Republic of the Philippines

BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Education
BSED 4A
Second Semester, A.Y.2020-2021

“The Protagonist’s Experiences,

Reflections and Adventures as a
Soon-to-be Teacher”
An E-portfolio

By: Rafael Vincent M. Canlas

BSed 4A - English

Hi! I’m Mr. Guest ! Pleasure meeting you!

I. Introduction
II. Acknowledgements
III. Curriculum Vitae
IV. Professional Readings
V. Weekly Journals
VI. Experiences, Evidences, and Reflections on theDifferent PPST
Domains:

Domain 1: Content, Knowledge and Pedagogy

Domain 2: Learning Environment

Domain 3: Diversity of Learners

Domain 4: Curriculum and Planning

Domain 5: Assessment and Reporting

Domain 6: Community Linkages and Professional Engagement

Domain 7: Personal Growth and Professional Development

VII. Teaching Philosophy as Beginning Teacher

VIII. Certificate of Completion
 “In a world engulfed in chaos, who do you gonna call?”
--- Well, pretty much everyone in the proffessional field especially in
today’s pandemic. But, when it comes in the academe, everyone knows who
to call.
Teachers are important assets as well as other professions like nurses
and the police. This I learned throught my years of stay here in Bulacan State
University.
Teaching has been around since the dawn of time although it was not
yet considered a profession. The first formal teacher preparation began in the
1820’s with the establishments of “normal schools” in Vermont Massachusetts
which became a movement later in the ninteteenth century. Of course,
education was also prevalent in the Philippines. During the 300 year reign of
the Spaniards over the Philippines, the educational system has gone
transformations after different arrival of colonialists like the Americans and
the Japanese but with the Americans being more influential in the field of
education. Before then, there were different objectives that serve as the core
of education in the Philippines. Today, the development of an individual’s
potential to simultaneously improve his or her society is assumed to be the
fundamental objective of education.
 Over the course of years, technology has dramatically improved which
further took the art of teaching to greater lengths. Information and
Communications Technology also known as ICT proved invaluable when
Covid-19 broke out in the Philippines in the year 2020. The use of virtual
meeting platforms such as Google Meet, Zoom, and Skype to name a few,
provided students and teachers alike the opportunity to continue rolling the
wheels of education. To say that the road ahead provided challenges would
be an understatement as financial and psychological problems arise in most
families created by the strict community quarantines mandated by the
government as a primary preventive measure to counter the inevitable
outbreak of the virus.The academic situation called for flexible measures that
ensures students to pursue education even with the absence of stable internet.
This further opened awarenes of improving not only how teachers teach in
virtual media but also in printed form.
 The main campus of Bulacan State University situated in Malolos
provided immediate actions during the pandemic.
Prioritizing the health and welfare of students, Bulacan State University,
along with other universities switched to virtual learning. In the case of the
College of Education within Bulacan State University, creativity to teaching in
virtual or printed media has been one of its pillars in providing quality
education not only for the soon-to-be-teachers but also for the soon-to-be-
teachers’ future students. With the advent of the pandemic however, the
College of Education had further taken steps to learn some of the latest,
effective, and efficient trends in ICT to be used in teaching in an ever more
creative way. This in turn made the students of the College of Education along
with their instructors quickly adapt these new ideas while also maintaining the
core objectives that serve as the foundation of the College of Education for
many years.
Year 2021 holds the last batch of graduatees of the old curriculum in
the College of Education. As such, one of them is typing the introduction for
his e-portfolio while also expressing his gratitude towards the College of
Education and Bulacan State University and the schools he was affiliated with
namely: Bunsuran National Highschool and Goldenville School of Montessory
for having him under their wing, taught him from scratch about what it is to
be a teacher and finally experiencing different trials of what makes a teacher
--- a teacher.
 I want to express my greatest thanks to Bulacan State University and
the College of Education for making more of what I am before I enrolled. The
learning opportunities provided to me helped to push me beyond my limits,
thus, making the best of me now as a future educator and as a responsible
and able citizen in our country.
My completion of the course Bacherlor of Science in Education Major in
English could not have been possible without the support of the two schools I
was affiliated with who taught me what it is like to be in real classroom
situations and teach in real-time scenarios both in face-to-face and virtual
learning. As such, I would like to extend my gratitude towards the people who
make up Bunsuran National Highschool who taught me resilience in public
school settings and Goldenville School of Montessory Inc. who taught me to
be creative in private school settings both in elementary and highschool level.
And finally, to all the people who believed in me with whole-hearted
support despite the challenges of time.
Curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL
Name: Rafael Vincent M. Canlas
Address: Lot 1, Blk 19, Riveraville subdivision, Bunsuran 2nd, Pandi Bulacan.
Phone Number: 0916 754 4581
Email: [email protected]

OBJECTIVE
To provide the company exceptional skills, talents and attitude necessary for the company’s
growth with regards to the everchanging demands in the society that requires highly and
globally competent individuals essential to the company.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Oct 2017 ~ Jul 2021 – Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education Major in English.
Bulacan State University Main Campus, Malolos

2004~2007 – Highschool
Pasay City West Highschool

INTERESTS
 Creating arts and crafts.
 Creating animated Power point presentations.
 Listening to people and talking with them.

