on classrooms

I joined the academe to teach. That's it.

I do not have any other grandiose plans. Or visions. I was called to teach. To facilitate learning. Period.

Deep inside the heart of my heart, I carry a burden. I definitely do not have the monopoly of this burden. I know there are other people out there, most probably parents, who yearn and work to make the next generation better. And somehow, that call, that burden found me even before I got married :)

And in this mission of making the next generation better, whether that will be the next generation of students or the next generation of businesses, it was designed (!) that I will do my fighting and my battle inside a classroom.

My hill, my protected pass, my battlefield are the classrooms. Or any place where learning happens. There, I "shout", "This is Sparta!" : )

A lot of things have been written and said about the science (or art) of teaching. Some ideas from varying schools of thought complement. While others, attack :)

It becomes confusing after awhile. But with loyalty and faith, epiphany walks in gingerly. And learning, in my own humble opinion, has really transpired and happened when a learning facilitator guided the students to find a personal answer to the question of, "Ok. Now that I know that, what am I suppose to do with it?"

I firmly believe that if that question could not be answered, a class was only scheduled but none happened. The students attended one but did not have one. They simply watched a performance. And the professor simply showcased his thespian skills :)

I write this for my current students this 3rd term of 2010-2011, that, hopefully and prayerfully, at the end of the 10-week journey we will embark together - you can personally answer what to do with the class your parents paid for :)

"... why think like mere men?"