imeres

everyday is a bless

[dchrismanna]

It's not that I am heartless, I am just not running around wearing my heart on my sleeves

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 15: Final Reflection

The last week, the last performance, the last meeting and the last reflection.

  I do not know whether I should be happy or not. Well, probably I should be happy because the course is finally over so I can move on the bigger step, which is teaching in the real school. However, I am very sad to know that I cannot join this wonderful class anymore. I cannot share the same lame jokes anymore, the yells of that “good job”, and cannot be in that such nice class anymore. Even though I felt dreadful first before joining this course, now I think I will miss this wonderful people in this class.

I saw a lot of things here and hopefully I learned a lot. I learned how important the preparation before teaching is very important. The material, the set induction, the set closure, and lesson plan are very important in teaching. It gives us guidance in what we will teach. I also learn how appearance can support our teaching. Well, if we dress nicely, neat and tidy, the students will look at us as a teacher and gives us some respect. Reinforcement and questioning & stimulus skills are very important too. I cannot imagine how “dead” the class will if the teachers do not has those skills. Questioning and stimulus skills can help the teachers to live up the classroom and make the students be active in the classroom.

I also learned that classroom management is very important. It is like the basic skill that teacher should have. No matter how smart the teacher is, if he or she cannot manage the classroom well, that it just a waste. When we can manage the class well, the material will be delivered well to. I also learn that the theories are not as sweet as the facts when we are teaching. Everything can goes into different ways compared to the theories. As the teachers, we should be able to overcome the problems when we are teaching. So, teachers should have back up plan in teaching the material.

I hope that I can apply all the things that I learned in micro teaching well when I teach in school. Honestly, I do not feel that I am ready enough to teach in real school, but I must do it, right? So, with the remaining time (before teaching in school), I hope that I can improve myself more so I will not embarrass anyone J

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 14

So, I realize that I missed a reflection of my micro teaching class.. So sorry... I didn't mean to forget, but I'm just human who can make mistake (okay, I am making excuses) Since I cannot remember what I learned at that forgotten week, I will talk about the things that I learn in micro teaching besides of teaching skills or such...

I learn about togetherness and being supportive. I do learn a lot. My friends in micro teaching help each other in many ways; in pretending as students who still in a verryy beginner levels, throwing jokes when we are teaching, giving yells every time we finish teaching, giving good feedback, and the list go on an on... I am really thankful and grateful for them. I know that they do so (especially in the pretending-as-a-students part) to help me improving my teaching skills and I learn a lot from them :)

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 13

Finally I did my final test.. kekekeke... So happy :) Who was my final test going on? Not really good honestly. I did not prepare it very well and there was a couple of things disturbed my mind. However, what I learn from this final test is that, as a teacher, we should be able masking our problem in front of our students and pretend everything is fine (well, thanks God I got play performance class). I think it would be professional if we show up our problem in front of the students. We should be able to teach them well no matter what our problem is in the class. Teacher is an artist, the stage is the classroom and the audience is the student. Teacher should be able to perform well in the stage for the students no matter what happen :) 

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 12

A couple of weeks ago (since I always delay making this reflection), I finally taught at Elementary School Teacher Study Program. Glad it was over but I feel not satisfied enough with what I’ve done. Truth to be told, I was blank and confused when I taught the junior. Even after I finished teaching, I did not know what I’ve said or done.

I still cannot manage the classroom well, some of the junior still busy with themselves and did not interested in joining the class. I still need to learn more about how to manage the classroom well and do not only stay at one place. It is because I tend to stay on place when teaching and barely move around since, I think, I more comfortable when staying at on place while explaining the material. I do really need to learn more about classroom language, since I think the junior do not know what I was saying about. Maybe because I speak too fast or the sentence is too long (only God who know)

However, I must say that I’m glad I can manage the time well compared to my first midterm test. I think I finished it more or less the same as what I’ve plan before.

[dchrismanna]

reflection 11

This week, I accompanied my friend to do her midterm test practice in Elementary School Teacher Study Program. So, I will write about those things in this reflection.

Seeing my friend taught the junior made me realize that teaching is very tiring. Some people think that being a teacher is an easy and joyful job compared to other jobs. All we have to do is teaching, speaking in front of the class, giving assignment and going home earlier. Well, let me tell you, being a teacher is as tiring as other job. Being a teacher means you have to be ready to stand for a long time (plus wearing high heels), check the students’ work one by one, talk all day long and stay up late to finish the lesson for the next day. I never understand how people think their job is better than others and the most important jobs that ever exist. Every job need other jobs to make their job complete. Every job is important, none of them are less important.

