the pupil whom i used to scold everday...

it is indeed true that in teaching ministry, a teacher and a student relationship does not usually earn the merit of friendship and camaraderie....

because the situation is not that helpful especially in dealing with an all-boys class... at the present time that a teacher teaches his/her pupils, classroom discipline must prevail no matter what the cost.

and in the process, if the teacher becomes the object of his pupils' hatred and resentment, it doesn't really matter.
what matters most is the goal inside the classroom: to bring and achieve a well-disciplined atmosphere in the entire class.

In my years of teaching (20 years huh!), i can only remember two types of pupils i handled: the geek/bright/talented or the topnotchers-in-every-test ones and the slow learners or the lowest-in-every-test ones....and in my experience, the pupils who usually give discipline problems inside the classroom are the ones who belong to the slow learners group...the ones who excelled never gave me problems, but pride and gladness.

.......(but wait till they grow up...wait till they reach their age of maturity. see what will happen when you meet them at the crossroads....)


but do you know that these same problem boys inside the classrom, as i usually call them such, are the same ones who, in the passing of years and as they grew to maturity and age, recognize you and remember you so vividly and can even shout to the heavens your middle name when you meet them unexpectedly in malls, streets, public places and in grocers?....

but the geek ones, the valedictorians, the topnotchers seem to forget and in a chance encounter with them would never recognize you nor greet you.....
and that's the sad part of it and the real irony of it....


during my recent family visit in the Philippines last January of this year, a guy taller than me , bumped and stopped me while i was doing windowshopping inside Robinson's Place in Malate and with all his smiles and gladness shown on his face, he greeted me with..."Mr Albert C. Pilarca, Sir!...do you still remember me? yes sir!, your 'makulit na' pupil, Jasper ________".... and with so much surprise, i hardly could speak because in front of me was this guy who was the same pupil whom i would scold everyday for this and that, etc etc...

this same guy was my pupil who would catch my attention and distract my lecture discussions with his old-but-funny-stupid antics and jokes.....

as we went on with our delightful encounter...

jasper: hey sir, i am with my girfriend, che
me: oh! i am very pleased to meet you che. the lady just smiled coyly.

jasper: sir, how are you? you still look the same. i am taking Nursing at SBC. ...blah blah blah... blah blah blah...

the gentleman who was in front of me, talking non -stop, was so jolly (as he was in the classroom years ago) and excitedly started reminiscing his years in the classrom with me...

he ended up momentarily with his reminiscences with his invitaton to a nearby fastfood restaurant which i gladly accepted...

so as i told you, teachers earn and reap the merits of friendship and camaraderie from their former pupils only in their years and years of maturity and of age.
with my former co teacher jon, who tagged along with me in my stroll at Robinson's, we proceeded all to the famous Mcdo!.....

what a day to reminisce the past with a former pupil like jasper!