Teaching minds touching hearts building characters.

These are the

works of a great teacher. It has always been said that teaching is a noble
profession. But more than a profession, it is a vocation. Therefore, the greatest
role of every teacher is not just to teach minds, but also to build the characters of
his pupils. And to build the characters of pupils, one has to touch their hearts.. to
inspire them to influence them to do their best and be the best person God
intends them to be.
There is this one teacher who exemplifies these characteristics... A teacher
who inspires.
To be a teacher means to sacrifice a lot- time, money and resources, even if
this sacrifice takes its toll on her own family. And she has experienced to use her
personal resources to support and provide the necessary materials needed in her
classroom (a fact that is true to many teachers). She personally believes that for
effective learning to happen, a conducive place and functional teaching aids should
be made available to pupils. There was also an incident where in she used her
clothing allowance and productivity incentive to finance the expenses incurred
during the graduation day of her advisory class. These are only few incidents
where financial sacrifice is needed to be done by a teacher like her. Aside from
financial sacrifice, personal time was most of the time being sacrificed by a teacher.
After a six-hour teaching load, preparation of lesson plans and teaching aids is next.
It cannot be done in the classroom and should be taken home. More or less three
hours is needed to finish my eight daily lesson plans. Your time for your family is
being lessened because of this. But then, she is a teacher and she is proud to be
To be a teacher means to practice what you preach- honesty, punctuality,
integrity, obedience, love of God and of country. Because she is a teacher, her
pupils and their parents look up to her. She keeps on saying- They watch and listen
to every word that I say. It is expected that I exemplify values and characters that
we, Filipinos value. Because she is a teacher, expectations are very high. And this
makes her aware and watchful of her everyday attitude. Because she believes
thatone wrong move can break a pupils perspective of her.
To be a teacher means to care for and love your pupils. She believes that a
successful teacher cannot be measured with the number of awards and trophies you
receive, but with the number of lives you touch. And she is happy and overwhelmed
with the response her pupils give her through their cards and love letters- these are
her trophies! She is indeed overjoyed that with her own little ways, she was able to
inspire them. Truly, a teacher teaches not for the INCOME but for the OUTCOME.
To be a teacher means to establish camaraderie with the community. For her,
colleagues and superiors opinion about her is as important as the opinion of the
parents in the community. Modesty aside, she is happy and pleased to receive
positive feedbacks from parents. In fact, a certificate of recognition has been
awarded to her by the Parent-Teacher Association. She was also invited by their
barangay to conduct a symposium on climate change with the members of the
community. Aside from the aforementioned activities, she also spearheaded the
fund raising campaign in support for the scouting program.

Indeed, being a teacher is never an easy task. But, the rewards of being one
are immeasurable. She is Mrs. Jenny Lyn M. Saclauso, a TEACHER, and proud to
be one! And this is her story.