ADAPTABILITY FOR TEACHERS: A LESSON TO DERIVE FROM WATER
Luis B. Taruc
If there is one element that a teacher may take on due to its defining qualities, it is water. Water can assume the shape of its container, exist in two phases, and find its way over and through spaces.
Like the water, a Filipino teacher possesses the strength of versatility and adaptability. He is able to embrace and move through these changes with confidence and ease. Keeping up with the fleeting situations in classroom, he has learned to let go of his old habits to better nurture the 21st century learners, drained themselves to rejuvenate them, and learned, like following the lead of the flowing river, to become part of something bigger.
In the 21st century where most learners are technologically adept, teachers have also shown proclivity in computers and other products of modernity. They embed best future practices and innovation with the teaching-learning process where technology is integrated. Just like water taking on the shape of its confines, teachers realize that by only keeping up with the trends of modernity can they best deliver the lessons to their learners.
The changing times have also made the teachers’ work environment very demanding and the students very challenging. Hence, Filipino teachers are usually stressed, overburdened and overworked. Despite this, they have managed to give part of themselves to their students, sacrificing time, money, and energy to deliver an interesting lesson, make up for the deficiency in resources and adapt learning activities for different learning styles. Just like water, teachers have dared to fill holes and empty spaces for the sake of their learners.
The modern Filipino teachers are not also content with the knowledge and information from the past. Just like the river emptying itself into the sea, teachers unlearn new things and accept the fact that what they knew has become obsolete. Indeed, Filipino teachers are not stagnant and do not hold back from learning new things.
Teachers, like water, are adaptable. Of changes, they are not afraid. Like the water, they have originated from the “sky’ above, fallen and come into the Earth to live among the students. And with this they must remember to always quench students’ thirst for learning and help them grow and become the best version of themselves in this constantly changing world.
The author is Teacher
--oOo—
III at San Isidro Elementary School, San Luis District, San
Luis, Pampanga