IV. Teaching Practice

Procedures of Teaching

How should I teach my students so that they will be motivated and actively learning?

This is the question that I always ask myself every time I am required to do microteaching or a teaching demonstration. The good thing is that I follow a flexible framework that guides my teaching process and instructional approach.

My teaching procedure is heavily based on the semi-detailed lesson plan I designed, following the format provided by my cooperating teacher and integrating some interactive elements that I apply whenever I do my teaching demonstration or microteaching.

In this section, I will be explaining the procedures of teaching I used for my final teaching demonstration, where I discussed Simplifying Algebraic Expressions in Grade 7 students of Lazuardi Ibnu Sina Kendari. The reason why I chose this topic is that, in my opinion, I used better teaching procedures and strategies here compared to my initial teaching experience.

I started the session by greeting my students “Good morning!” in English, as well as “Selamat pagi!” in Bahasa Indonesia. I believe that using their national language would help me start a connection with my students, which is essential at the beginning of the teaching process. I also took that chance to reintroduce myself as their mathematics teacher for that session. Following this is the prayer, where I called one student to lead the prayer.

Before the attendance checking, I asked my students to ensure classroom cleanliness and order by instructing them to pick up some pieces of trash and properly arranged their tables and chairs. I also remined them to prepare their pens and math notebooks, since they will be using them for practice solving and answering the quiz. These are essential reminders to have a comfortable learning environment and well-prepared students.

After I checked the attendance, I presented the classroom rules and reminded the learners to always follow them. I also encouraged them to ask questions and give suggestions to ensure a clear understanding and student-centered learning. No classroom rules were added, and the students understood the rules.

Before proceeding to the new topic, I facilitated a review activity in the form of a kinesthetic live quiz-bee called Stretch It Right! In this activity, all the students answered multiple-choice questions about the previous topic simultaneously, one at a time, by stretching their arms in different directions. First, they stand up. Second, they hold hands in front of their chest. Finally, after I read the question and said “Stretch it right!” they stretched their arms in the direction that corresponds to their answer.

A = stretch to the right

B  =  stretch to the left

C =  stretch to the front

D  =  stretch to the back

Correct students were given a chance to explain their answer, which I elaborated. Guide questions regarding the review activity were answered for effective recapitulation. Overall, the students enjoyed this kinesthetic review activity.

After the students reviewed the previous topic, I presented the learning objectives. To ensure clarity, I encouraged them to raise any questions or clarifications so that everyone is on the same page. I also displayed visible learning objectives during the entire teaching duration for students to be well-guided and motivated.

After establishing the learning objectives, I facilitated a collaborative activity titled Algebra Tiles Puzzle, where the class was divided into two groups and simplified algebraic expressions using algebra tile puzzles. I integrated this activity because it exercises students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which students tested and showed when they participated in and completed this group task.

The next step was concept delivery, where I applied direct instruction, an interactive online manipulative tool, collaborative learning, and guided practice. The direct instruction was applied by explaining the essential concepts and showing how to simplify algebraic expressions through the teacher-led examples. This was followed by the integration of the Algebra Tiles, the interactive online manipulative tool used to visually show how to simplify algebraic expressions. Following that was the facilitation of the pair work practice, which applies collaborative learning and guided practice. This is essential because it promotes collaboration, where learners may learn from one another. Additionally, while they were working on it, I was roaming around to guide them as well.

The next part was the guided practice, where I also applied collaborative learning through a group activity. I divided the students into two groups to solve the School Supplies Challenge, which is a real-world problem involving Simplifying Algebraic Expressions. To be able to make the word problem relatable, I included rupiah, which is Indonesia’s currency. This is also how I promoted relatability and interest among students during the review activity by including their names in the example problems, as well as a part of their culture, such as the popular food Nasi Lele and Nasi Goreng. After completing the group activity, one representative from each group presented their work, which I guided, gave feedback on, and evaluated.

Under the independent practice, students were individually required to answer an individual quiz. A scoring rubric was provided for learners to be guided on how to answer the evaluation. This will measure students’ learning and will help determine whether the learning objectives were achieved.

As for the closing and reflection section of the lesson plan, the students were asked about how they felt after studying the lesson, what they had learned, what difficulties they had encountered, and what their suggestions were. After answering those questions, the session ended with a prayer.

