Teaching Practices

Procedures of Teaching

I was able to have eight meetings with the Grade 9 students in the sections of 9E, 9F, 9G, and 9H. During these classes, I prepared a lesson plan following the format SMP 1 used with three main parts: Introduction, Lesson Proper, and Closing Remarks.

Introduction (5 minutes) - as my lessons were a bit more difficult to handle as it was Present Perfect Tense, a grammar lesson, an lengthy introduction was not needed. I gave my morning greetings, checked the students' attendance, and I would ask for a student to lead the opening prayer. As a teacher, I must ask guided questions to see if the students have any recollection or prior knowledge of the lesson that I will be teaching them for that day and adapt to how much or how little they know beforehand. I must ready myself to adapt when necessary and give patience as the students are EFL learners afterall.

Lesson Proper (65 minutes) - This is the main part of the teaching procedure as a lesson and a discussion will occur. I try to be as energetic and passionate as I can for the students so that the lesson can be infectiously exciting as well. I tried to give loud praise to those who recite and answer my questions to them while also knowing when to slow down for those who may be struggling or writing things down. With the use of simple visual aids and making of use of simple English words, I plan to make it memorable and understandable. I may walk over to those who seem sleepy to make a joke of a violin to keep students on their toes. I do as much as I can to repeat what I say and once I notice the students have an idea of what my lesson is about, I provide as much examples as I can in an incorporated, different, and supervisor approved assessments throughout the class.

Closing Remarks (10 minutes) - I as their teacher will then provide a short summary of the lesson. I will then ask students to provide a reflection on what significant thing they were able to learn in either Bahasa Indonesia or English. I will then reiterate the importance of the lesson and ask, once again, a student to be the lead for the closing prayer.

Time Management and Organizing Activities

The time given to us by SMP 1 was 80 minutes in total that was divided into two periods, which makes each period 40 minutes each. I believe the allotted time was perfectly enough for EFL students, however, I struggled a bit as I was more used to the Philippines' 60 minute classes. Thankfully, I adapted well and maximized all the time given to me for the assurance that the students truly learned the lesson being taught to them.

For my final demo, I was told to do Procedure Texts, so I made a lesson on "How to make an Origami Crane with Flapping Wings". I organized the activity so that the students are able to have fun learning and also have a paper toy after the lesson! They presented the lessons well and I helped out whenever there might be some difficukty. I was delighted to see that some students even helped the others on how to fold the crane as well! They all had fun and really got excited that their cranes were able to "fly".

Classroom Management

For classroom management, I introduced the class since the first meeting the "Hep Hep, Hooray!". This Filipino game/chant where a person will say "Hep Hep" while the other person says "Hooray!". This is the classroom management chant I used as it allows the students to have fun by being happy while also able to get the attention of those students who are inattentive. It uses my kind of humor and also gets students excited for what comes next in the lesson.

Thankfully, the students were well-disciplined and attentive the entire time I was there, but I still manage to use it whenever it's ether very early in the morning or I just need to get their attention for a specific part of my lesson.

Problem-Solving

One of the major problems that was to be expected was just the fact that I was a foreign exchange student teacher. I knew that there was going to be a language barrier, especially since in Surakarta City, the students have to learn three different languages: Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese, and English. The other was the cultural differences as the necessary adjustments was a bit difficult, especially since I was from another country. However, I was still able to adapt well and prepared before the trip to Indonesia. I was able to learn at least a few basic Indonesian phrases and tried to control my speech to be slow. However, there was still some difficulty along the way as a force of habit can be difficult to manage. Thankfully, for any kind of circumstance that was given to me, I was able to adapt fast and well within a short amount of time.

When I was teaching, I did the best I could to speak slowly when communicating my English and repeated any explanations necessary in consideration to my Indonesian students. I spoke basic English and simple terms while avoiding any slang or figures of speech, so that EFL learners can understand my words properly. I used visual aids and images so that I can better relate my lesson properly even if lesson itself might be difficult. In SMP 1, the majority of the students can understand English. However, some can’t speak complete English which makes some of them shy when reciting. I try my best to be patient and allow the student some time to reflect on the lesson and questions I ask them. Also, if ever there might be an inevitable language barrier, I am able to receive help from my UNS buddies when conversing with the non-English speaking students.

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