In the school where I work in, teachers who handle a class are not called advisers. They’re given a special designation – TIC, which is an acronym for Teacher-In-Charge.

For the past 4 years, not including last year, I’ve been one – a TIC. And in my four years of being a TIC (which is actually short compared to most of my co-teachers’ stint which on the average is around 8-11 years), I’ve come to realize a few things about the banes of being one. (The perks I’ll probably be writing about some other day.) Here are three of them.

1. Being a TIC doesn’t just require the teacher to be more responsible. It also entails you to become more creative. This is because you’re not just in charge of your students. You’re also in charge of the classroom. It falls on the TIC’s shoulder to come up with cardboard displays, letter cutouts, quotations, and all other necessary materials to make the classroom adequately more conducive than just a regular room.
2. A TIC, at least in my opinion, needs to have a high EQ. Dealing with students on a personal level requires more effort than teaching. It requires a great deal more of patience, understanding and the ability to balance reason and sentiments. Being too objective may mean becoming too distant. Being too attached, may lead to over familiarization.  It’s a tricky balance that varies in effectiveness from one class to another and from one student to the next.
3. Meticulous. The best description that comes to mind is responsibility on steroids. Since the job entails regular checking of attendance, making monthly reports, appointments, and loads and loads of extra paper work, a TIC should (or perhaps MUST is a better term) be meticulous.

Do I have any of these three? I don’t know. All I know is I’m working on it. Hopefully, if not this year, I’ll be able to acquire these traits in a few more years. That is if I’m still a TIC by then. Hehehe!

It has begun. Classes have officially started and I’ve just finished my first day of school.

Just as expected, my body is finding it difficult to handle the pace again. In fact, earlier this day, I was more than ready to go to sleep before we even reached the 10 am recess. When I got home, I felt like I was 20 pounds lighter. Being a TIC again, after a year of not being one, is totally exhausting. Heck, it’s like being on a perpetual diet pill. Hehe!

But I know this shall pass. I’m optimistic about regaining my pace after a few more days. I just hope I last that  long.

Crunch time. We’re down to the last few days before the start of classes and everyone is on the edge finishing paperwork and classroom decorations. The printers are jamming and running out of ink because of too many printing loads. Lots of perennial plants, orchids, plant cutouts, and all manner of plant and plant-like ornaments are being relocated from the gardens to the classrooms in order to add life and color to the barren walls and ceilings. Busy busy busy! Everyone is just so busy!

Unfortunately, being the coordinator, a subject teacher, and an adviser myself, I have an extra load of checking all the science teachers’ paperwork on top of decorations and preparations of my own lessons. It’s one of those times when you wish that i too can multiply myself like Micahel Keaton in that famous movie.

While all the students are still partying their hearts out this summer vacation, we teachers have already started the school year’s work. Ever since May started, everyone in school has been on full speed and everyone has gotten their game faces on. We’ve already been given deadlines after deadlines after deadlines. As a matter of fact, I’m already getting more and more pimples for working late every night for the past 2 weeks. I’m afraid that if this continues, I’ll be requiring professional acne skin treatment even before school starts for the students.

As it is, we’ve only got a whole week left to finish all preparations – paperwork, classroom, lecture materials and all other teaching stuff. I only wish I could get all these things done before I only have pimples for a face.

People deal with stress in different ways – more specifically with the kind that is brought about by work. Some trudge forward bulldozing their way through all obstacles regardless of how big the sacrifices they have to make in order to survive. Some simply fold and head the other way with tails between their legs. Some just simply lose appetite and grow thin altogether.

Unfortunately for me, I’m the type that gets hyperacidity when stress levels rise. This often results in stomach aches and esophageal reflux – telltale signs of which include bubbling in the stomach, vomiting sensation, and a disgusting acidic taste in the mouth.  But since stress is something I find difficult to remove from my line of work, I just try to treat the symptoms instead.

This means consciously staying away from acidic drinks as much as possible such as soft drinks, juices, and even coffee. This also implies more frequent consumption of snacks to make sure that the stomach has staple food material to digest – a solution that in itself also causes another problem more commonly known as weight gain. I’ve even resulted to playing football again just to take my mind away from the stressful things about work.

However, after all these, I’ve come to realize a few points about the whole thing: First, no matter what line of work I get into, stress in something I will always encounter. Second, although playing football or basketball may be the most effective way to give myself an effective but momentary reprieve, it is not always possible. Third, the next best solution to stress, at least for me, is eating but I may have to keep an appetite suppressant in the medicine cabinet just in case this solution becomes out of hand. Last, stress is a natural part of life. As long as one is alive and conscious, one will always find a cause to be stressed about.

After 3 weeks of trying the preschool summer program Giant Steps, Mateo is now, at least according to andrea and me, ready to get into school. This 3rd week of June, he would be attending the youngest preschool class in the school where andrea and I are working.

This presents both an advantage and a disadvantage for andrea. Since mateo would be preoccupied with school for at least 2 hours a day, she would have at least 2 uninterrupted hours of reprieve from our little babsy. However, because she’s doing part time work for the school and someone else, she needs to bring her laptop with her most of the time to do some online writing. Unfortunately, with her recent laptop being 14″ big and roughly more than 2 kilograms, this becomes a considerable feat of strength – lugging around mateo’s stuff plus an almost 3-kg notebook.

So after much debate, we finally decided to downgrade (or upgrade depending on how you look at it) her laptop into a netbook. She sold her laptop to a co-teacher and bought a pink MSI Wind with the proceeds. Now she carries with her a 10″, atom-run laptop with a storage capacity of 250 Gb and a 2 Gb system memory (plua a little smile to go with her new toy).

She might be ranting about the work load and other stuff but she can’t help but give a sheepish grin whenever I mention her new wind.