RALPH ROBLES
summary and suggestions
26 AUGUST 2018
procedures of teaching
What has been applicable before may not be applicable today. Much have changed from teaching pedagogies, methods, strategies, and assessment of student learning. My SEATeach experience showed me how Bu Tati and Bu Yugi epitomizes a 21st century teacher. In the modernization of the world where access to education is everywhere, it is important to train our students to become independent learners. The role of a teacher today is not to teach the students what to learn, but to teach the students how to learn. In that way, students can create meaningful learning that they were able to discover by themselves. As a teacher becomes student-centered in his/her approach, I learned that it requires a carload of patience and perseverance from drafting your detailed lesson plan, creating your worksheets, and designing your instructional materials.
In my observation, I like the way Bu Tati and Bu Yugi emphasize collaborative learning in their procedure in teaching. Other than increasing knowledge, students were able to develop soft skills like leadership, cooperation, respect to other’s opinion, and confidence in speaking. In my one month stay, I noticed that the teaching procedure is the same every time they conduct classes. It is nice to have a fixed procedure, but the con may be seen on how students perceive the class as predictable. With this, there are times that students seem to be unexcited and uninterested. It would be better if I was able to observe varieties of procedure. Well, maybe because a month is too short for me to learn different methods of teaching. Nevertheless, I was able to learn many new ways of teaching from my two awesome cooperating teachers!
TIME MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES
Budgeting the time in class was challenging for me because of the different time periods of my four classes. I was given 2 hours and 20 mins in my 8A class, 2hrs and 40 mins in my 8B class, and an hour and 20 minutes in my 8H and 8G classes. I allotted 40 mins for the discussion and an hour for the activity for the first two classes. However, we cannot finish all the activities in the worksheet for my last two classes so I only let them answer Parts I and II. Though we were short in time, at least, all of these classes were able to have their presentation.
outcome of practicum
1. Gaining self-confidence and self-esteem amidst the what if's. Apprehensions are normal especially during your first times in life. Aside from traveling abroad for the very first time, I was given the opportunity to teach students coming from a different culture. Questioning yourself if you can do it can be quite a challenge for you to surpass. The SEATeach program brought me to a journey where I conquered my what if's and turned them to "I can".
2. Reflective teaching helped me to keep on improving. Bu Tati and Bu Yugi said that I make the lesson interesting for students. I always receive that compliment whenever I have my demo teaching before. This is an affirmation that I should continue what I do. I am on right path and I need to take an extra mile to be better each day. From my actual teaching, I learned that I need to improve on my Classroom Management and Time Management. I realized to be more conscious of the time and create activities that would just be enough for the allotted time. I must never think that all students can grasp the topic at an instant.
3. Students learn best when they collaborate. As one of the 21st Century Skills, collaboration plays an important role in discovery learning. That is why I also want to apply this to my students in the Philippines. Collaboration branches out to the improvement of other skills like communication, leadership, and cooperation.
4. Keeping the precious gift of friends. I may not understand some of them because of the barriers in language, but I created wonderful memories that I will treasure. They are the people who always remind to always use my right hand when giving and receiving something. The people who would join to me to eat pecel and soto every lunch break. The people who bought me my own batik uniform and school ID. The people who fetch me from the guest house to school every 6:30 in the morning. The people who helped me with my actual teaching. The people who joined me and Krystel for an adventure trip in Semarang. And the people who I have shared smiles and laughter with everyday. I am grateful that I have met such friends.
The challenges of practicum
1. Language barrier challenged my art of questioning. It was hard for me to escalate the from low to higher-ordered thinking skills because students have difficulty in understanding and speaking in English. I couldn’t solicit long responses from students because some of them were having a hard time in expressing what they want to say. That's why I am thankful for the other student-teachers that they can translate what I’m saying whenever students could not understand it. I also tried to use body language and pictures to aid the students as we progress with the lesson. At the end of the day, we all had fun as we converse with an unfamiliar twang!
2. The slow build-up of rapport with the students. I know that I am a friendly and approachable person, but some students are shy to talk to me because they can’t speak English. This is the reason why they prefer to ask for help from the other student-teachers during the group discussion. Truthfully, I don’t really mind if a person can speak English or not. It does not really define who you are. But the moment when a group of students approached and talked to me, the others followed. I had fun listening to my students’ stories. I missed all their questions about me and my experiences in Indonesia. Well now, we follow each other on Instagram. Okay, this is how it feels like to become instafamous. Just kidding!
3. Worries on budgeting time. When I was teaching in a public school in the Philippines, the time period is 1 hour per class session. I am not used to teaching for 2-3 hours straight. I was having trouble thinking of activities that would be enough with the allotted time. Well, the activities that I planned turns out to be more than the given teaching hours. But, I was flexible to still have the group’s presentation and the generalization before the class ends.
Overall impression
I can describe my SEATeach experience as an excitingly unforgettable adventure. The long drives and flights were all worth it for a journey filled with laughter and learning. This program fueled me to become excellent in what I do as I take on a road with lots of unexpected twists and turns. With this, I pushed myself high in my actual teachings and tasks not knowing that I have gained confidence and courage. I learned how to STOP doubting my capabilities, LOOK at the positive side, and LISTEN to criticisms with an open heart and mind. The SEATeach Program taught me how to be READY and GET my mind SET as I GO to the real road of teaching.
The language difference may not take us an hour of conversation, but I received unending love and support from my coordinators, cooperating teachers, supervisors, friends, and my students. Indeed, love can translate what a person wants to say. To everyone who has been part of this wonderful adventure, my sincerest gratitude for all your help. As a result of my experience, I would also want to recommend the SEATeach program to other Education students in my university. Congratulations to the SEAMEO Secretariat and to all participants of the SEATeachers Program Batch 6!
suggestions for future improvement
1. It would be better if the SEATeach program will be conducted in September than August. There are a lot of non-class days, especially in Indonesia, so I was not given more teaching loads other than the week after their Independence Day. I was racing against time in complying for the 20 hours of teaching assistantship and actual teaching.
2. It would be better if there is a uniform daily time record to monitor the required 20 hours. Anyhow, I enjoyed my stay at the school and requested to have an extension.
3. The WebEx Online Meeting about the Blog Development Training was not effective to attain its objectives since the audio was not clear due to the great number of participants. It would be better if the speaker will be taken a video so that it can be edited and posted on Youtube. Queries can also be answered in the comment section. It would also be helpful if the training will focus on the content of our blog rather than how to create a blog because designing a blog can be self-learned.