The Lesson Plan

Dedicated to Batch ‘07, and to my brother
on their graduation

The keynote speaker in my brother’s graduation was fantastic!

He is a teacher and a doctor, and was a near-absolute failure back in high school. He, Dr. Antonio Miguel L. Dans, said so himself. He spoke from the heart firstly as an Atenean and secondly as a teacher. I was more interested in the latter.

In a very lively, spontaneous and upbeat style, he talked about how he was a member of the ‘dishonors section’ back in his high school days and how now, 32 years later, his class remains close.

We were 37 then and out of the 35 still alive now, 30 of us keep in touch. We attended each other’s weddings, and we took turns being the best man. We attended baptisms and we were our childrens’ ninongs. And now we attend funerals — that’s how life progresses.

And to research for his talk, he sent out e-mails and text messages to his classmates asking, “What was the most important lesson your high school life taught you?” Their responses were hilarious — “Kung maitim ka noon, hindi ka na puputi. Kung makapal ang buhok mo noon, makakalbo ka rin” — but all this was to underscore the importance of friendship and how, 32 years later, your report card in high school will be the last thing on your mind.

And from there he jumped to his most important point. This is the point which I would like to extend to Batch ‘07 on their graduation, and to all my students in ‘08 and ‘09 whose journeys in high school are nearing their conclusion.

“Your report card underestimates who you are.”

Card giving in the PSHS just ended. Even though we teachers were no longer obliged to make ourselves available for consultation (nothing can be done about the grades anyway), there was no shortage of students complaining of having the most terrible conclusion to the year (after dropping a third of a percentage point). Or how they might get kicked out after marginally (2.75) failing one subject. Some where even (illogically) paranoid of becoming “a probie” because their average went down.

They stress too much. They’re too pressured. And I can’t imagine how parents who pressure their children to excel can claim that they know what’s best for their child.

This is why I never really believed in grades. I don’t like dwelling on them in class because to me, they aren’t important. But dealing with Pisay students — probably the most grade conscious lot of them all — makes the topic of grades unavoidable. And at the end of the day, we teachers have to comply to standards and grades are always at the top of the agenda.

But grades never measure how well you learn. You take a lot of ideas and experiences away from school and the most important of them are never captured by your report card.

I remember well that back in the orientation for batch ‘09, I said that what is most important to me in my class is not intellect. It is imagination and hard work. I really appreciate this afternoon’s speaker because he was able to articulate these ideas of mine in clearer, more palatable terms.

What follows are his main ideas, interspersed with my own reflections. He raises three points why report cards fail to measure who you really are.

For him, grades measure knowledge. But curiosity and creativity are more important, and grades don’t indicate that. People full of knowledge end up becoming textbooks. Learn to question what is put in front of you. Learn to come up with something to put in front of other people.

If you are confronted with a subject that forces you to memorize, fail it. It’s a waste of time and money. But if you are confronted with a subject that challenges you with creative and collaborative projects, embrace it. It’s difficult, but it’s worth it. And if you have the chance to be a student leader, go for it. Grades may not measure your accomplishments here, but you accomplish more here.

Universities and your first job will hire you because of your grades. But your career in the future will be determined by how well you value your work by finding new solutions to old problems and creating alternatives where there are none. Managers, supervisors and leaders are born not merely because of intellect, but because of how well they motivate, empower and inspire the people they work with. Books cannot teach you that.

For him, teachers emphasize hard work. Some schools even indicate ‘effort’ in their report card; but does a genius in math deserve getting a high ‘effort’ grade? Let’s not talk about effort then. It’s too relative. It’s also dangerous.

Some people work too hard. They must learn to balance their lives by devoting the right amount of time to study, to work, to friends and to family. Let’s not reward those who sacrifice everything else for the sake of their work. We’re not in the business of breeding workaholics. We want to create honest men, good fathers, loyal friends.

So instead, let’s talk about passion. Let’s talk about those thoughts in your heart. Let’s not talk about how much you do, but how you do it. Let’s not talk about how far you’ve gone, but how far you’re willing to go.

Do something that means something to you. Don’t focus much on doing things differently, but on making a difference. Let everything else flow from there.

And lastly for him, schools emphasize good behavior. Most schools have a ‘conduct’ grade, a character mark, or any combination or breakdown thereof. But when is a misbehavior really a misbehavior? There are often two types — those who rebel and those who are just being obnoxious. The latter has no excuse, but the former deserves our understanding.

After all, how can we talk about changing the world and testing the limits of what’s possible when we force our students to conform to standards beyond them?

Set limits, but allow them to express themselves. Entertain their questions and listen to what they have to say. Teach the boundaries of what being different means versus making a difference. Good men such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Jose Rizal were not known for playing by the rules. When they resisted and stood up for what they believed in, they were “misbehaving”. But in doing so they created nations and celebrated races. Their misdemeanor had something to tell us

And perhaps our students are trying to tell us something too. Let’s listen to them before we stifle them and crush the very values and principles we promote — making this world a better place for everyone else.

These are the thoughts that will forever be impressed upon me. Thank you, Dr. Dans.

* * *

This is important to me because I teach social studies.

Of all the subjects, I teach the material that is farthest from my student’s everyday experiences. From research and experience, I can say that students more readily identify with heroes in literature (ie. Rama, Crisostomo Ibarra) than with historical figures (ie. Buddha, Jose Rizal). All the numbers in math and science mean more to them than some historical date. And countries and regions are just patches on a map, until you layer graphs of global warming or climate change on top of it.

This is why I have labored — and will continue to labor — to make my class a true learning experience that goes beyond memorization of names, dates and events. It can be difficult and tiring — paradigm shifts often are — but there are those who have learned that the secret to my class is nothing more than imagination and hard work.

And that is no secret. I tell them that every time.

Borrowing now from Dr. Dans, I can state that secret even more clearly. Report cards will always underestimate you. There is more to you than a number or a letter. The good news is you have all you need to succeed. The bad news is that it’s going to be a lot of hard work.

To my dear graduates, and to everyone else, welcome to the real world!

It sucks, but you’re going to love it.