Last Last Day at Balara

Last meeting was supposed to be our last teaching session but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had another interactive teaching session done by all the tutees and all the tutors.

First we played some games, then a story was portrayed by some of the tutees then we played a "give me what I want" game with a twist.  The children had fun and enjoyed the activities.  It was fulfilling and very pleasant.

The day ended with us giving another set of farewells to Dale.  But this time it was the very last, for sure.  

It was a nice semester with Balara.  It was a fun learning and teaching experience, one I would never forget.

Last Day at Balara

It was our last day teaching at Balara Elementary School, and goodbyes were on the way.  We started off the post-assessment with Dale.  

We let him read some words and then some sentences and then when we came to the letters part, he seemed to have difficulty at identifying them and writing them.  It's like he forgot his letters.  Even one of my fellow tutees got a little stressed because of that.  He wasn't also able to connect the big letters to the small letters properly.  I didn't know what happened to him.  But anyway, we pushed through with the post-assessment and went to the reading of the story.  During the story, he was also unable to answer the questions properly.  Then I realized maybe he was already tired so we quickened our pace and skipped the questions that he could not answer.

After the post-assessment, our group (composed of five) made a circle around Dale and left our last messages to him.  We then gave him a gift consisting of a book, some crayons and some grade 2 pads.  We then said our good-byes and went home.

Balara 05-05-15

Today, we went back to the old team of five and taught a single student: Dale.  We started by cutting out pictures and had Dale paste them at the box containing the first letter of the words that the pictures represented. He did it without fail and we were all amazed at him.  It was pleasing!

We then went on with the LP, shared the story, had Dale read the words and practice the letters etc.

In the end part, we let him read the sentences given in the LP and at first he was having a hard time but as time proceeded, he was able to pick up reading sentences and went to read the last given sentence flawlessly.

We then ended with the worksheet 3 and after that I took him to his guardian.  We finished early; it was really delightful having Dale as a tutee, he was quite the fast learner!

Summer in Balara

I came in late so I was paired up with another tutor.  We had Miguel that day.  I found out that Miguel was the tutee of Carlo, my tutor pair, even before the summer classes and I was amazed at the kid's dedication in studying.

We first did an old LP since Carlo told me that it was where they left off last week.  So I helped Carlo out with the story and the reading of some of the words.  After we finished that LP, Carlo told me that he had to go home so I went to continue with Miguel the LP for that day.

Like Dale, Miguel was also attentive and we both enjoyed the "I spy with my little eye" game.  We searched for objects around us that started with letter _ and had the other one guess what we were thinking of.  It was very amusing.  We continued on with the LP.

At first he had trouble reading some of the words but during the end part, he picked up quite well.  He was able to read phrases too.  It was a tiring yet rejuvenating experience; teaching is really like that.  We finally ended, happily, at that and I was glad to see Miguel improve his reading skills all on that day though of course, he still needs more practice.

The Number 8

Today was the first summer class of the Balara students.  Unlike UP, they chose not to have an acad calendar shift so the number of students drastically lowered and we were forced to make some adjustments.  We decided to team up (we had a team of five) and we taught three students, taking turns.

The first part consisted of reading a story book about Aling Oktopoda, an octopus with eight legs who had eight children who also had eight legs.  The kids enjoyed the story very much and we, the tutors, did also.  It was a fun and interactive activity where everyone got to participate.  After the hyped storytelling, we decided to break up into smaller groups and do the LP's to each individual child.

My pair and I got Dale that day.  He was quite an intelligent child.  He knew how to write his name and got most of the LP questions right.  He was also fast in reading and in learning words and sounds.  I was glad to have him as a tutee; he was very attentive and was really interested in the lessons.  It was one of the best tutoring sessions I ever had.

Monday at Balara

We went back to Balara last Monday.  I arrived a little late and when I went to get my students, the teacher said that they had been waiting for me.  We went down together and I saw that both of them had grown close and that they were already comfortable talking with me.  

We started out with some games first and did some drawings.  One of my classmates, Carlo, accompanied me because both his students were absent.  The first part was fun and lively, we sang together, drew together and laughed together.  Then we went to the lesson proper; Carlo and I took turns teaching them both.  

At first they were very attentive but during the latter part of the lesson, they were no longer listening and just wanted to play.  Jericho, though, still focused somehow on the lessons while Daniel really wanted it to end already.  I realized then that I really need to make my lessons more interactive so that they won't get bored easily.  Also, during the last part of the lesson, I realized that they were already able to read and write though not that good yet.  Their skills have improved from the first time that we met.  

It was the most tiring tutorial I had so far but I still enjoyed it.  I was glad that they already went out of their shells and were getting better in reading and in writing but we still have to work on their attention span.

