TEACHING | Seateacher in Bali

TEACHING PLANS

In the beginning, we were having a hard time understanding the curriculum, syllabus and the lesson plan of the lab school. Those were very different from what we are using in our lab school in the Philippines. But because we don't have much time left, we were told that we can just have a simplified version of the lesson plan. Also, thanks to our student-teacher friends who helped us understand and make the lesson plans appropriate to the students. They know better than we do since they have more background knowledge about the students. I will share here the three lesson plans I had during my teaching. If you wish to see the files, just click the file icon below and it will be automatically downloaded in your computer.

Lesson Plan for 1st meeting

(Stating General Truths)

Lesson Plan for 1st meeting

(Stating General Truths)

Lesson Plan for 2nd meeting

(Adverbs of Frequency)

Lesson Plan for 2nd meeting

(Adverbs of Frequency)

Lesson Plan for Final Teaching

(Degrees of Comparison)

Lesson Plan for Final Teaching

(Degrees of Comparison)

This is the schedule of my cooperating teacher, Ibu Agitahany Devihnti. She is not a regular teacher yet in the lab school that's why she didn't have class for the whole day. After her classes in the lab school, she had to take off for another class in another school. Maikah and I had to take two classes each. We decided to take one class per day so that the both of would have class the same day.

TEACHING EXPERIENCES

My partner Maikah and I were assigned to Junior High School students, just like when we were in the Philippines. I was given two classes of Grade 8 in the laboratory school. To be honest, I always say that I got the best and the worst sections, Class VIII-1 and Class VIII-4. The best section, obviously, has more no. of smart students than the other. They are easy to manage and to give instructions to. As much as I would like to share about the best section, I would more likely share about the other one because they are more interesting to talk about. Now, they say that Class VIII-4 is the "worst". Indeed, when I had my first observation with them, I noticed right away how unmanageable they are. My student-teacher friends from UNDIKSHA told me that even other teachers cannot handle them properly. When I heard about this, I started to feel nervous thinking that this will be the end of my dreams. I started asking myself if I will even survive a day with them. However, I know that I could not let this first time experience drag me down so I decided to accept the challenge and take it as a stepping stone to be a true teacher. I prepared myself by surfing the internet on how to manage an unmanageable class but I got nothing significant so I just asked some older Indonesian friends. They advised me to be somewhat friends with my students so that I will have a better connection and communication with them. That way, it will be easier to manipulate and to instruct them even for a short time. I took their advice and I think I did it somehow. I tried memorizing their names and talked to them in a casual way. Finally, it worked! When I had my first teaching with them, it was very hard but somehow I was able to help the students who are hard to handle. I had them sit with me in a table and do the activity with me. I was so happy that they were able to accomplish even a single activity. When I had my first teaching with them, observed by my supervising teacher, everything was chaotic but for the second observation, my supervising teacher even said that my classroom management had improved. Thanks to the "worst" section that brought out my best in classroom management and their best in participating. Below are the pictures of me and my male students of different sections.

CLASS VIII-1

This is my first picture with my students in class one and we were wearing the traditional Balinese clothes.

CLASS VIII-4

This was the time when I had them sit with me in a table and did the activity. This moment was very chaotic at first but seeing them working made me feel happy and inspired.

FINAL DEMONSTRATION

This photo was taken after I had my final demonstration with Class VIII-1. I was with my very kind Supervising Teacher, Ibu Eka Dewi and all the students of Class VIII-1. It was very fun and unforgettable because first, it was a Thursday, meaning that people should wear traditional Balinese clothes and it was my first time to have a teaching demonstration in a foreign land and a different culture. Second, I had Degrees of Comparison for my topic. It was my first time to teach it and I think we all had fun because all the activities were involving them. I focused on making them describe and communicate because based on my assessment, they can listen and understand, however, they cannot speak what they want to say. Thus, making me made all the activities focus on their speaking. I will share in this blog the instructional materials I used for my final demonstration.

(Just click the PowerPoint button to view the files)

This is the PowerPoint presentation I used for instruction. It has a part where Adjectives are introduced so that Degrees of Comparison will be easier to discuss.

This is called a courseware in which an interactive game was made with Microsoft PowerPoint. You can take a look and try it yourself.

Here are the other photos of me during my teaching.

(Credits to my supportive supervising teacher who never failed to take photos of me.)

Aside from sticking to my own classes, I also took the opportunity to observe some other classes. I observed the class of my kind friend, Maikah in another class of Grade 8. Also, I had observation in the final demonstration of my friend Recom in the Senior High School.

This is the class of Maikah in Grade 8. She was teaching Stating General Truths by describing the animals in the zoo.

This is the class of Recom in Grade 11. This time, he was asking a student to share something about the video shown to the class.

At first, I was thinking that the time frame for my teaching in the lab school was long but as time passed by, I realized I was starting to be in love with my students, regardless how manageable and unmanageable they are. In the end, I was telling myself and my friends that I wish I could have given more time to teach them. It is because I wanted to see their improvements in English. Aside from that, I want to see them grow becoming better persons. I will just hope that all students will be in good hands because I see their potential as capable leaders and changers of our world.