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 10

So this week reflection will talk about what I get from observation that I’ve done in Elementary School Teacher Study Program (is this right? I don’t know what Pendidikan Guru Sekolah Dasar is called, sorryL) and some from my friends who taught at the classroom J

So, the first thing that I notice is that when the lesson take time brings an important effect too. If the class is at noon or late noon, the students will have less concentration and will to join the class, especially if they are hungry. So, it is the teacher’s duty to boost up their will so they can join the classroom activity well. Another thing is using 100% English in the classroom won’t be effective if English is not their major or the student’s first language. Teaching in bilingual is one of the ways to teach English so the material will be delivered well. Replaying the important words and translate it into the first language will be helpful for the students to understand the material J

Eye contact is also important. From what I see is when the teacher has less eye contact with the students, the students won’t listen to the material and busy with themselves. I think one function of eye contact is to let the students know that the teacher is giving them attention. Next is about the students who read the text in soft voice. I think the teacher should encourage the students to read louder so other students will listen to them and the teacher can correct the mispronunciation J

Move on to what I get from my friends who do teaching at the last batch. I think they did a good job in closing the last round of this midterm J Since they are the last presenters, they already got many example from previous presenters. They do not really into the jokes that the students “throw” at them so they still can manage the time well and they have really good questioning skill that help the students to be active in the learning. I really like their aura on how they can make us, as students, to be quite when they give us silent treatment. I really want that ability for sure!

Overall, that’s what I get this week. Going to do the classroom teaching soon, so hopefully I can do it in fun J J J

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 9

The reason why I delayed writing it for about 2 weeks is because I don’t have any idea to write this week reflection. What I saw and got from this week didn’t have differences from the previous weeks. I think that I should write what I got in this week differently, right? So, for this week I will share about what I think on teaching and being a teacher based on this week and the weeks before J

I think teaching is challenging, no doubt to it. Even though from the outside it looks simple, but actually it is not. The teacher should prepare many things so the material can be delivered well and the classroom situation is enjoyable. Teacher should also consider what if something wrong happen during the teaching process and he or she should think quickly to handle it. Well, I think that teaching is an art, teacher should be creative to make the “art” can be enjoyable for all of people. Challenging, right? Since many people have their own “taste” and “style” in learning.

Well, now move to teaching profession a.k.a teacher. Well, honestly I think that being a teacher is a really fun job if it is your call or you really want to be a teacher. Both of my parents are teachers, so I know the joy and the sorrow being a teacher from my parents. The example for fun part is you can interact with a lot of different students and it can bring laughter to you because of what they do. Seriously, when my mom told me about her students, I can’t help but laugh at it too. They are so adorably silly. The sorrow part is, maybe, when you should stay all night to make the test or material, when the material is not delivered well but you don’t know what to do or when you ran out of idea to teach.

However, the more I studying about being a teacher, seeing my friends teaching and teaching for a couple of time, the call to be a teacher disappeared. Well, not totally disappear, but I don’t think I am not that interested to be a teacher anymore. I cannot put a finger on the reason why I do not want to be a teacher.

In short, teaching is challenging and being a teacher is a fun thing. But, I don’t think that I get that call (yet). So, who know if I will be a teacher later on? J

[dchrismanna]

Relflection 8

In my opinion, what I learned this week is mostly similar to the other previous weeks. Mostly, it deals with how to manage the classroom, the time management and the material which is given to the students. However, I learned that the success of teaching-learning activity is not only about how good teacher applies the theory of teaching or how good the teacher can master the material, but also about the teacher’s personality. Based from the teaching demo in class, I think that my friend who has a warm personality tends to make the class more lively and the can deliver the material smoothly and well. Moreover, the ability to crack a joke is also important because it will make the students feel more relax and enjoy the material. Based on my experience in Junior High School, if the teacher is too strict and cannot make a joke, the students will feel burden and too tense when joining the class.

Another thing that I learned this week is not force the teacher-charisma aura out from us. Somehow, I think that if we force ourselves to have this thing, the outcome will not look good. Let’s say, it will look awkward. I don’t know why, but it feels that we tried to look powerful in front of our students, but in the students’ eyes the teacher seems to try to scared them but it fails. It turns out that the teacher is a little bit awkward.