Time Management and Organizing Activities

Time management has been my main challenge ever since my first teaching demonstration that happened in the Philippines. When I had my initial teaching demo in Lazuardi Ibnu Sina Kendari, this was the exact same difficulty that I encountered.​

I have 70 minutes to teach a mathematics lesson to Grade 7 students. All the activities, essential concepts, and assessments must be completed for the entire session. However, there were times that I had to reexplain the concepts so that learners could understand them better. There were times when I had to guide the students one-on-one. It is hard to proceed to the next examples or subtopic without ensuring that they understand the current one. Additionally, when facilitating collaborative, pair, or individual activities, the students sometimes took more time to finish it, leading to an extension of the activity duration. But those are normal encounters of teachers in their everyday classes. Therefore, I must know how to deal with these time management difficulties, such as by adjusting my teaching pace and reducing student activities while retaining the most relevant ones.

As for organizing the activities, they should be structured based on the learning objectives, as well as on the lesson plan format. The learners’ needs, interests, and cultural background should also be considered in designing and structuring activities to ensure that students are motivated and not intimidated to learn mathematics. That is how I ensured that the activities were relevant, meaningful, and responsive to the learners’ needs. 

Classroom Management

Teaching is not just about knowing how to teach the lesson; it is also about knowing how to create a positive, organized, and productive learning environment.

In order to maintain a well-managed classroom, I start the face-to-face session by greeting my students. I also establish a routine, which includes prayer, maintaining cleanliness and readiness to learn, checking of attendance, and setting of classroom rules.

For the prayer, I call one student to lead. This is important as it formally starts the class session. To maintain classroom cleanliness and students' readiness to learn, I instruct my students to fix the alignment of their chairs and pick up pieces of trash, as well as to prepare their pens and notebooks. This is such an essential part of classroom management because it promotes a comfortable learning space, eliminates possible distractions for learners, and sets their minds into learning. 

For attendance checking, I prepared an attendance list, which I use for recording present and absent students. This method of checking attendance promotes better organization and attendance recording. Finally, I display and explain the classroom rules that they strictly need to follow, which are the following:

1. Be punctual and honest.

2. Listen attentively when others speak.

3. Actively participate and do not be afraid to make mistakes.

4. Raise your hand before speaking or asking questions.

5. Ask questions when you need help. 

   
   

It is essential to establish and strictly follow classroom rules because they support a safe, organized, and respectful teaching and learning space. They keep the class in order and minimize distractions and disruptions. Therefore, it is a must that the classroom rules are visible throughout the class time for students to be reminded and well-guided as to how they should behave.

Problem-Solving While Teaching and Staying in the Designated School

As previously mentioned, classroom time management is one of the problems that I encountered while teaching. As a solution, I changed my teaching pace, reduced instructional activities and tasks, and only implemented the most essential activities. There were also times when I enforced the time limit more strictly in completing activities to ensure that the entire teaching process would be finished. Besides that, I instruct them to have an advanced reading about the next topic so that they can understand the lesson better during instruction, and we can save teaching time.

Before my initial teaching demonstration, I also faced a technical problem, as my laptop was not compatible with the flat-screen television. Fortunately, I was able to ask for help from my cooperating teacher and borrowed his laptop. I was very grateful for his kindness and assistance at that time

Another challenge I encountered was the language barrier. I experienced this challenge while I was observing non-English classes. I could not understand everyone or what was happening because they were teaching and studying in Bahasa Indonesia. Besides that, In my class, the majority of the female students can express themselves well in English, but most of the male students are not able to speak the language fluently. To clarify, these students can understand English but struggle with speaking it. That is why when talking with them, I sometimes use Google Translate so that we can understand each other. With that, even though not everyone is comfortable speaking the universal language, I can confidently say that all my students are kind, well-behaved, and respectful. Language is never a hindrance to showing genuine kindness to others. 

I also experienced some confusion during the teaching assistantship week. There were no clear guidelines as to which specific subjects or classes we should assist, from what time we should stay in the school, or whether we had to go to school every day. In my case, as a pre-service teacher majoring in mathematics assigned in Grade 7, I was unsure whether I had to go to school every day during the assistantship phase, considering that Mathematics is only taught every Monday and Friday in Grade 7. It was also unclear whether I should only assist my cooperating teacher every Monday and Friday or also the other Grade 7 teachers.

As a solution, I coordinated with my cooperating teacher, some of the Grade 7 teachers, as well as with the junior high school principal and vice principal, to settle our arrangements. That was also what my co-SEA Teachers did to address this problem. We also informed them whenever we did not go to Lazuardi or left the school to return to our dormitory, especially during the assistantship and teaching demonstration phases of our teaching practicum. 

Those are the problems that I encountered and surpassed during my teaching and stay in Lazuardi Ibnu Sina Kendari. These challenges have made me realize the importance of flexibility, asking for help, communication skills, and, most importantly, problem-solving skills as a teacher.

On the positive side, I did not have a hard time adjusting to their culture because the school community is warm and welcoming.