Feature: Quarantine and I: Teachers Edition
As thousands of new COVID-19 cases are reported in our country every day, millions of people continue to suffer from the government’s poor management and response to this pandemic. Poverty-stricken families and individuals have little-to-no access to food and other basic necessities. Businesses are shutting down, frontline health workers are risking their lives to save others, and employees, teachers, and students are hardly keeping up with the new setup of working from home and online education.
The Department of Education (DepEd) announced last year that schooling must continue. So, they imposed remote learning where students and teachers do not meet in a traditional classroom, but instead connect virtually and learn together like in a face-to-face class. Now, almost a year into it, both students and teachers have observed and experienced firsthand that it is probably not the most effective set-up. This has been taking a toll on their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing—serving as an obstacle rather than a bridge for continuous education.
Students have been ardently voicing out their thoughts on remote learning through the power of social media. This is why we are already more than familiar with how students are coping in this situation.
Now, it’s time to sit down and listen to our teachers! Shhhhh—we’re starting!
For this article, we interviewed three of our dearest teachers from UPIS, each with different years of experience and different fields of expertise. First off is Sir Arjay “Ey” Calso, a teacher from the Health and Physical Education Department. Next is Ma’am Michelle “Mich” Molinyawe, a teacher from the Practical Arts Department. Last but not the least is Professor Ma. Lourdes Vargas, a teacher from the Communication Arts - English, Music and Art Department.
Transitioning to remote learning has been a struggle for every one of us, which is why these three teachers found similar ways to prepare for the start of the school year. According to them, they realized that practicing how to use technology in remote learning is a must. One thing they needed to do was learn how to navigate all the necessary learning platforms, such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and Gmail, as well as how to modify their teaching methods and deliverables accordingly.
They've since discovered, though, that even with their preparations, several challenges still await. For Sir Ey, some of these difficulties are having fewer students who attend online classes and the fact that there are students being left behind due to the lack of resources for remote learning. Back in face-to-face classes, Sir Ey was the kind of teacher who would do anything to see his students’ faces light up. Now, with this new setup, it’s been a struggle for him to grasp the interest of his students and receive the same reactions from them as he did back then.
Ma’am Mich, on the other hand, highlights the personal challenges of working at home. For instance, long hours of work in front of a screen is nothing short of stressful. It harms our physical states because it lessens the movement of our bodies and may affect our eyesight and damage our posture. Ma’am Mich also points out the hassle of having different distractions at home, which hinders her productivity. This is a common problem brought by this pandemic because not everyone has a comfortable environment to work and study in.
For Ma’am Vargas, one of the biggest and most common challenges that she and most students encounter is unstable internet connection. Although she seldom experiences this, it’s one of the reasons why it is much harder to communicate with one another in this new setup.
Making sure that the students still get the maximum learning experience with the limited kinds of activities and learning methods is also a hurdle for both Ma’am Vargas and Ma’am Mich. The preparations are a great load of work for the teachers, and they have to show utmost consideration to their students because they could be having a hard time at home due to various reasons.
Aside from the difficulties of remote learning, teachers are also facing personal struggles during this community quarantine.
Having to isolate yourself for a long period is immensely saddening. Sir Ey worries about whether or not quarantine impacts him and his loved ones psychologically. He says, “I just wanted to see a good rationale for why it’s [community quarantine] being done way longer [in the Philippines] than other countries.”
Ma’am Mich is also upset by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country. “I personally feel worried about the threat of this disease to me and my family,” she states. The difficulty of balancing other responsibilities in her home also adds to the stress she experiences.
Ma’am Vargas comparably worries for her family’s safety, since her siblings are frontliners or go to work physically. Unfortunately, she is not able to spend time with them, or even see or hold them. She says she feels “helpless and inadequate because of the limitations brought about by the pandemic.”
Amidst all these challenges, our teachers have found numerous coping mechanisms to ease said difficulties.
