My SEP report based on 10 elements of Teaching and Learning Research Program (TLRP) framework
Based on previous teaching, I only focused on teaching the material on the PPT slides and give students some exercises. Then, at the end of the lesson I invite students to reflect on what they have learned. I have not considered this aspect in my teaching yet.
During Fall 2022 I did SEP independent teaching at the SMA Perguruan Cikini. In tenth grade, initially students learn about narrative text. Then in the first meeting, I taught students about Descriptive texts that focused on historical building, where I invited students to watch videos about historical buildings in Indonesia and abroad so that students had a broad view of descriptive texts. Apart from that, I also invite students to analyse the generic structure in the descriptive text: Borobudur Temple to ensure that students have a deep understanding of descriptive text and are aware of the magnificent historical buildings that Indonesia has.
After studying the topic of Descriptive text, I divided the students into six groups and asked each group to make a presentation about Descriptive text with the theme SMA Perguruan Cikini. Then, students also have to make facts and opinions, conversations, adjectives, passive voice sentences, and simple present tense in their presentation slides as part of the language feature of descriptive text. I set the theme for their presentation about SMA Perguruan Cikini because I want students to be more aware of their own environment and students can develop intellectual, personal and social resources that will enable them to participate as active and thriving students. To support student presentations, I also tell them about presentation tools that they can use, such as Canva.com or slides. Go.
At the beginning of the meeting, the teacher candidate gave students material about what a descriptive text is, the structure of the text, and examples of descriptive texts in Indonesia. Teacher candidate assists students in developing their intellectual and social resources through discussion of examples of descriptive text. Then, the teacher candidate also asks general knowledge questions such as: "Anyone know which city Borobudur Temple is in?" "Has anyone been to Borobudur Temple?" The question can imply students' broad views on their previous learning outcomes.
In previous teaching, I focused more on completing all the material that had been made rather than ensuring that students understood the material and the learning context. In addition, I focus more on the teacher-center than the student-center so that in learning students only listen to what is being taught rather than having discussions.
Apart from the tenth grade, at SMA Perguruan Cikini I also teach eleventh grade where I teach analytical exposition and speech material. When teaching students about analytical exposition, I try to broaden students' understanding of what an analytical exposition text is. Thus, I do not just teach about definitions, generic structures, language features, and examples of the text. I try to tell students why it is important to study this topic and how it relates to students' real lives.
In teaching about analytical exposition, I try to invite students to think about what issues they think are important to raise and are closely related to their daily lives. Then there were several students who started the topic with "Important or not breakfast". I tried to invite students to discuss and want to hear their views on the topic. I try to make classroom learning focused on the student-center so that students can be involved in ideas, facts, and a broader learning process.
In the learning process, before teacher candidate teach the material, she will ask students about what the importance of learning Descriptive text is or what is the importance of understanding the formulas of the passive voice and simple present tense. Then, the candidate teacher will provide examples of conversations that use simple present tense or passive voice so that students can understand the learning deeper and more meaningful.
Based on the previous teaching, my mentor teacher always tells topics that have been taught before. In the first class, I tried to find out what students knew about previous lessons. I tried to recall material that they had studied. Then based on their understanding I get an overview of the next topic that I will teach them.
Every time I go to class to teach, I always try to remind the previous lesson by asking, "What material did we cover last week?" "What do you remember from the previous material?" "Can anyone give Ms. an example sentence for the previous material?" etc. For example, when I teach Descriptive text to tenth grade, I ask what students know about descriptive text, then what are the parts of the generic structure of descriptive text, and what examples of historical building did we discuss last week? Before starting a new topic, I want to make sure that students still remember the previous topic because when students forget the previous topic, students will have difficulty accepting the new topic. In addition, I often bring back previous lessons to strengthen students' understanding of the material that I will teach.
Before starting class, the candidate teacher asks students what they have learned before and what they remember from the previous lesson. Then the teacher candidate will randomly appoint students to help explain the lessons they have learned. For example, when there is a descriptive text lesson, the teacher candidate asks students what they know about the language features of descriptive text and asks for the name of the historical building that was discussed last week.
Based on my previous SEP experience done in hybrid mode. In scaffolding learning, I always ask if there are students who do not understand the material I teach, if there are students who have difficulty I immediately approach and provide a stronger scaffolding. Then, I try to go around the class to make sure that students understand what they are learning. In building scaffolding learning, I had a little difficulty monitoring students who followed the online mode, so I just made sure based on the assignments they were working on.