So, that’s all J

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 7

This week, I got my turn to teach in front of the class. It was very… interesting if I must put it in a word. I learned many things. I was very nervous but my friends helped me to overcome it and made the situation more alive (I am very thankful for themJ).

 In my opinion, the classroom activity went mostly as I planned in the lesson plan, except the set closure that I could not do because of the bad time management. After I did the teaching, I got the exact picture how lesson plan would help me in delivering the material. By planning the lesson ahead, I can have a picture how I will deliver the material and what material will be given. I also can manage the time better since I already know how I will deliver the material. However, managing time is a difficult thing to do since sometimes unplanned things happen so it will take time. I still need to learn how to manage the time better so there will be no wasted time.

I also realized that play performance class is very helpful. As I’ve said before in my other reflection, I am very nervous every time I must teach because I am not a people-person type. I always feel nervous if I have to speak in front of people and want to finish it quickly so my speech speed is very fast. However, because of play performance class, I can slow down my speech speed and also put on a confident face in front of my students. In my opinion, a teacher should put on a confident face so the students will know that he or she masters the material and it will give out the “teacher aura”.

From the feedback, I still need to practice my pronunciation because I mispronounced some words. I do agree with it because I know that I’m lack in pronunciation and my Javanese accent is very thick when I speak English. I also need to improve my knowledge so I will not give any “ajaran sesat” to my students because I was wrong interpreting “England” and “Britain” as a same thing. I really need to extend my knowledge and do double-check toward the material that will be given to the students.

Another thing that I should improve is that I need to move around more because, as my friends said, I tend to stick in one place and look at my right side.

Overall, I am glad that I’ve done the class teaching J

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 6

This week, I was struggling in making lesson plan. Even though I have LPD (Lesson Plan Design) class last semester, I do not have good basic in making the lesson plan. I found difficulties in making the target of the lesson, the indicators and the time allocation. In my opinion, target and indicators of the lesson can be ambiguous from one skill to another; especially the indicators are divided into four different categories. Making the correct material for each skill is difficult too. In my opinion, making the material to teach one skill is difficult since every skill is related from one to another. Deciding the time allocation is another challenge. It is because the teacher should consider how long the explanation, the exercising and other activities will take time. The teacher should consider it really well so there is no time to waste, especially if there is unpredictable situation or question that takes time.

Actually lesson plan is very helpful for teachers to give a guideline how to do in the classroom. However, lesson plan is a plan, so it may change when we apply it in the classroom. J

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 5

This week, what I learned the most is about classroom management. In my opinion, classroom management is not something that we can learn from the book. It is about applying the theory to the real situation to learn about managing the classroom. Through out experience, we can learn and know how to handle certain kind of situation in the classroom. Knowledge and creativity are needed to handle the class.

What I meant by knowledge here is not only about the lesson material but also about the cultural background, educational system and also the location where we teach. We should know how to handle the children based on where they grow up and how they grow up. We cannot apply same techniques everywhere we teach because they have different characteristics. The teachers should know the cultural background and other things so the teachers can give the best approach to teach them.

Creativity is needed because the teachers may face many constraints related to the teaching media. The teachers should be creative to overcome the media constraints. They should be creative in exploring the resources around them so they can still teach using those resources. I really adore the teachers who can use both traditional and modern media well. They do not rely on one type of media and can combine it.

[dchrismanna]

There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion

Edgar Allan Poe

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 4

This week, I got my turn to do the teaching simulation to my friends. I was so nervous to teach them since I still thought that they are my friends with the same level of knowledge with me. That’s why I use English fully in teaching them the material. From the feedback, I know that using English all the time is not always good since not every student has the same level in English. I realize that partly using Indonesian in teaching would be helpful for the students to understand the material. Moreover, I also got feedback about my nervousness in teaching from my friends. Even though I do not have the nervous-smile anymore, but I still sweat a lot and it was noticeable to them. They suggested me to be more relaxed and enjoy the teaching-learning process. I was also reminded that I should give the students opportunity to be active in the learning process. I tend to explain the material to the students so the students have less opportunity to be active in the learning process.

Reinforcement takes an important part in learning process. However, I still feel awkward in giving the reinforcement so I sounded that I was not sincere in giving the reinforcement. I am very thankful to have my group because they are good in giving reinforcement so I can learn from them. Another thing that I learn from the teaching simulation is examples are important. I forgot to give example to my students so they found difficulties in writing the text.

