Teaching Practice

My Cooperating Teacher gave me my topic from the curriculum which I taught for the whole week in five different classes and prepared my lesson plan beforehand and made the instructional materials from the available resources that could be found there.

I was really nervous and excited at the same time with my first time in teaching the kids. Because from observing and just playing with them was really different when you’re in front and being a facilitator of their learning experiences. Before everything else, Berna and I decided to integrate a routine that we usually do in the Philippines. First was utilizing the Today’s Calendar which includes the date, day, weather of that day and the pupils present at that day. SOONGS ON WEEKS AND MONTHS AND WEATHER Second, counting from one to thirty one in English and Bahasa, then recite and sing the alphabets in both English and Bahasa. After, would be reminding them about our established three rules- Listen, quiet mouth, and sit properly. At first I was just speaking in English and doing big gestures and showing exaggerated emotions and expressions to both the kids and teachers trying to understand one another, because even the teachers there do not speak in English. But beforehand, I already prepared my materials and myself for my teaching. I just brought colored papers in Indonesia being confident that I could buy them in the stores there, but we had a hard time finding the materials we needed such as the colored papers because they only have the origami papers which was so different from the colored papers. They also did not have any cardboards nor illustration boards, as well as plastic covers and so we just compromised and thought of alternatives of the materials. Because it does not mean that if we cannot find the things that we needed and of having limited resources we would let it affect the quality and creativity we wish for our materials, luckily we were successful about it. I also prepared a simple gesture to appreciate and give value to their effort in actively participating in my discussion, printed stars, which made them all eager to listen and participate.

1^st Week of Teaching

My topic for the whole week was about Maintaining Health. I prepared big and colorful pictures and materials to show representation of the things related to my topic such as fruits, vegetables, kids taking a bath, and doing regular exercises. I tried to translate the basic words and phrases from English to Bahasa to help my pupils indulge the lesson easier. During which in my execution, I taught them the English words as well. I was thankful to all the teachers there because they never left me during my teaching; they tried to help by translating everything I was saying into Bahasa so my pupils could really understand fully the lesson. Due to the reason of from what I have observed there was minimal engagement of the pupils in the lessons and so what I did was I let them paste the pictures on board one by one. I gave them roles into building and completing our lesson which made them excited. They were all raising their hands, wanting me to call their name because they wanted to receive a star. For the whole week, it was my first teaching to all the classes, so I really had a hard time calling out my pupils because I do not know all their names yet, but I remembered easily those who were noisy and naughty because their names were mentioned several times from my observation period. And so I just wrote down their names on my notebook and tried to memorize it as fast as I could. What happened from my first week in teaching was that, every day I learned something new and reflect from my teaching each day and so as days passed by, I became more comfortable and knew better what I should do because I learned from the other classes which was good, because as a good teacher, one should always reflect every now and then to be better always because learning does not stop. For my evaluation, I facilitated a game especially modified for my pupils and the topic I discussed. Because I wanted to show that play can be integrated within the lesson proper.

2^nd Week of Teaching

This week, I became more confident since I was able to wrap up my first week and call it a success. Furthermore, my Bahasa and Bengkulu vocabulary was already widening and broadening, and so I could already speak words and phrases to talk to my pupils with just a little help of the teachers there. I was proud of myself because I usually get comments from other people that I speak Bahasa well already. When I asked my Cooperating Teacher what topic I would teach, they said it’s just the same but I should add something new. And so what I did, since I already talked and discussed to them about ways on how to maintain health, I would review it to them once again and teach about another related topic, which was determining bad healthy habits. But this time, I presented the topic differently to give a sense of surprise to my pupils even though it was the same topic with additional lesson. I also prepared big and colorful representation of the things using pictures. Just like before, I also let my pupils paste the pictures on the board and gave stars as a reward. To evaluate my pupils whether they learned and understood our lesson, I let them do a board work where I gave them each a minimum of two pictures and they needed to paste it on the right column on board, whether it’s a good healthy habit or not.

3^rd Week of Teaching

This whole week was full of school activities. My supposedly topic was about the different profession in their community. I was really excited about this topic because I was able to think a lot of activities to integrate in my lesson. I prepared a lot of instructional materials from printed representation of the people, the things that were closely related to them, into making a map on where do these people work. Since this week as said earlier was hectic and busy, I wasn’t able to teach it yet I prepared worksheets where the students would color the different professionals.

