The Seasoned, the Experienced and the Neophyte Teachers
The busiest month for a teacher is the last month of the academic year – March. There are just so many paper works a teacher has to prepare, review and submit, obviously, for recording purposes. Before a teacher, however, prepares all these forms, there are still the final grades he has to compute. After computing the grades, he has to decide together with the rest of the school community which students are promoted and which students have to fail or worse, have to be retained. Therefore, before any teacher embarks on preparing all the official documents to be submitted, he has gone through a lot of head-breaking, nerve-wracking and heart-tearing experiences. Thus, one can only imagine how tired already a teacher is when he started tinkering on all the paper works he has to turn over before he is cleared of any other obligation for the current academic year.
This year we have quite a good number of new teachers. They are new to the school, but some of them already have teaching experiences, so I expect this latter group to prepare all the paper works with a cinch. Those who are really new to the teaching profession, I do not expect them to go over the entire process in a breeze. Well in good that there are seasoned teachers who are always on the standby to assist their neophyte colleagues in their baptism of fire. In preparing the documents, therefore, to be submitted to the regional office one can expect the seasoned teachers to finish earlier. They will be followed by the teachers who already have teaching experiences, and clearly, the neophyte teachers will finish the last. This is what I have expected to happen, but I am only partly right with my expectations.
We have only four seasoned teachers, that is they are tenured and have been with us for three years or more. Two of these seasoned teachers lived up to their names and experiences. They were finished before everyone else started working. Because the other two of the seasoned teachers had more pressing commitments, they were not able to finish earlier with their work; however, when I checked what they have done, hardly was there any error at all. Clearly, experience spells the difference. The more number of years one has been accomplishing the paper works, the more adept he becomes with his work. As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect. If only not for the more important work the other two teachers had to attend to, my expectations for the seasoned teachers would have been more correct.
What is interesting but equally disappointing are our two new teachers who have prior teaching experiences. Even if a teacher has only taught for one academic year only, he must have a grasp (even if not so good) as to how all the pertinent promotional papers are to be prepared and to be accomplished. One of these two teachers has finished already just two days ago and we re-checked her work today. Except for a minor mistake, everything that she has done was quite good; however, I am expecting her to have finished the work a lot earlier than the really new teachers. The other teacher was quite disappointing. She feigned reason that in her previous school, it was the registrar’s work to prepare all that she has supposed to have accomplished already as of today. I don’t agree with her. A teacher should be able to do what the school registrar can do. A teacher must even be able to do more than what the registrar can do. So as of today, she is not yet finished with her work, and it is already replete with mistakes. We have to help her.
Of the really new teachers (first year of teaching), one was able to finish ahead of time. She was before my student, and I knew her to be intelligent. Intelligence, though, has nothing to do with accomplishing a work which the registrar can also do. I also knew that she is hard working. This could have helped her finish her work a lot earlier. There are things, though, that she does not know or even not familiar with. What is good is she’s able to think of what she is supposed to do – ask. With much cinch and in a breeze, she finished her work. The other new teacher, as expected, finished her work later. What I do appreciate with her is that her work contains only minor mistakes. She could have finished her work, though, a lot earlier than she did if only she was able to do it last week. She was the other teacher (two were the seasoned teachers) who also has to attend a very special gathering to represent us. In all, I was very contented with how these neophyte teachers performed one of their most important tasks for the year.
When one is pressured to deliver the goods on a prescribed time, it brings the best and the worst of man. I for one can be my best when I am so much pressured. It comes with my hospital training. The seasoned teachers were able to finish their work a lot earlier because they already knew what to do and how much time and effort the work needed to be accomplished. They did not waste time, and they worked with much constancy. The new teachers with experience were not able to deliver their goods on time because they have not anticipated the load of work it entailed. They have not prepared well for the task. Both of them were cramming to finish things that were supposed to have been finished and submitted long ago. Diligence and hard work help the neophyte teachers. They may not have any idea how much effort the work entails, but they listened and observed the seasoned teachers. The best thing that made them accomplish their work a lot earlier was the humility to accept that they did not know what they were supposed to do. They asked.
When one is pressured to deliver the goods on a prescribed time, this is not the time to bring out the worst in oneself. A lot can be learned from what has just transpired inside the faculty room for the last ten days. Obviously, when working under pressure, experience counts most. The more experienced a teacher is, the easier the work becomes for him. A rational sense of how much effort the work entails also pushes one to work with much constancy towards the goal. It is also imperative that one has to be prepared before he embarks on a task. Swimming on an uncharted sea, gets one the shark. Cramming just doesn’t work at all and definitely has no place in accomplishing any task. Hard work pays and humility doubles the pay. When I left the faculty room today, some teachers were already smiling. They were the seasoned teachers. Some are still cramming. The other two left earlier than I did.
