Saint Louis University also referred to by its acronym SLU is a private Catholic research basic and higher education institution run by the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Baguio, Philippines. It was founded on 1 December  1911 by the CICM Missionaries. 

One of the most popular school of SLU is Basic Educational School that centered on navy base.  Navy base laboratory school consist of Junior high Laboratory school and Senior high laboratory school.  This is the place that participants of Seateacher program carried out observations, assistance, practicums and teaching evaluations.   

SLU Laboratory Junior High is envisioned as a competent, missionary and transformative educational institution committed to the formation of creative and active Christians who give witness to the gospel values through the development of their God-given talents, skills and attitudes in the service of God, Church, school, and society. 

SLU Laboratory Senior High is committed to be a transformative socially engaged Catholic Educational Institution forming Christ centered, responsible and globally enterprising citizens through holistic human and Christian formation, collaborative learning, and academic excellence in the pursuit of justice, peace, and integrity of creation. 

The Navy Base boasts expansive buildings accommodating both the Junior and Senior High Schools within the same area. The Senior High School building comprises 8 floors, while the Junior High School building spans 5 floors. During my involvement in the SeaTeacher program, I was stationed at the Junior High Laboratory School, teaching mathematics to 8th-grade students.

The school provides comprehensive facilities to support learning activities. Based on my observations, each 8th-grade classroom is well-equipped with essential resources, including a television screen for displaying learning materials, a generously sized whiteboard, adequate room lighting, and comfortable seating arrangements comprising tables and chairs conducive to studying in class.

Moreover, the institution houses various laboratories for practical application in scientific subjects, sports fields, and a range of other facilities that, in my view, extensively support academic activities. The Navy Base's activities extend beyond classroom education, offering students the opportunity to engage in extracurricular pursuits and competitions, promoting achievements beyond the academic sphere

The teaching system implemented at Navybase especially at the junior high school level is that teachers are given the freedom to choose teaching methods but still pay attention to the achievement of learning objectives. Teachers are also free to choose learning media and technology that suits the learning material. For each class meeting, the teacher is given 60 minutes and for mathematics learning each class has 3 meetings each week.

The first activity carried out in this program is observing the learning carried out by the CT (coordinating teacher). Teaching observations were carried out for one week from Monday 18 to Friday 22 September 2023. This activity involved participating in each coordinating teacher's class. Mrs. Abluyon as my coordinating teacher is a mathematics teacher in grade 8 which consists of 6 class sections. Here are some things I found out after making observations : 

• Teaching Methods 

The teaching method that is often used by Mam Abluyon is a type of problem based learning method, although not all stages of problem based learning are carried out at every class meeting, but she always focuses students on being able to solve mathematical problems independently. Learning in class begins with conveying the learning objectives, followed by explaining the topic to be studied and continuing with a discussion of working on mathematics questions.  Teachers also usually divide students into several groups to discuss solving mathematics problems.

• Learning Materials and Innovation 

Based on what I have observed, the learning material studied by students in mathematics lessons in class 8 junior high school has followed the material contained in the books used and the lesson plan that the teacher has made. When I made observations, the learning material that was being studied in grade 8 was making linear equations for two variables and their graphs. The explanations given by the teacher in this material are very detailed and clear so that every student can understand the explanations given. The language used in learning is English, but sometimes the teacher also uses Tagalog in her explanations. When I made observations the teacher tried to use English fully so that I could understand and observe the lesson well.

• Source of learning technology 

The resources used in learning are mostly mathematics textbooks, where every student has this book. Teachers usually have prepared a PowerPoint that will be displayed on a smart TV so that students will focus more on the PowerPoint during class.

• Authentic Assessment 

At every class meeting the teacher must carry out discussion activities regarding solving mathematical problems. This discussion requires some students to solve math problems in their notebooks and some of them will explain and write the answers on the whiteboard. Sometimes teachers also give homework that students will collect at the next meeting. Apart from that, once a week the teacher will give seatwork, a type of weekly quiz to test students' understanding of what they have learned during the week. This seatwork is usually done in groups or individually.

• Curriculum

For learning mathematics in the Philippines, I think the curriculum is not much different from the curriculum in Indonesia because I have also studied what the Philippines studied in Indonesia, it's just that it may be different in terms of sequence and level of depth of learning material.

• My teaching plan 

To prepare for teaching practice, one of the things that must be created before starting teaching is a lesson plan. A lesson plan is a plan for the flow of learning in class that must be discussed and approved by the coordinating teacher. In the lesson plan there are learning objectives, learning procedures, learning media, PowerPoint, and things needed during teaching practice. Seateacher program participants are required to make 2 lesson plans with different teaching materials. Each lesson plan can be used in several classes according to the number of classes agreed upon with the coordinating teacher.

These is the lesson plan that I have made for teaching practice and has been approved by the coordinating teacher, the first lesson plan is about applications of linear equations in two variables and the second lesson plan is about systems of linear equations and their graph.

Link for my first lesson plan ; 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xxo-o9ZAK3PN82gBosOQ71T07v72-2nl/view?usp=drive_link

Link for my second lesson plan : 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Ok-d2RUgHQ1oRZvoV-1gAI_PD52pWhh/view?usp=sharing

The following are things related to my teaching practice as a mathematics teacher in 6 classes at Saint Louis Junior High Laboratory School : 

• Procedures of teaching

1. Preparation 

This stage is filled with praying together, the teacher conveys the learning objectives and the teacher guides students to recall previous lessons.

2. Presentation 

The teacher explains the lesson material while discussing with the students according to the chosen teaching methods and media.

3. Generalization 

The teacher guides the students to provide conclusions about what they have learned by asking several questions.

4. Application 

This stage is filled with work on activities that have been prepared by the teacher to be carried out by students individually and will be discussed together on the whiteboard.

5. Evaluation 

This stage contains the provision of seatwork which students must do in class, but if there is not enough time students can do it at home and it will be collected at the next meeting.

• Time and Classroom management

For junior high schools in the Philippines, each learning meeting only has 60 minutes per subject so this is a challenge for every teacher who teaches, including me. Unlike in Indonesia, which has more time, namely around 90 minutes, I have to learn to manage my time so that each meeting is in accordance with the learning plan in the lesson plan. On the other hand, I also have to explain in detail each calculation stage of solving mathematical problems so that students are not confused, therefore in each meeting I only explain 4-5 example problems. I try to manage my time well during learning by focusing on the learning objectives that will be achieved in accordance with what has been planned in the lesson plan. For classroom management, sometimes I give students time to discuss in groups so that students can find solutions to math problems more quickly so they can save learning time.

• Problem-solving while teaching and staying in the designated school

Actually, the school where I practice teaching, namely Saint Louis Junior High Laboratory School, is a place where I was received very well, especially by my coordinating teacher, namely Mam Abluyon, who always guides me and provides evaluations of my teaching practice. When I first carried out teaching practice, Mam Abluyon gave an evaluation such as that my voice had to be louder and give lots of attention to students during group discussions so that the discussion remained under control. Mam Abluyon also reminded me to provide information about the relevance of learning in everyday life at the beginning of the lesson. These things became a reference in improving my future teaching practice.