Memory Full

Post date: Mar 29, 2017 9:06:42 AM

By: Joelie Paguio Cruz, BNHS T-III

Remember. Keep these in mind. Etch these to memory. Recall. Take note of these. Do not forget these.

What are those statements? Those are the usual lines of teachers every time we discuss. We say those to make them realize that what we are saying or discussing are important. We want to give emphasis that that portion of the lesson is indeed relevant and significant. However, nowadays, it is very evident that students not only lack the capability to remember things. They also lack the drive to exert effort to remember things.

In my personal observation, students are having a hard time to recall things simply because of the fact that they are like flash drives. Their memory is already filled with numerous ideas and information coming from the social media. Also, they do not like to write. Writing is known to be a good strategy to remember things. If one only has a short term memory, he may prepare a list of the things to do to serve as a reminder. Unfortunately, students do not know also what to prioritize. Hence, they do not know how to rank those priorities according to importance.

In cognizance to these, I cannot help but be alarmed. I am teaching Araling Panlipunan. Expectedly, there are many things to be memorized from names, places, event, dates, and the likes. Consequently, I always prepare handouts and charts for my students so that they could have something to use as references or reviewers. But what is the use of those materials if they are not intrinsically motivated? Sometimes, they do not even read those. Thus, I realized that in teaching, we should not only focus on how those lessons COULD be taught. It is more of thinking how those lessons SHOULD be discussed in class. We have to make connections of what is really happening in order for them to relate. Oftentimes, they do not pay attention to the topic because they cannot see the relationship, essence, relevance, or significance of those to their lives.

Therefore, a teacher must not only remember what to discuss but also to remember who his students are. Education exists because of them. Henceforth, they should top the rank of our priorities. Knowing them is also knowing what to teach.

Nonetheless, they may not be able to remember all the things we have taught them. Yet, if we would wield effort to make them learn something, one thing is certain. We would not hear them say that their memory banks are already full to remember us, rather, it would be full of our memories.