This blog post is about my observation on teachers.
PLANNING, PREPARING LESSONS AND MATERIALS FOR TEACHING
With the implementation of the school-based curriculum, the teacher has the full authority to plan for lessons that will be taught in the class. I was assigned to the only 8th grade English teacher, Ma'am Farahdiba. She primarily depends on the textbook for the sequence of the topics to be discussed in class. Since English is a foreign language in Indonesia and is only introduced when students enter junior high school, what they have to learn are the essential basics in learning the language. The textbook is divided into units, with each unit containing a major grammar lesson and selections or paragraphs where the said grammar lesson is applied. The unit also provides activities for seatwork such as drills and exercises, homework, and even projects before the end of the unit.
As it is expected from any teacher, Ma'am Diba prepares her lessons ahead of time so that she can still have room for changes in case she thinks of better activities to give to her students. The objectives of her lessons depends on the difficulty of the topic, the learning materials involved, and the capabilities of the students. She also makes sure that her methods of instruction are varied so that she can achieve differentiated learning among her students. She acknowledges that her students have their own learning styles, which is why her activities range from individual to group, written to oral, quiz bees to games. Aside from utilizing the textbook for practices and exercises, she uses other instructional materials and media to help her determine the level of learning and progress of her students.
MA'AM DIBA AND HER TEACHING IN CLASS
One thing I admire about Ma'am Diba is the type of relationship she has established with her classes. Even if the students can be a little noisy and out of hand sometimes, she can still regain the attention and order of the class. She possesses the quality of an approachable yet strict teacher. In terms of her teaching methods, one apparent thing I noticed is that her teaching is a mixture of English and Bahasa primarily because some of her students could not fully comprehend straight English. As a fellow educator, I understand why she has to do such technique because it is the most favorable and easiest way for the students to better learn the language, even if strictly using English could have been ideal. Aside from code-switching, she makes sure that there is student participation in discussions which is why she frequently calls on her students. She always has a cheerful disposition, making sure that she becomes inviting enough for her students to be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas in class. On the other hand, I think printing out her evaluation tests would be better rather than having them through dictation. Although dictation hones the listening skills of her students, seeing the test questions also hones analytical skills since students have more time to make connections and relationships between the thoughts found in the test questions.
MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
Since the students started learning about the English language only when they have reached junior high school, measurement and evaluation is tailored for the lower order thinking skills since learning a foreign language usually entails memorization. Although there may be instances where Ma'am Diba asks her students to create and perform dialogs to apply a certain grammar lesson, the use of the language of her learners still dwell on the basic level. Also, I notice that the progression for learning lessons are often interrupted, because while pre-activities and main activities are made engaging by the teacher, the post-activity is usually in pen and paper tests where it could have been better if the interest of the students could have been sustained by giving a more creative and fun activity for the students which can still help the teacher see students' progress and mastery.