Sir Ey stresses the importance of having compassion in this unfortunate situation. He always reminds himself to be more compassionate towards his students and towards himself because he knows everyone is struggling.
“Compassion is a natural instinct within us all and we just have to be mindful to translate that intent into actions,” he quotes.
As for Ma’am Mich, instead of focusing on the things that stress her out, she tries to relieve her stress by spending time with her family and listening to music.
Ma’am Vargas also has her ways. She mentions that the whole UPIS community coordinates with one another and participates in different webinars to address the challenges they are facing. She extends deadlines, holds consultations, and keeps lines of communication open for her students. During synchronous classes, she tries her best to ensure that the students fully understand the lesson and feel her concern through the screen. She learns from her everyday experiences and strives to get the hang of remote learning.
Facing such problems and coming up with different coping strategies have led them to having certain lifelines in this quarantine. Lifelines are things or people that help you cope and make life more bearable during challenging times. They help you stay sane and motivate you to keep going when you feel like giving up.
Sir Ey, Ma’am Vargas, and Ma’am Mich all share one common lifeline—their families. Spending time and talking with their loved ones about their thoughts, worries, and problems has helped them cope with their struggles.
To go more in depth, Sir Ey tells us about more of his lifelines, which he calls his why’s. These are the mere reasons why he should and must, the “get-up-and-go” that motivates him to get moving each day.
“Being mindful about my ‘why’s’ definitely helps me fathom why I do the things I do (...) I always find a reason to smile. I nurture it and use it as a driving mechanism to do good, feel good and be the best version of myself amidst the unending life challenges we all have to go through,” he preaches.
Having these unique lifelines contributes greatly to his everyday life. Sir Ey never lets himself feel alone, so he always chooses to surround himself with people he loves and people who further encourage his resilience.
Aside from her family and friends, Ma’am Mich also has another lifeline: the famous boy band BTS. According to her, the group's songs spread so much positivity that she feels like she needs to keep on going, and this lifeline has helped her everyday life by reducing the stress she carries.
Ma’am Vargas has also expressed her gratitude to her lifelines. “I am thankful to have my colleagues and friends who are always ready to help me—pre-pandemic and pandemic—whenever I have concerns with both professional and personal life.”
She describes them as understanding and generous. Ma’am Vargas has also mentioned that she and her family do funny video calls and send each other messages every now and then. They do daily routines such as cleaning the house and leisure activities like listening to music and watching YouTube videos, waving at their neighbours, and buying from their neighborhood magtataho and magma-mais—all of which help her survive and feel a sense of normalcy.
Ma’am Vargas’ last lifeline is God; praying to Him takes away her fears and uncertainty, and the current situation makes her cling to Him more as she knows that God is just around.
Being in this situation has not been easy. Fortunately, our dearest teachers have pieces of advice for everyone.
“With all the unfortunate things that are happening around the world, people are more prone to experience depression and anxiety. I will definitely advise everyone to practice open and honest communication because we are stronger when we listen and smarter when we share. Basically, normalize being vocal because it will help you release emotions you have pent up inside and will help you feel better. Don’t ever let life shut you up,” Sir Ey says, finishing with a winking emoji.
Ma’am Mich emphasizes the importance of taking care of our mental health. “Do not give up. Always find time to rest because mental health is something that we should not ignore.”
Lastly, Ma’am Vargas promotes the strong bond of the UPIS community that she believes has been a great help to her and fellow members of the community. “UPIS has a very strong support system—coupled with His guidance—so there’s nothing to fear.”
Each one of us surely misses the old ways of learning. Like Sir Ey says, “No amount of online instruction can substitute the power of student-teacher relationships and the learning that happens in that perspective.”
Looking back, this pandemic has brought us struggles that affect every aspect of our lives. But hopefully, like our teachers, we can learn to appreciate our lifelines that help us get through this pandemic—one day at a time. // by Karla Concepcion, Kyle Mararac, and Lui Mendoza
