Teaching with Multiple Preps

Teaching with multiple preparations for different levels is really a challenge for teachers, especially for the newbies. My first year of teaching was a very confronting baptism of fire. I was given full load of teaching with three preparations! That time, I handled computer subjects for second to fourth year high school students. At second year level, I was teaching simple Office applications and database management system, at third year level, I was teaching web designing and at fourth year level, graphic designing with Photoshop and CorelDRAW. There was never a day that I wasn't swamped by so many preparations for instructional materials and assessment tools.  

Sometimes, I thought I was not becoming an effective teacher anymore... I would always feel tired of teaching...  I was starting to lose the passion... But after giving myself some time to reflect, I had realized that it was the multiple preparations that were draining my fervor in teaching. I was still passionate about teaching, but I was just being bulldozed by the demands of multiple preps. 

"I must do something to lessen this burden, since I want to finish my contract, I can't afford to lose the job and above all I love this profession." I just told myself. So that was when positive change came into the scene. I couldn't do something about the number of preparations because the teachers' schedule program was already established and besides, who would want to appear like a rebel in front of the school director in his very first year of teaching? Thinking for a more positive approach, I just came up of some strategies to make my teaching life a little bit breezier, some of the tips were also from seasoned teachers who gave their solicited advice about dealing with multiple preps. Following are the tips that might also help you:

1. Get Organized. Teaching with multiple preparations would mean more paper works, visual guides, exams to mark, activities to evaluate and record. Stay organized. Categorize them using colored envelopes and file holders. Use paper clips and and clamps. These little office buddies will help you to still have a little space for a picture frame on your table top.  
2. To Do List. Being mindful on how you should spend your time is also important in dealing with multiple preps. Allot time for each preparation. Before you sleep or early in the morning be sure to come up of a "to-do list" that will guide you all through out the day.
3. Seek Help. There is no harm in asking anyone inside the faculty, particularly those who are also teaching the same field, if they can help you in your case. They might allow you to re-use their modules or instructional materials, give you some tips on how to demonstrate the lessons easily etc. This is where you should value being friendly and sociable. Always remember...no man is island.
4. Do Not Challenge Yourself Too Much. Remember that you are in a very demanding situation right now. Do not allow your self to explode by adding more pressures. Simplicity is the key here... It's not like you should come up of something very innovative in every second of your teaching life. Reinventing the wheel is great, but not during a school year with multiple preps.  
5. Energize Yourself. If you feel tired, do not mistaken it with a losing passion for teaching. Think positive. Do something that please you during your free time (exercising, reading, listening to your fave music). Get enough sleep and eat a balance diet. 

Life is a Roller Coaster Ride

LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER RIDE
Marlon Lalaguna

Life is a roller coaster ride,

It gets you higher on top and lower at bottom.

It climbs very slow... it's boring,

It falls very fast... it's frightening,

Unexpected twists are thrilling... but exciting.

The ride flips me upside down.. and now I am screaming.

I know I am safe, I trust the ONE who built this,

I just need to follow HIS safety guidelines.

Now, I am enjoying the ups and downs,

The back and forth, and the twists and turns.

Life is a roller coaster ride.

Giving Report Card Comments

First quarter of this school year is through. Teachers are now confronted with grade computations, consolidation of grades, school forms, report cards and a lot more!

One of the great challenges of every class adviser, every time a grading period ends, is writing for the teacher's comment at the back of report card. Usually class advisers will spend a great deal of time and effort in thinking for the most appropriate and genuine comment that she can give for a particular student.

Some factors should be considered here: How was the student in his class or academic performance? Was the student behaving properly? Did the student commit a lot of absences?

In this post, I would like to give four tips on how to make this task easier without the guilty feeling of being inauthentic with your personal commentaries about your students. 

1. Base your comments from your Class Anecdotal Record. Whether or not it is a requirement of your school to come up with an anecdotal record for each of your student, writing anecdotal records is a good practice to start with that could give you a rich source for cumulative information about them, specific incidences, their instructional needs and their over-all development for a particular grading period. I know what you are thinking right now... (Hey I thought you're going to help us make it easier, but this is just another task to deal with!). Somehow, yes it will be an additional item in your to-do list, but believe me... be patient and you will reap what you sow.
2. Support your comment with faultless numeric data. It is very important that our feedback is grounded into correct records of class performance, attendance and scores. A comment based on an erring data is a shame on the part of a teacher, who should be responsible of keeping all the records and being accurate in assessing the students. It also adds to the authenticity of the comment if you can specifically cite or show an accurate record of the student's performance to the parents during the conference.
3. Create a Report Card Comment Database. You can work with this alone or with your colleagues. If you are newbie in this profession, it pays off to seek the help of you fellow teachers particularly the seasoned ones. Ask them what usual comments they will give for a bright student? How about for those struggling students or misbehaving students? After hearing and jotting those in your tickler, it's time for you to build your report card comment database. 

