September 25,28-29, 2019

September 25, Wednesday, Around 9 o’clock, we had our farewell party at the Principal’s office. There was a  program that was prepared for us. We gave the teachers and staffs snacks that were bought by our buddies to bread kitchen. The program started with prayer, followed by the greetings of each teacher then a speech from JC. It was an emotional farewell program as we bid goodbye to the school. The teachers asked us about our favorite food in Palembang then we just said “Pempek”. They ordered it immediately and we shared and ate. We also had our last free lunch in the school.

September 28, Saturday, the History Education prepared a farewell party for JC and I. We were so touched because they really prepared the program and they gave us their farewell gift and it was their traditional cloth called Batik. We met the students of History Education and the ambassadors of Batik. They were so accommodating and friendly.

Late afternoon, ma’am Nyimas and Dr. Yusop picked us in our dorm for them to accompany us going in the Biggest Al Qur’an Raaksasa and to buy our souvenirs. Al Qur’an Raaksasa was fascinating, it was my first time to see a big carved book, and of course for them, it is their holy book that’s why I feel so honored to saw it. We also went to Nyenye’s souvenir shop to buy souvenirs for our families, friends, and teachers in the Philippines. Ma’am Nyimas treat us for dinner at Riverside. We ordered a lot of food and really enjoyed the day!

September 29, our last day… a lot of memories to treasured and cherished. Ma’am Nyimas picked us up in our dormitory at 6 o’clock in the morning and drive us at the airport. Before going inside the airport, she treat us again breakfast. Then we had our last picture taking together. It was an emotional morning. All of us can feel the sadness in the atmosphere. Also, the sky was sad. It rained a little. As we bid our goodbyes, we were crying hard because this might be the last time that we will see and meet each other.

Terima Kasih, Palembang!

“The more you see, the more you understand.”

Indeed.

September 24, 2019

I still can’t believe that I made this far. “This is my final demo!” I can’t get out this words in my mind because I really love teaching here. But this day, I focused and relax myself since I will be the one to teach first among the four of us. I was scheduled in Grade 10 Science 1 class at 8:30 as the time of my teaching demonstration. I couldn’t help but to be nervous, but when I entered the classroom, all of my nervousness was gone because I saw how the students behaved when I entered and how excited they were to learn.

My cooperating teacher (Ma’am Rita) and supervising instructor (Ma’am Dhita, since Dr. Syariff is in Sudan) were at the back. My buddy, Alif, was the one who’s taking pictures and videos of me.

I posted my cartons on the board and set up my laptop. I inhaled and exhaled silently then started my class with prayer and greetings. There were 2 absents when I checked the attendance. Before I started with my lesson proper, I introduced myself since it was my first and last time handling their class. My motivation and review started after I sang “Butterfly” and gave the instructions. I gave the students wallets from Baguio when they answered the questions correctly. After that, I presented a video for the students to raised questions. They actively raised their questions. The next thing I did was, I wrote the title of the topic on the board and posted the learning objectives.

Using cartons, I explained the lesson, The Style of Life of the Prehistoric Indonesian People. It was easy for me to explain it since we tackled it in our History subjects in the Philippines. The only difference is the terms. Right after I explained, I grouped them into six groups by random counting then gave the instructions. I distributed the materials and the worksheet for the students to answer. I gave them 20 minutes to answer.

Two groups presented after 20 minutes. I gave them scores individually based on the skills assessment rubric. They had their individual short quiz as I distributed them my farewell gift (ball pen and candies). We checked their quiz and after that, I instructed them to write their message for me in a blank carton that was posted on the board. I thanked all of them as I cry in front of them. I went to my cooperating who was crying too. After my class, Ma’am Rita and Ma’am Dhita had their post-conference with me. All of their comments were positive that’s why I was super happy.

