The Second Judgement day. 10th class. June 12, 2009

I was so frustrated that I could not focus in the class. I had to teach listening for junior high. Unfortunatelly, I cannot find the right and suitable material in any sources. Threrefore, I recorded my own voice. I was crazy. I was not well prepared.

I also used informal Bahasa Indonesia in teaching my students. The worst thing was that I could not manage my time well. My material was not adequate enough. However, I think I was quite well. I did not mislead the students but I did not guide them untill they really undestand. It was because I run out of time.

Later, I should warm up my tongue to use proper Bahasa Indonesia before i enter the class.

Where did all my posts go??? June 12, 2009

Mayday, mayday, mayday… my posts are gone….. And I do not have the copy…. Lucky me!!!

The Sleepy Day— Reflection number 8 May 29, 2009

Although it was the last performance for the first microteaching class, I was not happy at all. Because, I would teach in the next two week!!!! At least, I still have 2 weeks to prepare. J every cloud has a silver line……

I also had to decide in what class I should teach the junior. Finally, I and aDria decided to take the structure IV class. I’m not confident enough to take the structure class. I am not that good in structure. Well, Adria is the Queen of structure in my class….

I could not put my whole concentration in today’s class because I was extremely sleepy. I only had 3 hours to sleep and a class at seven o’clock… what a day…

It was the d Day for Niko, Nike, Dani, Ika and Rusna

How lucky they were for having the last turn…. They could be the best

HOWEVER, the one and only person who took the advantage was Nike… She always well-prepared… Two thumbs up for her hard effort….

Nevertheless, I would like to give some comments on the performances. I do not think that I taught better, No. I did many mistakes and they should not happen in the next class teaching!!!!! Maybe the proverb is indeed right. It say, “Gajah di pelupuk mata tak terlihat, namun kuman diseberang lautan nampak jelas”….

Niko… I could not distinguish whether he was nervous or stuttered… He also made a question remain a question…. In other words, he made his confused students become much more confused… He also tried to make his students keep in silent. In fact, we were discussing the task. Maybe he forgot that noise sometimes means that the students are trying to communicate and share ideas..

Dani… Well, maybe he was keeping 1 million dollar in his pocket. He put his hand in his pocket while teaching. To me, as a student, I did not feel that he appreciate his students by doing that. Moreover, we, as a friend (not a student) had already tried to warn him not to put his hand that way. He also reads his materials while teaching. It showed that he do not really master the material.

Ika and rusna shared the same problems. They have a very soft voice and noisy students. It was indeed hard to control the students. Moreover, if the students overacted toward something.

From the whole class performance, I can conclude that we are all still have difficulty in managing the class and time. Selecting the best method is the difficulty number two. There is still two chances to improve: the second round and the junior teaching.

Reflection 6—a week before the D-Day May 29, 2009

I do not know why I am so lazy. I admit, I do not like writing weekly reflection. Since I was a high-school student, I always tried to write my activity in a diary. It turned out that I only wrote the first 10 days, the rest 355 days were empty pages. Therefore, I kept my empty blog to be empty. Fortunately, I still keep tiny notes for every week’s performances in my organizer. Sometimes, I write the notes behind the handout (I dug the folders before writing this reflection) .The tiny notes are indeed helpful. I hope that the tiny notes will bring big contribution. J

The second turn for the first round of class teaching was for Ceye, Jojo, Tita, Puput, Alex.

Ceye… I do not know why he always does something that is unusual. From my play performance class, I found that he was a person who was easily influenced by another people but could not easily fall into anger. Maybe that’s the reason why he was droven by the students while he was teaching in the class. He did not show the students his authority. However, I love his idea of bringing game into the class. It was fun. J

Jojo… I love her way in teaching her students. She is very soft and ‘ngemong’.She presented a very advanced material containing a very long reading passage. Again, I learned that time and material management is truly important. Well, actually, I was really confused with her class. Well, I think that reading class is about skimming and scanning, not reading out loud. Maybe, she has different point of view. J

Tita… she was very confident about herself. However, she sometimes forgot the control of the grammar when she spoke in English. I love her confident style in teaching, though. She is experienced in speaking in front of public.

Puput.. I do not know… was it because it was the fourth performance (after the break) or it was the material which made me could not process the material? I have the average ability in listening. However, I could not understand and fill in the blank words. She was also so nervous that she soaked wet. She has not high self-confident which is really important for every teacher.

