By the end of the orientation, I've been enlightened on a lot of things—from who our supervisor will be to how will we be graded throughout the practice teaching deployment. I can feel the pressure weighing on my shoulders already, but I kept repeating to myself to just use it as motivation to strive to be better.

We met the head of the Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao Department, Ma’am Annie Mascariñas and we were able to talk to her for a while before we were asked to return tomorrow so she can introduce us the faculty teachers that we will be working with.

Even though I felt anxious about what awaits me, I can't help but feel excited, too. The past three years of learning inside the classroom has led us all to this point, after all. I can't wait to apply the things I've learned soon.

My mom was there and I’m happy that she was able to attend, because she deserves to see how far I’ve gotten already. For a moment, I felt proud of myself for being able to endure and persevere up to this day.

We also had our orientation for ancillary service and I was assigned to the guidance office, along with a few of my fellow PTs.

I felt nervous the entire time, wondering if I’ll be able to do as well as she can once it’s my turn to teach.

My first topic was Birtud, which I thought was a difficult topic to discuss to Grade 7 students because they have the attention span of a goldfish, but I tried to come up with an interesting activity that will encourage them to participate.

After our last class, I had a post-con meeting with Mrs. Maricar so she can give me feedback on what I have to improve on.

Upon our post-con meeting, I realized that the quiz I made was a too difficult for the students to answer. We decided to change some of the questions to make it easier for them.

During my vacant time, I checked the students’ activities and notebooks, and recorded their scores.

All of us are only human, so we're bound to make mistakes, big or small. What matters most is that we learn from those and take it as a chance to improve and strive to be better.

We had another post-con meeting by the end of the day and by then, we decided that I will use this topic for my grand demonstration teaching.

In my free time, I tried to come up with unique activities that I can use in my demonstration teaching. 

As a practice teacher, it's important for us to promote a student-centered learning that will teach students how to learn independently without leaving them alone. They were forced to be dependent for two, almost three years because of the pandemic, so it's up to us to stop that cycle and teach them how to think on their own.

Her feedback regarding our performance was very detailed, which I appreciate because it'll be easier for me to understand and pinpoint where I should improve in.

Although it can be a little tiring, I learned to appreciate that short time for me to rest my voice before we start another lesson. It also made me happy to read my student's answers, because it shows that they are learning from me.

It's one of the realities of being a teacher that I should face. I have to learn how to be efficient with my time so that I don't have to always chase after my students to complete their quizzes and activities.

Mrs. Maricar and I also decided that I’ll use the topic Pangarap instead for my grand demonstration teaching to give me enough time to prepare and practice for it.

Here's a photo of the bingo card I'm going to make for my motivational activity, where students will mark which of the choices is their dream job.

I still have a lot to work on even after my internship and working with Mrs. Maricar has been very insightful. I appreciate her mentorship and her patience with me.

I also went to Ms. Annie with Sarah for the feedbacks regarding my lesson plan for my demonstration teaching.

I can say that I had a lot of hiccups during my actual grand demo because I was nervous, but I’m relieved that I improved a lot in terms of voice modulation and movement animation. Dr. Delos Santos also commended me for being able to make my class student-centered, which has been my struggle since the beginning. I’m also happy about my class activity, where my students will put on costumes of their dream jobs before walking in the aisle as if they were on a fashion runway.

I’m very grateful for my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Maricar, for being patient and for guiding me throughout my practice teaching journey in Parañaque National High School, and for my students, for being cooperative throughout the entire demo. My experience in Parañaque National High School will be an unforgettable one because of the lessons I’ve learned in the past two months of being a teacher there. I know that there’s still a lot I have to learn, and that’s okay, because teaching is a life-long journey and I will continue to learn as I go my own way.