The SEP for this semester was the hardest SEP
I ever had. So many unpredictable things and obstacles that I faced during
almost two weeks. This story was started on a day when the information of SEP
was announced, and then I was chosen to be the leader of my group to do SEP in
a government school in South Jakarta. It was not a problem; it was a new
challenge for me because I had to coordinate with my friends, with the school’s
vice principal, with the master teacher, with Mr. Ilan and Ms. Susi as the
coordinator for the SEP, and so on which I never done in the previous SEP, so
it was really a new challenge for me.
The obstacles came out since Mr. Sagara (as
the representative advisor from the campus for the SEP in that school) and I
came to the school on three days before the SEP begun. We had a meeting with
Mr. YS as the vice principal of the school, he stated that so many activities
which would be done during this month. The SEP should be begun at 2nd
of April 2012, but the school still had a midterm week until April 5th.
The 6th of April was a national holiday, and the 7th of
April was Saturday, but Saturday was not a weekday in that school. So, the
conclusion, the first week of SEP we would not have any activity there.
In the other hand, he stated that we could
start to do observation and team teaching in the class on the second week,
while at the first week we just could have a consultation with our master
teacher to prepare the team teaching. Another problem was the days for doing
activities were four days only (9th until 12th of April),
while in the April 13th, the school would have a rapport day. Mr.
Sagara said that it was not a problem; it would be a challenge for the students
of SSE. We had to be productive during those four days.
Suddenly, a teacher came to the meeting room.
She asked to the vice principal about another thing, then the vice principal
introduced us to her and explained about the SEP that would be done on that
school. Suddenly, she reminded the vice principal about the school’s schedule
that the school would has a remedial week from the 9th until the 12th
of April, and there would not has any teaching during those four days. The vice
principal forgot about that activity, and then all of us just shocked suddenly.
We still had a chance to do activities in the
3rd week (16th – 20th) before we had a midterm
week at 23rd of April until 6th of June, but on the 16th
– 19th of April, the XII grade would have national examination, so
we just had one day (20th of April). We did not have any conclusion
then. We just got stuck. Mr. Sagara just said that he should consult with Mr.
Ilan and the team to solve this problem. Mr. Sagara said the most possible
conclusion was the students who do the SEP in that school would be divided to
another school, but he would have a meeting first.
In the fact, what Mr. Sagara
said was happened. We were divided to another school on Monday, 2nd
April 2012 which was the first day of SEP. The obstacles were not finished yet.
Some of them were appeared during the-two-week of SEP. I was moved to the SMAIT
Nurul Fikri Depok. It was not a problem, but the distance from my home to the
school was one of the obstacles. I had to leave my house after praying Shubuh,
so I would arrive there at 6.30 am. The school’s schedule obliged us to go back
after 03.30 pm. It was just a challenge, not a problem, so I still could handle
it.
The first week of SEP, the
school also had a midterm week, so that my friends and I would start the
observation and team teaching on the second week. On the 3rd of
April, I just came and introduced myself to my master teacher there, Mr.
Suratno. He explained that before we had team teaching, we might have a test
about the material for teaching which would be held on Wednesday (April 4th,
2012), and the material was “Limit” because we would teach the XI grade. Also,
he let us to arrange the time for teaching. In my conclusion, we would have
teaching every day, two classes, so each group would have teaching one class a
day.
Another problem just came out
(it was from my own activities). On the 9th of April, I could not
come to the SMAIT Nurul Fikri because I had to go to SDLB Santi Rama to do
observation. This activity was held by “Differentiated Instruction” course, it
has been published since the announcement day of SEP, so this was not a
problem. The problem was my activity to join the Olympiad (Olimpiade Nasional
Perguruan Tinggi tingkat II) on Wednesday until Thursday (11th – 12th
of April 2012), so that I could not come to the school again. So, I just could
come to the school on Tuesday and Friday (10th and 13th
of April 2012).
Next, I arranged my schedule for teaching on
Tuesday because XI’s grade schedule for mathematics was only from Monday until
Thursday, and then I could use Friday to do observation on the X grade. I had
to teach 4x20 minutes as the requirement for the SEP, but I think the school
would let us to teach a whole 4x45 minutes for teaching, so that I would teach
in one class with the first group, then continued to teach another class with
the second group.
I thought that I would not have any problem
anymore because all of the materials for teaching on Tuesday were done. The
lesson plan, the file for teaching, the stuff for the activities, all done on
Sunday, 10th April 2012, so I just free of worry to don’t come to
the school on Monday. However, the problem just came out again. On the
afternoon of Monday, my friends informed me about the cancelation for teaching
on Tuesday because the XI grade would have a test, so we cannot teach them. The
solution was I had to teach the X grade on Friday, and the material was Trigonometry.
I just shocked to hear that information. My friend said that I just could have
a consultation with Mr. Suratno for the teaching, so it was okay.
On Tuesday, I got a problem with my
motorcycle’s tire. It was got a flat tire in the middle of my journey to the
school. It was still early morning, none of repair shop opened at that time, so
I had to walk with my motorcycle until I found a gas station. I asked one of
the workers there to leave my motorcycle until one of my family came to take
it. I got the permission, and then I continued my journey by using public
transportation. I decided to use a train by considering the time. I got off
from the train in UI station, and Ita (my friend) would take me there to go to
the school.
