Most AWESOME students!

"You are too young to handle these kind of students."

These were the exact words I heard from one person when I started to teach in PSHS-CMC. I agreed, I'm young. But handling these kind of students? I doubted. I know I can.

I really don't know what he meant when he said "these kind of students". Was he referring to their attitude? To their intellectual capacity? Or what? 

When I started teaching in Pisay, the first two weeks I guess went smooth and okay. But as weeks gone by, I started to compare the behavior of the sophomores from the juniors inside and outside the classroom. I notice that juniors were more extreme and more aggressive. Especially the III-Lithium students. (Except for the girls) After noticing that, I realized, that was what he (the person who told me that I'm too young to handle these kind of students) meant when he told me those words. I admit, it was very hard for me to handle juniors at first. But I guess, I did what I know would help me handle their very extreme behavior - know them inside. 

Sometimes, we stop believing to what people can do because its already inculcated in our minds that they can't. Or we tend to take their efforts for granted because it's already instilled in our minds that no matter how efforts they give, they just can't do something good. 

The reason why I never stopped believing on what juniors can do was: I SIMPLY BELIEVED THEY CAN! Yeah, I believed they can do anything if we just give them the chance to prove themselves that they really can. Also, there are reasons for their misbehaviors and misconducts. Everyone of them have different stories and different lives. So, we do not have the right to judge them What we can do for them is help them develop a sense of responsibility and maturity to do things they need to do. To remind them that they have a mission to accomplish and the only one who can help them is their selves. It's really a matter of the way we treat them. If we treat them right, then for sure, they will treat us the way we wanted them to treat us.I considered and treated them as my brothers and sisters. For me, the student-teacher relationship between us only exist inside the classroom. (I hope so, it will really exist the way I look at it) 

Special mention to my extreme students: (in other sense)

*Mikael Lorenzo Paluca: We became close after I responded to what he said to me. I know everybody knows what I mean.

*Karlo Miguel Santos: The very "makulit" but nevertheless my favorite student. (According to him.)

*Alexis Joseph Alin: The most corny joker I have ever met.
*Jamil Francis Cuadra: The most hyperactive student.

*Ben Dominic Bance: The out of nowhere guy. If he's in the mood to talk, you can't stop him.

*Nur Ash Sham Alonto: The one of the most talkative guy I have ever met. (Im talkative too.)

*Lorenzo Miguel Enriquez: The ultimate "Sleeping Beauty" in my class.

*Clandine Salvedia & Ella Cardenas: The super talkative duo! (Pero lingaw!)

Nevertheless, at the end of my busy days, I still can smile and remember the fun we had together and look forward for tomorrow's another day together.

That's it. I hope you like it. Amping mo pirmi mga amigo ug amiga! 

Realizations out of BOREDOM!

These past few days, I always find myself lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking how my life is going over the years.Out of some sort commemoration about the past, I made some important realizations.

1. BEST FRIENDS: A two-way relationship

If you happen to have a best friend, ask this to your self: Does he/she consider you his/her best friend too? What I mean here is that, if you are the only one who consider the both of you best friends, then you must think twice. Being "best friends" is a two-way relationship.It is a mutual understanding and feeling that both of you must possess. I had a friend whom I considered my best friend but even a single moment in our friendship, he never let me feel that I am his best friend. I don't know if he even considered me a close friend. At least, I'll be glad.I don't know what came into my mind why I considered him my best friend. Maybe because we spent a lot of time together. What made me question our friendship is that, he may be always there ready to share smiles and laughter with me but when it comes to problems, I can't hardly share it to him for I expect nothing but unserious talk. So, I always end up solving my own problem helpless. Actually, I want it to share to him not because I want him to physically help me but at least emotionally uplift my morale to solve the problem. I just need a simple someone ready to listen to my sentiments. Now I realized, that I should find a friend who needs me because he loves me not a friend who loves me because he needs me. Make sense?

