5.1 PURPOSES OF PRACTICUM

            In every undertaking in my sending university or even being part of the SEAMEO SEA teacher Project, I always find my purpose. I believe that the purposes of practicum are aligned to the objectives of the SEAMEO SEA Teacher Project, as follows:

            A. To enable pre-service student teachers to develop their teaching skills and pedagogy. In this part, I am looking forward to teaching the students using different styles, employing different kinds of teaching strategies and classroom approaches because doing so are avenues to develop or to improve my teaching skills and pedagogy. With the demands and standards of the 21st Century Teaching and Learning with an integration of ASEAN, I believe the this practicum served the purpose of gaining useful information, obtaining adequate knowledge, sharing teaching cultures, and enhancing teaching skills and competence.

            B. To encourage the pre-service student teachers to practice their English skills. I teach science using the English Language. It is more challenging to teach students in science who were learning with a different medium, which is the Bahasa Indonesia. Teaching them English and Science is quite challenging but I treated those as a blessing in disguise because both the practicum and I served the purpose. I enhanced my English skills by speaking it frequently. Talking to my colleagues and mentors made the purpose more meaningful and exciting.

            C. To allow the pre-service student teachers to gain a broader regional and world view. Exchanging cultures with infiltration is a nice way of appreciation. Respect begets respect. The practicum served as an EYE-OPENER and a door for a BORDERLESS PERSPECTIVE. Understanding other people’s teaching and learning cultures was a blessing and a rare opportunity.

            D. To expose future teachers to diverse teaching and learning situation and opportunities, and the value of flexibility. This practicum really exposed me to various teaching and learning situations and opportunities because teaching people of different race was a rare experience. I believe that this practicum is once in a lifetime opportunity that I should cherish. I developed my versatility in teaching because of this practicum.

 

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5.2 PROCEDURES OF PRACTICUM

            My procedures in practicum circulates in instructional planning, actual delivery of the lesson, and assessment and evaluation.

            In instructional planning, crafting a lesson plan is a MUST, I treat my lesson plan as a Holy Bible of a Teacher, which guide him towards the attainment or achievement of the learning outcomes. I considered several things in crafting lesson plan such as determining your learners, the subject matter, the time allocated to teach, available instructional materials, learning competency, content standards, and even the schema of the teacher is tested. Teaching science is not easy especially that it is content-based. You cannot teach science without knowing what to teach.

            In actual delivery of the lesson, the teacher’s theatre act is being tested. My classroom strategies and approaches were anchored to the attainment of the learning outcomes. Classroom management is also a MUST. Speaking the English Language is also a MUST. However, speaking Bahasa Indonesia is optional but Indonesian teachers and earners greatly appreciate foreign people who can appreciate their language and willing to learn about it. The motivation and activity phase must catch the attention of the students and as much as possible, both are contextualized.

            In assessment and evaluation in science, performance-based assessment is the best. My Indonesian students are tactile and love to learn things by using their critical thinking and manipulative skills.

 

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5.3 OUTCOMES OF PRACTICUM

            I am very happy when I learned that the fruits of my labor were sweet. It was a sweet success that I got a high grade, averagely on 3.75 or I exceeded the expectation of my mentors. The outcomes of the practicum do not only point out my success, but also the success of learning experiences gained by my learners from me. I believed that teaching them is highly remarkable to them and even to me.

 

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5.4 CHALLENGES OF PRACTICUM

            There are a lot of challenges I embraced during the course of my practicum. These are the following:

            a. Language barrier;

            b. Expectations of my Mentors in UNSYIAH Laboratory High School anfd Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, and Sending University;

            c. Establishing good and harmonious relations to people;

            d. Teaching the Acehnese Learners;

            e. Developing a Bilingual Instruction;

            f. Contextualization of the Lesson for Relevance;

            g. Classroom Management and many others

 

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5.5 OVERALL IMPRESSION

            My overall impression of the practicum is it really helped me gained meaningful teaching and learning experiences not just from my mentors but also from my Acehnese students. The school and the teachers were great and supportive to my ideals and aspiration for the classroom management and instruction. With that, I love UNSYIAH Laboratory High School and I am planning for a comeback in the near future. I really looking forward to it, and I hope so.

            I AM NOW A SEA TEACHER! A teacher who is capable of ‘OVERCOMING LANGUAGE BARRIERS, GAINING BORDERLESS PERSPECTIVES, AND EMBRACING DIVERSE CULTURES’.

            With these experiences, I highly recommend the SEAMEO SEA Teacher Program to my peers, family relatives, and even in the academe. I will encourage them to do great in their studies in  order to be chosen and deserving to be part of the program.

 

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5.6 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT

            I have several suggestions for the future improvement of my practicum:

            a. I suggest that the duration of the program will be much longer so that exposure to the international teaching internship is adequate.

            b. I suggest that SEA Teachers must undergone Foreign Language Classes especially in their host school so that we will be able to cope with the challenges of Language Barrier.

            c. I suggest that educational technology integration is heightened and resourcefulness is practiced by SEA Teachers.

            d. I suggest that my mentors and other colleagues should encourage me to adopt the lesson planning that they are using even though it is complex and written in Bahasa Indonesia.

 

            With all these short suggestions for future improvement, I believe that the next generation of SEA Teachers are gearing towards success in instruction and touching the lives of the learners.

            Maraming Salamat po!

            Thank you very much!

            Terima Kasih banyak SEAMEO SEA Teacher Project!