SUMMARY & SUGGESTIONS
For this section, it's gonna be about my thoughts about the program and some few things need to be improved.
Before this program, I got nervous a lot about things such as communicating to other people, socializing and class presentations. Also, in lesson planning - before, my knowledge and experience is limited. During & after the program, I am able to step out from my comfort zone, communicate with other people, overcome anxiety and improve my skills in lesson planning and time/classroom management
The things I most enjoyed from this SEA-Teacher Project were the labschool experience, excursion and the people I've met. Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia gave us a warm welcome and provided us with good accommodation. The students, teachers and staff were nice. As much as they can, they will help us, so that we would feel at ease during the program. They made us feel at home. Second, the excursion and trips we had, I’ve been to the beautiful places that Indonesia has to offer and know more about their culture personally. Lastly, the new set of friends I've made from the Batch 9 of the SEA Teachers, they made it easier from the settling in and the practicum, we both exchanged not just memories but also knowledge that can improve our skills.
In terms of challenges during the program - language was not much of a barrier, most of the students, teachers and staff can communicate in English. For me the difficulty during the program was the time constraints, the University was not that informed with the activities of the Labschool, instead of having 4 weeks of observation and practicum we only had 2 weeks. It's difficult because the time is very limited and compressed. Lastly, the Sahabat - they've only showed up during our arrival and its excursion. I wish the school had more active buddies that would help us in terms of going out, buying something and such - because outside of the school/university premises like at a store or doing public transportation, the cashiers, waiters, vendors or drivers don't really speak much English.
For teaching methods & strategies, communication skills and positive relationships in the classroom. With the experience I had, It really made me realize that teaching took a lot of patience, time and effort. Interacting with students can be draining too. As a future teacher, I learned managing the classroom can be difficult. I need to keep students on task and engaged, and when conflicts arise - I need to be flexible to resolve or adjust right away. I need to be constantly aware of their needs and emotions, and respond to them appropriately so that we can have a positive learning environment.
Lastly, my suggestion for this SEA Teacher Project - the receiving university needs more cooperation or collaboration with the practicum school so the schedule is organized and aligned with the exchange students schedule. Other than that, still grateful to the UPI community, they provided us hands-on cooperating teachers which is very helpful in terms of improving my lesson planning, classroom management and such.
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If i would rate this program from 1-10, it would be 9. There are things need to be improve but all in all this experience is one for the books! A big thanks to Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia :)