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Narrative of Teaching Experiences in SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Program Unggulan Colomadu, Indonesia
During the first few weeks in SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Program Unggulan Colomadu, I carefully observed the environment, particularly the students, as they were the most highlighted in this journey. At the welcoming ceremony in the school, I took the opportunity to introduce myself in their Bahasa to create a sense of excitement and warmth among the students. This also shows my willingness to embrace their culture and make the students comfortable in our interactions.
It was also during the first few weeks in SMP Mutu that the structure of their lesson plan was introduced, but it was written in Bahasa, making it a bit difficult to construct. However, with assistance and feedback from the cooperating teacher, effective teaching in a different school environment becomes possible. A few comments and suggestions by the cooperating teacher were applied to the finalization of the lesson plan. Included in this planning is the use of both English and Bahasa in teaching as some students are having difficulty conversing and sharing their insights. Further, make the teaching and learning process more interesting by having engaging activities during the discussion.
Teaching Plan
Teaching Practice
Having the opportunity to teach outside the Philippines both excites and scares me. Because I knew that there would be a different approach needed to properly execute the discussion. After the days of teaching and learning how the class in Indonesia works, I take note of some reminders and teaching strategies that I can adapt and enhance during the teaching demonstration.
When I had my teaching of “Expressing Feelings” in the ninth kelas (ninth grade), I had prepared for it for the past few days, making use of a theme related to the topic. For the preparation, I apply a few of the notable adaptations that I have observed during the first week, such as implementing classroom rules that highlight not only an authoritative teacher but also a conducive learning environment and the use of printed handouts for students' materials during the discussion. For the teaching method, I used real-life situations that students commonly experience as an example of the discussion that allows students to identify which feelings are appropriate to express as they can easily relate to themselves.
For the materials, I have used both traditional and technological, such as the printed materials students can use as their handouts, printed images that are about emotions together with the picture of the characters in the Inside and Out movie such as joy, anger, and sadness, projector screens for the Canva presentation of the PowerPoint and short video excerpt from the movie. As a teaching strategy, I make use of the technique of applying colors based on the emotions of the characters, which allows students to easily associate feelings with certain colors.
The activity that evaluates the students' understanding of the discussion was done by pairs wherein the students watch a short clip and internalize the message of it, then individually express their feelings through creatively drawing it. For the students' short pen and paper assessment, I prepared an activity sheet for them to answer.
As learner-centered is the approach of teaching, most of the activities allow students to think critically and collaborate while learning. At the end of the discussion, I ask students to share their insights and the relevance of the discussion in the real world. As a way of concluding the lesson, I also leave the class with a simple quote translated in Bahasa that encourages students to express their feelings rather than being afraid of it.
The core of teaching in SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Program Unggulan Colomadu, Indonesia —my dear students from Kelas 8