As a teacher, it has been my burning desire to make a difference between me and my career… to make a difference for students enlightenment from their frustrations, roadblocks, great challenges, disappointments and other disturbances that could create pressure or worst could result to failure of learning.

It is undeniable that in our situation as Ivatans, it has been embedded in our culture to remain simple, steadfast and resourceful at all times. Though honestly speaking, resources were very scarce, where should I turn to? This probably had influenced my early days of teaching. I was the conventional teacher, shy, and introvert at that as an effect perhaps of my lack of exposure to trainings. I displayed simplicity in my teaching methods and strategies, vague as I would consider it for I present minimal resources available around me and feel patient wherever fate leads me… this zealous track of time treated me for sometime .

In fact, it is still stunning in my mind when I was asked to come out with a demonstration teaching. Of course, I was reluctant because first of all we were asked to introduce one strategy in teaching. What am I to show up anyway? My visual aids made out of old calendar pages? Well, nothing’s wrong! Though, confidence was totally out of the scene. The only thing clear to me that time was my textbook… very conventional, I thought. What else can I do to improve and satisfy both my superiors and my clients? Here, my burning passion to teach for quality education was revived. I tried to get out of my humble shell and started to crawl in search for self- improvement. I began enrolling in my masters’ degree. There I learned theories. Moreover, I learned on classroom management but strategies and other secret spices in achieving the holistic approaches to teaching were far from my expectations. Graduate studies as I realized was not enough. I needed to discover more of my skills.
I needed more exposure to the reality inside the classroom as I can’t deny the obstacles that go with it. Again, where will I start, I asked my self . . . until a year thereafter, I was chosen as one of the trainees for the Foundation For Upgrading The Standard of Education. . . popularly known as FUSE. This training sparked the hope in me . It lifted me to another dimension. It was like a beacon of hope from darkening skies so to speak because it paved the way towards the fulfillment of my aspirations.

Evidently, teaching for me turned from the conventional style to a higher level of strategies in learning presentations. It improved my teaching skills obviously. For this I began enjoying my teaching. I gained confidence, as a result of my exposure to technology introduced by the FUSE Team to the Ivatan teachers. Scarce resources turned out to be abundant and adequate. This said abundance was coupled with holistic approaches in teaching language which made it perfect for struggling teachers like me. It equipped me with enough knowledge in my subject matter particularly teaching English as a second language. This made the difference. I earned confidence as I learned more from these technologies offered to us by FUSE.

Founded by Dr. Lucio C. Tan on December 1, 1994, FUSE seeks to improve the skills in English, Science and Mathematics teachers. Its programs include regular teacher training workshops; a post-graduate scholarship program for Science and Engineering teachers; production and distribution of telecourses in English, Elementary Science, Chemistry, Physics and Math; and a host of other educational programs in partnership with government and private learning institutions.