September 22, 2019

Around 9 o’clock, together with our buddies, we went to Museum Balaputeradewa. I was fascinated with the museum that we went to. Although it was not organized that much, I am still captivated by how rich they are in terms of culture and tradition. I took some pictures of what catches my attention and we also had our pictures. We went to also to Limas, traditional house in Palembang, Indonesia. We were so lucky because the caretaker allowed us to go inside and he also tour us. He knows that we’re from the Philippines that’s why he explained the things inside the house. Our buddies translated all of the explanation. We took some pictures inside the house. I loved the old stuff inside the house like the old piano and mirror, and I also loved how it was built.

After going to Museum Balaputeradewa, we went to a restaurant to eat our lunch and rested a bit since it was really hot. We walked going to Punti Kayu after resting. We really got tired walking because of the hot weather that’s why we just rested in Punti Kayu. I expected the place as a zoo but we need to pay for another rupiah that’s why we just stayed in the park area. We took some pictures again for memories to be cherished.

We took a grab going to 26 Ilir Market where we ate the traditional food of Palembang which is “Pempek”. It was delicious, same with the taste of squidballs in the Philippines.

What a tiring, but memorable day!

September 20, 2019

One thing I observed from the school is that they update or inform us late. Around 9 o’clock on Friday evening, September 19, JC got a call from the President of one of the organizations of UNSRI telling us to come tomorrow (Saturday, September 20, 2019) for the formal welcome orientation with the other foreign students. We were shocked because of the late notice. We asked our foreign neighbors if they will come and saw they were actually shocked too. Still in the state of confusion, chatted our buddies and they told us that ma’am Nyemas, one of the vice deans, will be the one to pick us up.

Saturday morning came, ma’am Nyimas arrived in our dormitory around 8oclock in the morning. We traveled for around 1 hour from Palembang to Indralaya. When we arrived at the venue, we registered and took some pictures. We saw the other exchange students from Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, and Syria. The program started around 9 o’clock and the content was about some academic matters for the other foreign students.

In the afternoon, we had our campus tour in UNSRI Indralaya. We rode a bus and they gave us snacks. Our first stop was in Library. We remove our shoes then entered the library. Their library is somewhat big and conducive for studying. We toured around the different sections of the library then rode again the bus to tour again in other buildings of the university. The buildings of the different faculties were also passed by the bus and we observed that each faculty has a different color.

We ended the program by taking pictures with the foreign students.

September 17, 2019

This day was our second teaching demonstration. Supposedly, our speech for the flag ceremony was scheduled this date but the smoke was too much.

JC was the first one to teach, followed by me and Friandio. We observed JC’s class in Science 1 at 8:30 in the morning. Her class was active and the students were participating enthusiastically.

At 11:15, my class started in Science 2. This was JC’s class last week and I observed that this class was a bit noisy and not participating. I started with prayer and greetings. The next thing I did was I called volunteer students for review. They match the words I wrote in the strips of carton to the theories they have discussed last week. After review of the previous lesson, I  showed pictures in the PowerPoint presentation for my students to raise their questions about the pictures I presented. Since they had already ideas about our topic, I introduced it and our lesson was the Race Migration Process of the Indonesian Ancestors. I wrote the learning objectives on the board. I explained briefly the topic then distributed the materials to the students. I divided the class into 6 groups by random counting then gave worksheets per group for them to answer. As the students were discussing, I go around to check their work, answer their questions, and rate them individually by skill assessment rubric. After 20minutes, I called 2 groups to share their work in front. The students have good presentations.

After group activity, I asked them to go to their proper seats and bring out a sheet of paper. I collected the materials and emphasized honesty since they will have the eir short quiz. I presented the questions on the board per item and they chose 1 best possible answer since it was multiple choice.

We had picture-taking afterward. They were a bit noisy but I had fun in their class!

I also had the chance to observe our buddy, Dio, in teaching Social class in the afternoon. He was good too and for him, he used Bahasa and English since Social class doesn’t understand English that much.

September 15, 2019

It was 8 o’clock in the morning when Dr. Hartono picked us in our dormitory because we planned to go to the Kemaro Island. We went to the BKB first to take some pictures and waited for a boat to rent going to the Kemaro Island. It was fun and exciting since we rode a boat going there and I saw the beauty of Musi River. We also passed the Ampera bridge that’s why I loved the trip.

