I drafted a resignation letter last March 31st. After much thinking, it is still here with me. Somehow, I find delight in rereading, rewriting, improving word choice. I just like fitting in very exact terms to say exactly what I mean. So blog, since you make up my readership, which, Iam very thankful for, read on.
Dear Sir,
I never voiced it out, but I have been contemplating on leaving since March 31, weighing things for the past weeks. In light of the tsunami in Japan, my parents observably not getting any younger, and my two nephews and niece growing up fast, I decided that I want to spend more time with them. Each time I see you sir, push the wheelchair your mother sits on, I remember my own.
I am thinking of starting a small reading center at home to enable me to stay close to my parents and personally teach my two nephews and my niece. Should that plan be a bit premature or hasty, I would still love to teach, but this time, in a school closer to home so that I will be consistently punctual and get home early even if I want to work long hours. If I am assigned to teach in preschool, it must be in a setting which allows the practice of progressive methods as this matches my experience and beliefs about instruction so that I can modify instruction, possibly deviate from pen and paper tasks and ultimately, respond effectively to both regular kids and those mainstreamed children with special needs.
I am very grateful for the teaching assignment you gave me last schoolyear. Firsts are truly memorable. Above all, thank you for giving me the chance to be a part of the lives of the grade five students. A lot from my advisory class are smart and have so much potential. As I write, I can’t help but remember Louie, Audrey, Marco, Hendrick, Sophiya, Morgan, Calvin, A.J. Regio, Genesis, Sam, Chelsee, Joaquin, and DJ among others. They will undoubtedly remember the times I was distant, to the point of being stiff, but its simply because I cared so much about them. I purposely kept my distance to show that I meant business.
Most from Grade 5- Faith were both academic and competitive, and would do everything to get the highest score. I told them that their fiercest competition is really themselves-how they begin and how they end each schoolyear. I also told them that real competition happens each time they fight against procrastination and mediocrity within. I know very well for it is a daily battle raging within me. I challenged them to enlarge their arena and compete with other grade five students from around the world. We also learned about the noblesse oblige- that nobility obliges. I told them that should they reach a position of influence in the future; by virtue of education or social status, they must have a sense of duty to help better the lives of those around them. I had the opportunity to share an article from December of last year, on filial piety, which our pastor’s daughter brought home after five years in China. It was a tale of grown-up siblings, real men, who built a carriage they carried on their backs to comfortably enable their mother to see the sights of China without having to experience motion sickness that go with riding cars.
Homeroom was an avenue for us to learn from the handicapped Nick Vuyijic; the king without a crown, Tanzanian Olympian John Stephen Akhwari, who, despite badly cutting his knee and dislocating his joint, pressed on to finish the Summer Olympics in 1968. When asked by a reporter why he continued running, he said simply, "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race." One personal favorite was the youtube clip “The Bridge,” an excellent, modern-day portrayal of John 3:16.
Grade 5-Hope may have lacked the strive for academic excellence the other class had, but they were kind, helpful, and never did things out of obligation, but of pure passion. Inspite of being very noisy altogether, they were a happy bunch.
I hope that in the near future, there would be a more effective way to monitor the surge of emotions our pre-adolescents are going through. They are very curious. I tried to enter their world so I will know who they really are, and hopefully, influence them in a positive way. Along with the benefits of accessing helpful information via the Internet, they might be getting poison as well, or simply overwhelming information they are unprepared for. I guess, the best antidote is to instill in them an inner compass that will guide them in making the right choices stemming from a strong sense of right and wrong as the Bible dictates. I believe that if all of them are guided properly, most especially, ushered into the faith, they can be significant contribution to society someday.
My prayers go with Pace Academy, you sir, Mrs. Lao, and Teachers Elijah and Wesley.