©Morasa
We, Augustinians, truly shine when it comes to celebrating all kinds of events. From the annual Christmas Party programs, to the Friendship Day letters, and to the Teachers’ Month celebrations tailored specially to our respective advisers and subject teachers, we never fail to leave an impression.
The pandemic has forced us to modify our lives. Adjusting from the usual face-to-face classes to an online setup took a toll on us since we were not able to prepare ourselves for the unexpected. Everyone — students, teachers, and the administration had to endure and carry on despite the circumstances to provide education to us students.
One thing we can all agree on is that the pandemic generally provided us a challenge to try and express ourselves in an entirely unfamiliar set-up, in the online classroom.
The online set-up came with both positive and negative effects. It was surprising to everyone. No one foresaw the pandemic, and there was no time to prepare and perfect the alternative learning system. We had to go through a trial and error stage as we figured out what worked best for us and improved based on that. Other than academic struggles, there were also hardships in terms of social well-being. We did not see each other the way we normally could before the pandemic, and this applied not only to family and friends but also to our dearest teachers.
One thing we all missed about face-to-face classes was joking around and having small talks with our teachers in between discussions. In the online set-up, it felt somewhat awkward to unmute your microphone and say what was on your mind. Speaking of restrictions due to this online set-up, the experience of planning for any program, specifically for Teachers’ day, has been complicated because we got used to celebrating the event face to face. The online set-up does not give us the absolute freedom to interact with our teachers and classmates. We could not be present in one classroom, speaking to each other as usual, and we could not provide tangible gifts and prepare surprises as a class, more so, as a batch.
The games we were very used to playing in the classroom had to be replaced by Kahoot, Powerpoint, Mentimeter, etc. We even learned to make the most out of Zoom features for fun and interactive games between the teachers and students. Nevertheless, this encouraged us to show our gratitude in the best way we could through the available platform and to collaborate to make our teachers feel special and loved.
Now that we are currently on the hybrid set-up, there is more freedom to exhibit our ideas face-to-face once again. Class programs, batch “pasabogs,” giving of gifts and personal letters are possible now that we are on campus. The skills we have gained in preparing for online celebrations can now be used to make presentations more engaging to a physically present audience. An interesting way to utilize both online platform and onsite presence is using Mentimeter for the class to input words that remind them of the teacher and presenting it on screen as the class reacts live to the most commonly used words.
Teachers undoubtedly play a huge role in every student’s life. They have the power to influence how a student is feeling and what course to pursue in the future. As they say, teachers are our second parents. The sacrifices they make are the kind our own parents would make.
Therefore, Teachers' Month should not be the only time to show appreciation for all our teachers’ efforts. We do not mean to say that Teachers’ Month is utterly useless or unproductive because it concretely serves as a reminder that although we can make use of this month to make our teachers feel special, we should do our best to show them all year round our gratitude for all that they do for us. We can do this by simply reaching out to our teachers during break time and having genuine conversations with them. We tend to get along with other teachers right away, but for some, we could start off on a rough patch. Despite this, we should never fail to show respect.
Teachers continue to make an impact on our lives as they have shaped us into the people we are today. The relationships we form in school are valuable since we are at a critical stage of making mistakes every now and then. It is important to have teachers who will guide us and help us go through rough times.
10 months: This is the amount of time we have to create a meaningful bond that will stick with them forever. Whatever setup it may be, what matters at the end of the day is that you spent your time and exerted effort to do something to show appreciation to our passionate and considerate teachers. For all we know, just as how they leave a big mark on us, we could leave a mark on them forever with a few words of appreciation.
WRITERS' PROFILE
ALYANNA M. VILLANUEVA
Features Staffer
Grade 10
MARIA JULIANNA A. MORASA
Graphic Arts Staffer
Grade 8
DANIEL ANDREI C. VILLASPER
Copyreading Staffer
Grade 12 HUMSS
Other Organizations: Civitas and Honors' Society
MARIA MARTINA P. CRISOLOGO
Layout Staffer
Grade 12 STEM
Other Organizations: Supreme Student Council, Adeodatus, and STEM Questors
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