The First Five Days of S.Y. 2013-2014

Oh my! It’s been a long time since I posted here. If there is something that I am so eager to share about my brave journey, it is all about my new special assignment.

I was assigned by our principal to hold the Basic Education Information System (BEIS) Office. To tell you honestly, the idea of being a BEIS officer never crossed my mind. Although I know that this special assignment requires information technology skills, it also demands a lot of specific knowledge and technicalities, prompt data collection and presentation, and most specially holding this office requires me to improve my people skill. I directly deal with the teachers in data collection for our enrolment and attendance monitor. To give you an idea on what I went through as a BEIS officer for the first five days of this school year, here are my journal entries:

Day 1 (June 3)

• Opening of classes
• My mentor, Mrs. Caunte, told me to start the attendance and enrolment monitor
• I started meeting the class advisers. There are 114 sections and 57 classrooms   organized (34 section in grade 7; 30 sections in grade 8; 26 sections in third year; and 24 sections in fourth year)
• There are no grade/year level coordinators. Data gathering is my sole assignment.
•  I also met my senior students (IV-Dominique).
• I swear this day is really exhausting!

Day 2 (June 4)

• Same tasks: enrolment and attendance update
•   Retrieval of age profile as of June 3
•  We sent report to the Division Office. I felt like I was ambushed every time the D.O. would call and demand for the enrolment update.
• Short orientation and lecture discussion with my IV-St. Dominique and IV-St. Joseph
• Still, exhausting… Will I survive this?!

Day 3 (June 5)

• Same tasks: enrolment and attendance update
• Mr. Tony Luz, the Division Office head for planning, visited the school. He told us to submit the enrolment monitor form, specifying the number of classes and classrooms organized and data on transferees
• I am overwhelmed by these paper works!

Day 4 (June 6)

• Same tasks: enrolment and attendance update
• Retrieval of age profile as of June 3 [I hate when teachers suddenly become invisible when I rove around to collect this]
• Sent the enrolment monitor form to D.O.
• Had a talk with the assistant principal and told me about some of my data inconsistencies [the inconsistencies are not yet crimes, i just have to learn from them ]

 Day 5 (June 7)

• Last day for enrolment and attendance update!
• 97% of age profile collected [I missed a few of them.. will deal with them on Monday]
• Sent the enrolment and attendance monitor to D.O.
• I can’t believe it, the first five days are through and I am still alive!

Reading my journal, I realize how sweet it is to become just a plain classroom teacher. Being a full-time teacher, your concern is just about you and your students: devoting your time for your learning plans and instructional materials preparation, dealing with classroom management and effective teaching strategies. With a special assignment, prioritizing is indeed a big challenge. You still need to prepare for your teaching, because you will also have teaching loads (although lesser, I am handling 3 computer classes), but at the same time you are also required to think and respond to the demands of your office.