SKILLS
 Microsoft Word --- Skilled
 Mircrosoft Excel --- Experienced
 Microsoft Power Point --- Skilled
 Multi-tasking --- Skilled
 English communication --- Skilled
 Computer Hardware --- Experienced
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Teacher’s Assistant Encoder of Grades (2021)
Created Module for Grade 7 Students (2021)
Created Booklet for Grade 2 Students (2021)
Teacher’s Assistant in handling irregular students (2021)
Created Video Audio Titled: Blond and Blue Eyed by Patricia Evangelista for the Module (2021)
Student Assistant in Bunsuran National Highschool (2019)

SEMINARS ATTENDED
PAFTE-CAR Webinar (2021)
Ang Sulat sa Kababaihan ng Malolos: Isang Paggunita Webinar (2021)
Bakit Eduk? Seminar (2018)
Drug Education: Drug Prevention and Control (2016)

OTHER SKILLS
Drawing/ Arts --- Experienced

_____________________________

Rafael Vincent M. Canlas

 The Effectiveness of Background Music in Raising Students’ Interest in
Learning”.

The role of music to humanity contributed greatly that it continous to

evolve in many genres that suits to serve one sole purpose --- to connect.
This can either be to connect into a positive state or to connect with others.
Whenever we watch a Do-It-Yourself tutorial video, we find ourselves
hearing not only the person from the video giving instructions but also a music
being played in the background. In some cases, when the music is something
of our preference, we find ourselves in a positive emotional state. This is also
evident in some commercials we see in the television where we hear some
catchy music and we find ourselves tapping to the beat or when we play
videogames and hear epic music that is enough to give goosebumps.
According to Huppertz L. (2019), “Music is emotional and can quickly
establish positive connotations to a product or company.” This idea is adapted
by one of the succesful malls we have today in which the catchphrase “We’ve
got it all for you!” is associated with a distinct tune of music that made its
customers remember the catchphrase for as long as one can remember.
While music serves as a means to remember something, it is also used
to connect one another. Different people around the globe attending to one
concert will find themselves waving their hands or jumping harmoneously to
the beat as the music draws the crowd into a trance.
 The idea that music can provoke a positive emotion or connect one
another is not new in the field of the academe. Music has been used as one of
the approaches and methods in language teaching. This is evident in the
approach called Suggestopedia in which music is used in classroom setup
along with decoration, furniture and arrangement of the classroom as a means
to harness these influences and redirect students so as to optimize learning
(Scovel 1979: 258). This is further emphasized by a study conducted to see
the relationship of music and work performance suggesting that music
ultimately affect an individual’s cognitive operations via music’s ability to alter
mood, arousal, enjoyment and attention (Wilson L, 2018).
While the effectiveness of music is evident in circumstances like work
performance, the effectiveness of it to provoke student motivation in virtual
classroom still requires more evidence and the utilization of it either in face-
to-face or virtual classroom set-up is still in debate.
In our stay here in Goldenville School of Montessory Inc. as practice
teachers, during the first and second week of summer classes for students of
the junior highschool level, it is apparent that student motivation is below
average even if the Powerpoint presentation is meticulously prepared in both
aesthetics and structure. While other factors such as how each lesson was
delivered orally or what kinds of activities are provided to gain student
motivation, I had decided to pursue of one factor which is music and if there
is an effect on students’ motivation throughout the class.
1st week
This is our first day in the school: Goldenville, School of Montessori.
Today, we are assigned to observe the class of Ma’am Erenia. Ma’am Erenia
starts the day by creating rapport with the students. She asks various
questions about the student’s day in relation to her topic which is to be
discussed. This has made a good impact to the students as some were
engaged with the questions given by Ms. Erenia. The way Ms. Erenia speaks
or rather, the rate of her speech is enough for the students to understand,
thus, it does not prove difficult for the students to understand what Ms. Erenia
is saying when she is speaking English. With this in mind, I think I have to
properly pace my rate of speech too as I am aware that I speak too fast at
times and my accent is a little muffled and fifficult to understand. For the
whole shift of Ma’am Erenia, I’ve kept my video cam open. I think it is
unnecessary and might also make the teacher conscious.

