SEA TEACHER'S EXPERIENCE
Altering learning, Cultivating potentials, Bringing excellence
There are alot of things that a teacher should prepare in order to attain the aims of the teaching and learning process such as the lesson plan, teaching materials, activities, form of assessment and of course the teaching style and strategies that will cater the needs of the diverse learners.
Week before my teaching practice, my cooperating teacher already gave me the topic that I am going to discuss. It was about badminton. I used the book from my cooperating teaching as my learning source and also I gathered additional information from the internet. And then I started making my lesson plan and prepare the things that I will need in my teaching practice in SMP Pembangunan.
I handled Grade 8 students, Class A to D. I started my discussion with the greetings. I greet my students good morning in Bahasa language, “Selamat Pagi!”. And also, I learned the Muslim greeting ‘Assalamu Alaikum”. I always say that before I begin my lesson. It is followed by prayer. They call it “berdoa”. And then after that, I asked my students regarding their health condition, I checked the attendance (absensi), exercise (latihan) and then proceed to the discussion proper.
I started my discussion with a puzzle game wherein the students have to form a picture from the jumbled puzzle pieces. The jumbled pieces are the skills and techniques in badminton game. I grouped the students into two. The students are only given three minutes to do the activity. The first group who finished first was the winner of the game and received additional point for the quiz.
I begin my discussion proper with the history of badminton game. I explain to them how it came to Indonesia. I prepared an instagram type teaching material which is composed of equipment’s and skills used in badminton.
I show the pictures in the instructional material and let students discover and think what it is in the photos. I asked them on what is in the picture. Through this, students are able to learn the topic within themselves.
After that, I proceeded on the skill sampling and let the students execute and learn the skills with their own.
While they are performing or practicing the skills, I am roaming around to see if they did the proper execution of the skills and have some corrections. Some of the students approached me on how the skills should be executed.
I gathered my students after the skills demonstration or practice. I gave praises and compliments to the students about their execution and also reminded them on the things that they should not do in performing the skill such as the racket should not be higher than the waist. It is because the position of the racket should be waist level or below the waist.
Before I ended the discussion, I let my students recall on what they have learned about the lesson. And also, I reminded them about the quiz for the next meeting and their assignment.
I had two meetings for each class: one for the class discussion and skill practice and the other one is for the assessment.
On the next meeting, I started with the greetings, prayer, asking the student’s health condition, checking the attendance, and exercise.
On what I have observed on my cooperating teacher, he had this so called “little games”. It is a kind of motivational activity wherein the skills acquired in the lesson is being used and practiced.
I named the motivational activity that I gave to my students “Bounce that”. The forehand and backhand technique/grip was used in the activity.
I started the assessment with the girls and followed by boys. It was alphabetically arranged. The two following names are the opponents.
After the skills assessment, we proceeded on the classroom for the knowledge assessment. I prepare a formative assessment which is composed of 10 questions and it was a multiple choice.
TIME MANAGEMENT
AND
ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES
In managing the time, I created a time allotment for every activity. But there are some instances that I exceed on the time allotted for my teaching. It was because, I am enjoying teaching the students that I didn’t notice about the time.
I handled four classes in Grade 8 level. I didn’t have much problem on organizing the activities. The students are very active and cooperative. They really behave well in the class.
PROBLEM-SOLVING
To solve all the problems, that I have experienced, I am very lucky because my cooperating teacher, my Indonesian buddy and friends are always there to guide and assist me whenever I am in need. And also, my students are very active and cooperative in the class. However, the main problem that I have encountered is the language barrier. It was really difficult to communicate with them because we do not have the same language. Although I am using the english language, there are times that they cannot understand the terms but with the use of gestures, facial expressions, movements and sign languages I am able to talk with them. On my next teaching practice, I translated the terms into Bahasa language with the help of my Indonesia friends and used those terms in my teaching. Through that, I saw that the students can easily cope with the lesson. This was really a major problem that I had overcome in my teaching practice but I enjoyed it because I learned alot of Indonesian words.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
The class that I had handled was very manageable. It was because the students are very disciplined and respectful. I do not need to keep on repeating the directions because they quickly follow my instructions. I also have my whistle with me. Every time I used it, the attention of my students are with me. And also, I considered the significance of learning environment and experiences in order to attain the objectives of the teaching and learning process. I make sure that the learning environment is conducive to learning. I also provided learning activities and used instructional materials in which the students will surely enjoy and at the same time learn about the topic. Also, I gave compliments on my students whenever they had performed properly the skills and they had done good things during discussion.