When we arrived at Kemaro Island, we took some pictures in front of it with Dr. Hartono. As we went inside, there were stores selling souvenir items and we bought some. There was a great story of the Island that was shared a little by our buddies. We explored the place and have some pictures and videos to it.

There was a cameraman who takes pictures so we have decided that we will divide the cost of the pictures. We had 6 pictures with different poses in front of the Chinese Pagoda. When we saw the pictures, we felt so happy because we have another memory to cherished. Even we didn’t get the soft copy of the pictures, one of our buddies, Alif, scanned the pictures so that we can upload it on Facebook and Instagram.

After Kemaro Island, we went to the Riverside Restaurant to have our lunch. He was the one who ordered our food, Pindang and it was very delicious. Dr. Hartono paid all the expenses for this day.

We also went to LRT station. It was my first time riding a train! I thought I will feel uncomfortable riding it but their train was actually good unlike in the Philippines. After that, we did our goodbye to Dr. Hartono because that will be the last time that we saw him because he will be going to Sudan for some academic works.

This day was so tiring but fun!

September 11, 2019

This day, I felt nervous at the same time excited for teaching my students. My class was early since it started at 7:00 o’clock in the morning. I prepared all my instructional materials and rehearsed before the class started.

I was 5 minutes early to Science 4 class to prepare all my instructional materials, including my cartons and laptop for PowerPoint presentation. When the bell rings, I started immediately. I asked the students to pray, lead by the leader. After that, I greeted them with 3 languages: English (Good Morning), Filipino (Magandang Umaga), and Bahasa (Selamat Pagi). The next thing I did was sing the song “Row Your Boat”. My motivation was called pass the message wherein the students passed a container that has the questions inside. It was fun and exciting since the students actively participated.

The second part of my activity was I presented pictures and asked my students to raised questions. I called 1 volunteer and 2 non-volunteer students. When forming questions was done, I introduced our topic, Theories about the Origin of Indonesian Ancestors, and distributed the materials for the group activity of the students. I presented guide questions to the students and they answered it based on the materials. 10minutes in answering, there was a teacher who entered the room and asked the students to take their career examination that’s why I did not complete teaching the lesson plan. Overall, I have accomplished my lesson until the assessment part. All of grade 10 students were pulled out in their class for career examination by schedule that’s why it affects the time of teaching demo of my buddies, Alif and Dio so they had their performance in other teacher’s schedule in Social class.

September 10, 2019

For our second week in Palembang, Indonesia, we already had our observation to ma’am Rita’s class and teaching assistance. On Tuesday, ma’am Rita was the first one to teach grade 10 at 8:30 am to 10 am. Her class was Science 1. I observed that the students were participating and good at speaking in English since they are known as one of the Cambridge classes. As I observed ma’am Rita, she asked the prayer leader to lead the prayer. When the prayer was finished, she asked the students nicely, “who is absent today?” and “how are you today?”. Right after that, she called some volunteers to recite what was the last topic all about and it’s like a review but in a form of recitation. The next thing she did was she wrote the topic and learning objectives on the board.

Ma’am Rita played a video clip related to the lesson. It was about the theory of how the earth was formed and the evolution of humankind. She told the students to form questions regarding the video clip they had watched and called some students to share their questions in class. Ma’am Rita explained the important points of the lesson through the use of carton, then she distributed the materials of the lesson and worksheet. The students have their groupings that’s why it was easy for ma’am to give scores for skills assessment. 15-20 minutes was given to the students to answer the worksheet, after that, they were asked to present their work in front. The other groups can raise their questions to the presenting group. Some groups we’re not called to share their work because there was still an individual activity.

Overall, my cooperating teacher  (ma’am Rita) used informal assessment for the review of the previous topic, video presentation for her perception, whiteboard for writing the subject matter and learning objectives, carton for the summary of the lesson and handouts for the group and individual activity. They were evaluated through skill assessment rubric for the group activity, and criteria for the essay for individual activity. The class was student-centered since the students did much of the work and the approach was discovery. Ma’am Rita gave the next lesson that the students need to review as their assignment.

