Oath of Allegiance
I
Kasalukuyang salin mula sa Filipino
I love the Philippines, the land of my birth,
The home of my people, it protects me and
helps me
Become strong, hardworking and honorable.
Because I love the Philippines,
I will heed the counsel of my parents,
I will obey the rules of my school,
I will perform the duties of a patriotic citizen,
Serving, studying, and praying faithfully.
I offer my life, dreams, successes
To the Philippine nation.
My name is Abdul Haissani, 27 years old, and
my pupils call me Teacher Bok
So, I was born 1,724 kilometers away at Basilan
Island. For now, I am a public-school teacher.
Teaching at commonwealth elementary school
Before I went to manila, I was a registered
nurse and then afterwards I became a licensed
public school teacher
I have been teaching for two years now and this
is my final year in the fellowship code for Teach
of the Philippines
I believe that I was born to teach. Even during
my high school years, I was young but I already
wanted to be a teacher
Its more than just a passion. Its something
where you clamor for change and I saw it in
teaching
It might sound overwhelming, but I believe its
my moral obligation to give Filipino children
quality and relevant education
my classes are all successes and failures.
wont sugarcoat it anymore.
But teaching entails tasks beyond the average
(capability)
As a teacher, you have to go the extra mile
In my classroom, we have at least 50 Filipino
children
50 Filipino children you have to cramp inside
the classrooms
But, of course, you cant just sacrifice the
quality of their education just because of that
challenge
So, if you think about it, I am responsible for 50
Filipino children. I am responsible for motivating
them
When I think about it, its hard being a student.
Poverty has its own way of challenging your
dreams.
So, as a teacher, its my job to encourage them
to pursue their dreams
On the macro perspective, the government has
done a good job with improving the current
educational system
The K-12 has improved the teacher to student
ratio
Aside from that, classrooms were added. Even
books have increased
Despite all of this, the educational system in the
Philippines still has a long way to go
I believe that education is the best tool for
positive change in this country. It creates a ripple
effect. It starts with the self, continues towards
others, and eventually becomes part of the
community
Educations empower individuals so I believe
that education should be the top priority
Here in Commonwealth elementary school, I
teach values, math and English.
Despite the challenges that I mentioned, my
pupils still go to school for one major reason,
they want to learn
This reminds me of one of my students, who I
have to regularly bring to the clinic.
I thought that it was probably just a normal
stomachache but these next few words struck
me
Sir Bob, it hurts because I havent eaten
breakfast
It was a realization for me. Theyre the ones
suffering, more so that I shouldnt give up on
them
You know, I had to do something for them. Its
because I believe that poverty is one of the
biggest challenges in learning
In the past, Ive done several mindfulness
activities in the class. I just want a period where
my students can freely express themselves
I did this to so my students would know me
more.
During my values education class, our topic
was freedom and human rights
I thought about making my students write a
reflection paper. The theme of the paper was I
wish Teacher Bob knew that
It was on an open-ended question. I have told
them to tell me anything even their secrets with
me. If not with a letter, if not by allowing them to
use writing as a tool to express themselves
I think Ill know them in a deeper sense
After reading all their letters, I felt pain
Its true that even children have their own
personal struggles, their own battles to conquer
I was wondering, if I never made my students
write those letters, would I ever know their
struggles?
Would they ever even open up to me?
I decided to share their letters in a facebook
post
To be honest, I didnt expect it to reach so many
likes, comments and shares.
Most of those, coming from teachers of the
same profession
I believe that as educators, we should get to
know our students more.
Im glad because it used to be just my way of
knowing my students. But now, I am able to
share the stories of my students through social
media
Through sharing, I hope that people can
empathize with the struggles of the children.
Its important. Its the other side of education. To
get to know the pupils
There are many times that I ponder, is my
chosen path the right one?
It pains me to see the state of the Filipino
people. My stories also reflect the Philippines,
something that my students try to mask with
their smiles
It is enough for me that people are sharing and
are making it an advocacy to educate for the
country

Others say that teaching wont make you rich

The students need teachers who, more than
but I saw the importance of true happiness in
just helping them dream, will also believe in their
teaching inside the classroom
students capabilities.

There are no bosses in the classroom, but you

We are lucky that we never experienced the
have kids to take care off
stories behind the letters.

Students, who suffer every day, yet will find a

We should ask ourselves this, what have I done
way to accompany you in your class
for my country?

I guess material things wont bring real

happiness. For me, I found my happiness when I
see my students learning