2. The two-word "MOVED ON" does not exist!

What do you mean by the two-word "moved on"? As far as I now, people refer this to the state of heart and mind when a person fully or completely over with his/her ex, I know you know what I mean. But when can you say that a certain person had "moved on"? Or when is that time a person is completely over with his/her ex? For me, once you loved a person, no matter how hard you try to erase that overflowing feeling you had, you can never ever deny the fact that that person once touched your life. It will always leave a scar. Years may pass but one thing is for sure, the love you had for that person never disappeared, it only faded. Yes, faded. No matter how minute that feeling is, the point is, it is still there. Can you explain to me what do you feel when you see you ex?! So, there is no such person who had "moved on". 

3. TRUST is the most important thing in any relationship

Trust is fragile, once it's broken, you can never put it back together. I had friend who broke the trust I had for him. It's not that easy to give up on our friendship, but that's the best thing I could do to protect my dignity. We haven't talk almost a year now since the day I ended up our friendship. He asked for forgiveness but I decided not to reply. Honestly, I already forgave him but I chose not to bring back the closeness we had for the reason that I am afraid he would to that again to me. I trusted him. Ideally, he was the one who ended up our friendship. So you see, no matter how long you've been together as friends, all those memories and laughter you had can be buried away in just a matter of one thing- a broken trust!

There you have it, 3 of the realizations I had these past few day. I just want to emphasize that these are only my points of view. If you happen to disagree with some ideas, just feel free, it's yours anyway..hehehe

Why TEACHER? and Why PSHS-CMC?

When I was young, I never dreamed of becoming a teacher. I never imagined myself standing and lecturing in front of students who seemed to act like they're listening even if they're not. Stage fright, you know. But everything changed when I entered MSU-IIT. They gave me BS MATHEMATICS as my course even if it's not in my preferred courses. At first, I was not sure what BS Math could give me or where would it lead me. I asked a sign from God, kung ano ba talaga ang gusto niya para sa akin.  Eventually, after how many days, weeks, months of asking a sign, nanaginip ako.Guess what!? Nanaginip ako ng CHALK at CHALKBOARD ERASER!? Nyayks. That means, He wanted me to become a teacher. So, pinagpatuloy ko ang BS Math. knowing that dapat ako maging tertiary/college teacher. But, there is one thing in my mind, I told myself that no matter what will happen, "I WILL NEVER TEACH IN HIGH SCHOOL!"

When I graduated last April 2010, siyempre, gaya ng iba pang mga nagsipagtapos, pinalipad ko ang resume ko to different colleges and universities. ADZU (Ateneo de Zamboanga University) called me and asked me to have a demonstration. I traveled almost 12 hours from Iligan to Zamboanga City just to have a demo. After staying 4 hours in ADZU, I went back to Iligan City. That means, another 12 hours to travel. Wala pang isang oras pagbalik ko sa Iligan, Sir Coronado called me. (I was shocked that time because I dont even know him in the first place) He told me that ini-refer pala ako ni Dr. Serquina to apply at PSHS-CMC. Sir Coronado told me to come to PISAY immediately for the submission of my application. Pinagawa pa ako ng lesson plan (I dont even know how to make one because I'm not an education graduate). He told me na I will prepare daw a demonstration about "Proving Identities". Yeah, I was so confident with that topic because I simply like the topic. Kinabukasan, ready to go na ako sa PISAY, but nakalimutan ko, di pa nga pala ako nakakapunta sa Balo-i. I dont even know anong sasakyan papunta doon. So, sa overtone (im not sure of the spelling) ako sumakay. I told the motor driver, "Sa PHIL. SCI. ko nong." He replied, "Sayuha sa klase ninyo dong ui. Unsa na may year nimo?" Wahahaha. I just smiled and said, "Naa lang koy adtuon didto."

