Check out this great MSN video: Baby Hummingbird

Check out this great MSN video: Baby Hummingbird

crying tutors

“I, myself is the only person who can help me conquer my weaknesses. I am willing to risk going too far just to find out how far I can go...AJA!”- a realization by Vanessa, one of my colleagues.

How does it feel making other people cry because of something you said? Will you be so guilt-ridden after all? I have made tutors cried, once, twice, or even more than thrice—and that I think becomes a big part of my job—producing crying tutors. But seeing them cry is in a way fulfilling and compensating it’s because the tears that linger in their eyes unfold their realizations.

As a training manager, I let them know their weak and strong points, but more emphasis is given to weak points. I let them realize that those points are vital for their growth, personal and professional. I always reiterate to them that having a constant pursuit in search of growth entails painstaking and tough struggles, so giving-up is a big NO NO.

So dare, explore, learn, and grow!

On-line English Class

It’s a booming business in the Philippines nowadays,may it be home-based or office-based. Investors from different part of the world deem it wise and timely to invest large sums in this kind of lucrative market. More so, labor here in the Philippines is way cheaper compared to other countries’. For those who don’t have an idea on what this job is, I’ll try to give you a glimpse of how this thing works.

A company hires teachers with the following qualifications (preferably):
•With Bachelor's Degree major in English, or any related course like AB English, Journalism, Communication Arts, Mass Communication, Creative Writing, or Literature from an accredited college or university
• Highly proficient in spoken and written English (with American or neutral accent)
• Reliable, responsible, resourceful and can work with minimum supervision
• Capable of multi-tasking, creative and organized
• Good interpersonal skills
• Teaching experience is an advantage
• Preferably Female( because most of Korean students prefer female teachers—sounds sexist right?)
• Work schedule: 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM or 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM

The company offers different courses to students like Business English, Freetalking Course, Phonics, and the like. Mostly, students are Koreans, Chinese and Japanese.
Companies offer this kind of class via phone or internet. It’s partly different from the traditional classroom setting that we have because normally in this kind of class, a discussion lasts for a bout 20 mins, or 30 mins, or 1 hour, depending on the student’s preference. Another thing is that there is no personal interaction because the class happens via internet unlike in the traditional classroom setting where a student personally interacts with the teacher and even with his/her classmates.

Foreign students embrace this setting because they find it comfortable and they don’t have to go to a private academy for English class. Somehow hassle-free. They just need to turn on their computers or use their mobile phones, and presto! Plus the fact that tuition fee is very cheap compared to going abroad to study English. In addition, Filipinos are known to be one of the best English speakers next to native ones—that helps us gain more trust and respect from students abroad who are taking on-line English class.

grandma's blankie

Thanks to my grandma’s blanket for making my body warm whenever I sleep in our office waiting for 4AM. Time to wake up for my part time job. I don’t usually get home after my 2pm-11pm shift—just to save time. It’s no joke waking up in the middle of slumber while the rest of the people you know are still snoring and enjoying the luxury of time sleeping and wet dreaming.lol^^ But for someone whose driving force of doing such thing is entwined with family matters, we Filipinos are second to none. I have had lots of agonies and complaints about life, but uttering those grievances doesn’t make a difference at all rather it worsens the situation. I have to double effort. Growing up in a family who’s not blessed enough with the abundance of wealth is a big challenge, thus I have to deprive myself of the things I should be enjoying.

5AM. Time to teach my first student. Being perky is a must when working in the small hours. ..I have to get by, or else I’ll lose my part time job.

Next time, I’ll try to be a callboy. I’ll find out which is more compensating. lol^^
Thanks to my grandma’s blankie!

Good Teachers, Good Friends

Having met lots of radically good and extremely timid students had driven me realize my teaching philosophy—to touch the lives of my students. I have to go down to their level but at least maintain one step higher to theirs at all times. I came to realization that once I let them feel they are not different from me, they would certainly have constant pursuit of learning and realize their potentials.

I’ve encountered a number of Filipino and Korean students which made me think that lack of confidence hinders them the most as regards their English study. They feel intimidated in short. But come to realize it, that no matter how good our styles are in teaching, we can hardly persuade them to learn—it’s because we only teach them to study and give less importance to the idea of enjoyment. Don’t just study English, enjoy it!

There are times when we give our critical distinctions to our students, mostly to the new ones, without even having concrete bases— misjudging them at times— or may be giving our first wise impressions. But no matter how well we keep things light to ourselves just to condition our mind that everything will be okay with our students is the underlying truth that every student has his/her own unique characteristics which will, in reality, challenge us more as regards what teaching styles we should use in touching their lives.

The approach could be the toughest thing that a teacher might worry about. Conventional or contemporary? But whatever it is, one important thing that we have to remember is relating every single part of the lesson to our students’ lives where their sense of belonging will grow and we also have to let them feel that they are not left behind. As far as student-teacher relationship is concerned, a student must always pay honor and respect to the teacher, but having that idea must not mean that we have to downplay or pay less attention to our personal commitment to our student not just as their teachers, rather as good friends.