Types of ‘Pinoy’ Teachers

     1. The All Knowing

      This type believes he knows everything yet is pregnant with syntax errors. He is power hungry and fantasizes to lead a herd of sheep. He is also a politician. He hops from one agency to another to befriend people and use them for career advancement. Since he has built a clout, he always gets the best pie. Cunning and dangerous because he claims he is good, he projects an aura that he is the busiest molecule on campus. In short, he is called the ‘full hot air balloon’.

      2. The Laid-back

      This type believes his job is only confined in the four corners of the classroom. He gets burned when he stays in school beyond her official time. He is the mediocre teacher who thinks that change is a burden instead of a challenge. He collects notebooks and stacks them in the faculty room without even checking its content. Oftentimes he talks of small things and feels that teaching is more of a job than an engagement. There are times he comes to school in ‘maong’ pants, net woven blouse, and tight fitting jeans and wears brunette hair. He thinks school is a huge fashion arena and that ‘beauty’ is synonymous to intellect. 

      3. The Business Tycoon

      This type has commodities sold to students. He comes to school not to do his duty but to make monkey business. He gets angry when the merchandise doesn’t get sold and at times gives additional grade to her “parukyano”. Students call him the “rolling store”. Another type of business he does is dealing and befriending parents and later on borrowing money from them. Worse, he also makes his students his milking cow by asking a penny whenever he is in dire need. Oftentimes, he also requires projects that are not related to his subject or asks presents like cake and other stuff when his birthday comes. He uses his charm to deceive. He has motives to do so because he wants to protect his “empire”.

       4.  The Drill Sergeant

      This type does his job pretty well. However, at times he feels downtrodden by complexities of the profession. Nevertheless, he teaches beyond what is to be given to his clients. He taps and maximizes students to their fullest potential. He always manifests the authority in him to continue the spirit of keeping the flame burning. He is not a coward because he speaks his mind. On the other hand, he happens to be the most misunderstood molecule in the hive. He believes that discipline is the core of learning. Being a nonconformist, he loves experimentation coupled with in depth observation and evaluation that would carry him to a life long journey to real learning. Peers and students either love him or hate him.

       5. The Baloney Fly

This type is a symbolic message of temptation from the path of righteousness. Extremely assuming, he believes that he is the caretaker of the colony. Being a shenanigan, he has huge skeletons in his closet and carries deadly viruses that could manipulate a few and later on inflict harm. Having a multi personality and being a great story weaver, he creates his own deceptive world where he can be his master and slave at the same time. Why baloney? Because at times he can be a leech that sucks blood, a chameleon that easily changes hues, and then goes back to being a fly again that lives mainly on cow’s manure. 

Live, laugh, and Reflect!

Libros Festival

Connectivity in; Solitude lost

When I came home last night from work, my younger son Phil hurriedly told me, "Mom, Kuya Jam is not anymore connected!" I looked at him with surprise and asked "What do you mean by not being connected?" He said, "Kuya erased his Facebook account." I did not show any reaction at first, but I thought something must have happened.

I must say my two boys did not grow up having PSP's, MP3s, and other gadgets. Yes, once they were little, they would always brag me about these stuff, but with a heavy heart I would always turn them down. Well I explained to them the disadvantages of having these 'manipulators' in their life. But the irony of it all, their friends and cousins had all of these, yet when they played games, they always had the highest scores. I got smart kids after all!

When kids his age were busy playing PSPs and listening to MP3s, my older son Jam was busy reading his classics and later on with a very discriminating taste, jumped to science fiction. Not only that, he was also hooked on playing NBA on the computer. I was extremely strict when it comes to games downloaded on the computer. They only had NBA games.

Time travels so fast. Now that they're both young men, 18 and 15 respectively, only the older one has cellphone. The younger one, Phil doesn't have an inkling to connect. But his passion is music. So when he told me he wanted a guitar, we hurriedly bought one.

After taking dinner, I waited for Jam to tell me the real score about his facebook account. "Mom, I disconnected myself from the world of dreams, hypocrisy and lies." I was stunned. For a moment, I was speechless. He added, "People have become insincere and dumb."

I told Jam, "All the world's a stage and each must a play a part." We are digitally connected and many of us feel fascinated about this. Because of the radical changes in communications technology, our lives take place, more than ever, in what we call the "front stage." In other words, we are constantly performing and we find there's less and less time to retreat to the back stage," to take a break and be OURSELVES."

"And I give my hats off to you son, for taking a break. I know it's not easy, but you did without second thought."

The most intimate of our relationships, in which we used to take refuge and confinement, can be viewed by people we hardly know but who are part of this ever expanding social network. We are trapped in a box wherein we can no longer talk in whispers, or tell a joke that will not be a potential scandal. In short, our solitudes have become public. We lost the time to reflect because we are in a baseball field where every one is into a race.

Letter writing is a bullet train.One can chat even miles apart. However, I truly miss the art of letter writing. I remember going to a bookstore that was always on sale to buy colorful stationeries. The time spent composing words and going to the Post Office will forever be a memory. Nowadays, we have ecards...amazing!

Social media recast social relations. The rise of virtual identities have become complicated. You are your own avatar ready to rule the world of illusion. Relationships come and go. You want to deactivate and you're not connected. We have lost that thing called human touch. What we have is simply virtual connection. On the contrary, if you feel like creating another account, it's your choice.

I am now having second thoughts of taking a break, what about you?