Texting, Teaching, and Despairing

It is of great importance that you proofread your text messages before actually sending them out. Consider the following examples:

What was Intended

1. I refuse to do that for as long as I am in the car!
2. We will go to Makati. And then I will bring you guys home. (Not mine)
3. Good afternoon, Sir! May I please see you at around three, for just five minutes?

What Appeared on the Screen

1. I refuse to do that for as long as I am the car!
2. We will go to Makati. And then I will bring guys home.
3. Good afternoon, Sir! May I please you at around three, for just five minutes?

One word can make a world of difference.

Thank God I caught the last message just in time.

* * *

Speaking of text messages, I got a message from Head A two days ago that I had passed the basic test and could now take the advanced test. This refers to the tests that all tutor-hopefuls have to take.

Yes, that's right - I am applying to be a part-time tutor. I find that I like explaining things to people, and I figure that I may as well experience doing this, on a formal level, while I can. And also, Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe talked me into it.

While I was planning to teach English, whether Grammar (or Language) or Literature (or Reading), the funny thing is that I may end up teaching Math, Science, or Filipino instead. Keat, the girl I was texting with, said that these were the sections of the test that I had registered high scores in. The thing is that there were only two sections she didn't mention - Language and Reading Comprehension.

I was laughing when I read her text. I had found Language and Reading Comprehension to be the easiest parts of the test. In fact, when I was taking practice tests in review for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), I'd always get the highest scores in the latter.

It's really funny how these tests go. But then again, it is nice to know that I still remember Math, Science, and Filipino so well.

And to those of you who noticed, yes, I am aware of the slight contradiction in the statement above.

* * *

While I have great plans of being a school ma'am of sorts for a couple of months, two of my recent experiences have made me question my applicability for such a noteworthy profession.

Taking the Basic Test in the Head A Center

When I was taking the basic test, a tutor and his pupil were right behind me. This is how their session went: the tutor would read a question out loud, and then the student would guess her answer to it. Sometimes, she would get it right, but most of the time, she would not. After one question, the student or the teacher would narrate some anecdote that would be totally unconnected with the subject matter at hand. Think electrons and the Philippine National Anthem. They would spend five minutes laughing over it. After the first minute, the laughter of the student would start getting strained, but she would keep on laughing anyway. She would start sounding like a hyena-toy whose batteries were slowly dying on her. Finally, she would stop, and the next question would be asked.

Sometimes, it was even worse. The tutor would ask a question, and the girl would not know the answer to it. The tutor would then translate the question to Filipino. I wanted so badly to tell both of them that, if the student did not know the answer to the question as asked in English, then translating it to Filipino would not increase her chances of getting the answer right. And second, even if the translation of the question would help her, all the standard tests here are given in English, and personal translators are not allowed. From what I heard of the questions, I could gather that the girl was reviewing for a college entrance exam. Well, more so in that case!

So, yes, I was eavesdropping on this pair while I was taking the test. I couldn't help it, as their voices seemed more suited to a crowded club than a relatively quiet review room. But that's not it yet.

At around lunchtime, the Center was invaded by nasty hobbits in khaki and white. One of them seemed determined to cause an earthquake with all the jumping he was doing. The other one kept slamming his Coke can down on the table where I was taking the test. I gritted my teeth every time he would do this and resisted the urge to dump the Coke on his head. I was so close to losing my patience with the lot of them, but I controlled myself because I didn't think throwing a spectacular tantrum would endear me to my potential employers.

If and when I do get accepted to tutor for this Center, I will make my one condition very clear to them: I refuse to deal with annoying brats.

Training my High School Alma Mater

Just yesterday, I went to my Alma Mater to train the club which I had headed when I was on my senior year in High School. This was my first time to do so in the five years since my graduation there.

I will not give a blow-by-blow account of what transpired during the two hours that I was there, but suffice it to say that I gave those girls (and yes, I am purposefully calling them girls instead of ladies) a piece of my mind. My youngest sister looked at me in horror when I informed her that I had told the club off at my first ever meeting with them, but I stand by what I have done. Those girls had it coming. And I, of all people, am not one to take rubbish like that from anyone. (Well, of course, not everyone was being rude or disrespectful. But the few who were compensated enough for the rest of them.)

I was telling a close friend of mine about this, and she asked, aghast, whether we were that bad when we were in High School. I replied that I was sure we were and that, furthermore, we deserved every bit of those lectures that our teachers would give us. I sympathize with them completely now.

In any case, I have nothing to ashamed of. Even when I was telling the girls off, I was very careful to stick to the issue and to leave out any personal insults, which I had no inclination to make anyway, as I didn't know most of them even by name. I hope they grow up by next week, when I might train them again.

I wonder if these two incidents are telling me something about my potential for teaching.

* * *

Last night, I found myself in serious despair about the world.

In the local news, I watched as Nestor Silang, who was believed to be high on drugs, jumped off a bridge in Quezon City (yes, the TV showed him jumping) with his one-year-old son, Nestor Jr., in his arms. The father survived, but the son did not.

In BBC and CNN, I was watching the coverage of the hostage crisis in Belsan, Russia, where militants held 1,200 people, around 840 of them children, hostage in a school. A lot had died from this, and I know that, in the following days, more deaths will be credited to this. The line that got to me was "And when these children sleep, what will they be dreaming of now?"

What is the world coming to?

* * *

This website will definitely see more of my rambling.