Back to Balara

 David Bryan Lao

         Last Monday, we went back to Balara.  I went to fetch my students but only one was present because the other one had an incident last week.  The teacher told me that he puked blood last week and was not able to attend classes since then.  I hope he's okay.

         I started out the session with Daniel, my other student.  He was smiling the moment we started the lesson.  I could see that he was excited.  Like last week, we spent the first few moments playing paper games which we both enjoyed.  After that, we started the session proper.

         Daniel learned the lessons quickly but he still had trouble reading.  He just memorized the forms of the words when he paired the pictures and the phrases.  He was well acquainted with the pictures and the sound of the letter "k" but he still could not read that well.  I think I should focus on this next meeting.

       Overall, the session was okay although he was kind of bored during the middle part.  But he became lively during the last part when we played the jumping-on-paper letter game.  I look forward to seeing him next Monday and I hope Jericho would be there with us too.

                                      Another Day at Balara
                                          David Bryan Lao

       Last Monday, we went to Balara once again.  There, I met with my second student for the first time ( since I was absent the other Monday) and met with my first student the second time.

       We had a fun start, we had some introductions and we drew pictures for the first ten minutes of the tutorial.  It was quite fulfilling and fun.  Both of them were enjoying themselves.  We then went on to the tutorial proper where they did their best in the lessons.

       My second student was exceptionally fast in picking up the things I taught while the first one had a bit slower pace but was picking up the lessons nonetheless.  My first student had trouble pronouncing the letter "s".  They were quite attentive during the middle part.

       During the last part, they were already tired of the lessons.  They weren't listening anymore and they were asking me to let them play with some gadgets.  Nevertheless, we finished the whole session and did have a fun ending.  I promised them candies the next time we meet.

       It was a fulfilling yet tiring day.  I realized how hard it was to continually catch the attention of even just two students.  It was altogether wonderful nonetheless.  I hope I can get their attention better next time. 
     

                                                               First Day
                                   David Bryan Lao       

          When we arrived at Balara Elementary School, I was excited but also totally afraid; I was smiling on the outside but I was captivated with fear on the inside.

            I went up to the third floor to get my tutee.  When I went there, the teacher told me he was absent so I went to Teacher Yvette and found myself a new tutee.  My new tutee was John Jericho Notilado, a quite shy yet attentive child.  Everything was awkward at first, discontinuous conversations, questions left hanging etc., but then things started working out.  Though he was shy, he was able to tell me a bit about himself and I was glad that he did.  He told me he liked to play basketball and also tag.  He told me he was the fifth of six children.  And lastly, he told me he liked to draw robots.

            We began by finding some common ground and talked about just anything.  Then we began the lessons.  During the lessons, I felt fulfilled.  I always wanted to tutor kids and I could not believe I was already doing it!  

            He had a bit of difficulty with his letters and with his reading so I helped him.  During the mid-session, he shared with me that his mother had a heart disease and that they had no money to buy medicine.  I was speechless, I did not what to say.  After a few moments, I tried comforting him and tried to cheer him up.  At that moment, I realized the plight of many young kids like Jericho.  I began to understand the difficulties children like him go through.  I was thus inspired to become a better teacher so that he could become a better learner and will eventually, be able to help out his family.

            During the last parts, he did kind of get bored so we finished up.  I then took him back to his room and bade farewell. 

            My first day was a wonderful day; I had fun, learned a lot of lessons, had a few realizations and most importantly, had made a friend.  I look forward, then, to the next sessions and hope that I could help Jericho become a better student.

Pre-Tutoring Chills

David Bryan Lao

                Last Monday, we had a demo session for teaching.  It was fun and interactive and I gained a lot of insights.  Moreover, I began to see the perspective of children and learned the things that I should do when dealing with them.  After that, we went to Balara Elementary School.

                When we arrived, I admit I had mixed feelings.  A huge part of me was excited and thrilled that I had this opportunity to teach adorable children yet, a part of me was afraid that I might not be able to pull it off.  It wasn’t a teaching session; it was just a tour of the place in preparation for next week.  We were shown the rooms where the teaching or the tutoring was to happen and the other rooms as well.

                When we went to the higher floors, we met the children.  My excitement grew all the more.  Some of them waved their hands so I waved mine too, I also high-fived some of them. Being around children makes me happy and that afternoon, I was happy and delighted.  I knew I would enjoy teaching these young kids.  Then, a former LTS-2 student who joined us in our tour of the school went to her former students and gave them gifts.  It was nice.  It showed me that teaching isn’t just that, teaching; it is a relationship, a friendship between the teacher and the learner.

                When we went home, I felt fulfilled and felt ready to start.  I was excited to teach.  I was excited to touch lives.  I was excited to make a difference in this world.  And that excitement will manifest itself next week.