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April 10, 12, 22

April 10

no more physical labor

we checked whether the books were already in our existing library or not

April 12

encoding

April 22

encoding

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April 3

April 3

more book sorting zzz

it was very hot and tiring

made me realize that Rafael Salas has a really big book collection

I saw some personal notes to him written on the front page of the books; I can conclude that he was a well-loved man by his peers

I wonder how if he was able to read all of the books in this collection

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March 29

March 29

first day of Alalayb

Ma’am Wilma is very kind and defies librarian stereotypes; she’s very kwela and knows how to be cool

I had to do physical labor by sorting books alphabetically by author

it was very tiring but it was also interesting seeing really old books

I had always been curious about how a library works so being able to experience this is an interesting journey

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March 25

March 25

Today was our last meeting with the kids :( When we entered the classroom, they were super duper happy to see us and we noticed that they were more energetic than the usual, especially seen through the way they greeted us. It was really heartwarming and satisfying to see that because it was our last day, everyone was extra participative and energetic.

Our COI questions mainly focused on forgiving and I am always surprised with how the kids answer so maturely and purely. A lot of them said that forgiving all the time is okay because they’d want to fix things with the person they fought with. They didn’t want to have any bad relationships with people around them.

Towards the last part of the session, we started giving out our small pakain for them. We saw that they were really excited because they kept smiling and saying thank you to us. I was kind of sad that it would be really hard for me to see them again all together in one classroom. In the span of a few meetings, I was able to connect with the kids we were teaching and I hope they were able to learn a lot from us too.

Because I was almost always the one “na nakikiride sa mga trip ng mga boys” in the class, they would always choose me as their COI facilitator. They would always tell me “Basta kami, kay Teacher Elanie kami,” and smile at me very widely. I was expecting that the boys will be voicing out how they’re gonna miss us but in a very “makulit” way, but it really surprised me when a herd of them came running towards me and encircled me into a group hug. We all hugged and they were putting all their arms around me as if they didn’t want to say goodbye :(

All of us teachers also gave a short message at the end. To the kids, I just really hope that they grow up well and they are able to study hard and continue in their schooling because I know that a lot of them have a bright future ahead of them. We exited the classroom and stayed outside to wait for Ma’am Alvarez. By this time, the kids can still see us outside and were waving at us. We were surprised because someone started crying because we were leaving :(( These kids are really so precious. The whole farewell was indeed bittersweet.

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March 11

March 11

What struck me the most about today’s session were the responses of the kids to the COI questions. The story we used was Ikaklit and we mainly wanted to tackle the concept of being “different”. We asked them if it’s okay to be different. A lot of them expressed that it’s totally alright to be different because “lahat tayo ay tao” and that we are a family. Some also said that as long as you’re not hurting anyone, then it’s fine. One girl raised up that she has half-siblings and despite them being “outside” of their family, she still loves them. I am amazed by how much empathy these children have even at a young age. Whether it’s at home or in school, I think they are really being taught good values. We were somehow worried discussing Ikaklit because it involved a same-sex couple and assuming that they were taught traditional and heteronormative ideas, they might not understand the possible implications of the story. However, it was nice to know that these kids, albeit maybe not being able to fully understand the complexity of sexuality yet, were able to show the value of respect and accepting “difference”. I hope that they continue to carry to cary this kind of outlook in life even when they grow up.

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March 4

March 4

I was sick today so I couldn’t be as energetic as I usually am. The kids noticed and they asked me why. I told them, “May sakit ako, wag kayo lumapit sa akin. Baka kayo mahawa.” They still hugged me even if this was the case. It felt really heartwarming that they cared.

We also started using angel cutouts as tokens and reinforcement for students who participate. Although I have no formal experience with children, I was enthusiastic in suggesting this to our group as a way to motivate the students more. I was able to apply the things I’ve picked up from my Psych class about learning and motivation. Being able to use my course outside UP is very fulfilling for me.

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Feb 18

Feb 18

This was the start of our formal classes with the kids. It was nice to see that they never run out of energy so I made sure that I was also 110% ready for them. The kids were still kind of rowdy but our group was able to handle them much better than the previous session because we prepared our activities in such a way that they will have to focus / pay attention to be able to participate. As a Psychology major, I’m starting to appreciate and apply the concepts that I’ve tackled about learning which really makes me fall in love with my course more because it allows me to understand and devise a way to be able to interact with the kids better.

I noticed that the students are easily attached to their teachers and it really makes me feel wanted and appreciated. Just the sight of them wanting to play with me or choosing me to be their assigned facilitator warms my heart. For the longest time, I always thought that I wasn’t very good with kids because I tend to ignore them especially if I don’t have the social energy to interact. But as I was growing older, I could see that I know how to deal with them and the kids would react positively to me. I also still have that kid personality within me so it makes me wonder if in case being a doctor doesn’t work out, it will be a good path for me to be a teacher.

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Feb 11

Feb 11

It’s been a long time since I interacted with a class of children so I somewhat didn’t know what to do when my group and I entered the classroom. However, recalling my past experiences with teaching and combining it with the new things I’ve learned in Psych about kids, interacting with them seemed to have come naturally. I was used to teaching older kids so they were already behaved but Grade 3 students are very different. We all had a hard time trying to calm and quiet them all down. By the time we had finished our prepared activity (and thinking that we were taking too long because of the revisions we had to make to be able to properly do it), we saw that we still had a lot of time left. This was during the point we were already tired but we knew we had to keep up with the children’s stamina.

We broke into smaller groups so we can get to know the children more. It was really fun playing with them because it felt like I was back to being a kid but there were some things that bothered me during this session. I noticed that a lot of the boys would easily result to violent behavior, like pushing or punching each other, whenever they reach a disagreement. They also shared their experiences of fighting with the other boys in the area they live in. They would break glass into smaller pieces and throw them at their opponents, they would purposely meet late at night at a dark corner to do brawls, and they had a concept of frats already at such a young age. I couldn’t hide the shock on my face when they told me all this and they felt that I was worried so they continued sharing but in a “pagsusumbong” tone of voice. I told them not to subscribe to such violence especially since the minimum age of criminal responsibility has been lowered. I warned them that it’s possible for them to get jailed already and one of them responded, “Ate, ‘pag ako nakulong, bibisitahin mo ako ah.” I had to stop myself from squeezing his face and making a scary face so that he’d remove this kind of idea of being jailed at a young age but instead, I said, “Hala. ‘Wag mo iisiping makukulong ka. ‘Wag kang gagawa ng dahilan para ikulong ka nila.”

Despite such a heavy topic, we were able to end on a happy and lively note because of how much they like to dance. Our group left with the children asking when we’d be back and them expression how much they’re looking forward to our next meeting. It was indeed tiring but very fulfilling.