DIARY OF AN ENGLISH TEACHER #7 (DISCIPLINE AS THE CORE OF TEACHING)

RONA ANDREA N. TAMAYO

Amongst all the other forms of knowledge and concepts that junior high school students need to learn, ‘discipline’should be embodied whether in explicit or implicit means. All teachers in the field: seasoned, traditional or beginning teachers alike have admittedly nod on the idea that discipline is vital in educating not only the mind but the embodiment of an educated and schooled individual. It has also been a challenged for me as a beginning teacher. I have been in the public education system for more than 4 years, but I still regard myself as such. I had various work experiences in the BPO industry, in the academe and other language centers. Through my work experiences, I felt confident enough to prepare myself in developing not only my communication skills. I have completely directed myself on a mission of developing my students’language and communication skills.

I tried different strategies to let my students feel my concern and compassion for them but there would still be instances that they would be out of control. During the experimental stage of the intervention I used for target unlikely behavior and to eliminate the occurrence of unlikely actions and behavior in the classroom, I would deliberately blame myself and my insufficient experience and knowledge whenever problems arise. I had been frustrated and clueless on what else I should be doing to make the learning environment more conducive and to increase academic achievement as a result. I was always hesitant to consult seasoned teachers and even my superiors on my dilemma. I would always go back to my 10-year old book on principles of teaching and I would sometimes read blogs of teachers around the globe. Countless trials of maintaining discipline in the classroom made me suffer in a short while and I know my students also had to bear the pain of not having to express themselves freely by showing subtle signs of immaturity. I realized that students are students. Not much can be expected from them to act completely as mature individuals. ACCEPTANCE. THEN, I let my heart and intuitions as an educator resolved the problem. My mind would always give me energy-crash because of overthinking, so I tried to reach out to my young language learners with intense sincerity. I am ultimately glad they felt it although they have a lot of idle things on hand.

I learned that discipline is winning my students’heart. It is being done by being friends or going out with them. It simply goes back to the statement, “I am your teacher. I like to teach you many things that I know and I want you to succeed in life and be genuinely happy.” It doesn’t come easy. It takes hard work and tons of sincerity to teach what discipline really is. It is not just being said. It should be sincerely felt.

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The author is Teacher III at Rafael L. Lazatin Memorial High School