To ensure that students already have a deep understanding of Descriptive text, I provide a learning scaffold where students work in groups to analyze facts and opinions, simple present tense, passive voice, generic structure, and adjectives from an example of historical building: Prambanan temple. In this learning process students can learn socially and emotionally where they have to exchange arguments to get the right answer. Furthermore, this scaffold learning also aims to help students who still have difficulty understanding Descriptive text material so that students who already understand the material can help students who are still struggling in understanding the material.
During the learning session, I noticed that the candidate teacher would usually explain the material first and then invite students to discuss in groups. For example, when a teacher candidate teaches 11th grade students about analytical exposition text, she instructs students to work in groups to analyse the text with its generic structure. In the group, I can see the students are active in expressing their opinions and discussing the correct answers. Through this group work I see students not only learn about Descriptive text, but they also learn socially from other friends.
Based on my previous SEP experiences in hybrid mode, my mentor teacher always asks me to give assignments at the end of lessons because the teacher want to know students' understanding from the assignments they make. Due to this request, I try to ensure that students understand the material that I teach so that when doing an assessment, they can do their assignment well. Usually, after finishing learning I always distribute PPT material to students so that outside of class they can still re-call the material they have learned.
In taking assessments, I usually always give students assignments that must be completed in class because my mentor teacher doesn't want students to be burdened when doing assignments at home. Thus, in conducting formative assessments I usually do impromptu quizzes where students who can answer will get additional points from me, sometimes I will also randomly appoint students to find out their understanding of the material that has been studied. Apart from that, I also carry out assessments of the assignments that students are working on in class, usually I will look for questions from the students' English textbooks and they must complete their assignments before the class bell rings.
For the summative assessment of tenth grade, I will invite students to make a presentation about the descriptive text they have learned. Meanwhile, for eleventh grade, I asked students to write an analytical exposition essay based on the topic they were interested in. Students can have consultation sessions with me on their topics so I can provide some feedback on their writing. I can see the results of student learning through the two tests that I did so I can find out some students who need a deeper approach in learning.
Teacher candidates have the same mentor teachers as me so we can't give homework to students outside of school hours. Usually after the teacher candidate has finished delivering the material, she will give students assignments based on the material students have learned. These assignments are the last to be collected before going home so students don't bring homework. Besides that, teacher candidates also often give extra point for students who have good writing and on time in submitting their assignments.
In my last SEP I taught at Bellarminus High School, there I had the opportunity to teach "If Clause type 0,1 and 2." At first, I told the difference between If clause types 0, 1, and 2, then I gave an example to make it easier for students to understand the material. In the middle of learning, I asked students to answer the questions I had given about If Clauses in the Padlet and they also had to give examples of If Clauses based on their activities. I see students are very enthusiastic and give positive responses when giving examples of If Clauses. Other students can also give comments to other friends so that students can understand the If Clause material independently based on their experiences.
In the class that I teach, there are some students who are active and some who are not active. That's why I'm looking for learning strategies that can involve all students so they can't be passive in class. In tenth grade, I often gave students space to discuss Descriptive text and after they got the results of their discussions, I would invite them to share the results of their discussions in front of the class. It's the same thing in eleventh grade, I invite students to play Quizziz and Kahoot because they say they are more engaged with learning that smells of technology than the monotony of books.
When explaining material, I also make sure that students always pay attention to me and after finishing delivering one slide, I will point to students who are usually not active, I do this strategy to make students more confident in learning, actively participate in class and will not feel left behind by other friends. In class, I always emphasize that there are no wrong answers, wrong answers are answers that are not delivered so I hope students see me not as someone who is superior but someone who helps and guides them.
When I observe the teacher candidate's class, I can see that there are some students who are active and passive. To make students actively participate in class, I can see the strategy that the teacher candidate uses, for example, when learning Descriptive text in class X-2, I can see the teacher candidate bringing a game Ular tangga for her students. Students will play Ular tangga game while answering the questions that have been given by the teacher candidate. The purpose of this study is to determine students' abilities in Descriptive text material and to train students to study independently or through their group mates.
My previous SEP experience was mostly done online and hybrid so that students usually pay attention to slides and work on assignments. Moreover, the school where I was SEP did not optimize the use of break out rooms from zoom so that students rarely held discussions in learning sessions. However, I always make sure that students have at least 1 to 2 group assignments so they can discuss and build knowledge with other friends outside of class time.
