NAME: KELLY CAMERON C.

RODRIGUEZ 03/12/22
COURSE&YEAR: BSED ENGLISH 4 PrEd200n
WEEK 6 JOURNAL: LEAVING COMFORT ZONES

           Growth comes from stepping out of our comfort zones. I realized that the discomfort we
felt by experiencing various things we've never had before gives us more room for improving
and learning as an individual. My first week was a whole experience of fulfillment, pain,
exhaustion, and gratefulness as a practice teacher.

To start, I thought my first day at Baybay National High School would come off easy and
not so hard to carry out, but I was proven wrong the moment I was immediately assigned to a
cooperating teacher. I was already tasked to run errands outside the campus for our advisory
room since it is under structuring for the opening of face-to-face classes. I was shocked by the
immediate instruction since we had not yet been formally introduced to each other. Still, then I
remember what Ma'am Andrade's reminder was before the deployment, as long as I can do it and
as long as it is part of my responsibility as a practice teacher, I should never say no to whatever it
may be. And I heed that advice. I listed down and listened to every instruction of my cooperating
teacher for my first task. I went outside the campus and rushed to Alcala, a school supplies store,
and various things. I struggled to carry all the things I needed to buy since it also consisted of
one big pad of styrofoam, and I was cautious not to break it in two while riding a pot pot since
that is also the reminder of my cooperating teacher. Also, it was raining hard, making my errand
a troublesome circumstance at bad timing. I was rushing back to the campus after completing
everything to buy and successfully gave it to my cooperating teacher. I was also bombarded with
tasks during the first day, such as sorting out answered modules of students and delivering them
to their respective subject teachers for checking. I also sorted out recorded outputs and put them
back in the student's folder for retrieval and feedback. After day one, I was full of complaints
about how it went, but then it sank into me that I felt all of these in just one day outside VL and
VSU campuses which are my comfort homes. At that moment, I knew I was stepping outside my
comfort zone. I was stepping out into an environment that gave me everything I needed to learn.
I knew I was learning the hard way; nothing would come easy in the real world. What I
experienced during day one is just a piece of cake for every teacher out there, and I have no right
to complain. I moved forward to day two as if nothing had happened. 

My day two was hectic, for I was checking test papers from five sections, and I had no
partner to share this work with, unlike my other classmates. Nevertheless, I took the challenge,
and my back pain was undeniable because I sat for hours checking test papers until my duty
ended. I greatly respect every teacher who goes through this work daily. It is definitely beyond
the job itself. Day three went the same. I continued checking test papers. I was already exhausted
at that state, but I also found reasons to laugh at this particular encounter. 

My cooperating teacher instructed me to give back the TLE booklets to the subject
teacher of our advisory class, she told me the name, and I wrote it in the band of the booklet, not
knowing that I wrote it wrong since she was talking afar from me and maybe I heard it wrong. I
NAME: KELLY CAMERON C. RODRIGUEZ 03/12/22
COURSE&YEAR: BSED ENGLISH 4 PrEd200n
wrote, To Ma'am Roring. When I was supposed to submit the booklet to the subject teacher I had
not met even once, I was lucky I did not get to give it to her directly. Instead, I just handed it
over to that one smiling adviser of section Manga since she also knew which room our TLE
subject teacher was located in. After passing by their building, the adviser of section Mangga
came to me with a laughing and serious face at once, so I had a hard time figuring out what was
wrong. Then she came close to me like I was not a stranger and asked who wrote the name of the
TLE subject teacher in the band of the booklet. I was so nervous that time because it was only
me who wrote it and no one else. Before I could even speak up, she immediately added that it
was misspelled, and she jokingly said that the TLE subject teacher would give me deduction
points for such a mistake. 

The name of the subject teacher of the TLE class should be Ma'am Rorie and not Ma'am
Roring. The adviser of section Manga was joking, but I could not hide my nervousness since I
was just an intern. I promised I would say sorry to the subject teacher even if she were mad, but
when I had the chance to apologize, the TLE subject teacher also found it funny and forgave me
immediately. She found such a mistake amusing, and from what I saw, she was far from mad.
She was very kind, and she gave me clear instructions too up until today for our advisory class.
Even on tiring days, I still find these little moments make up for my joy in such work, and
surprisingly it does not feel like I am working. 

I work overtime to cover hours I can't report for the last day. My last day for this week
was very productive and eventful. My cooperating teacher surprisingly did not report for the day,
leaving me alone for the rest of the day, and I did not get any instructions beforehand, which left
me nervous. Later on, I was instructed by a teacher from the faculty to get the modules of our
advisory class and distribute them to every subject teacher and sort it out for distribution by next
week. I crammed in, finding the subject teachers all over the campus. My foot was already
bruised from walking because of my shoes. Still, I did my part since I was left alone for the day. 

A parent also came to our advisory class complaining about the PTA room expenses, and
she wanted to talk to my cooperating teacher face to face, who was not there at the moment. I
was nervous because I had no idea what she was talking about, and I might mess up if I said the
wrong statements. I calmly told the parent I would notify my cooperating teacher about her
concern. I instructed her to bring the receipt of the said expenses on Monday to clear things out
when my cooperating teacher is already present. The parent agreed to my terms and peacefully
left the room. My last day for the week was a roller coaster ride. I could not walk already
because of the bruise, but the fulfillment I felt ending the day was unexplainable. It dominated
the pain and exhaustion I was feeling for the whole week.

Indeed, being a teacher is more than the job title itself. What a teacher does in front of the
students and the inside work on the campus is in a different league. Now I understand why
teachers deserve more than society puts up with such jobs. Teachers are often underappreciated,
NAME: KELLY CAMERON C. RODRIGUEZ 03/12/22
COURSE&YEAR: BSED ENGLISH 4 PrEd200n
undervalued, and even underpaid. And they do not deserve such things because what they do is
more than that. They give everything they've got even though it is out of their league already, but
still, they need to because they are teachers, and no one else could do it but them. They give
more than what they have, and I think that will always be the beauty and pain of this profession,
which is why I believe that society should not tolerate the thinking that teachers are just teachers
because they are not just teachers. They are more than the profession.