When I entered PISAY, nalaman ko na ang reason bakit ako napagkamalan ng driver na student. Nakalimutan ko, nakaformal attire pala ako. Long sleeves with a tie, slacks, and a well-shined shoe. Ang hindi nila alam, that was exactly the outfit I wore when I conducted my demo at ADZU just a day ago. Hahahaha. Anyway, pagdating ko sa SMT office, Sir Coronado told me that I will take an exam. I never thought kailangan pa pala mag exam, eh hindi pa naman ako nakapag ready or nakapag study, at isa pa, hindi ko alam kung anong coverage ng iti-take ko. Come what may.

After that, I conducted my demo together with the other 4 applicants. I was discouraged nung nalaman kong ako ang pinakabata at ako lang ang wala pang master's degree sa mga applicant. Ang nasa isip ko nalang nung mga panahong yon was to enjoy and wag mag expect. About my demonstration, my audience were Mam Chuchi, Sir Coronado, Mam Ronna and Mam Rachel. That time, hindi ko alam kung anong mga posisyon nila sa PISAY. I never thought na ma-i-enjoy ko ang demo ko sa PISAY unlike sa ADZU na medyo seryoso.In general, my demo went smooth and very fine. After that, I went to MSU-IIT to take the Psychological/IQ test. When i was in college, we were required to take that est too, and as always, parati nlng ABOVE AVERAGE yung result sa akin. But when I took that test (in different level) as a requirement for my application in PISAY, it turned out na SUPERIOR ung  result. Hahahaha. Lastly, the final requirement was an interview with the Campus Director. Unfortunately, nakalimutan ng secretary nya kung saan niya nalagay yong resume ko. So, Sir Marlon just asked me this: "Tell me about your self and what can you contribute to PSHS-CMC?" So, I started to talked. As usual, chika chika to the max. After complying all those requirements, I went home (sa bahay talaga namin). After three day, Mam Chuchi called me and asked me if I cal report to PISAY as soon as possible. Pagka kinabukasan, I went to PISAY wearing a tshirt, skinny jeans, and an old shoe not knowing that yun na pala yung unang araw ko sa trabaho. Mam Chuchi gave me my teaching load. Then Mam Rachel introduce me to II-Kamia students. That was Wednesday, and ung tutuusin, second subject ko na pala yon sa araw na yon. Di ako pumunta sa PISAY ng maaga kaya hindi ko nagawang pumasok sa supposedly una kong klase: MATH 4 sa III-Sodium.

Anyway, I am very happy na nakapasok ako sa PISAY. Hinding-hindi ko pinagsisisihan na nag apply ako. At sa bandang huli, ako narin mismo ang lumunok sa sinabi kong "I WILL NEVER TEACH IN HIGH SCHOOL!" I ended up teaching at PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL-CENTRAL MINDANAO CAMPUS.

So, that was the story on how I became a teacher and how I entered PISAY...

RBTeologia

Before creating any blog about my life, I guess I should start introducing myself first. I am Rolex Batomalaque Teologia. I was born on November 28, 1989 at Kuta Dao, Pagadian City, Philippines. I live in Upper Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. I am currently residing at Room 31, 2nd Floor, Kristine's Residencia, Tibanga, Iligan City, Philippines. I am the second sibling of MSgt. Arlene Bermejo Teologia, an Enlisted Philippine Army Personnel, and Mrs. Marivic Pilar Batomalaque. I have a 25-yr old elder sister named Venus Batomalaque Teologia-Mercado and a cute 10-yr old little brother named John Rex Batomalaque Teologia. My elder sister is a graduate of BS Mass Communication from Zamboanga del Sur Maritime Institute of Technology (ZSMIT). My little brother is currently a grade 5 pupil of Upper Pulacan Elementary School (UPES)-the same school where I finished my Elementary Education on March 2002. I finished my Secondary Education at Holy Child Academy (HCA) on March 2006 in Pagadian City, Philippines. I took up BS Mathematics at Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) and graduated on April 2010. Currently, I am working as a high school mathematics teacher at Philippine Science High School-Central Mindanao Campus (PSHS-CMC) in Nangka, Balo-i, Lanao del Norte. I think, those were some of the important information about me.