The next day is exam day for the students we are going to observe. Yes,
we are only tasked with observing the students taking tests with Ma’am Mitzie.
Ms. Mitzie seems to be a little stricter but it seems she is the type to be lenient
especially if it is not class time yet. While we wait for the other students to
come in the meeting, one student asked Ms. Mitzie if she can play some songs
in the meeting and Ms. Mitzie allowed the student to play any of her favorite
music while waiting. While the students are taking the exam, they are
supposed to be open-cam, audio on, and their test papers and table visible to
Ms. Mitzie. I think it is commendable that the school is doing their best to
maintain the way we take exams before the pandemic while also maintining
the “no-cheating” rule. As each class went by with Ms. Mitzie, she also
introduced us to these classes as formalities. It seems the volume of students
in Goldenville is much smaller than I expected.
Throughout the schedule of Ms. Mitzie, I had my cam off.
2nd week
This week, students are tasked with reading activity and role playing at
the end of the reading activity. As I observe the class during this week, I’ve
concluded that not many of them are inclined when it comes to reading.
Comparing my experience or observation from the previous school I’ve
observed, the students that I am observing now have a wider range of
vocabulary than the previous ones I’ve observed during my 3rd year. I’ve also
noticed something when the Montessori students started reading --- it seems
the way they read or speak each sentences has room for improvement since
they read it in a monotonous way. This is also evident in their activity which
is role-play. As they did the role play on the next day, some were a little
engaged. Others demonstrate participation but with the help of scripts. The
most prevalent in this activity which is role-play is not the lack of participation
or engagement but how they spoke the script at least for me.

3rd week
This is the last week of the student’s enrichment class. For this week,
they’ve tackled about active and passive voice. Students show an average
level of participation. With some being interested in the lesson. At the last day
of the week, students show a high level of motivation. This is probably due to
the idea that this is the last day of their enrichment class. At the end of the
class, after the students have left the meeting, we were then updated by our
cooperating teacher that this is the end of their enrichment class so there is
going to be a long break for us practice teaching students for the time being
before further updates from the school.

4th week
May 18th is the first day of our 4th week in practice teaching. I arrived
late because I had to attend free vaccination at our baranggay hall at the nick
of a time so I just attended later classes. We are assigned to grade school
students, particularly, grade 4 and 5 in one class. The topic for this day is
about the subject and predicate of a sentence. Some of the students are
genuinly interested, thus, asking questions within and after the discussion. It
seems a good activity that includes kinesthetic would help students to be more
focused, interested and genuinly motivated of the lesson being discussed since
I remember reading an article that most elementary students are more
motivated to learn this way.
 This week, students are taught Math and English in which we continue
to attend and observe each class. After the classs last 21st of May, we were
asked to meet with our CT to discuss our demo teaching for the next week. I
was given the task of teaching Math. My topic would be Prime Factorization.
After the meeting, I started to work on my Powerpoint presentation for this
topic.

