Demo Teaching – UPIS (Reflection)

            Before I talk about the demo teaching itself in UPIS, I would like to share something about myself. I hate teenagers. Not exactly hate as in  loathing their presence; it is more of  being irritated to no end by this age group. Mainly it is because I know how they process as I was not so long ago one of them. But if there is an age group that I veer away from, more than teenagers, it would be what they call the ‘tweens’. These are the children who are not exactly children anymore but not really teenagers yet. The age range is about nine to thirteen years old. Why I am terrified of this bracket is because they are more conscious and image dwelling than their teenage counterparts. This is the time where they adjust from being their parents babies to the little rebels (of course, I kid) that they will be as teenagers.

            As I learned that we were going to teach sixth graders, you could imagine how anxious I was because I don’t particularly like kids this age. They aren't cuddly anymore. They have crushes that they take too seriously and they like music that I can’t stand. I was doomed.

Luckily, I wasn't going alone. I had my groupmates with me. There were three of us; meaning, I will only have to suffer a third of the anxiety. If the case had been otherwise, I probably would have hyperventilated and passed out as this was my first time to teach in an elementary classroom setting.

Surprisingly, it wasn't at all that bad as I was expecting. Yes, they were a little too energetic at times but it was very different from how I imagined it to be. The students were actually nice and cooperative for the most part. I am speaking on the general sense here because they didn't really want to answer on my part of the lesson. This concerned me a lot because they were participative on JR’s part and were really rowdy on Nico’s part. But when it was my turn to speak they just sat there and looked at me shyly, smiling and generally avoiding being called to answer. I found out, on the second day that they thought I was Japanese; hence the apprehension to talk to me.

That bit taught me two things: one, pair share or group discussion in case no one wants to answer; two, make sure they know that I understand Filipino so as to prevent scenarios such as this. When I think about it, I find it silly that I thought I was scary or I looked intimidating. It all boils down to this, connect with your students.

When one of the students asked me if I were Filipino and they even had to confirm it by asking me to speak in Filipino, they were more or less at ease to talk to me. Some even try to call my attention when they had to ask something. Normally, I wouldn’t really make a big deal out of it but, but after experiencing being avoided for the most part of the class, I was just so glad that they were actually talking to me towards the end of it.

Another one important thing I proved is that you have to know what they like. While I was making the worksheets, I had to research for what kids these days like. Although we weren’t really able to put them to use, I saw that we could have actually made use of those things so as to get their attention.

            Voice control is another note to be taken. I used to think that my voice was loud. It turns out that it wasn’t. Or I wasn’t employing it properly would be a better way to put it.

            Lastly, the most important thing I learned in our group demo teaching is that I don’t really hate ‘tweens’. I just need more exposure to them. They are generally just starting out to develop their self image which makes it more challenging to handle them as we may come across as adults who do not understand what they are going through. But if we try to make them feel and see that we are trying to bridge that gap, I believe that they would be easier to get along with.