1.

What problems do you think you have in the last two weeks and how you deal
with the problems?
There is a dynamic in my teaching performance since my first go teaching in the
class. Sometimes I feel happy about my teaching, sometimes not. Surely I have made
some progresses during my PPL from day to day, but sometimes some problems are
just inevitable. All I can say is I have found my students showing average or lower
level of motivation in studying English. Sometimes, I found a best way to make them
pay attention, so all the steps in my lesson plan were done as expected. But when I
came with a different strategy, sometimes it just didn’t work. Of course I want to
always come up with new strategy in every meeting so that my teaching will not be
monotonous and predictable. To deal with this kind of problem, I try not to follow all
steps in my lesson plan to adjust with the situation happened in the class. I tried to go
with the students’ need or the situation. After all, I aware lesson plan is not some
sacred and holy book that must be followed no matter what happens. If it turned out
not working, I will figure out something else to keep my class follow my teaching.
Another problem I found is my time management. Sometimes I am being so soft to
my students, and they seem like to be stalling. Consequently, I spent more time for the
activity that is supposed to be done in short time. As the result, I couldn’t complete all
the steps in post-teaching or in the end of while-teaching activities. And to deal with
this management problem, I try my best to be more strict to the time allocation. When,
for example, my students haven’t finished the job but the provided time is already
over, I tell them to stop working and go to the next step. To motivate them to be
punctual, earlier before the activity, I will tell them that I’m going to assess their
efficiency in time.
In addition, my guide teacher told me that I have two major issues that can be said as
the flaws of my teaching performance besides time-management and students’ low
motivation. Otherwise, my teaching will be just perfect, he said. The two problems
are my lower voice and my cheerfulness. For these ones, I am still working out to
figure it out how to deal with the issues. And actually I’ve been aware of this
‘problems’ since the first place. I know I am sometimes, like, burdened of my worries
whether I’d perform well or not in class, so it affects my appearance while I’m
teaching. It’s like, ‘ouh, I have to do this, and this, and after that, this..’ Not seldom I
am talking to myself, like, ‘Am I doing it right?’, ‘what should I do now?’, and so on,
and so forth. I once asked my students what things I need to improve, and many of
them said that I need to smile more than I have done so far. Again, I am actually
aware of that, and in some occasions I am trying to look myself in a mirror and smile
from ear to ear like crazy. But when I come in the class, I am flat again. Well, not all
the time, of course.
And about my voice, I don’t know how to increase the volume. I feel like I’ve been
screaming in the class. If I am asked to raise it louder, I am not sure it would be nice
to hear. >.< I think it’s because of the tone of my voice. I have a ‘bass’ voice, not
‘tenor’, not pitchy, nor, I don’t know. Or should I use a mic? -_-
2. What important lessons you have learned in the last two weeks as PPL students?
Where do you get it from and why do you think it is important?
- Teaching tips: to do and not to do
This is probably the common things a PPL student expect to get from PPL. Or, in
other words, it is the essence of the knowledge a PPL student needs. I find it very
important because I came to this school knowing little and having zero
experiences in teaching. I believe if I want to teach in this school successfully,
first of all, I need to know the tips, how to teach the students here. It’s like,
‘different water, different fish’. I need to know what strategies that may work for
the students and which that may not. Basically, guidance and adjustment.
- Teaching administration
Honestly I never thought before that I am going to get this kind of lessons. I
finally know that teaching administration is not merely or limited to lesson plans.
It’s much more than that. My mentor asks me to finish all the teaching
administration such as syllabus, lesson plan, semester program, cognitive and
affective assessment rubric, question item analysis, fact materials, and many more
in order to make me easier in teaching in the class. He says that, it is better for us
to be busy outside the class (before the class) than we’re busy in the class because
we lack in preparation.
- School administration experience
In my PPL school, beside teaching in class and all the preparations, we, PPL
students, are also trained to experience school administration. So when we’re not
on duty of teaching in class (at free time), we will stay at stations or what we call
by ‘posko’ and doing some jobs at our own station. For example, on the first three
weeks in MAN 1 Pekanbaru, I got meja piket (information desk) as my station or
posko. So I have to stay there when I got no class/teaching schedule. I do jobs in
piket such as helping students or guests who ask for information, checking
students who are absent on that day by coming to class by class, updating the
online-based students’ attendance entries in Pusdakom (computer centre), and so
on. With this kind of program, I know more and more how a school works. I know
PPL is not just about teaching in the class. It’s beyond that. I feel like I am really a
part of this school now because I know how the systems in this school work. And
by the way, our stations for ‘piket posko’ will be changed regularly one in three
weeks. So far, I have been experiencing doing piket at information desk (meja
piket), Islamic centre (keislaman), and now students affairs (kesiswaan). I think I
will never get this kind of lessons in campus.

3. Have you got the feel of being a real teacher? Why yes and what not?
If what it means by ‘real teaching’ is having experienced the thrills and the
exhaustion, then yes, I have. I experience the thrills when I am outside a class and
students greeting me ‘mister…’ and shaking my hands. Or when my students ask me
some question and I can answer, they are happy and I am happy for them too. Or
when they are curious about me, they want to know my answer, like what I do or I
think is important.
As for the exhaustion, I think I’ve had enough. Really. Please be enough >_<. My ppl
school is MAN 1 Pekanbaru which undergoes full day school system. I go home at 4
in the afternoon or sometimes at 5. So when I got home, it’s already sundown.
All components of teaching administration have made me sick. I never thought that
being a teaching is this much to do. Last time, at campus, I only knew lesson plan and
syllabus and curriculum. But when I come at school for teaching experience, there are
many ‘entities’ I am not familiar about like ‘semester program’, ‘yearly program’,
assessment rubric, ‘rincian minggu efektif’ (I don’t know the English words) and
many others.