5th week
It is now the 5th week of our observation. On May 24th, we were told by
our CTs that we will have our demo teaching. My classmate Wilfred would be
teaching on the 26th of May while for me, I’d be teaching on the 27th. During
this day, the 24th, it seems student participation or interest in the subject
being discussed is low. It is noticable because once the student is called out
by the teacher to answer a particular question, the student would ask back
what is the question. On some occasions, during an activity where the teacher
had already explained the instructions which is also written in the Powerpoint
presentation, the students would still ask what is the instruction for the activity.
This is also prevalent in the previous observations I made. Because of this, I
thought about incorporating some famous cartoon characters to my
Powerpoint presentation for me demo teaching on May 27.
After May 27th, I reflected upon how the lesson went. I compared my
presentation to my classmate Wilfred. Although my presentation was praised
by two of my CTs, and although it uses some famous characters from the
cartoon show called Adventure Time, it seemed to me that even with such a
good presentation may prove ineffective. I am unsure if it is because of the
topic since I taught at Math Gr 4 and 5 while Wilfred taught at English Gr 4
and 5. Maybe it is because how I spoke to the class? Maybe because of how I
taught them the topic? Nonetheless, I did not get the level of motivation I was
expecting from the class so for my final demo this next week, June 1st, I would
be making a simpler kind of presentation and use a different approach in
teaching the topic. This time, I am going to teach formative and superlative
forms of adjectives.
6th week
It is now our 6th week. This is the last week of “enrichment class” for
the students of Goldenville Students of Montessori. I am tasked with
performing my final teaching demonstration for Wednesday, June 2. The topic
to be discussed is about comparative and superlative forms of adjective as
well as about articles. They also require a semi-detailed LP in which I hurriedly
make although I still have 4 days left before the issued deadline.
The structure of my presentation for my final teaching demo is less
“creative” compared to my previous one which I used in Math class. I’ve also
added a story written by Alejandro A. Roces titled: My Brother’s Peculiar
Chicken.
During the day of the demo, I felt like the class flow is smoother than
before and more structured. I used two gadgets for my final demo. A laptop
which has the webcam and my desktop for presenting the Powerpoint and also
to record my teaching demonstration on this day. The students’ motivation at
the early part of the lesson which is during the motivation is high. The activity
before I read the story includes the ff:
“Bring Me” --- in which I would choose two random students and think of a
random item. Both of those students will rush to get that item. The slowest
one would put some powder on his or her face.
“Which came first; the chicken or the egg?” --- A question I asked the students
before I read the story to them. Some of the students became outspoken
when the topic about chickens was opened up. After motivating the students,
I started to read the story while also asking some questions to the students
the students would show some interest since some would ask questions while
I read the story. During the lesson proper, I noticed a significant drop in the
motivation of students. Not to mention also one particular students asking if
I am going to host a game again. The class went on as usual and the students
had their speaking activity, assessment and assignment.
At the end of the class, I reflected on the things I did for my final demo.
I also realized I recorded at the wrong device so the 1hr and 30min video I
recorded only shows the whole presentation without the students or me in
google meet although I could be heard speaking in the background about the
topic.
7th week
It is now our 7th week for our practice teaching with Junior Highschoolers.
For this week, Miguel, a classmate of mine from 4B is tasked with teaching
the students. The Powerpoint of Miguel is undoubtedly eye candy. From the
color of choice, to the carefully picked font that is certainly pleasing to the eye,
i have to admit that this is one of the best presentation I’ve seen so far for
this week. Miguel had no problems presenting the lesson systematically
including the activities he and the students did before starting the lesson in
which he still maintains this calm and composed image towards his audience.
Though this may seem like a good start for that day’s class, unfortunately, it
wasn’t.
During Miguel’s class, students showed below average level of interest
or motivation to participate in the class. This was evident too from our
principal and CT observing Miguel’s demo teaching. While Miguel is teaching
along with some dead-airs when he tries to get the attention of unresposive
students, I noticed something dull that is also apparent to most class and it
struck my mind with different questions as to its effectiveness in classroom
setup. I am talking about the use of music in virtual classrooms.
Miguel finished the class and was praised for how he made such
wonderful presentation and the execution of each lesson. Our principal and CT
discussed some of the important points during Miguel’s class and one of these
is what more we can improve on to gain student interest and motivation to
learn during virtual classes.

8th Week
For this week, I tried using some background music while teaching my
lesson. Of course, I made sure the music is pleasant to the ears and not loud
enough to make my voice inaudible to the students. I noticed the positive
effect to the students as well as to the virtual classroom environment. The
downside of this is, picking the same set of music over and over again is bad
so I had to carefully choose different background musics again. I find this to
be tedious and time consuming considering the limited free time a teacher has
especially in public schools. Although setting the atmosphere using
background music is a positive thing to do especially on the part where
students have to answer activities silently, on some cases when a fun and
light atmosphere is already set like I observed from one of my co-practice
teachers, background musics during virtual classes is unnecesssary.
9th Week
For this week, I taught English. I used the story written by Alejandro R.
Roces titled: The Peculiar Chicken. During our mock demo in our 3rd year in
BulSu, we were taught that it is imporant to set a reading example for the
students when it comes to texts meaning I have to read out loud the story
first then the students next. This was not plausible though since I am teaching
at least two topics in an hour of class. Letting the students read it after me
would take too much time unless the topic revolves only on the story itself. I
have taken notice of the student’s interest level going above average after
watching some funny commercials which I added to my presentation. This
interest however was not apparent when they are asked to speak during our
speaking activity.

