January 19, 1972, 8:30-9:10 A.M.
As I first stepped into a classroom of all feminine looks, the dream that I envisioned years before college is now turning into a reality. It is going to be unveiled now as I find myself in the classroom setting. My anxiety towards the world of mentors is now going to the runway. I want to become a teacher, was the outcry I swore to myself years before and that voice is still echoing within me.
Observation and Participation leads me to a closer look at the life of a teacher and at the classroom setting. Who is an observer and what does he do?
Being an observer is a new realization for me and so this is an occasion to have a closer eyeview of the projected dream that I envisioned before.
Few male students find their way to the teaching profession. Among the few I am one of them who try to find my way into this profession. It is then somewhat unusual to find myself among many female observers. But I believe that the teaching profession is not made for girls only. Why not take the challenge?
Here I find myself in a classroom with eyes and mind wide open to accommodate all the observations I make about the classroom, the students and as well as the student teacher. I know that the teacher is aware of my presence and the students aware of the presence of a gentleman inside their classroom. It is quite a blushing and an embarrassing moment when these high school girls stealthily look at me with a question in their minds: "Why is this young fellow watching over us?" They neverhave seen a guy intruding in their class before. And the teacher is aware of my presence that sometimes she loses half of her concentration and she even could not find the right words to say and so commits some grammatical errors.