This year we have quite a good number of new teachers. They are new to the school, but some of them already have teaching experiences, so I expect this latter group to prepare all the paper works with a cinch. Those who are really new to the teaching profession, I do not expect them to go over the entire process in a breeze. Well in good that there are seasoned teachers who are always on the standby to assist their neophyte colleagues in their baptism of fire. In preparing the documents, therefore, to be submitted to the regional office one can expect the seasoned teachers to finish earlier. They will be followed by the teachers who already have teaching experiences, and clearly, the neophyte teachers will finish the last. This is what I have expected to happen, but I am only partly right with my expectations.
We have only four seasoned teachers, that is they are tenured and have been with us for three years or more. Two of these seasoned teachers lived up to their names and experiences. They were finished before everyone else started working. Because the other two of the seasoned teachers had more pressing commitments, they were not able to finish earlier with their work; however, when I checked what they have done, hardly was there any error at all. Clearly, experience spells the difference. The more number of years one has been accomplishing the paper works, the more adept he becomes with his work. As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect. If only not for the more important work the other two teachers had to attend to, my expectations for the seasoned teachers would have been more correct.
What is interesting but equally disappointing are our two new teachers who have prior teaching experiences. Even if a teacher has only taught for one academic year only, he must have a grasp (even if not so good) as to how all the pertinent promotional papers are to be prepared and to be accomplished. One of these two teachers has finished already just two days ago and we re-checked her work today. Except for a minor mistake, everything that she has done was quite good; however, I am expecting her to have finished the work a lot earlier than the really new teachers. The other teacher was quite disappointing. She feigned reason that in her previous school, it was the registrar’s work to prepare all that she has supposed to have accomplished already as of today. I don’t agree with her. A teacher should be able to do what the school registrar can do. A teacher must even be able to do more than what the registrar can do. So as of today, she is not yet finished with her work, and it is already replete with mistakes. We have to help her.
Of the really new teachers (first year of teaching), one was able to finish ahead of time. She was before my student, and I knew her to be intelligent. Intelligence, though, has nothing to do with accomplishing a work which the registrar can also do. I also knew that she is hard working. This could have helped her finish her work a lot earlier. There are things, though, that she does not know or even not familiar with. What is good is she’s able to think of what she is supposed to do – ask. With much cinch and in a breeze, she finished her work. The other new teacher, as expected, finished her work later. What I do appreciate with her is that her work contains only minor mistakes. She could have finished her work, though, a lot earlier than she did if only she was able to do it last week. She was the other teacher (two were the seasoned teachers) who also has to attend a very special gathering to represent us. In all, I was very contented with how these neophyte teachers performed one of their most important tasks for the year.
When one is pressured to deliver the goods on a prescribed time, it brings the best and the worst of man. I for one can be my best when I am so much pressured. It comes with my hospital training. The seasoned teachers were able to finish their work a lot earlier because they already knew what to do and how much time and effort the work needed to be accomplished. They did not waste time, and they worked with much constancy. The new teachers with experience were not able to deliver their goods on time because they have not anticipated the load of work it entailed. They have not prepared well for the task. Both of them were cramming to finish things that were supposed to have been finished and submitted long ago. Diligence and hard work help the neophyte teachers. They may not have any idea how much effort the work entails, but they listened and observed the seasoned teachers. The best thing that made them accomplish their work a lot earlier was the humility to accept that they did not know what they were supposed to do. They asked.
When one is pressured to deliver the goods on a prescribed time, this is not the time to bring out the worst in oneself. A lot can be learned from what has just transpired inside the faculty room for the last ten days. Obviously, when working under pressure, experience counts most. The more experienced a teacher is, the easier the work becomes for him. A rational sense of how much effort the work entails also pushes one to work with much constancy towards the goal. It is also imperative that one has to be prepared before he embarks on a task. Swimming on an uncharted sea, gets one the shark. Cramming just doesn’t work at all and definitely has no place in accomplishing any task. Hard work pays and humility doubles the pay. When I left the faculty room today, some teachers were already smiling. They were the seasoned teachers. Some are still cramming. The other two left earlier than I did.
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