Classroom Observations

After a week of observing one of the science teachers of SMPN 11, Bu Rika, these are my observations about her teaching process inside the classroom.

Planning for Teaching

As shared by my cooperating teacher, Bu Maya Rosalia, what they do in SMPN 11, and maybe, in every school in Indonesia, is that they create their rencana implementasi pembelajaran, or their learning implementation plans (lesson plan). They make their lesson plans for the whole semester before the start of the semester. They prepare this during the break before the start of the semester.

During the implementation of this lessons, they make necessary changes to match the interests and the abilities of the learners. In this way, they would be able to improve their strategy to ensure that the learners will be able to get the topics to be learned inside the classroom.

They base their learning implementation plans on the curriculum prescribed by the Ministry of Education, and other governing bodies that the school follows. They make sure that the competencies stated in the curriculum will be met so that the learners will really learn what is necessary for them as individuals.

Preparation of Lesson and Materials

Bu Rika does her preparation days before she will teach a certain subject matter. This is to ensure that she will not forget something for her lesson. Also she does not only prepare one plan, she has Plan A, Plan B, etc. so that when one plan fails or if it cannot be pushed through because of certain reasons, she still could teach the subject matter.

I noticed this when we observed her one time, and we asked a copy of her lesson plan. And then she showed us a print out of power point slides. We asked why she has that, and she said that when she will teach using an LCD projector, there will be instances that the electricity might suddenly go off, due to certain reasons. When this scenario happens, she could still teach the lesson because she could just post the printout of the slides of her presentation.

The materials were also prepared days before teaching the lesson. This is done especially when she needs to prepare materials for simulating the concept. For example, when she needs to bring household items, or use laboratory materials.

Teaching in Class

I observed Bu Rika 3 times in her class. Based on that, I have seen that she used varied methods in teaching the subject matter she taught. There were times when she used drill methods, so that the learners will fully understand the concept through a series of board work, this was done when there's computation that was involved (e.g. connectivity of vessels). When explaining concepts, she used simulation using household items so that the learners will see first hand how a certain concept works and how could it be related to real life.

She does not do pure discussions. She does not monopolize the different activities inside the classroom. I saw that she's a facilitator inside the classroom. She gave student-centered activities, and ensured that all students must participate inside the classroom.

Measurement and Evaluation

During our observation, I only saw the class being evaluated once. But the way that the class was evaluated was not through a paper and pen assessment, but by the students saying what they understood for the day verbally. Bu Rika presented a game, wherein the students will do a count off randomly, and then the student who will be assigned to a number that is divisible by 4, he or she must give a concept that he or she understood. If a student will not be able to give a concept, he or she, together with other students, will do something in front of the class. This was done towards the end of the period.

On the lesson plans of Bu Maya and Bu Rika, I saw that they planned to give quiz when they are done teaching related concepts to measure the understanding of the learners. Some of the quizzes they planned to give were multiple choice type, focusing on the concepts, and some problem solving type, focusing on calculations.I was not able to observe them execute this part because we observed during the mid-phase of the class, where in they were still building up on the concepts they were learning.

Overall Impression of the Teacher's Performance

To sum up my observation, for me, Bu Rika is an effective teacher. I saw that she really knows the content that she taught, she was able to deliver it smoothly. On the side of classroom management, I saw that she was able to manage the class well. The students were behave, not because they were afraid of the teacher or because Bu Rika was a strict teacher, but because she was able to handle the class well and encouraged them to participate in class and to focus on the activities that they were doing inside the classroom.

I observed that most, if not all, of the students inside the classroom understood the concepts that she taught. This was a clear indicator that her performance inside the classroom when she was teaching was good, and that she was able to facilitate successfully the learning of the student.

Overall, I could only say that Bu Rika is a good teacher, and that I am lucky that I was able to observe her teaching, and I learned to much from my stay in her class.