What they say about us?

The new school year began last week for millions of Filipinos – students, teachers, and parents alike, for whom every school opening can be a major crisis, psychologically if not financially.

I was one of those schoolkids who actually looked forward to June, because it meant the possibility – not always realized – of a new school bag and new shoes, not to mention new classmates and new teachers. My joy was often short-lived, as the new year turned into the old tedium, but I would find fresh reasons to get excited – new readings in history and geography (lumped into "Social Studies," and the source of grief for my opponents in Trivial Pursuit decades later), new mystery and science books in the library, new experiments in the laboratory (with anything that involved turning on the Bunsen burners being the living end – or the cat’s pajamas, as they used to say in the 1920s).

But easily the highlight of any new school year or semester was meeting one’s new teachers, those people in whose hands and to whose minds you were captive for a few months, which could feel either very long or very short, depending on your experience and relationship with him or her. This brings us to our present subject.

While trawling the Web a few nights ago for the odd bit of trivia, I stumbled on the forums ("fora" sounds just a tad too academic, although it seems to be preferred by traditionalists) at pinoyexchange.com, one of which was devoted to "The Best and Worst Teachers in UP." (No, I didn’t find any such e-groups devoted to Ateneo, La Salle, UST, etc. – don’t ask me why, but don’t smile too soon – it could be your turn, next!) There was a lively discussion going on, with about 150 responses logged in. People sent in their remarks under the obligatory (and wisely instituted) pseudonym, taking the risk out of speaking one’s mind, just in case Web-savvy profs like me came cruising around the neighborhood.

The comments make for fascinating reading, if only because here, with the kind of unapologetic candor and exuberance you can only find on the Internet, was exactly what our students thought about us teachers and about our teaching. I’m reproducing, verbatim (except for the names of both writer and subject, for obvious reasons), the most interesting of the remarks I came across, some of which go back to 1999.

Students being students and teachers being teachers, I’d take some of these with a grain of salt, and let’s not forget what Will Shakespeare said about "the evil that men do" crowding the good out of our memories – but, let’s face it, who can resist such honest gossip? (And to the message-writers: I don’t mean to spoil your fun; your identities are safe, and you may be doing all of us a service; you should do this for all the schools!) Here goes, the good and the bad, the best and the worst:

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"Masayang teacher si XXX kahit nakaka-antok. Kailan ka ba nakakita ng titser na natutulog habang nagtuturo. He he he"

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"Sobrang galing at sobrang bait. Kahit Ph.D siya down to earth pa rin, very considerate,very intelligent. Too bad, I heard that he’s retiring already by 2nd sem."

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"prof XXX is a lovable teacher & the way he says puñeta is one of a kind. if u want to learn spanish the fun way, he’s the prof for u."

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"Mlle. XXX for French is also wonderful. aside from being cute, loveable and friendly (with her students), she also happens to know Ricky Martin personally."

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"I was a student of XXX when I was a freshman, first semester. Well, what can I say? Nagpapasabog siya ng uno (not that we don’t appreciate it). As President Nemenzo said, there seems to be a grade explosion in UP, and XXX is one of its proponents."

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"OH NO!!!!!!!!! teacher ko si XXX! i got so mortified talaga when she wrote her name on the board!!! she is just so tactless and wouldn’t mind if mapahiya ka sa harap ng buong klase! any tips on how to survive this witch?!?!?!?!?!"

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"I have a feeling a good 50% of the teachers in UP are nuts... especially the old Chemistry teachers who have been inhaling too many noxious fumes because the fume hoods don’t work.... I hate all Chemistry Teachers and Biology teachers..."

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"he gave me a three dahil lang ayaw nya ng project namin. he based our final grade solely on the project alone. pero ok ang papers ko, quizzes, attendance sa kanya. he even asked me to check quizzes. and the most nakakakagigil na part, lahat kami ng groupmates ko got a three except for one who’s gwapo. he got a two."

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"prof. XXX gave me a 1.25 in philo although wala naman sya talagang ginawa. he made us read the whole philo book for our 1st exam. after the exam, nawala daw nya ang papers namin."

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"Mr. XXX lost my blockmate’s one and only exam and he asked my blockmate what grade he wants. Of course my blockmate said UNO, so ayun, that’s his grade. Andaya samantalang ako.. 2.5 sheesh!"

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"Our Philo teacher was one of the worst too, Mr. XXX. He sleeps while we’re reporting in front of the class. He loves to criticize the UP system and how low his salary is. I passed the subject but I needed .25 less to be a CS. grrr... All the girls got 2.5 and the guys got 3."

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"grabe parang bangag naman yun eh! ang labo! tsaka i saw her making out with her bf sa lagoon! (chika)"

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"Psych majors: be sure to take at least one psych subject under Dr. XXX. He gives one-page font-8 exams (as in puno yung page) pero ang galeng niya magturo, as in! sulit!"

