art of living by being good examples. Indeed, what the teacher is, is more valuable than what they teach.