Teacher Miggy?!

Two and a half weeks ago, the Kinder class began their practice for their Christmas presentation, which was held yesterday. I was given the task of coming up with the choreography of the dance which the kids were to present. Although I have absolutely no experience in choreographyzing, I looked up to this task as a new challenge and got excited. This was another teaching adventure which would surely never forget.

I sought the help of friends to come up with the choreo. (Thank you Edjim Cuyno). I slept about 3 am twice just to come up with it, Edjim contributed greatly. I lost sleep twice, because after watching a million kinder presentations on youtube, I realized that what we had come up with was too complicated for the children. As preschool presentations revolve around parallelism especially in songs, I lost another night of sleep to finalize the choreo. I wasn’t able to finish the whole song (Britney Spears-My Only Wish), so I sought help from Teacher Jen to come up with moves that could fill up those dull parts of the song. She gladly helped me, and by the next 2 days, our choreo was ready. And so were the kids.

What I find amazing about making and eventually teaching the moves to the kids, is that I didn’t fear looking like a goof in front of the school staff. After 3 weeks with the cutest kids in the world, I had nothing to be ashamed of. The first time I taught the kids the moves, I remember being about 10 minutes late for the class. I was wide-eyed when I entered the room, as I immediately saw Teacher Jen in front, eyeing me as I entered the room. She asked me if I was ready, and I confidently told her that I was. I practiced by myself for nearly an hour, memorizing the steps the night before.

The kids easily picked up the steps. Some of them even added their own twist to the moves; beautiful eyes, exaggerated hip sways and the like. I really enjoyed teaching them what to do, each new step made the kids smile even brighter. After about two days of teaching the choreo, I sort of envied the kids. They were able to dance, sing, basically perform anything without having to think of what the people looking might think.

During the second week of practice, it was quite obvious that not all the kids were born dancers. Some needed hand on hand assistance which I gladly provided for the children. Sometimes, several kids were either too tired or just lazy to dance. This made me anxious. The last thing I would want is to look like a goof in front of the parents.

That feeling went away when I wasn’t able to attend classes because I came down with the fever, which went away after a day. My body gave way after 2 straight days sleepless nights playing tekken. I love playing this game, yet I hate how it sucks me into the alternate universe of ZEROproductivity. This was also the reason I haven’t been able to make any new entries, the latest version came out early december, and my fingers have not rested since. I broke my vow of getting the game only if I had any progress with my thesis :|

When I attended class the next day, I walked into the playroom hearing the sound of the class’ song. I then saw two of the kinder class practicing, which made me feel proud. I may not be that good a dancer, but you wouldn’t think that if you saw the kids perform.

The kids celebrated their Christmas party last Friday, the last week before their presentation. I have to admit that that day was pretty chaotic. The kids, parents and baby sitters were all cramped into one room. Nevertheless, the kids were able to enjoy the day. There more than enough food for everyone in the school.

This day also happened to be my birthday. I spent the day at my OJT, and I was too shy to inform the teachers that it was my day. I told Kay, my classmate who enjoys OJT in the same school not to tell the teachers, since I would not be able to offer food to celebrate that day.After the Christmas party, I was informed that we were to stay and finish the props for next weeks presentation. We cut, painted, and stitched props, which I really enjoyed with the teachers. We spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up. I had to leave early because I had errands to run. After I finished stitching my 1 reindeer horn, I told the teachers that I had to leave, and I said goodbye.

After about 2 minutes after I left, one of the school helpers called me out and told me that Teacher Mo was calling for me. I quickly went back to the room, and upon entering, the teachers sang happy birthday. I didn’t know what to do, I just smiled and scratched my head. It was probably the last thing I would expect to happen that day, mainly because only Kay and I knew that it was my birthday. After the song, I blew a “lighter candle” twice, and thanked them for the warm greeting. I also smiled at Kay, and thanked her for telling them :)

I enjoyed a small celebration with family at home, as well as thanking all those who greeted me on facebook, thru text and those who called. This was one of the simplest yet most meaningful birthday celebrations I enjoyed.

Tuesday. Tomorrow would be the day of the presentation, and I had no doubts that the children would perform well the next day. I was an hour late because I had errands to run. As I entered the room, I hear our song so I quickly let go of my bag and joined teacher Jen lead the kids. The practice went well, the kids didn’t have any problems with the steps. We had our general rehearsal at CCF, and I enjoyed practicing with the kids for half the day. Some parents tagged along with their kids, and it gave me a great feeling seeing their smiles from watching the kids.

Wednesday (Yesterday). I arrived only a few minutes early for the beginning of the program. Although there were a lot of parents, this one was less chaotic as the parents watched from the seats assigned to them. About 5 minutes after I arrived, our song was playing in the background and on the stage were 2 nursery kids dancing along! I really really really enjoyed watching those 2 kids dance, They danced to the whole song without any reminding them of the steps. I admit, watching the kids from lower levels perform our dance melted my heart yet again.

The program began with a Nativity play where some of my Kinder students participated. It flowed smoothly, with a few bloopers, which only made the whole presentation better. When it the kinder kid’s turn to dance, we helped them get on the stage and stood in front of them to lead. I wasn’t surprised at how good the kids performed. Not only did they dance well, they enjoyed it too. Ill be uploading the vids of the presentations in a few days, since its already Christmas break. 

This whole Christmas season is one I will cherish and will never forget. Everything in my life is running so well. Family, School, even Love? :) To date, this is the best Christmas season I’ve ever had. And what a time for it to come, on my last semester as a student. Hopefully, I’ll graduate and be a teacher or professor next year. I thank god, and everyone who support me for everything!

Although I really enjoy spending time with the kids, I am well aware that preschool is not where I should be teaching. I have no complaints with the kids, I am just stating the facts: I can’t dance, I can’t sing, and more importantly, I find it hard to come up with a “kiddie voice”, one that sounds enthusiastic, never discouraging, which is most suitable for preschool.

Interestingly, I seem to enjoy teaching older students better, specifically college. In my teaching profession class under Sir Lupisan(our former dean), I enjoy being able to express my thoughts and create meaningful interactions with the class. Sir Lupisan, along with my other previous teachers is one of my idols. His three hour class seems so light, we barely notice the time.

Dear Reader: I apologize if i’ve written too long a blog. This is the whole two weeks before our Christmas Vacation, and my failure to make shorter more frequent posts is all due to my curse that is tekken. Anyway, thanks for reading! Merry Christmas! :)