10th Week
This is the last week of our practice-teaching in Goldenville School of
Monessori. During one of my classes for this week, I noticed that speaking in
a way how native speakers speak somehow makes the students uneasy or
hesitate somehow to speak up during recitation. The reason this came to my
mind is after watching a co-practice teacher of mine who also taught in English
class. He does not have the same or close-to native accent yet the students
seems to be more comfortable about it. Students in his class exhibited
voluntary participation during discussion compared to mine. I am still fully
convinced though since I suspect it might be from the old earphone I am using
which has a faulty mic. I’d probably buy a new one once I get a job and start
to earn money.
 The pandemic brough upon many dramatic changes in the field of
education as such it brought upon many adaptations such as the further
utilization of ICT and the continuation of education through virtual settings.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the Philippines, as a 3rd year
student in Bulacan State University main campus Malolos, we were given the
opportunity to observe classes with the objective of familiarizing ourselves
with real-time classroom experience. This familiarization soon changed to
virtual classroom set-up after the pandemic broke out.
Contrary to face-to-face learning, teachers had to adapt to the demand
of time focusing more on ICT and presentations that provides better learning
experience to the students in virtual classroom set-up. This however is met
additional tasks. The availability of consistent and stable internet connection
is common among families that has an income enough or more than enough
to sustain them. This means that students’ families who are not able to afford
consistent and stable internet connection or postpaid services are resorting to
prepaid services. Alternatively, printed learning modules are further
encouraged for the students who chose to continue their studies without
internet connection.
My observations and experiences from virtual classroom set-up as a
practice teaching student brought me realizations as to the current situations
teachers of highschool and elementary level experience in today’s pandemic.I
noticed four things that might have an effect to the students interest in
learning. These categories are then divided into subcategories that discusses
about the problems encountered, the intervention done, and the results from
the intervention from the virtual classes I conducted in Goldenville School of
Montessori Inc. for both elementary and highschool level.
Domain 1: Content, Knowledge and Pedagogy
As soon-to-be English teachers of the English language for the
secondary level, we are also expected to teach English for the elementary
level. We were taught about the principles of teaching as well as different
elements conerning how one learns effectively. When I was assigned to the
school I would be doing my practice teaching, I started by teaching at the
elementary level for the subjects Math and then English.
My topic for my first demo is about Multiples of a given number and
Prime factorization. Since I’m teaching at the elementary level, specifically
Grade 4 and 5, I thought about creating a Powerpoint with the theme of
adventure in mind. I used one of the famous cartoons from Cartoon Network
called “Adventure Time”.
 My lesson plan consists of a Math drill in which students should solve
simple problems of multiplication and division that should be within the
multiplication table. The reason for this according to my C.T. is that the
students get accustomed with the multiplication table. I was not required to
create or submit a lesson plan but was instructed to follow the lesson plan
while creating the Poweroint given to me by my C.T. which I just copy from
our chat to a notepad.

As a way to “get a good start”, I thought about creating a motivational activity

in which the students will have to look for ten locks scattered around the
presentation. I included some of the characters in Adventure Time since the
theme is about that show.

But Raf, why Adventure Time, though?

Well, the cartoon show was

pretty much popular with
today’s learners, so yes.
 The Powerpoint presentation consists of forty-eight slides consisting of
different animations detailing each part of the lesson.

It also includes problems that the students have to solve though I did not put
too much problems for the thought that it might bore them later on.
 My demo teaching for the elementary level in the Math subject was
conducted in 27th of May, 2021 from 8:50am to 10:00am. Some students
showed familiarity with the theme. During the motivation part, students
showed average interest in participating and had to be called one by one. The
flaw in this activity is that a student might tell all of the hidden items if the
teacher fails to instruct his or her students that they should only say one and
leave some for the rest of the class. Throughout the lesson, students showed
average interest in which pro-active participation in the discussion is minimal.
At some instances, students have to be called out to answer some questions
related to the lesson. One thing I learned here is that to be vigilant of the time
because I ended up rushing throughout the lesson. At the same time is ask
someone to take a screenshot of the class you are teaching as it is easy to
forget this if one is an amateaur like me.

Felt exhausted after that

class, by the way.
The following pictures below are the
evaluation form my C.T. filled out for
my Math demo that day.
You could have fitted all those pictures in
one page y’know.

I would but the readers won’t be

able to read the contents, sadly...
My 2nd and final demo for the elementary level is to be conducted on the 2 nd
of June, 2021. The subject would be English and my topic is about
Comparative form of adjectives.
I decided to make my Powerpoint presentation a simpler one than the one I
created from my Math class in Grade 4 and 5.
The title of the story I used in my Powerpoint is My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken
written by Alejandro A. Roces so I decided the theme of my presentation would
be something that includes green pastures and chickens.

You can send your answers to my

email at
[email protected]
I decided to make the motivation part of the lesson to be a bit more of a
debate one. The next activity, I called Bring Me, where I chose two students
at random by using a pickerwheel available in the internet.