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"Yung mga lalake yung kawawa kay Señorita XXX. Actually mga lalake lang yung talagang pinapansin niya."

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"c XXX-pag maganda ka. XXX- 4ever!! i luv u sir!! kailangan lang minsan magpagupit ka ng buhok."

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"hay naku, tama si YYY at yung iba pang nagsabi.. never ever take XXX for kas2!!!! aside from mababa magbigay ng grades at nangbabagsak... sobra hirap magbigay ng exams… nagpapa-shower pa yun ng laway pag sa harap ka naka-upo!!! hwehwehwe"

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"XXX’s strict but you’ll learn a lot from her."

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"XXX, CMC, ComRes Dept. – Bookish but his discussions are wonderful; lotsa student participation. Yung quizzes niya kala mo madali since multiple choice or modified true or false lang pero grabe, pamatay! Mapapaisip ka talaga."

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"XXX (english) – isa pang nagpapaulan ng uno, matalino na, maganda pa...."

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"XXX (consti law) – medyo boring, pero ang cute nyang tingnan...."

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"Law school, Prof. XXX… transcends the status of a teacher/professor. He is a mentor. First day of class in law school and first professor namin siya. Although he had a reputation na nambabagsak, what you learn from him in the classroom you will remember kahit lawyer ka na."

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"prof. XXX is nice. i had her for comm II, d sya demanding basta perfect attendance ka, pasado ka na. d sya particular sa research paper."

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"Si Sir XXX, Soc Sci I, sobra, nagpapaulan sya ng uno basta pasado ka sa quizzes nya. 10 items lang, objective pa, eto pa, cancel the 2 lowest!!"

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"XXX: kasI - puro reporting, field trip at bonus pts para sa mga bumili ng libro niya... tama ba yun?"

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"for comm. II try nyo c XXX, if he’s still around, oks yun bihira mag-class"

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"Oo sobrang grabe siya. Wala kang ma-iintindihan. Parang hirap na hirap mag-explain. Prof ko siya ng Math 55. Kung hindi ako nag-sit-in sa ibang class masaklap siguro ang naging future ko sa 55."

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"Anong Math???? May very bad experience kamidyan kay XXX. Gradwyt na ko di ko pa malimutan. Math 17 Prof namin yan.... 3 lang ang pinasa niya sa block namin...2 pumasa sa removals. He he he 5 lang ang alam na number nun. Sinira niya ang mga pangarap namin. Kala ko nga di na ako makaka-gradwyt on time."

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"XXX - german. he makes it a point na talagang naiintindihan ng students niya yung tinuturo niya kahit ilang beses pa niya ulitin. sobrang patient with the class and he thinks of really innovative ways for us to learn and appreciate the language."

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"XXX - math. di ko na matandaan first name niya. basta pag nakuha mo siyang teacher, sayang ang binayad mo! para ka na ring nag home study!"

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"Si XXX sobrang creative sa lectures nya. may halong harana, french lessons, chika questionnaires, fun trivia, lessons on life, atbp sa geo lectures nya. bilib ako sa instant name-recall ability ng taong ‘to."

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"XXX (P.I.100)- teacher ko sya nung summer. simpleng tao pero hanep sa prinsipyo. highly recommended. ma-iinspire kayo masyado."

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"XXX - Strict, pero mabait, and fair. Demands the best from her students (but then, you should give the best, right?)"

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"An advice for those people who are going to take Kas II: NEVER consider XXX. As in, he shouldn’t even be one of your options, even if he is the last on your list."

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"unfortunately he was my teacher in Kas 2. he totally sucks. that closet queen is dictatorial."

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"sir XXX sa eee...hindi siya pupunta sa next topic until naintindihan na namin ang previous one...oh well, mahirap lang talaga ang tinuturo niya kaya oo na lang kami nang oo!"

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"XXX keeps talking to himself... walang pakialam kung nakikinig ang estudyante sa kanya or natutulog na... syempre, almost half of our class eh tulog..."

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"XXX MANYAK! I should know, kasi sinubukan niya akong biktimahin a year and a half ago. Buti nga at he was found guilty of sexual harassment a few weeks ago. Yes, nagpapaulan siya ng uno, so kunin mo siyang teacher kung gusto mo ng uno, pero kung babae ka na may itsura, wag na lang."

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"for socsciII - i would recommend XXX. ive heard so much bad rep about her pero i think hindi na sya ganoon ngayon. in our socsci ii class, she had a concise and definitive discussion of the topic, as to answering the question on "who should rule?" plus she relates current events to socsci II discussions. At saka she has a good command of world history kaya multi-perspective ang discussion namin. nag-enjoy talaga ako!!!"

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Send e-mail to Butch Dalisay at penmanila@yahoo.com..