Boo-boos

Classroom interactions are always unpredictable and amusing. Each meeting is never the same as the previous one. A teacher may plan the lesson quite well from the motivation until the enrichment activity but if a student suddenly comes up with a hilarious remark, it simply changes the course of the discussion.

I have often been caught off guard by the remarks of my witty and silly students. There was even a time I couldn't stop myself from laughing so hard that I just excused myself so as not to appear like I was losing my head. Let me share a few of these classroom boo-boos:
(students' names have been changed to protect their identities)

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It was the first day of classes. Students were asked to write their complete name on a sheet of paper. After retrieving all the papers, I noticed that one student missed his middle name.

SHARON: Jacob? You didn't write your middle name.
JACOB: Ma'am I don't have a middle name.
SHARON: Ohh..
(moving on..)

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SHARON (uttered in jest to an unruly student): You should have not enrolled here. A special school is better for you.
GEOFF: Ma'am if it's a special school, does that mean that the teacher is also special?


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SHARON: We will have a spelling exercise today. Bring out a 1/2 lengthwise.
JM: Ma'am is wrong spelling wrong?


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SHARON: Name the 8 parts of speech.
SHAIRA: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction and injection!


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While writing an essay..

KRISTINE: Ma'am what is the English term for "uso?"
SHAIRA(overheard her classmate's question): Ano ka ba, e di BEAR!


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SHARON: What is HOMICIDE?
STUDENT: Ma'am that means someone was killed in his home.
(point taken)


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SHARON: If you could convince someone to run for president of the country, who would it be?
PATRICK: Ma'am, Zorro!


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The lesson for the day was a fable about the mouse Amos who set out to sea using a makeshift boat. He filled it with all his necessities such as cheese, telescope, compass, etc.

SHARON: If you were Amos, what will you bring?
ADAM: A woman.


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SHARON: What swimming strokes do you know?
AIRA: Ma'am backstroke.
DANICA: Ma'am breaststroke.
ARVIN: Butterfly Ma'am.
CARL: Freestyle Ma'am.
IAN: Ma'am dogstyle!


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This one did not take place inside the classroom.

A female student was reported to have suffered a temporary amnesia after hitting her head in a freak bicycle accident.

While being treated in the school clinic, she uttered, "Oh no, hindi ko maalala si Sir Avila, yung principal natin."

Ooops, yun na! Hindi nga maalala.

The Subscriber Cannot Be Reached

After nearly 6 years, I finally had the courage to dump my old sim. It's one of the many things I should have done a long time ago but never found the courage to do so. You see, I have this uncanny attachment to my personal things, my old sim included. To me, it wasn't just a tiny chip that held all my contacts, it represented an era.

As Charles Dickens put it, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." My old sim is a symbol of the best and worst choices I have made in my life. If it could only talk, all hell will break loose. Well, that is an exaggeration but you get what I mean.

There are things that we simply can't let go of: a love letter from a lover, a poem somebody wrote, a souvenir shirt, an autographed book, what have you. We hold on to these things because of what they represent. I read somewhere that if you let go of something dear to your heart, you eventually help yourself grow.

After receiving my new number via text, some of my contacts asked what had gotten into me. I just said I needed to change my number to regain my sanity. And the best way to achieve it is to delete some contacts from my old sim -- people I don't want to be associated with, or those I simply want to dispose of.

I want a clutter-free life so let me be.

Deluge

Over the past week, images of the aftermath of Ondoy have circulated in the net. The effects of the tropical depression were unprecedented and needless to say, it has caught everyone by surprise. My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes and loved ones. The material belongings are something we can all do away with since they can be replaced but lives that have been lost are gone forever.

I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and love from the private sector who has taken the initiative to reach out to those who have been badly hit by Ondoy. In this age of apathy and indifference, the Filipino Bayanihan spirit has risen from its ashes. Volunteers trooped to warehouses to sort out and pack relief goods, all in the spirit of genuine brotherhood. However I cannot, for the life of me, fathom why the national government is taking such a long time to reach out and give immediate assistance to flood victims. Briefings won’t make a difference, the nation needs concrete solution to a calamity of this scale.

It is during times like this that we get a full grasp of the abuse we have done to Mother Nature. Harsh as it may sound, it’s payback time.

Let’s all hope for the best. We are a resilient people. We can rise above any situation. And we can still make a difference.