Routine 3
You proceed with your afternoon classes. You have always wished that all your classes are set in the morning, but the midshift is the best you can get. Somehow, the heat can be unnerving, but you disregard the discomfort. Finally, your classes are done.
You wash your hands again; you have accumulated chalkdust all over. You remove the powder on your black pants, and your hair looks like it was attacked by the dandruff monster. You clean yourself up, and you work again.
Even if you can technically go home already, you stay, since MTP is scheduled after classes. So, while waiting for your trainees, you check more papers. You notice that you used to be very fast in checking, but now you’re just fast. Your speed in checking is degrading every schoolyear; apparently you find something else to do. Checking, or correcting, papers is very tedious; it’s a good thing you adjusted pretty fast to this craft. You record the scores by alternating a black pen (for passing marks) and a red pen (for failing marks). You would want that you never shift to your red pen, but unfortunately, you use it, sometimes almost as often as the black one.
If you get hungry, you go to the cafeteria, either alone or with the other Math teachers. You chat with present and former students along the way. You try your best not to eat your food immediately; you will get hungry again by the time you’re back at the Math Unit, so you save your food for later.
You shift to your more comfortable shoes. You prepare the training materials – illustration boards, erasers, chalk, scratch paper, and the contest questions. Between 4:10 and 4:20, you bring your stuff inside either the Geom or Algeb Room (whichever room the junior/senior trainees will spare). You wait for your trainees. They come by section, place their bags on their assigned seats, then leave again, usually for the caf. This process will continue around four times, and they will settle just before you realize that more than fifteen minutes flew by that fast.
You proceed with the training. You are constantly amazed as how your prized talents perform on extreme time pressure even if they are not always serious. You share a laugh or two, even assigning them nicknames they abhor. After the Math mini-showdown, you ask some of them to stay to help in tallying the scores and in bringing back the training materials back to the Math Faculty Center.
You were exposed to more chalk, so you wash up again. You decide which things to bring at home, and wait if students will come up to consult. You chat again with your colleagues who are still working. When everyone’s ready, you go down the stairs. At the front lobby, some students will greet you; you greet back. You swipe your ID, and decide if you will go home immediately or not. If you have other papers to check, you usually do not go home directly, for the bed is just too tempting. On lighter days, you walk towards Quezon Avenue and ride the first of two jeepneys that will bring you home.
You rest after arriving, then proceed to the washroom to freshen up. After wearing comfy clothes, you watch what’s left of the nightly news. You wait for your cousin for dinner; you make it a point to eat with her. You share stories at the dinner table, even the most trivial ones. After eating, you get your cellular phone to send text messages to friends and students. If there is a class activity, you compose a group message for your homeroom class. It’s a good thing you always subscribe to unlimited message services. You contact students you need – for homeroom, geom, math training, or other matters. You are glad when they reply as soon as possible.
At around 9 PM, you start working. You usually end before midnight, then you set your alarm for the next day. The bulk of your take home work is still checking papers. Sometimes, you make an outline for tomorrow’s lesson (but you have already done this during the weekend). You are in constant texting with people. On very rare times, you call your friends using your landline phone, or they call you. Many of your friends are still in their respective offices past dinner, so they cannot afford to be too loud in conversing, or their bosses will notice. Most of the time, you are by your lonesome, with pad papers at hand. If you are in the mood, you try to be distracted by local TV. Otherwise, you lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of whatever.
You brush your teeth and get ready for bed. You switch off the lights. On tiring days, you fall asleep in an instant. On most days however, while searching for your comfortable position, you think about the day’s events. Another day has concluded, and you psyche yourself for tomorrow’s routine.
You wash your hands again; you have accumulated chalkdust all over. You remove the powder on your black pants, and your hair looks like it was attacked by the dandruff monster. You clean yourself up, and you work again.
Even if you can technically go home already, you stay, since MTP is scheduled after classes. So, while waiting for your trainees, you check more papers. You notice that you used to be very fast in checking, but now you’re just fast. Your speed in checking is degrading every schoolyear; apparently you find something else to do. Checking, or correcting, papers is very tedious; it’s a good thing you adjusted pretty fast to this craft. You record the scores by alternating a black pen (for passing marks) and a red pen (for failing marks). You would want that you never shift to your red pen, but unfortunately, you use it, sometimes almost as often as the black one.
If you get hungry, you go to the cafeteria, either alone or with the other Math teachers. You chat with present and former students along the way. You try your best not to eat your food immediately; you will get hungry again by the time you’re back at the Math Unit, so you save your food for later.
You shift to your more comfortable shoes. You prepare the training materials – illustration boards, erasers, chalk, scratch paper, and the contest questions. Between 4:10 and 4:20, you bring your stuff inside either the Geom or Algeb Room (whichever room the junior/senior trainees will spare). You wait for your trainees. They come by section, place their bags on their assigned seats, then leave again, usually for the caf. This process will continue around four times, and they will settle just before you realize that more than fifteen minutes flew by that fast.
You proceed with the training. You are constantly amazed as how your prized talents perform on extreme time pressure even if they are not always serious. You share a laugh or two, even assigning them nicknames they abhor. After the Math mini-showdown, you ask some of them to stay to help in tallying the scores and in bringing back the training materials back to the Math Faculty Center.
You were exposed to more chalk, so you wash up again. You decide which things to bring at home, and wait if students will come up to consult. You chat again with your colleagues who are still working. When everyone’s ready, you go down the stairs. At the front lobby, some students will greet you; you greet back. You swipe your ID, and decide if you will go home immediately or not. If you have other papers to check, you usually do not go home directly, for the bed is just too tempting. On lighter days, you walk towards Quezon Avenue and ride the first of two jeepneys that will bring you home.
You rest after arriving, then proceed to the washroom to freshen up. After wearing comfy clothes, you watch what’s left of the nightly news. You wait for your cousin for dinner; you make it a point to eat with her. You share stories at the dinner table, even the most trivial ones. After eating, you get your cellular phone to send text messages to friends and students. If there is a class activity, you compose a group message for your homeroom class. It’s a good thing you always subscribe to unlimited message services. You contact students you need – for homeroom, geom, math training, or other matters. You are glad when they reply as soon as possible.
At around 9 PM, you start working. You usually end before midnight, then you set your alarm for the next day. The bulk of your take home work is still checking papers. Sometimes, you make an outline for tomorrow’s lesson (but you have already done this during the weekend). You are in constant texting with people. On very rare times, you call your friends using your landline phone, or they call you. Many of your friends are still in their respective offices past dinner, so they cannot afford to be too loud in conversing, or their bosses will notice. Most of the time, you are by your lonesome, with pad papers at hand. If you are in the mood, you try to be distracted by local TV. Otherwise, you lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of whatever.
You brush your teeth and get ready for bed. You switch off the lights. On tiring days, you fall asleep in an instant. On most days however, while searching for your comfortable position, you think about the day’s events. Another day has concluded, and you psyche yourself for tomorrow’s routine.
posted by mardan at 9:42 PM
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