After that, I arrived at the school. A little
bit late, but the school didn’t start the learning yet because every day they
always had an activity to read holy Quran. Next, I met Mr. Suratno to talk
about my teaching for Friday. He said that I could join his class on the
afternoon in X.C, so that I can continue his teaching on Friday in that class.
However, for the X.A, Friday is the first meeting, so I might teach the X.A
with the same materials that Mr. Suratno gave to X.C. The conclusion was I had
to make two lesson plans and two files for teaching. I need my friends’ help,
but it was hard to coordinate since on the Wednesday and Thursday we would not
meet each other, so I decided to make the lesson plans and files for teaching
all by myself. I just informed them about the material that should they learn,
so that they could help me in teaching.
On Tuesday night until Wednesday night, I
focused on the Olympiad because all of the material had not been learned which
were Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Discrete of Mathematics, Linear Algebra,
and Abstract Algebra. I knew that I would fail in this competition, but at
least I had prepared a little bit of them. I had done my best; just let God
does the rest.
The Olympiad just finished on 03.30 pm on
Thursday, so I just started to prepare my lesson plans and files for teaching
at 07.00 pm. I finished my lesson plans at 10.00 pm, after that I took a rest
for an hour, and then continued to make the files for teaching. Finally, I
finished at 04.00 am on Friday. I did not sleep at all. I just prepare for my
teaching at that day, waiting for praying Shubuh, and then went to the school.
I just felt very sleepy during my journey; even I set the music on my ear. I
often blank in rode my motorcycle, I was afraid I would get an accident, so I
decided to continue my journey by using train again, and do the same like what
I did on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I just had 6.000 IDR on my
pocket. I did not bring extra cash. I was just afraid if I needed it suddenly.
Next, I decided to get help from someone. I force myself to borrow, or even to
beg someone’s help to give me 5.000 IDR. I never done it before, but I had to
do it at that time. God helped me; a young-moslem-girl sat beside me to wait
the train, and then I forced myself to beg her help. Alhamdulillah, she
understood my condition. She gave me 6.000 IDR sincerely (Insya Allah).
However, I felt ashamed. In the fact, she used an economic train which 2.000
IDR for the ticket, while I bought the commuter line ticket which 6.000 IDR for
the ticket. At that time, I did not know if there was an economic train to go
to Depok. By holding 6.000 IDR from her, I decide to print my lesson plans and
the files for teaching in UI station. The shop was the cheapest shop I ever
visited, 200 IDR for printing a page. By 6.000, I could print and copy my stuff
for teaching. After finishing my printing, I was pinched by Ita. Again, we
arrived at the school a little bit late.
The time for teaching had come. In the first
class which was X.C, I continued the material. Also, I was accompanied by Hani
and Wia for teaching, they were been assistant of me. The previous materials
were measuring the angle by degree and radian, and the comparison value of
trigonometry in the right triangle. I continued in teaching the value of
trigonometry for the special angles, and about the Cartesian and Polar
coordinate. After reviewing the last material, I grouped them, so that they
could discuss the new material in their group. I gave them a group work to
determine the value of trigonometry for the special angles. They done it
greatly, but they did not submit their work, so I did not have their answer as
the evidence. After that, we continued the teaching, and then I gave them the
post test. I had not checked it yet, but I will inform it later.
The atmosphere was quite noisy because all of
the students were boys. In SMAIT Nurul Fikri, the boys and the girls were
separated in different classes. For X.A and X.C, they were boy classes. My
classroom management was still bad, I exceeded the time that given for
teaching. It was because they did not want to submit their post-test, so that
the time for break was used. I had apologized for that, but they said it was
not a problem.
Next, I continued my teaching in the X.A by
accompanied by Ita and Umi. We just shocked when all boys were still had a
chit-chat on the floor. Some of them were still on the canteen. I knew that it
was the time for learning mathematics, but they said it was still break time. I
forced them to have a seat and start the learning, and finally they followed my
instruction and we started the learning even it was a little bit late. This
class was much quieter than the class before, but both of classes gave their
attention on my teaching. In this class, there was a special needs student. I
did not recognize it because Mr. Suratno did not informed me anything about it,
but Umi had handled him, I hope he could understand the material given.
The similar method I used to treat those
classes. In X.A was started by grouping them, so that they could discuss the
material. It was continued by introducing what Trigonometry was, and then
learning about the degree and the radian, and then group work, learning about
the comparison of trigonometry in the right triangle, and then post-test. I
also had not check the result yet, but hopefully they understood my teaching.
Friday was the last day of the SEP. After
praying Friday, we had the last meeting with Mr. Suratno and Mr. Imron to
reflect about our teaching. I was assessed by Mr. Suratno because he was the
teacher for the X grade, while Mr. Imron assessed my friends because he was the
teacher for the XI grade. Mr. Suratno said that personally, he liked my way in
teaching. However, my teaching will be better for the student with the higher
achiever. He said that if I teach the “higher achiever,” the result will create
the quality students. I didn’t know whether it was a compliment or not.
However, I just reflect that I had to more practice in teaching, so that I
could teach not too fast, and could use the understandable language (most of
them said my teaching was too fast, and my language too hard to be understand).
By considering my weaknesses in learning
Trigonometry, I acknowledged that it was hard to teach it. Finally, I just got
a lower point if I compared to the previous SEP. It was a little bit sad;
however I also considered my preparation which was one night only to teach two
classes with different materials. The important thing was my learning in how to
teach the homogeneous class. I had done my best, and I had learned so many
things there. Thank you for everyone who had helped me during my SEP. Thanks to people who had read my story. :)
