TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE NEW NORMAL

CECILLE C. MANANSALA
SST-III
FRANCISCO G. NEPOMUCENO MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL

Teaching in the new normal in general has never been easy for teachers. Whether it is
online, modularized, radio-based, television-based, or blended, each has its own advantages and
disadvantages. Thus, teachers need to be resourceful in finding ways to meet the diverse needs of
students. As an English teacher, it is indeed very challenging to teach this subject in this new set-
up. Only few students attend online session. Their reason is that they do not have internet
connection at home. However, you can see frequently see them active online users any time of
the day. Yet, they reason out that they do not have internet connection. This is indeed very
challenging for teachers like me.
For modular instruction, students receive their modules and are instructed to answer the
directions indicated in the modules. Then on the retrieval day, they will pass their activity sheets.
The danger of this is that, we don’t know if they are the ones who accomplished their activity
sheets or performance tasks. The credibility of their answers is questionable indeed. However,
we still need to record what the literal scores are whether they are the students’ original answers
or from their relatives’ answers. The test of speaking skills is very difficult to determine since we
do not meet our students face to face. Their speaking skills are definitely be affected for this
reason. Those students who attend online classes are usually the ones whose speaking skills are
honed through recitation or reporting.
Writing is best tested since they pass their answer sheets or performance task once a
week. However, credibility issue surfaces since we do not know if the students themselves create
the writing activities. The same scenario comes for reading comprehension. I think it is the
younger ones who have been affected much when it comes to reading comprehension. During
face to face, teachers have the time to assist learners who have difficulty in reading. However, in
this new scenario, teachers cannot assist anymore since children are not allowed to go out.
With every that has been mentioned above, it is undeniable that teaching in the new
normal not just English has affected the teaching strategies or learning outcomes among learners.
That is why, since we cannot control what is happening, the best thing that we can do is to work
hand in hand towards the attainment of our profession’s vision and mission.