However, I felt satisfied with my teaching simulation since I got a lot of positive feedback and the simulation is more or less similar to what I’ve plan (except for the forgetting the example). I learned that planning the teaching first is very useful so that I can know what to do in classroom, manage the time well and overcome the trouble that may happen J

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 3

This week meeting is about using the whole teaching skills in the classroom. On the previous meetings, the practice is more focusing on opening and set closure but this week we have to apply all skills’ theories that have been learned. Honesty, it was a little bit scary for me since I’m not really sure how to manage the practice. Even though I only need to teach my three other friends, it makes me very nervous. The questions of what if I cannot teach well or what if the learning process becomes boring keep playing on my mind. Sadly, this week I did not get my turn yet so I get a longer time to prepare it. I hope that I will do it well.

However, I learned a few things from my friends who got their turn already about managing the classroom. I learned that giving out positive aura can encourage the students to learn more and the teacher needs to give a friendly approach to the students so they will feel comfortable in learning. I also learn that the teacher should give more attention to the students who have no interest to the material. This is because if the teacher ignores them or their bad behavior in the classroom, the students will think that the bad behavior is acceptable and it is okay to ignore the material. Moreover, the key of managing the classroom is also about using the suitable approach based on the grade of the students. If we use the method about handling tenth graders toward 8 graders, the method will not be suitable and useful since there is a gap of knowledge and behavior. 

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 2

Continuing from the previous material, another skill that must be owned by the teacher is stimulus variation skill. Stimulus variation has purpose to stimulate the students, increase their active participation, enthusiasm and spirit of study and also to avoid boredom in studying. This skill is very important since if a teacher does not have this skill, there is a big chance that the students will lost their interest in learning and make them cannot master the material well. Moreover, in stimulus variation skills there are teacher movement, teacher gesture, teacher voice, teacher silence, interaction style, eye contact and movement and also focusing that becoming the main core of stimulus variation skills. Those skills are important to give variation in giving stimulus variation skills.

Reinforcement and questioning skills are also important in teaching. Reinforcement is given to the students to boost their confident and help the teacher to show a positive feedback to the students. Even though it looks a simple and small thing, it gives big impact to the students’ learning. It will motivate the students to be better since the teacher show a positive feedback in the teaching-learning process. While reinforcement is given to boost the students’ confident in learning, questioning skills is needed to increase the students’ interest and participation in class. When the teacher gives question to the students and the students can answer it, the teacher should gives reinforcement. It is done to make the students more motivated in learning.

Based on my experience as a student when the teacher gave compliment to me, I felt very happy and became interested in learning the material given even though I dislike it. However, the teacher should give the compliment or reinforcement sincerely because if he or she does not give it sincerely, it will make the students having a bad feeling and start to ignoring the lesson since they think that the teacher does not meant what he or she said.

Truthfully, the idea of me teaching the whole class is nerve-wrecking. Beside of not having any experience in teaching a class yet, I am afraid that I cannot be a good teacher and deliver the material well. I am afraid because it is related to others’ future, what if I give them incorrect information? However, the idea of teaching also makes me curious and excited because I want to know how it feels to teach in front of a lot of people. I really want to be teacher like my English teacher in junior high school. Not only she masters the material well, but she also has the skills that I’ve mentioned before.

[dchrismanna]

Reflection 1 :)

  A teacher should have a lot of qualifications to be called as a good teacher. Above mastering the subject well, the teacher should have professional attitude, self-confident, friendly attitude and many more. In short, a good teacher should have a lot of positive traits so that the students can accept the knowledge and information well. Moreover, the teacher should have many skills in teaching so he or she can deliver the material well without misconception. Set induction and set closure skills is important since set induction skills make the teacher can create an atmosphere that can set the students’ interest upon the material and make the students interested to the material. Set closure is as important as set induction skills since it can help the student to prepare the students for a new subject, give conclusion and many more.

In my case, I haven’t had any experience in teaching so I cannot say anything about set induction skills or set closure. However, I totally agree that both skills are important for teaching from my experience as a student. When the teacher give a proper opening or set induction, I wouldn’t be “shock” to receive the material because the teacher has already given an introduction about the material. It goes to set closure also since the teacher gives conclusion so there will be no misconception

I would like to learn more methods to do set induction because set induction is very important in teaching. It will determine the students’ interest toward the material. I would like to explore more about games or other methods to do the set induction. Moreover, I wish to be a teacher who can teach and motivate my future students to learn English. In my opinion, a teacher who can deliver the material to the students well, make the students understand the materials and motivate the students to explore their talent more is a successful teacher J