The Friday Habit
DOÑA ROSARIO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Quezon City
Doña Rosario Elementary School had a live and online culminating LAC session entitled From Coping to Improving and Accelerating: Supporting Teachers amidst the Pandemic and beyond. The event held last Friday recognizes the impact of the Educator Empowerment Program (EEP) to the school from its implementation in January 2022 up to the closing of the academic year this month.
The pandemic has brought forth so many challenges in the field of education, and Doña Rosario Elementary School Principal, Dr. Nancy Ebardaloza, sought guidance from Alchemy Education Solutions, to help address these problems. This led to the implementation of the EEP at the start of 2022.
“Using your teacher training modules as our guide to our LAC sessions, we were able to face the challenges,” Principal Ebardaloza said. “Teachers were able to come up with different strategies which can be applied to online classes and not just in the classroom.”
Dr. Ebardaloza went on about the progression of the EEP in the lives of the teachers.
“At first it was just a school activity, until it became a habit. After 13 days of this school year, we were able to form a group which we call Friday Habit.”
She adds:
“Nakita ko ang evolution ninyo. Walang naiwan sa inyo.” (I saw how all of you evolved. No one got left behind.)
Teachers expressed their agreement by sharing their thoughts on how the EEP has changed their view on their role as educators.
Grade 1 Master Teacher, Mrs. Editha Bassig, discloses:
“Aside from empowering me to improve the academic performance of my pupils, I was able to learn more, helping widen my horizons in setting priorities, addressing my problems, improving my teaching and learning, and making my job as a teacher easier. Upon embracing the techniques shared by my colleagues for every designated topics and discussions, I didn’t find any difficulties at all in performing the assigned tasks given to me. But rather, I enjoyed being with them simply because everyone is having fun while learning. There was a collaborative effort and sharing of ideas among them. That’s why I enjoyed (the EEP) very much.”
Kindergarten Level Chairperson, Mrs. Glaiza Quimzon, shares:
“Being part of this innovative teaching and learning is a great privilege. Weekly sessions have offered us the opportunity to upgrade, and to improve on what we already know. Moreover, we can keep ourselves informed to the latest developments in our respective fields. Truly, the EEP is game-changing in the restructuring of our basic education.”
Grade 6 Level Chairperson, Mrs. Decenna Corton, adds:
“This program developed the skills of teachers to motivate the students, manage the classroom, and master essential subject areas, especially in the field of Filipino. This program will help change the world by preparing the young generations not only to face the future with confidence, but also with purpose and responsibility. Again, thank you so much because you inspired us to become the best that we can be for ourselves, for others, and especially for our students.”
Such strong words of appreciation has inspired further Alchemy Education Solutions to do better.
“It is a good day here in Alchemy,” says Carlos Valarao, Alchemy Managing Director. “I congratulate you all for what you’ve done with the program.”
Taking in the teachers’ learnings from the EEP, he adds:
“What’s critical is that, to me, I think you guys have learned or somehow realized the importance of fun in learning already. And that is what we want to see. That is what we want to hear. We want you to enjoy the learning process so that, hopefully, you’ll get to realize the value of it, and the effectiveness of teaching with fun in learning in mind.”
“It’s really heartwarming to see all of you invested in the program. When you started this program, I’m assuming that a lot of you were complaining about the extra work, extra time required to do this. But if you do it right, as Ma’am Nancy knows, sooner or later, you’d realize this is not work. This is fun. This is something that’s easy to do, and that’s what learning should be about. The biggest takeaway here is that you should treat teaching the same way, so that it impacts your learners the same way.
Captured also on such takeaways, was lifelong learning. In closing, Valarao imparts:
“When we talk about lifelong learning for all our students, we should also talk about lifelong learning for ourselves. And that’s where the growth mindset comes into play. By this time, you know it’s all about you having faith in your leadership, faith in yourselves that you can do more. And you must also have the open mind to welcome new ideas, to welcome change, and to say that ‘I can still learn more.’ That ‘Yeah, I know a lot. I’m a Master Teacher. I’m a Principal.’ But at the end of the day, you must have that humility to say that ‘I can still learn more.’ And that’s the only way we can be true lifelong learners.”