Alex… HORAYYY!!! -à it was one of the thing that might remind me of him. Hahahaha. He was too confusing. After identifying the possible causes, the most reasonable cause was that he presented two things in his very limited time class.

WOW!!! I learned a lot. Thank you friends, for being my teachers!!!

Reflection 5- for 24 february 2009 class May 29, 2009

Hahahahahaha…… I was sooooo lucky that I was not chosen for the first found of the first class teaching. I was not the lucky number one. The lucky number one was trio. He was followed by farida, adit, a girl from 05 ( I forgot her name, if I’m not mistaken, vieka) and olive.

I do not know what happened with Trio. I just think that he could do much better than that if only he prepared the material well. Maybe, the worst thing he did was this loosing control of the time. He wasted to much time for the introduction. Actually, his printed material was good. However, the recorded material was not that good. Not only because of there was not enough time to play the material, but also the material was not that clear. However, every cloud has a silver line. From him, I learned that managing time is indeed very important.

The rest of the teachers were not that impressive. Took an example, Adit, he was taking most of the time when he only got 30 minutes to teach. He was not well-prepared. Ke kept reading the handout which was taken from a work book published by a publication company. Actually, he is a creative man. Therefore I expect that he would bring creative material too into the class. Maybe, he had no time to prepare the material. 

When one of the teachers conducted a speaking class, it was more like a reading class. The students was demanded to read the conversation. To me, the essence of speaking class is to enhance the students to be able to speak in English, not to read English conversation.

I looked for a good set induction and set closure to follow. However, in today’s class, I haven’t find any. However, I found many things that should be included to my ‘things to consider’. I learn that I should manage the time well. Checking the recorded file before teaching is also important. Therefore, plan B should be made in case something wrong happens.

The Judgement Day March 17, 2009

It was a silent night before the day. i prepared to sleep well to get everithing better.  I fell asleep finally. But, it was a restless sleep. I got a nightmare. i tried so hard to wake up. the clock showed me that it was 4 o’clock in the morning. I could hear my heart beat. It told me that there were only two choice

1. Screw it all up

2. Do the best

I chose the second choice and I know it was very hard to do that.

When the clock showed me 11 o’clock, i planned to have a nap. however, the files in the table tempted me.  I reached them. I checked everything to make sure that nothing would be left. yes, the worksheets were there, the markers and the dictionary. Fiuh, everything was in the box and I was ready. I could not get rest at all. I made up a glass of hot chocolate to make myself better. it was helpful since my concentration was switched.

Then, i came to the class. My friend, Yuli who get the first turn was trembling. She was very nervous, so did I. I kept convince her that she could do the best. And then, there she was, standing in front of the class. her unsure face told the member of the class that she was completely nervous and not sure about her own material. after 15 minutes, she could control herself. That was very good, because she was no longer demand the student to know everything. However, she forgot that she only got 30 minutes to teach and that was a fatal mistake. She could not do the set closure. To me, she’s dong well because she could fight the nervousness. That motivated me so much.

Then, my turn was about to come. i was very… i don’t know.. between nervous and excited. After all, i tried to do my best.  In the first minute, i was not sure of my self, but, i forgot it at all. If  I should rate myself,i will give my self an A for fighting against my nervousness. However, for the way i teach, i don’t know. . . However, I got a lot of comments from the observer.

The first obsever told me that:

1. Things that went well are : verbal reinforcement, set induction, good review on set closure, good time management. I was told that i went round the class to see student’s work.

2. comments to be considered in the next class teaching:

• show your authority through body movements
• pay attention to students who sit in the back row
• attract students attention
• consider class management
• control over naughty students
• do non-verbal reinforcement
• check student’s understanding

The second observer told me that:

1. things went well: friendliness, high-self confidence, verbal reinforcement, good time and management

2. comments to be considered in the next class teaching:

• do not ignore the class while your students doing the task.
• do not ignore naughty students
• explore more students

While, my beloved lecturer said:

1. So so set induction

2. too many uneccessary movements

3. Good deconstruction of the procedure text

4. Let the students find the features of the procedure text themselves

5. Groupwork will be a great idea

6. Hasan Sadily’s dictionary is not recommended

7.I should prepare the answer for frequently asked vocabulary

8. Proper set closure

Well, different person gave different comments on some points. They saw from  different point of view.  I love it.

