Ever had/have a teacher whom everyone in your class or even the whole school complains and fears? One who makes the earthlings hide immediately when she passes by? Or even one that has a never-ending record of murder if looks could kill? Somewhere in this goliath world lies a tiny institute where elite students are trained and developed to be wondrous personalities in the future, a teacher like this exists. Students have addressed her secretly as the ‘terror teacher’ and those who have taken up her class spread the rumor that students get failing grades very often. But is the teacher just like a robot who has been input beforehand to come to school every day and torture the students or is there a vague misunderstanding that caused all these unpleasant commotions?
Having 20 years of experience as a teacher, Ms. A’s first choice for her life profession was to actually be a researcher. She was fascinated by the miraculous sights of cells and tissues in a leaf during her college years and since then, she was inspired and longed to be a researcher who could work in the lab to discover and appreciate the wonders of plants and other living organisms. However, life doesn’t always let you get what you want. “There’s no money in it. I won’t survive…” says Ms. A regretfully. Considering the other factors in life, it is necessary that she finds a job that can support her life for the next 40 or 50 years so she decided to become a Botany teacher, a career that can still draw her close to the subject that interests her, in the well-known Ateneo de Manila University and has stayed loyal to it ever since.
“It is nice to teach… It gives me the opportunity to talk with young students and impart my knowledge to them and get knowledge from them also.” She believes that learning should be a two-way process where both the teacher and the student should study well and be prepared instead of just the teacher. She detests the students when they don’t know the answers to her questions; therefore, it would not be a pleasant sight if you aren’t prepared in her class. She disagrees with the way of teaching where the teacher spoon-feeds the students, instead she wants her students to read and read until they understand fully. “We are not required to give you notes and handouts.”
Getting an A in her class isn’t as impossible as counting all the stars in the sky, although Ms. A admits truthfully while nodding her head that “Oh! It is very hard. I have high expectations.” Some people have achieved this miraculously; it is just a matter of hard work. One should read and read and really understand the basic concepts and finally, know how to apply them.
Students would come out of the room with distressed and anguished looks on their faces after long tests which are obviously caused by the huge pressure they experience throughout the whole process; sleepless nights and head-wrecking reviews, the fidgeting of the feet, tapping of the pen, and nervously keeping track of the time while taking the exam, and finally, the anxious and desperate feeling of wanting to know the results. When the outcome is not quite as expected, the teacher gets mad and disappointed, but “I try to access myself, see if they really understand. I would try to change my teaching style.” However, there are limited solutions; lecture subjects really do require reading and memorizing.
She may not seem to be a very patient or overly-friendly teacher since she’s not a guidance counselor, but she’s putting effort; she welcomes you and is ready to entertain any of your questions related to the subject matter during her designated consultation hours. When necessary, she requires the students to consult her as a group. The meaning behind this is to help the students develop a sense of coordination and is also a simple training for them to be able to work with other people before actually going into a company.
Aside from the serious side that most students know of her, there is actually a fun side or at least a different side of Ms. A. It’s not that obvious, but if you take time to notice those minute details and if your mind is not 24/7 filled with the idea of her being a terror teacher who would eat you up if you don’t answer her question, you just might have a slightly different view on her. Ms. A uses a quite casual tone when delivering knowledge and would occasionally cite examples that are relatively easy to understand or even laugh at. “I enjoy planting plants and traveling around with my family,” says Ms. A with a smile that could reach the ears.
When there’s a problem with the projector and the help of maintenance is necessary, she changes her tone of voice from a monotonous one to a casual or even mischievous one, the kind when a child uses when talking to their parents about something when they’re guilty yet acting innocent with a little pleading. It’s hard to believe, but it does and did happen!
Think about it now, is the so called terror teacher still a truth or is it just something we made up all along in our minds?
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