Students as teachers
Senior high school student Mary Manglona was leading the vocabulary drill of the fifth grade class at Garapan School.
With real teacher, Mr. Schuler around, while teacher-mentor Joan Kani was taking pictures to document her stint, standing in front of over 20 students can be scary.
When she gave the clue “common sense” to match the word sensible, people at the back hardly heard her.
Manglona is one of 21 graduating students of the Marianas High School who dreams of becoming a teacher.
Kani said she is heading to Eastern Oregon University where she will get her degree in Education. Hopefully, she will learn to put more volume and impress command in her next vocabulary drill as the teacher in charge.
Her classmates, Kimberly Sablan and Raena Celis are both assigned in the first grade level.
For three weeks now, Sablan has been reporting to Garapan school for two hours and goes back to MHS to attend to her classes. She has been working with small groups and help members catch up with their reading.
Most students find the difficulty of correctly pronouncing the words, she said.
“I experienced working with third grade and it’s kind of hard. But I found that first grader is much harder,” she said.
Except for three students, the rest attended kindergarten in her class.
“They are catching up with a lot of help. But I think it’s better for students to attend kindergarten because it’s easier for them to make the transition,” she added.
Celis is also working with first grade students and she is scheduled to attend the Chico State University in California.
“I see myself teaching in the primary level. This is where children start, where they are learning the basics,” she said.
Since she started her practice teaching, she found out that each student has her or his own ability regardless of cultural background.
According to Kani, all the 21 students were sent to Garapan school because its a big school and can accommodate the group. Their practice teaching is part of their graduation requirement.
