My LA teaching experience

I took my B.S. Elem. Educ. at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. After graduation, I passed the First National Teachers’ Board.

I left for the US some years later and settled in Los Angeles where my sister was taking her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California.

After I passed the California Basic Educational Skill Test, I applied for my credential at the Commission on Teacher Credentialing in Sacramento and received a Preliminary Multiple Subject Credential for K-6 which qualified me to teach from kindergarten to sixth grade, and a Children’s Center Permit for Pre-School.

I realized that since I have a degree from a foreign country and no local experience I would only qualify at first for a substitute position at the Unified School. I accepted this reality since I was prepared to learn all that I needed to learn in order to succeed as a teacher in Los Angeles. I was first accepted as a Sub, short for substitute, the entry level. While on an assignment as a Sub, I met my former professor at UP in school. She had retired in the Philippines and preferred to work as a substitute teacher than stay at home. As a Sub, I was on call in the area where I lived. I thought it was a neat arrangement. To be able to reach different schools and not being able to drive, I met the challenge of variety and distance. The very first thing I did was to call the bus company and obtain the schedule of the departure of the buses. Sometime, I had to catch three buses to get the schools to which I would be assigned. I now wonder how I handled the days when I had no calls. I seemed so patient all those days. Every call was a challenge to prove myself.

But most exciting part was teaching many kinds of children: Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Vietnamese. I enjoyed most of the assignments and made sure I would do my duties well. When I left the classroom, all the work they did were all on top of the teacher’s table which the absent teacher would see when she reported back for work. I was so happy when teachers ask to have me back. When somehow the world got around, other teachers asked for me to sub for them and it was the best experience. I got out of those classrooms truly satisfied.

Every classroom that I went to, I taught the children how to write poetry. In my heart of hearts I felt that even if I never saw them again, I knew that whatever I taught about poetry will always be in their minds and hearts. This was my way of leaving footprints in the sands of time.

It helped that I love children. Thus, the best reward was being loved back by them. I remember a time when I was assigned back to a class where I had been a sub. The children cheered for me. I was a little embarrassed when the principal reprimanded them and said they were there to learn, not to have fun with the substitute. I was the importance of the role of sub that I took two years later when I met a girl in a bus stop. Already in her sixth grade, she approached me in a friendly way and asked if I was a substitute in their school because I was, she would know that I was their sub. It meant the world to me that she remembered me though I spent very little time with them when she was much smaller. I felt a warm glow in my heart to be told I was remembered. I though that a child, encountering a sub once and would never see her again would not remember. I felt that if in her young mind, I left a mark, I can honestly say that all the daily waiting was worth the pain.

When I decided to apply to teach in a preschool, my CBEST passing (there were only 2 of us) I was appointed one step higher than teacher one. My ability to converse in Spanish helped a lot because our pupils were 94 percent Hispanic. We teachers sat among our 4-5 year olds. Teaching preschoolers gives us an insight to separation anxiety, see them role play and dress as to who they want to be. As early as this point in their young lives, we could see budding leaders and kids who have self confidence. We could see them move with initiative and be motivated.

Then, I decided it was time to apply for a grade school job. I looked at the Wanted Ads and applied. I was interviewed one week after my application. I became part of a 3 teacher team. One was black, the other one was Filipino, the only one in the whole school. And the new one was me. Again, being able to speak Spanish helped me. I learned a lot and saw our pupils pass their achievement tests. As early as the 2nd grade, kids are brought to the computer lab where they practice math, language and spelling. It was very important for teachers to be able to converse in Spanish especially because some or most parents of this kids did not speak English at all. I was so proud to see my kids all dressed up during school presentations. I told them that with their good looks they could be movie stars in the Philippines.

I relished being with kids and loved the smell of the classroom. I enrolled at California State University, a full load, while I was teaching full time. Still out at 9 p.m. on the bus stop during a winter quarter, I felt the chill to my bones that would change my life’s directions. Although I did well in class, getting an A in school, I knew my body wanted to quit. I had to come home for health reasons. Looking back, I realized that I made friendships that withstood the distance and the years. It has been many years but I’ll always remember my Los Angeles experience, one that is enough to last me a lifetime.