After choosing two random students, I will be asking the two chosen students
to bring me something. I thought about having the losing student put some
powder on their face to make it more interesting and challenging.
During the demo, Students showed above average on the part where they
have to share their opinion of whether which came first; the chicken or the
egg. Students showed interest in the topic by volunteering to defend their
answers again and sharing additional information related to the topic.

If you plan to use this website, just go to

www.pickerwheel. com!
For the next activity; Bring Me¸students showed above average interest.
While the pickerwheel decides on the student to be chosen, some students
exhibit expressions like crossing fingers hoping to get picked by the
pickerwheel. The use of powder as the penalty for the losing student gave
some students excitement although some exhibit shyness on applying powder.

I always make sure I have powder wherever

I go (Johnson’s Baby Powder White).
After the activty, I showed six unfamiliar words which is found in the story I
would be reading. The students would analyze and identify the meaning of the
words by using the pictures as clues.
Students showed average interest since only one was volunteering to recite
while others had to be called out to participate.
During the part where I read the story to the students, I continue to ask
questions to the students between the lines from the story in which the
students answered the questions promptly.

If I would give a rough gauge of the student’s level of interest from the start
towards the end of the class, I could say it is average. Students showed above
average interest at the early part of the demo and slowly waned during the
lesson proper till the end. My C.T. and the principal gave positive feedbacks
especially for the presentation and rooms for improvement like calling out the
attention of students who shows divided attention from the lesson.
One thing I learned from this demo when it comes to recording classes is that
to be aware of the software you are using to record your demo. What
happened to me was the software I’m using from my old laptop to record the
stopped but I was able to record the whole duration of the class from my
desktop which I use for presenting while I talk and interact with my students
using my old laptop. The problem is... the recorded video I got from my
desktop only shows the whole presentation without the student although I and
the students can be heard talking in the background.
This was my final demonstration for the school and the succeeding demos
would be just another regular demos for me to refine my skills in teaching.

The following pictures below are the

evaluation form my C.T. filled out for my
English demo that day.
What can you say about your
evaluation, Raf?

I still have a lot to learn to be

honest.
Domain 2: Learning Environment
The outbreak of the Covid-19 in the Philippines provided an opportunity
for teachers to adapt to virtual learning. However, this provided additional
challenges for the students and teachers alike.
Comparing my classroom observations during my 3rd year in BulSu and
my virtual classroom observation both in the highschool department of BulSu
and Goldenville School of Montessori Inc., teachers showed difficulty in
monitoring their students in virtual mode of learning especially if the norm in
a class is camera-off. This was not the only challenge in the virtual learning
environment.
While home-learning or virtual learning provided opportunities for
studnets to continue education, this also provided opportunities in which
student’s attention is divided from the teacher. Students showed below
average interest or motivation to the teacher despite the effort to make the
class lively. It can also be noted that some students look away from the
camera. Though, this is not enough of a reason to assume the student is not
listening.
I was able to experience this when I taught at Math for the junior highschool
level. During my class, students showed below average interest for the totality
of the class. I have assumptions from my observations and experience that
No matter how creative the presentation is or the activity is, student’s interest
would be a challenge especially if their gadgets are available to them. This
makes the genuine classroom environment vital for learning as the teacher
can monitor and control the use of gadgets that is not inclined towards the
lesson. Additionally, when the norm of the class is open camera, when the
connection of the teacher is bad during class showing only the profile pics of
their students, this makes it more difficult for the teacher especially during
written activities where the teacher have to monitor closely the students.

Contrary to this predicament, I had a realization after witnessing the class of

my co-practice, teacher “Nor” who was teaching that time in the junior-
highschool level for the English class. During her motivation, she utilized
unusual edited pictures like Dwayne Johnson smiling without a set of teeth or
Sponge Bob without his pants.
Knowing Nor for quite some time even before the pandemic, it is not really in
her nature to have a good sense of humor. However, those pictures piqued
the attention of the students. One student showed interest by typing her
thoughts about the Sponge Bob picture. This also piqued my interest since I
was expecting the students to show below average level of interest for the
motivational activity.
According to one article posted in Institute of Progressive Education &
Learning, humor has an impact to increase motivation, enhance retention of
new information, advance problem-solving skills, encourage creativity and
critical-learning, and fosters a positive learning environment.
Domain 3: Diversity of Learners
Goldenville School of Montessori comprises of students from elementary
and highschool level. Since this is a private school, it is expected that the
students here are of the average or above average income families.
Students from the elementary level exhibited more enthusiasm
compared the junior highschool we observed. Compared to the elementary
level, most of the junior highschool students exhibited “shyness” when asked
to open their cameras. Students that are too shy proved to be more difficult
in virtual classess as they tend to speak in a quick manner or inaudible that
sometimes the teacher would have difficulty understanding what was said.
Additionally, the junior highschool level exhibited below average interest
unlike the elementary students who exhibited average to above average
interest during virtual classes.