Using MS Excel or Access, type all those commentaries grouping them into a particular kind of student. Below are some teacher's commentaries and how they are grouped to fit in a particular kind of student:

For bright and active students: 

Aktibo sa talakayan ng klase. Ipagpatuloy ito.(Actively participates in class discussion. Keep it up.)

Isa sa mga nangungunang mag-aaral sa markahang ito. Binabati kita.(He is one of the top students for this grading period. Congratulations!) 

Nagpamalas ng husay sa lahat ng asignatura. Ipagpatuloy ito.(He shows academic excellence in all subjects. Keep it up.)

For students with remarkable behavior: 

Isang magalang ang mabait na bata. May pagpupunyagi sa kanyang pag-aaral.(He is a kind and polite child. He exhibits perseverance in his studies.) 

Naging isang mahusay na pinuno ng kaniyang klase. Isang modelong mag-aaral. Ipagpatuloy ito! (He shows leadership in his class, a model student. Keep it up!)

For struggling and/or misbehaving students: 

Iwasan ang madalas na pagliban sa klase. Dagdagan pa ang sipag at tiyaga upang mapaunlad ang mga mababang marka.(Avoid habitual absences. Persevere more to improve on the subjects with low grades.) 

Iwasan ang pakikipagusap sa katabi habang nagkaklase. Ituon ang atensyon sa pag-aaral upang mapaunlad ang mga mababang marka.  (Avoid trivial chatting with seatmates while having class discussion. Focus in your studies to improve your grades.)

4. Ask your class advisory to write a 'quarter-end reflection.' If it's really too late to come up of with those anecdotal records or commentary database, this could be your last resort, or perhaps, this could also be another rich source of all possible genuine comments you can give for a particular student. So, you can also try this along with those previous suggestions. You just need to give some guide questions to prompt them in writing this reflective journal. Ask them about their over-all learning experience during the grading period. Questions like 'what went right?' and 'what went wrong?' will give you a hint on what particular feedback that you can tell him to improve his studies and enjoy his learning experience.

Giving a report card comment for all your students might be a very tedious task, but remember that it plays an important role in building the excellence and character of our learners. Let us take this task seriously, your simple report card comment can make or break them.

I Will Stay Up Late Tonight!

Done with my Learning Plans

...with my Visual Aids and PowerPoint Presentations

...with my Assessment Tools

I'm prepared physically and emotionally for tomorrow's class..

Then, City Mayor Rex Gatchalian announced that there will be NO CLASSES tomorrow, August 19, 2013.

Should I be sad?

Of course not! Actually, I could never be happier... 

More time to rest...

More time to play my mobile games...

More time to watch movies...

[then my daydream bubble popped]

Oops! I remember I have a lot of structured readings for my graduate class! Yeah, right! Time to catch up... Will spend the whole day tomorrow for those! 

[sigh]

But if there is really something that I could really enjoy about this suspension...staying up late tonight and watching Gandang Gabi Vice (GGV)...Yes! I will laugh hard tonight - bet on it! 

What?! DORIS BIGORNIA is one of the guests! OMG! I am a fan of this very comical news presenter of ABS-CBN!

I am gonna die laughing tonight! :D

A Manic and Stormy Monday

It's raining cats and dogs outside! Typhoon Labuyo is giving his last blow before he leaves the country.

Our local government declared no classes to those flood-prone areas only. Guess what? Our barangay is very fortunate not to be included on the list (hehe). When I came to school, I could tell with the students' gloomy facial expressions that most of them were disappointed (even some of the teachers are quite frustrated as well... and that includes me.. hehe). I thought we could have an extension for our long weekend last week. It seemed that everyone was really expecting for a class suspension today. 

But gone with those wishful thinking, we proceeded with our normal routines. 

It's so hard for me to continue discussing with somehow displeased bunch of students. So, to lighten up their moods, I gave some incentives for those who were present. I gave them plus ten chips for their class performance - the perks of coming to class in the midst of typhoon. 

Wow! What a manic and stormy Monday for all of us! :D