EXPERIENCING THE READING STANDARDS, ISSUES, AND CHALLENGES: A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS POINT-OF-VIEW

DEEANE MORIAH DELOS SANTOS-TANGLAO

Teaching reading has been one of the toughest jobs for teachers. As a teacher, we make sure that every learner is a reader once they get promoted in the first grade. In teaching reading, we cannot force our learners to read the way we want them to. There must be a level and process to apply. For instance, during their pre-Elem days, we can present them with pictures that stimulate their ideas and introduce them to the basic alphabet. Make sure all of these are anchored to the play-based activities. Since play is essential for preschoolers. It makes everything ascertainable and pleasurable. Thus, the retention of lessons will be boosted. In the first grade, learners are expected to recognize letters as well as phonics. They should be able to read 2-3 syllables until they can read words, sentences, and paragraphs. The later years of the primary level are petrified for enhancement, fluency, and master of the language. On the other hand, failure to meet these standards will reverberate until the learners reach the intermediate level. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the educational arena. Teachers were replaced by computers, and classrooms were replaced by online platforms. This made teaching reading impossible. Many learners were promoted through this modular modality. However, they were not scrupulously strained based on their reading readiness. As a result, teachers have been experiencing a domino effect in teaching reading when intermediate teachers are presumed to teach subject concepts rather than basic reading. Nonetheless, we, as teachers, are pliable, determined, and ready to bridge the gaps of the changing times. Our hearts and minds are always ready to extend our help to our learners because we are teachers. "Para Sa Bata, Para sa Bayan!"

-oOoThe author is Teacher I at Angeles City National Trade School