I met my coteacher, Teacher Honeylet, when I arrived at Legazpi City Science High School – our “home school” for the Fulbright program. Teacher Honeylet and I had one Zoom meeting beforehand, so I was not quite sure what to expect. After introducing myself, I noticed that she was kind and curious. It was immediately evident that she was a teacher – you can just tell after being in the game for so long. I was slightly nervous that she might think that I perceive myself as some big hotshot from the U.S., as it could not be further from the truth. I was humbled, eager to learn, and ready to collaborate, and I wanted to show this from the onset.
After watching a few of her classes (discussed here), I started to get a sense of her groove as a teacher. I studied this as I did not want to throw the kids off too much with an entirely separate, unrecognizable style of teaching. Rhythm matters. Teacher Honeylet asked me to teach a class on Globalization & US-Philippines Relations to her Contemporary Issues class. Hell yes. I excitedly drafted a lesson and edited it to match her curriculum, which she gave her stamp of approval.
It was a peculiar feeling to be standing in front of a random classroom in a foreign city I had just learned about a few months prior. I taught my first class to students I’ve observed on four separate occasions in two different contexts, so I had some familiarity with them. They stood up and said their “Good morning, Sir Chris!” routine. As I connected my laptop to the screen, I noticed that they were still standing. I didn’t recall that the teacher was responsible for telling the students to be seated. As soon as I started, I immediately felt in my groove. Teaching provides a joy that is somewhat hard for me to describe accurately. You get to engage students about fun and interesting topics and watch them develop in real-time.
These students were ready, eager, and excited to learn. I wanted to nurture that excitement. They all immediately took out their little notepads, ready to copy whatever text popped up on the screen. After a brief introduction, I asked two students to read the essential questions. It was immediately apparent that one student, Yza, was ready to volunteer at a moment’s notice. I always seek these types of students from the onset, in case I have no volunteers for debates or discussions.
Afterward, I displayed the learning objectives. Then, I paired students up to develop their own definition of globalization based on what they recalled from previous lessons. After, I had pairs join one another, forming groups of four, to combine their definition into one sentence. Then, I asked three groups to volunteer their definition. After voting on the working definition (which matched the basic definition), I taught four key dimensions: Ekonomiya, Teknolohiya, Human Migration, and Kultura. I used the Filipino terms for the lesson since they were almost identical to Spanish. They seemed to appreciate this.
Because the lesson was about U.S.-Philippines relations, I gave a brief introduction to the historical intersection of the two countries, from the U.S. defeat of Spain in 1898 to the relationship today. I only hit the major points. Students listened intently as I discussed the Filipino’s fight for independence and the U.S. Empire’s goal of resource extraction to benefit itself. I wanted to ensure that I, an American, did not mince words or sugarcoat when it came to my country’s ambitions in these lands. One student later told me that he was thankful to hear that perspective from an American – the first American he had ever met.
The lesson culminated in a debate question: Is globalization mostly positive or mostly negative? I divided the class into three spaces: positive, negative, and neutral. On cue, students went to their respective spaces. At first, the majority of students were in the neutral space, with about eight on the positive side, and none on the negative side. I quietly asked Yza to argue for the negative side for the sake of the activity. She did so brilliantly – although not in English – so I was unaware of what she said, despite noticing a few random English and Spanish words I noticed. After the neutral students picked sides, the room was divided equally: 15-15. A stalemate that needed to be broken. I asked Teacher Honeylet to pick a side, and she slowly walked over to the positive side, which led to a mass cheer from those students. The students then asked me to pick a side, and I went to the negative side, prompting mass cheers from that side. We resorted to asking the cameraman to pick a side. After he chose the positive side, the clear winner erupted in even more celebration.
After each lesson, I taught students about the history of Mardi Gras and threw beads and trinkets to emulate a parade. They were beyond joyous as they stretched their arms to catch the light-up beads. This is certainly one of my favorite things to do when in a classroom in another country.
Despite my short time there, the students truly showed an amount of respect and appreciation that was unprecedented to me. I certainly feel appreciated in the States, but I’ve seen nothing like the love that these kids showed me. Upon arriving home, I spread all of their notes out and read them individually. Not only did I grow during this once-in-a-lifetime experience in immeasurable ways, but I truly felt valued as a human. That’s a currency no other job can provide.
Chris Dier 