Looking back at one of the teaching demos that one of my co-practice

teacher did, it seems utilizing humorous materials that is relatable to the
students have an effect to them. This still proves difficult though as different
factors have to be considered in order to execute a good humor in class like
timing and relatability.
Domain 4: Curriculum and Planning
The K to 12 Curriculum served as the “Bible” of the teachers. One of its
focus is the emphasis of learning the English language in a more conversive
manner that is applicable in real life other than concentrating on the
grammatical structure of language.

It proved useful not only from our mock demos but also during our demo
teaching in Goldenville school of Montessori.
The task of teaching English for Grade 4 and 5 required the use of the
K to 12 Curriculum Guide and some of the domains I had to take note of are
the following:
1) LC: Note significant details
2) V: Infer the meaning of unfamiliar words
3) G: Compose clear and coherent sentences
4) WC: Plan a two to three paragraph composition
5) A: Observe politeness at all times
 The topic I was to discuss with grade 4 and 5 is about comparative and
superlative form of adjectives.
For the listening comprehension, before I read the story to the class, I asked
them note down any important details related to the story.

Why didn’t you let the students read the

story though?

Time constrains, Mr. Guest. I only

have an hour and have two more
topics to discuss.
 This is the picture of the lesson
plan I was typing and below it is
the story of my choice.

Peculiar means strange or odd if any of

you are wondering what it means.
In unlocking difficulties, regarding unfamiliar words, I decided to put a set of
pictures for each unfamiliar words for which the students will use those set of
pictures as clues in identifying the meaning of those words.

I had to modify the grammar and writing composition category of the ones I
mentioned above that which utilizes adjectives in superlative and formative
form.
For grammar, I provided guided practice in which the students will make the
sentence correct by choosing the correct comparative or superlative form of
adverb in the sentence.

I’m so anxious figuring out

what to put my arrows in,

it makes me QUIVER!

Please don’t mind the bad pun here.

After the guided practice activity, we then proceeded to composing clear and
coherent sentences orally using a set of questions I constructed. I decided to
create a speaking activity in which I will be asking questions to the students.
These questions, however, are picked randomly for each student using a
pickerwheel from a website I found. Some of the questions like the example
below require me to ask a follow up questions as long as the student says the
answer in a complete sentence and uses either an adjective in comparative or
superlative form.

Should have been: “Ask

me, teacher Raf”.
I’ve made the questions, though not entirely realistic but enough to make one
question of its quirkiness like the example below.
For writing composition, I decided to make the students write a story of their
own. For their story, they are to write something that requires imagination
and creativity as seen on the picture below.

I decided in making the students compose a paragraph that is far from

realitysince I believe that breaking the monotomy of life and tapping to the
imaginative world would at least make the students compel to write their own
story using their own imagination in as much as an abstract painter who is
motivated to share his creative ideas from his mind to a canvas.

I investigated the crime scene in

the chicken coop.

There was FOWL play.

Please stop with the puns, Raf. You have

a chicken coop to EGGS-plore!
Domain 5: Assessment and Reporting
The activities used in my assessment for the elementary and highschool
uses a simple yet unusual style of assessment that is still inclined with higher
order thinking.
a) Design, selection, organization, and utilization of assessment strategies.
For the Math subject in which I taught, the design of the assessment would
be like the simple problems or computations we would see in any text book.

For the English subject, the design would be a little more complex than the
ones given for the guided practice. In the example below, students are now
going to write a sentence using the following words while also utilizing the use
of adjectives in either comparative or superlative form.
 b) Monitoring and evaluation of learner progress and achievement.
Student progress would be monitored real-time. This means that during
assessment, the teacher provides ample time for the students to answer the
questions or problems then after the given time to answer the assessment,
the teacher along with the students answers the assessment and explains the
answers for each problem or question.

c) Feedback to improve learning.

Feedbacking are provided immediately after answering the questions in the
assessment. In most cases, I try to allocate some time for feedbacking
especially for English class. Depending on the answer, I provide feedback
using the sandwhich method.

For Math however, I ask the students to show their solutions to the camera.
This proves difficult sometimes especially if my internet is slow thus showing
the students as having their camera off.

My 10mbps internet speed

sometimes feels like 1mbps.
 d) Communication of learner needs, progress, and achievement to key
stake holders.