To be honest, I really had a hard time managing my time into maximizing all my lessons and activities because I usually end up early since I really cannot converse with my pupils to make my lessons deeper and broader. And so what I did, I after discussing everything, I would review it to them one more time and think immediately of fun activities that I could integrate with my lessons. I often facilitate a game because it’s easier to modify the rules and apply it in the classroom. My heart was happy and fulfilled when I see them enjoy and at the same time learn new things. In regards of the activities that I made use of, I considered their level of understanding and capabilities, as well as which activities would capture and maintain the interest of my pupils. In organizing the activities, I planned it according to the level of difficulty in which order I could help my pupils understand the lesson easier without any confusion. In giving them activities, such as worksheets, I based it on their skills and made sure that my assessment was valid and reliable.

Aside from all the pleasant memories and experiences I had, there were still some moments when I had a hard time communicating especially with my pupils. I often see frustration from my pupils’ eyes when I couldn’t understand what they were saying and I felt the same way and sad because I wanted to talk to them and create deeper relationship with them but because of the language barrier, I was limited to do so. Even though with the use of hand gestures it’s still hard to communicate because on how the kids act using their body language sometimes made me more confuse. And so, at first I tried using the translator application and record their voices to translate what they were saying but most of the time it’s not accurate, and so as time passes by, as I learned more and more Bahasa words, when they were trying to tell or ask me anything, I’d ask them to speak slowly for me to track a familiar word and guess what would I respond and react wherein most of the time, I was right. Also, I considered big time the situation we were at and track context clues like for example, early in the morning, kids would gather around, usually they would ask which class I would be teaching, and so the next day they would gather and ask me again, I would answer with which class and I received a right response from them. There were times that I would be left alone by the adviser for a moment in the class, and I would be shocked that there would suddenly be kids crying and seemed fighting. Then that's when the adviser would come back and ask me what happened, I was at guilt and felt sorry because I really didn't know what happened wherein they looked happy and having fun before the incident happened. Moreover, there were moments during their break time, kids approached me with worried eyes and pointing somewhere, and so I just followed where they were pointing at, and I saw two kids fighting. Then the kids around me seemed to explain what happened, and who did it first. I didn't know how to resolve it, but I just let them shake their hands and told them in crooked Bahasa language to not fight again.

One thing I would always bring with me whenever I’ll face my students was that to always set rules before having the discussion proper. Rules were set to make the classroom and students in peace and order. It creates the environment balance, safe, and functional because without it, people would just anything and everything they’d want. And so, in terms of classroom management, I always do not forget to set rules inside my classroom. During which in Bhayangkari, I set three simple rules for my pupils to obey and follow- Listen, quiet mouth, and sit properly. I prepared visual presentation such as pictures for my pupils to be more alert because I’ll just whatever rule and they’d be attentive again because of it. Also, my reward system which was the giving of stars also helped for my pupils to listen to me because they all wanted to receive a star so they always end up listening to me. But there were unavoidable times when the pupils were just really noisy and inattentive to you and so I’d use their spirit/chant, “Anak sole”, a few would only be returning their focus so I’d repeat it again, thankfully they’re not severely hardheaded as they could be. I am amaze and proud to say that the kids there were disciplined well at a young age. They’re independent and strong hence they could understand things easily, in result not many were naughty because it seems like they already knew and understood what they’re doing, as well as the consequences in effect to their actions.

Before I joined this project, I have a burning passion in me of teaching the kids wherein I can clearly see myself teaching joyfully in my own classroom in the future. I am somehow confident with the skills and knowledge instilled in me by my professors and from the experiences I had from my previous practice teaching. But when I entered a foreign school, I stepped backward and stopped for a while. I suddenly doubted myself if I can do this. I was skeptical for a second about my capabilities. I said to myself, it's comfortable to teach kids back in the Philippines because we don't need to undergo a language barrier within the classes. But that worried self of mine faded fast when a kid approached me and hugged me. I knew I can do it, and so I did. I was also surprised to myself that I was able to conquer this challenge and unique experience. With the big help of the teachers there where they were not selfish to give and care to us. The school opened their doors wide for us and welcome us sincerely, as well as the parents and especially the kids whom I loved the most. All I can say was that one month was too fast, it was not enough. I was always inspired and motivated to go to school because the students were more inspired and motivated to go school than us, their teachers. It's giving me chills and the feeling of fulfillment wherein I was able to see in the innocent eyes of my pupils their eagerness for learning. Altogether, I fell in love in teaching deeper.