another nerve February 24, 2009

Actually, I was afraid to come to the class. I did not want to be the “victim” for the class teaching trial. It was not because I had not prepared the material. I was just nervous. Teaching in front of my friends is different when I have to do the presentation in front of my friends. The tension was completely different. First round, the fiercest round, came and Nike was chosen for the first victim. Nike taught very well. She made me completely down. I got many input from her by seeing her teaching in the observation room. After Nike taught, it was another hell because the second round would come soon. Well, lucky me, I was not chosen for the next victim. The second victim, although he did not that well prepared, he gave us many inputs. From the both victim, I could draw a conclusion that I should be well prepared and let my body move freely. Therefore, those are what I am going to do. The other thing I got in the class was that I had to set my voice lower when I stay in the observation room. It was a silly thing I had done in the room. I tell you, I put my headset on and talked to Tita, my partner in observing Nike. I heard no Tita’s voice because I only can heard the voices of my friends in the observed class. Therefore, I talked aloud to Tita and Mr. Prast told me to set my voice lower. What? Lower voice? I did not think that Tita would hear me. Then, I realize that it was the headset which made both of us speak aloud.

Another Microteaching Class February 17, 2009

It was the third class, but it seems to me that my body could adapt to the air conditioner. I also have another reason why i still could not stay calmly in the class.  It  is because this is 2 credits class with 4 contact hours. Imagine! four contact hours.

In the last teaching session, i found that i was not a good teacher because i spoke in most of the time. i do not know that i was doing that, until my lecturer told me. well, the time seemed to tick so fast while i was teaching.

i also feel so nervous for the class teaching. in the other class, i accustomed to presentation. Nevertheless, i can hear my heart beating so fast every time I try to recall it.  I tried to kill my hard time by thinking that i will not be ” the victim of the day”.

GOd save me please!!!

February 10, 2009

I never thought that it would come to me that fast. As long as I can remember, it was just yesterday I attended class in which my seniors practiced how to teach. In those classes, I always commented the way they taught me. Whew, I can’t believe that in a matter of day I will also teach my juniors. I worry about what they will think about me. Although this will not be the first time I teach a class, I feel that I am not ready for that. No matter what happen to me, I still have to teach my junior. This is an inevitable position. I HAVE TO BE READY. Peer teaching is one of the best ways to start over the teaching experience. It is the right time to practice and have comments. I love that. Since I only taught one person, it was not that frustrating. In my microteaching class, half of the class had to teach in the same time. Well, there were voices everywhere. It was a kind of funny. My peer’s comment of my 15 lesson was that it seemed to her that I am a bit nervous. Well, I did not even realize it. She also told me hat she loved the way I teach.  I hope, in the mext class, I can do my group teaching well. Hohohoho, who is afraid of teaching? Me? Not!

First day in Microteaching class February 1, 2009

Well, i hope that my lateness on the first class will not be a symptom of bad luck.

The greatest thing I’ve learned is that I shouldn’t have been late for every first class. it is because not only I missed some points, which is probably can be categorized as VVIP ( very very important point), but also I might disturb both the lecturer and my friends.

In this first class, I don’t think that we learned many things new. Most of the points are older points we have learned in another class. anyway, reinforcement is very important due to age-related-memory loss. As we are getting older, the older items will be kicked out from our brain. Things that will be easily fade away are the things we got when we :

1. are sleepy, as for example, my AMT class was at 11 p.m – the right time to do the daydream and i was always getting very hungry-

2. do not like the subject…I don’t mean to say that I don’t like the whole LLA, ID, CMD and AMT classes, but somehow in certain period of time, I didn’t have my strength to attend the class. Structure and linguistic classes are just another scary things. It is inevitable that most of the PBI students do not like it. I think this can be a subject of a questionaire.

Therefore, reinforcement is absolutely important. In the first class, my lecturer facilitated us to recall our memory on what is the characteristics of a good teacher.

We got 11 features. Wow. I wonder how those 11 things can be done in the same time. What kind of thing to be made into an action? I guess I will soon find the answer.

There two thing that made me stay comfortably in the class:

1. I like how my lecturer teach us. I think I’ll figure out the reason of it.

2. I’m in the same class with friends who have been in the same class with me for five semesters.

Anyway, there was something that bothering me throughout the process of the class. The air conditioner made me frozen.

KEEP FIGHTING

- sighing, crying and stop fighting are easy but I’ll make sure it is not me -