When it comes to learners needs especially to the ones having difficulty in

Math subjects, I observed that virtual settings is still a challenge for teachers.
Although some teachers that I observed use a white board while on cam for
computations, it is still apparent to the learners that they still require face-to-
face learning.
During this kind of scenarios, I sometimes continue to teach the lesson
from last day if I noticed students still having difficulties towards the topic.
However, the drawbacks of this is investing time for it and on most cases,
student’s willingness or interest towards last lesson has already waned.

It’s more difficult when it comes to

highschool level so as much as possible,
make sure no learners are left behind
with the topic.
Domain 6: Community Linkages and Professional Engagement
The establishment of learning environments responsive to community
contexts were made apparent to us both during our orientation and during
virtual classes.
Since this is a private school, it is their norm to always have the student’s
camera open at all times. The practice of praying is also encouraged both
before the class starts and after the class ends.

The school would conduct meetings with the student’s parents at times
for updates regarding the school’s progress. This is also done via virtual
meeting.
Professional ethics are kept at all costs. We are encouraged to not eat
during our observations and to refrain from chatting using the chat box or
talking with the students while observing. During our demo teaching, we are
required to maintain a sense of leadership among the students and be a role
model especially during flag ceremony in which we have to stand up and put
our right hands to our chest.
 Policies and procedures regarding the school we would be in was
provided to us during our orientation.

Orientations are important!

Always attend orientations!

Agreed, Mr. Guest!

When it comes to school policies or procedures, we are required to attend the
virtual class ahead of the time. During virtual classess, we are also expected
to wear our BulSu uniform and must keep our mics off and our cameras on.
During our virtual classess with the students, we are required to wear formal
civilian clothes that has collars as seen on the example below.

It is also imperative for us to

discuss the rules provided to us
by Goldenville School always
during each of our virtual
classes.
 As part of our cooperation with the school, we also made promotional
videos and pictures depicting us creating Powerpoint presentations for our
next lesson.

It took Raf 78 retakes to perfect his 2min

and 45 seconds speech but still ended
up making an awkward double wink.
Domain 7: Professional Growth and Professional Development
For me, teaching is an important profession that one should always take
with dignity. The each student we teach are as important as the other and
having one student left out of the lesson is out of the question. This profession
has taught me the value, obligation, and responsibility that rests on the
shoulders of teachers and I was able to experience it first hand while in our
practice teaching phase.
During my class with the grade 4 and 5, I started by asking for their
opinion whether which came first: the chicken or the egg to set the
atmoshphere within the virtual class.

The effect of this to the students were positive as some were sharing
their ideas and opinions regarding the topic while others raised their hands
again to back up their previous statements. This had also a positive effect to
me as it gave me an insight about provoking critical thinking to the students.
 My preferred philosophy is a combination of Behaviorism and
Constructivism. I always believed that making an axiety free environment
would aid in student’s interest to learn as well as raise morale and critical
thinking.
Me and my colleagues here in Goldenville School has taught us the value
of teamwork in which we never put much importance before we were deployed
here. Now that the pandemic runs rampant accorss our country, we learned
how important constant communication is especially for updates regarding our
progress from the school we are deployed or from BulSu. We found
communication and building a stronger professional relationship with each
other as imperative for our goals to be accomplished as well as accomplishing
the goal of BulSU and Goldenville school of Monessori which serves as our
wheel across a long and ardous road.
 In my ten weeks stay here in Goldenville school of Monessori, I was able
to reflect on many things. First would be that constant participation and
cooperation with the teacher during online classes ensures a healthier learning
environment. This means that the effort given out during classes, whether
online or face-to-face should be coming from both sides: the teacher and the
student. Second is the rigorous mastery of other subjects. In my case, even
though my course is English, I was still expected to teach Math for the junior
highschool level. Because of this, I had to invest time learning the basics of
the topic that was given to me by my C.T. Last one would be to learn to enjoy
whatever is in front of you. I was aware that whenever students lose interest
in the lesson and became passive, I felt a feeling of discontent or
disappointment during the class I was teaching that time. The constant
pressure of whether the students are learning from the lesson can definitely
change ones mood. Reflecting on this experience, I knew what I had to do
next time and the first step is to take a deep breath and make out a gentle
smile out of those frustrations.
Like the other soon-to-be teachers in our section, our goal first is to get
accustomed to the classroom environment. Although it provided us a virtual
environment because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it still provided challenges
for each of us. This, along with my experiences in our practice teaching
program gave me insights on what to improve on like creativity, humor,
mastety, and a lot more confidence.
Our teachers in BulSu told us that teachers continue to learn for a
lifetime and there is no doubt that that would be my long term professional
development goal as a soon-to-be teacher of the English language.