In the learning process I always ensure that learning is more focused on the student-center where students are required to be active and able to learn independently. Therefore, after the material giving session is over, I always instruct students to work in groups and discuss their assignments together. Then, students who do not understand the material can ask other students who can. In addition, in group discussions, students can also freely express their opinions and ideas so that students can build their knowledge together.
After finishing delivering the material, candidate teachers often invite students to discuss in groups and answer questions posed by the teacher. Then, I can see students discussing actively and if there are students who don't understand, the teacher candidate will approach and give a clear explanation.
For example, when teacher candidate finish explains about analytical exposition text, she asks students to work in a group then identify the language feature and generic structure of the text that she gives. If there are students who do not have a clear understanding, teacher candidate will ask the other student to help student who still have difficulty understand the material.
I agree that learning does not always have to be formal, informal learning is also very important for students. At the end of the lesson, I always emphasize to my students that if they don't understand something they can contact me via my personal telephone number. Then, I also often remind students to discuss in the WhatsApp group if they forgot the material being taught.
I also believe that informal learning is very important because students can more freely ask questions they don't know. At this SEP, as usual, I gave my WhatsApp number, there were several students who consulted about their assignments or asked for tips and tricks to become Sampoerna University’ student. Then in school activities I also often take part in other informal activities such as extra-curricular activities, research and entrepreneur paper, and being a duty teacher.
The teacher candidate also really recognizes the importance of informal learning so that she also often takes part in school activities outside of school hours, for example she often works at the duty desk with me. Furthermore, she also helped train students who would take part in the English speech contest.
Besides students, teachers also need to develop their knowledge, skills and adjust to their roles. Therefore, the School Experience Program implemented by Sampoerna University taught me as a teacher candidate who must pay attention to many aspects such as: before teaching I have to prepare material and study it until I understand it because before teaching students, teachers also have to make sure that they have the knowledge to share. Besides knowledge, the teacher must also have the ability to handle the class and understand students in social and emotional situations. The teacher needs to understand students in terms of knowledge and social so that teachers can find out what lessons their students need, what needs to be improved in learning, and what learning situations make students comfortable. Outside of class I also often pay attention to how my friends teach and I start adapting what is good for my students and suitable for students' needs. I am also very open to suggestions and feedback from students because a teacher not only teaches students but can also learn through students.
Before starting learning in class, I always consult with my mentor teacher about the material that I will discuss in class, and I ask whether the reference I use is appropriate for the context or not for students. After finishing teaching, I also often ask what things I need to develop in teaching and what things I need to maintain. My mentor teacher often says that I have mastered the class and thinks that the class is mine. Even the mentor teacher also said that I often go around to monitor and make sure students are on the right track. However, what I need to improve is that my voice must be louder so that students sitting behind me can hear my voice. After hearing feedback from my mentor teacher, I tried to raise my voice by using diaphragmatic breathing because this breathing is believed to make the voice sound rounder and louder. Moreover, when giving instructions I also start writing them on the whiteboard so students can see the written instructions.
Teacher candidate also has an awareness of the importance of learning and receiving feedback. Before bringing material to class, the candidate teacher and I asked for consultation with the mentor teacher. Even we also often reflect on each other as to what things need to be improved when teaching in the classroom and what things need to be maintained. Besides that, Cilla and I also often have discussions before designing materials for class. We usually brainstorm together and prepare strategies to support students in their learning.
In my last SEP, my mentor teacher gives me module as a guidance to teach the students. Thus, I taught and give assignment based on the material on the English module so that my teaching framework is focused on the module. Then, at the end of the lesson I give students fun game that related to the learning that they have learned, the game also I got from the module that given by the mentor teacher.
For the learning framework, my mentor teacher stated that tenth grade students follow the "Merdeka" curriculum from the Minister of Education so that the learning framework is flexible, the most important thing is that it still links the learning to students' real lives. Meanwhile, for eleventh grade, it uses the "Kurikulum 2013" so when compiling lessons, I use English textbooks as a guide. As for the preparation of tenth grade lessons, I can combine the lessons between the Erlangga’s book and some external resources or videos from YouTube.
My mentor teacher also always provides student attendance and grade data before entering class to make it easier for me to assess or observe students in class.
For the learning framework, teacher candidate and I have the same learning framework because we have the same mentor teacher. When teaching tenth grade, teacher candidates usually use external references and combine them with Erlangga's books. Meanwhile, for eleventh grade, the teacher candidate will focus on the English book made in the 2013 Curriculum. For absences and student scores are also given to the teacher candidate before entering class.