JC had her first teaching demonstration at Science 2 before lunch. Her strategies were somewhat the same as ma’am Rita but her motivation and assessment we’re different.  Her motivation was dancing a Zumba and her assessment was matching type. She used PowerPoint presentations to present all her lesson.

September 5-7, 2019

This day was our first deployment in our cooperating school, SMAN 1. Our buddies, Alif and Dio, walked with us going to the school which is a 3-minute walk from our dorm since we’re having a hard time crossing the roads.

When we got to the school, some students were calling and greeting us. We also met some teachers and student teachers from the other university.

The school has no classes this day since they are celebrating the Islamic New Year. We watched the ceremony and they gave us snacks afterward. We were dismissed during early lunch.

On Friday, the students and teachers had their flag ceremony. Ma’am Rita introduced us again to her class. We observed how she teaches the lesson and the students’ behavior. We also had our lesson plan tutorial again for us to master it since we will be following their format. Right after the tutorial, we went to Duane’s school.

SMA Srijaya Negara was just near our campus. We toured around SMA Srijaya Negara and met some teachers. They were very approachable. We also went to a room where the students in the film club are having their meetings and practice. Our buddies translated our introduction to the students since they can’t understand English much. They also presented their acting skills to us and we were also asked to present after them. We only had 2minutes preparation but it turned out well. The students were sweet and friendly, they asked for pictures with us and followed us on Instagram.

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On Saturday, Duane’s teachers invited us again to celebrate the Islamic New Year in their school. The students were lovely and enthusiastic as we introduced ourselves in front. There were some questions that were asked to us like the education system in the Philippines and our favorite foods in Palembang. We walked all together to our dorm before lunch.

At 5oclock in the afternoon, we agreed that we will go to the Ampera Bridge and Pucuk Coolinary Festival. We arrived at the Pucuk Coolinary Festival at 6 pm and bought some food for our dinner then went to JCo to ate our dinner and bought some desserts. Ampera Bridge is so beautiful with its red color. We took some pictures and went home.

September 4, 2019

It was 7:30 o’clock in the morning, Dr. Hartono went to our dorm to fetch and bring us to the Fakultas Keguran Dan Ilmu Pendidikan (Faculty of Teacher Training and Education) in Palembang. Dr. Hartono brought us in his office first, then we went to the Vice Deans’ office. As we had waited for Dr. Hartono’s driver, we met our supervising instructors, Dr. Yusuf (Head of Physics) for Duane, and Dr. Syariff (Head of History) for JC and I. As soon as the driver arrived, we went with Dr. Syariff’s car and he drove us in our cooperating school Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri (SMAN 1) or Public Senior High School 1.

When we arrived at SMAN 1, we went directly to the Principal’s Office. There were teachers, staffs together with the principal that were waiting for us. The program started with prayer and greetings then they asked JC and me to introduce ourselves. The program was followed by Dr. Syariff’s introduction and welcome remarks of the principal and ended with eating of snacks they prepared for us.

After eating in the Principal’s Office, we went in front of the office and take some pictures. Dr. Hartono introduced us to our cooperating teacher, ma’am Rita. We went to ma’am Rita’s class, introduced ourselves to the students, and took some pictures with them. They were approachable and enthusiastic. This day, I felt the excitement to teach them.

Ma’am Rita oriented the four of us, JC and I with our buddies Alif and Dio, regarding our subject to teach and about lesson planning. I was shocked when she said that we will teach Indonesian History, that we never thought that we will really teach. I felt that we don’t have the right to teach that subject because in the first place, we are not Indonesians but there was no other choice. We need to fit into the curriculum. On our discussion regarding the lesson plan, I got a hard time understanding the parts since some words were not translated in English. I just think that time that I really need to study their history at the same time preparing my strategies in teaching.