SUMMARY
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SUGGESTIONS
purposes of practicum
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The SEA Teacher Project or the "Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia" aims to attain the following objectives for the participants:
- To enable pre-service student teachers to develop their teaching skills and pedagogy
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To encourage the pre-service student teachers to practice their English skills
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To allow the pre-service student teachers to gain a broader regional and world view
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To expose future teachers to diverse teaching and learning situations and opportunities, and the value of flexibility.
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My practicum experience in Surakarta, Indonesia is really one of a kind. It enabled me to gain many memories and experiences which i could treasure for a lifetime. Almost all of the project's objectives were met. I was able to really see and experience the difference and some similarities of the teaching pedagogy in Indonesia and Philippines. There were actually some classroom settings which i would like to adapt in my future classroom because it was well organized.
The project really allowed me to gain a broader regional and world view. During our first day in Surakarta, I was already able to eat some of their traditional foods and as days passed by, I get to eat more traditional foods given to us by our mentors and buddies. It was really good to get to know more about other people's culture because it lets me get to know more about them which helps in building connection with people. Also, some of our buddies, students, mentors and cooperating teachers are Muslims and I honestly have few ideas about their religion but after my stay in Indonesia, I was able to get to know more about them and it really made me feel good that they are open to share about their religion despite our differences. The entire practicum exposed me to different situations where I could practice my flexibility and openness to diversity. It may be really exhausting at times but seeing that students learn something new is really priceless.
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For me, the only objective which was not fully attained was the second one. I was able to practice my English skills but it didn't help me improve it because most of the persons i've met don't really use English on a daily basis and it is their third or fourth language which means that they have a little difficulty in communicating using the language. Good thing is that our host university offered us to have Bahasa lessons every Friday and it was a great help because it help us learn words which we could use on a daily basis.
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procedures of practicum
Before we proceeded to our practicum, Universitas Tunas Pembangunan, our host university, asked us to prepare for our teaching demonstration. We taught the students in UTP and acted like they were elementary students twice. It was fun and a bit hard because we had to put Bahasa Indonesia on our presentation because some students don't understand English.
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After finishing our two teaching demonstration, we were asked to observe whole day and the day after that, we were already told to teach the subject matter assigned to us. We actually didn't just teach in one school but instead, we were given a chance to teach in three different schools.
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outcomes of practicum
My first time to be an exchange student is definitely one of the most memorable college experiences because it opened me to a lot of new opportunities which i thought i wouldn't have. Traveling with a purpose and exploring another country's places and culture really filled me with happiness. I've always dreamt of traveling around the world and i never thought that i could stay in another country for a month. I was able to bring back home new ideas i've got from Indonesia which I could use in my future career as a teacher. My practicum in Surakarta, Indonesia helped me gain more confidence in teaching. It also strengthen my love and passion for teaching. I was able to realize that I was right in choosing the path to become a teacher.​
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the challenges of practicum
The only challenge i've encountered was language barrier. Communicating with some of the students and teachers who don't practice speaking in English on a daily basis became a struggle because I was clueless as to how I could address my concerns to them but the good thing is that we have Bahasa Indonesia lessons every Friday. Also, when we communicate with them, they sometimes use Bahasa Indonesia when they don't know the English word so we end up translating it and learning new words as we talk to them. Google translator is also one of our life savers. It may not be 100% accurate but it was still helpful not only to me but also to my Indonesian buddies and friends who sometimes have a hard time speaking to us. Since I was put in this kind of learning background and situation, the only thing I had to do was to adjust and adapt to my surroundings. I am not in the position where I could demand this or that which means that it should be me who should change and improve myself so that I could blend with them. It was not easy but it was worth all the sleepless nights.
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overall impression
The Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia Program changed me in a better way. It opened me to numerous opportunities which helped me improve myself. I was able to get to know myself more and it made me see the beauty and at the same time the struggles of becoming a teacher. All my experiences equipped me more to become the better and eventually the best teacher that I could be and I am forever grateful for the opportunity given to me.
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suggestions for future improvement
I would like to congratulate everyone behind the success of SEA Teacher Project! Thank you for giving me/us the opportunity to explore the beauty, culture and diversity of Indonesia. I suggest to ensure that the mentors of the host university are fully aware of the requirements needed by the students. Our other classmates who also participated in the SEA Teacher Project went home to Philippines with their certificates from their host university and the school where they taught but in my case, the host university did not gave it to us before we leave and told us that they would just send it to us via e-mail. I also suggest that there should only be one school where the exchange student teacher will teach because it was a bit exhausting to teach in 3 different schools. It was tiring but it was also fun and good because we were able to experience the different schools in Surakarta, Indonesia. Nonetheless, i was still able to feel the love, care and support of our host university. They also conducted Bahasa Indonesia class for us and it was very helpful in our stay in Surakarta. It was their first time to participate in the said project but they were able to successfully pull it off. Congratulations and thank you for everything!!!
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OTHER SCHOOLS
Aside from SD Muhammadiyah, we were also able to go observe and teach at two other schools. The first school is at SDN Sriwedari, the second school is SD Muhammadiyah and the last school is SDN Sondakan.
I introduced myself in Filipino, English and of course in Bahasa Indonesia.
Picture with the sweet students from SDN Sriwedari.
It was a fun experience teaching in this school although we had a problem in communication. My cooperating teacher only knows few English words but I was still able to appreciate her effort to speak to me even though I know that it's hard. I taught the students in Bahasa Indonesia so they could understand me. It was very difficult but i'm glad that i was able to successfully teach them.
A challenging yet fun teaching experience at SDN Sriwedari.
The last school where I taught, SDN Sondakan.
The classrooms looked so organized and beautiful. As you can see at the back part, the students' things are well arranged.
I had the chance to have a quick observation in different classes at SDN Sondakan.
They are the students that i've handled at SDN Sondakan. They were all very energetic!
A fun and fruitful teaching experience at SDN Sondakan.
I also taught using Bahasa Indonesia at SDN Sondakan. We started by asking a student to lead the prayer. After that, I let them stand up to exercise and immediately proceeded to starting my lesson.
Very focused in finishing the activity that I asked them to do.
Class pictorial with my loving and sweet students.
