By Eloisa B. Badua, Teacher III, Vicente R. Bumanlag NHS

Teaching is a mission, a mission that requires a teacher
to be ready in embracing the vocation which always requires
affirmative response to a most difficult challenge of being a
teacher – to shape, nurture, and assist the learners in every
possible way they can reach their full potential.
Teachers, regardless of their age and social status,
eventually become instant parent the moment they enter the world
of the learners. Handling generation to generation with diverse
personalities and skills is like growing a family with different
outlooks in life as they take each step of their journey.
I was once a student of my dearest mentors and colleagues
and honestly, their profession is a no joke as to being a student
is also a tough role. Back then, I was always inside a box hiding
myself from the sight of everyone around me; I couldn’t even
step out of my comfort zone and was always placing myself at the
safest place. As I spent my days, months, and years with my high
school teachers, slowly, I turned into a young listener and
follower of whatever they would ask me to do having in my heart
the trust that they would lead me to a better future ahead. What
my mind reminded me during those years is the thought of
achieving my dreams in life with their guidance second to my

parents and siblings. They would often boost my confidence by
constantly giving me praises just like may parents did. They
would always make me feel that I was improving, that I was one
of the best, that I was obedient, I was responsible and that I
could be a successful person someday. I was always in awe
whenever they talked about their former students who had become
professionals, when they themselves told stories about their
journey to success, most of the stories are themed from rags to
riches. I was amazed by the fact that my teachers could turn a
simple teenager to a dreamer and finally be an achiever.
Never I imagined being in the shoes of my mentors at
present. Had I known that teaching would be my profession, I
grabbed the chance to take down all what my former teachers did
for all the young people who look up to them and now are
professionals and successful individuals. Now that I am a
teacher like them, I realized that everything they did for me
as their student is the same as what they did to all my
classmates. They have been doing this positive reinforcement for
decades targeting the same goal: to produce successful dreamers,
and that being successful is not measured by numbers or grades,
but by how one is able to achieve his goal through his effort
in applying what he has learned from his experiences.
Below are some techniques that I learned from my former mentors
and now my colleagues in producing successful learners. These

can be added to your investment as a teacher; I have been
investing to these.

• Be a friend who motivates not who discourages. In every
class of 50 or more, there will always be learners who are
struggling in all the aspects of life. Although we want to
make sure that learning takes place, being a consistent
disciplinarian will draw our students farther from us. Most
of the time, we must be in their world, we must join them,
we must befriend them; this will not only strengthen our
ties with them but will also make them realize their role
as learners. Gradually, they will be motivated to do things
they were afraid of doing.
• Show them the real you. In doing this, you are teaching the
learners to respect each other and not to be afraid of
expressing themselves whenever they need to. You can break
the wall between you and the learners but do not let your
guards down when dealing with classroom stuff. You can
always build rapport with them but with limitations.
• You are their evaluator. Never let them forget the reason
why they are with you for the rest of the school year. Bear
in their mind that aside from being a teacher and a friend,
you are also their evaluator, that whatever they do is
monitored and evaluated for their own welfare as learners.
• Keep them updated. It is important for a teacher to always
remind and update the learners of what is happening within

the four corners of the classroom and within the school
premises. Be their guide. I know it’s challenging to be a
guide of several personalities but trust me, it’s all worth
it.
• Their success is your success. As teachers, we must always
tell our students that their success is also the fruit of
your hard work. Make them feel that you will be the proudest
when they finally achieve their goal. That way, you can
always serve as an inspiration.
Learners, whatever track they choose, still have an integral
role in a teacher’s journey of being a teacher. They serve as
the teachers’ product of hard work, dedication, and commitment.
Successful learners always go back to where they took their
first step conquering the outside world – to their teachers.
I, being a teacher, working with my former mentors, seeing
in their eyes, and hearing from their mouth how proud they are
that I was once their student along with the other former

students, can truly say that though teaching is not a high-
paying salary job, still, it is profession that is the source

of every other profession. It is a never-ending profitable
investment for every year when batches of students finish their
studies and succeed in life, the return of what the teacher has
invested is priceless. No material thing and amount of money can
ever replace the ROI (Return of Investment) of teachers – the
learners’ success.