6th ainet international conference
Creative Submissions
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5
PAGES AND PAJAMAS
Survey says that by now, two years into the pandemic, wearing pajamas will lead one navigate the new normal.
Who would have thought? She scoffed. This is Harvard Business, you know, citing that lockdowns spur pajama demand. Now that we’ve entered the second year of Squid Gamesque arena of survival from boredoom, you may think thriving in this pandemic is still a tug-of-war, or should one says, a life of face masks, face shields, social distancing, and distance learning. Yes, a life amidst a global health crisis where people should stay home, in their own virtual bubble. Wearing pajamas, right folks? Pajamas. To survive. Perhaps.
“Mama, is our internet connection so reliable as Harvard Business today?”, Kate smirked softly, getting out from her seat in the makeshift classroom that was the kitchen that she has been working since lockdown started. Kate on the other hand, uses their small living room for her online classes and every day’s always a struggle between her teenage daughter and their unstable internet connection.
“Aren’t you going to wear your uniform, today?” She did not respond to her daughter’s taunts and took her teacher stance, instead. “Oh, Mama! Of course, I will!,’’ said Kate, laughing as she runs to her room she shares with her younger, still sleeping sister.
“Go and wake up Leila. She’ll be late on her class, “she bounced back. Despite the stressful hours that lie ahead, she smiled. She breathed a sigh of relief when their wifi modem blinks a life of its own---giving a slice of hope that this day will still be fine. She neatly tucked a slew of unpaid bills and a piece of note with TUESDAY, 10-11 am, Secure Quarantine pass written on it before settling down on her makeshift classroom. Now that lockdowns are strictly implemented, buying their necessities requires a seal of approval from authorities.
Her online class does require a certain approval, too. A mandatory time-in and time-out to the online Google Form, with a list of accomplishments. Since this health crisis began in 2020, Covid-19 unintentionally awaken the demand to digitize the education. The pandemic helped speed the process, but it also highlighted the growing gap between the underprivileged minority of learners and majority of people who have accessed to all things remote with gadgets and internet connection at the tip of their fingers.
Before opening her second-hand laptop bought before Covid, she uttered a silent prayer hoping that God’s free communication channel will always be open-ready to hear and guide her zooming her way to google-meet her students.
“I hope I get to meet them all, today.” She waits for their faces popping on the screen. She listens for their good mornings. She smoothed her pajama and the collar of her Monday uniform. She glanced at the open page of Amitava Kumar's “A Time Outside This Time’’, lying face down on her dining table along with discarded, outdated classics she brought from her dead husband’s attic. There are so many real-life lockdown stories that her students experience, just waiting to be told while some teachers are still glued to teach life from textbook. That should change now…she sighs.
She sends a message on their group chat that her class may now join the virtual meeting, sips her forgotten cup of instant coffee, and waits. Patiently. She checks the presentation she prepares. Ready, set…A string of sound notifications popped from her phone followed by a train of heart emojis and painful private messages.
“Ma’am, I will not be able to attend our class, today! I need to help my mother.”
“Ma’am, my sister borrows my phone. ’’
“Ma’am, I have no extra credit to attend today’s class. Sorry.”
“Ma’am, my phone was broken. We do not have money to fix it.”
These messages from her students were not even freshly served menu. They’re part and parcel of having to work and study from home. Pages and pages of stories writing themselves with no censorship and credits. No proofreads and edits. Just pure, raw exasperation from having no power, stuck inside their homes, waiting for the link and the blink of their phones. These pages belong to students learning in a pace entirely their own.
She hears their muted voices and listens to the silent plea that the world may hopefully be pandemic-free, screaming defiantly from the blank, off-cam faces staring at her.
“Good morning, class. How are you all, today?” she smiles sincerely as she opens her camera, clicks the unmute icon and speaks. Brokenly. In a span of seconds.
You have an unstable internet connection.
“Mama…” Kate annoyingly groans nearby, clinging to her phone as if her future depends on it alone.
Ms. Cristina S. Munar is a high school teacher and a part-time college instructor in the Philippines. She is finishing her Master of Arts in Education-English Language Education at Bulacan State University, Malolos, Bulacan Campus. She loves reading books, writing stories, and performs poetry. Her research interests include English Language and Literature, Linguistics and Educational Technology.
She emerged as Champion (Essay Writing Category) in the First International Literary Competitions for English Language Teachers organized by International Language Teachers Association, November 2021.
CONTACT DETAILS:
WhatsApp: +639661478150
Email: cristina.munar@deped.gov.ph
CRISTINA S. MUNAR
Licensed Professional Teacher, Philippines