This reflective-narrative essay ponders and explains effective strategies employed by the author in his own second language classroom. He cultivated the skills, talents, and ideas of his own students by blending various strategies and methods that clearly define the standards and meet the demands of modern literature education. All situations and practices were taken from over a decade of experience as a language and literature teacher. Regarding the practices he mentions in his narration, most of them were carried out in the Philippine setting where language and literature teaching is very challenging due to factors faced by teachers, such as socio-economic status, the language used at home, and the learning climate. Most of the thoughts shared and explored by the teacher-writer were supported by his personal reflection and interpersonal interactions with others, be it in the classroom or in the community where he lives. He narrates his professional experiences in the teaching of literature and cites related literature to support his views. Readers of this article can learn helpful tips and strategies on how they can transform their classrooms into meaningful, innovative, and reflective environment that will benefit their learners. The main goal of this article-essay is to share and describe the most suitable and learner-centered practices in teaching literature in the second language classrooms in the Philippine educational setting.