Procedures of Teaching
When I am teaching, I always start my class through greetings. I always greet them,
“Selamat Pagi, murid murid. Apa Kabar?” ("Good morning students. How are you?")
On the other hand, I also taught them greetings in the Philippines and how to respond to it. I taught them “Magandang Umaga!” and “Kamusta ka?”, which they responded
“Mabuti!” (I'm fine!")
Then I will ask one of the students to lead us a short prayer. This will be followed by checking of attendance.
After the preliminary activities, I followed it by a motivation of the subject following the Law of Readiness. Frequently, I used games as my motivation. In my Grade 10 class, we played the game “Which does not belong to the group?” where the students analyse set of pictures and pick which does not belong to the group. In my Grade 11 class, we played this game called Copy-Cut! where the students imitate the picture I flashed on the slide. Well, these games are not just a game. I used these games to connect my lesson to it. In playing “Which does not belong to the group?”, the students was introduced to the Characteristics of Animals and how to classify them while the game Copy-Cut! gave them the overview about the habits they should imitate in their everyday lives in order to prevent excretory diseases.
In teaching the lesson, I used Bilingualism for my material and sometimes when I am teaching the subject. I used Bahasa Indonesia in my powerpoint especially when stating the definition of something. Then I will ask the students to read it. In this way, they will understand what I am teaching since majority of the students are not so proficient in English. Moreover, I tried to remember the scientific terms in Bahasa and try to use it when I am discussing in English.
Well, I am not used to it since in the Philippines scientific terms in Biology is taught in English while here in Indonesia, the scientific terms have their equivalent words in Bahasa. The textbook that I am using is also in Bahasa. It is a bit challenging but Google Translate helped me through it and also my Indonesian buddy, Ida. Sometimes, when I ask questions, I translate the questions in Bahasa and flash it on the screen. Then I tell them to answer in Bahasa and Ida will translate their answers. I wanted them to be not pressured and hindered them to answer because they need to answer in English.
Sometimes I used body language to say what I wanted to say. The students find it funny, but it was actually effective. I used a lot of body language in my final demo and both my Coordinator and Cooperating Teacher, Ibu Ima and Ibu Sumiyati praise me in doing that. They say that the students understand me more by doing this.
Then after discussion, I will let my students to do a certain activity that will reinforce my teaching. In my final demonstration, I used the activity "Catch the Ruler" in order for the students to measure their own reaction time. It was then followed by a short quiz to assess if the students learn or not the concepts of the topic for that day.
Time Management and Organizing Activities
I always ensure that the activities I have implored in my class promote collaboration and discovery learning. In terms of organizing these activities, I always ask myself if the students can do it in that period. However, even you considered it; there are circumstances that will impede your Time Management. Therefore, as a teacher you have to adapt and strategize to overcome this. You should always have backup plans. One time, I include call “Pass the Message to my Students” as part of my motivation before teaching. It is a popular game in the Philippines but it is the first time for my Indonesian students to play it. In my teaching plan, the students should play it for three rounds, but due to miscommunication of the mechanics, they did the first round for a very long time. Therefore, I decided do it for just one round so more time will be allotted to teaching.
Problem-Solving
The greatest problem that I encountered in this practicum is the language barrier. However, as the teacher you will be the one will adjust to your students. So, I learned their language, the equivalent scientific terms and use it in my discussion. Moreover, I only used simple English when I discuss and make sure that I speak in a slow manner. Through this, I managed to break the language barrier and based on the reactions and comments of my cooperating teacher, the students understood what I discussed.
Classroom management
One distinguished characteristics of the students in SMA Negeri 1 Cangkringan is that, the students are well disciplined. Majority of the students are listening to their teachers while they are discussing. They are not complaining when the teacher ask them something to do. They are also clean to their classroom. However, some students are still noisy and naughty. My strategy is that, I will call them to read what is on the slide to call their attention. Furthermore, I say “Listen” when I notice that they kept talking. Well as compared to the students I handled in the Philippines, they follow their teacher when you call their attention.