WEEK 4

For this fourth week, it was my final week of teaching practicum at SMA Labschool. It was a bittersweet week, as I was sad to be leaving my students, but I was also excited to have completed my teaching practicum successfully. Also, a lil' spoiler - a lot of things happened since its the final week! :)

I was able to meet my students face-to-face twice (Monday & Friday), and the other three days of the week were spent teaching online, as the university was having graduation ceremonies and had many visitors. Online class meetings were not that new in my end, because I spent my 2 years and a half in college doing online classes. I admit I'm a bit nervous about teaching online for the first time because of my experience as a student wherein technical difficulties may arise and also the attention span of the students. Gladly, it went well with the help of Ibu Indri and my classmate Jezysaint. I was able to present course materials, create activities, games and quizzes, and also interact with my students.

In terms of my final evaluation, Prof. Emi Emilia told me to just record one class and send it online along with the evaluation form and lesson plan. She wasn't able to come because she is in Hong Kong to attend some meeting. As I received an email from her regarding with my evaluation, I can say that she was pleased with my progress.

On the last school day of the week, I said goodbye to my students. I gave them each a candy and a short message as an appreciation for their participation during my teaching practicum. We also took a class picture together as a photo souvenir.

In the afternoon, We went on an excursion to Gracia Hot Spring with accompanied by Mr. Fachru Ridha, some UPI staffs and other exchange students. We had a lot of fun the hot pools because after stressful weeks of teaching practicum, we deserve time to finally relax.

I and my friends spent the weekend enjoying my last days in Bandung. The trip wouldn't be complete without visiting a church. The three of us Jezysaint and Shiermae went to St. Laurentius Church which is a beautiful church. We attended a mass, offered prayers and thanksgiving for the fruitful journey we had. On the afternoon, with the other exchange students we visited Orchid Forest, a botanical garden with a wide variety of orchids and spots that is very photo worthy.

The last day of the exchange program was the closing ceremony at the University Centre along with the other exchange students, UPI director, staff and SMA Labschool teachers. Each participating universities were asked to have on representative to share the testimony, for FEU Roosevelt - Adrielle was the one who shared - I and Jezysaint helped her to make the testimony. We were also given certificates of completion and tokens of appreciation. We wore Filipiniana for the closing ceremony, to represent Philippines' culture. After that, for the last time we drop by at the SMA Labschool to bid goodbye to some teachers and sing some songs like "Salamat" by Yeng Constantino. Before going back to the dorm, we stopped by at the Villa Isola the famous landmark in UPI, we took solo and group pictures wearing the national costume.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated in the exchange program. I learned a lot about teaching English in Indonesia, and I also made some lifelong friends. I will cherish the memories of my time in Bandung forever.