Fitriana Amani/1113014000060/ Third Reflection
1. After three to four months of teaching practice, has anything changed with
your assumptions about how teaching and learning should take place?
There are two main crucial things in my point of view of beliefs about schools.
The two things are Schools and the teachers. First, is school. The school is expected
to be a place where students enjoy the convenience of learning. After through 4
months teaching at SMP 178, I realize the core of learning and teaching is all about
building a relationship with our students. No matter how sophisticated the facilities are,
the rank of the school and the high technology of the school can afford, as long as the
teacher and the students can make a good harmonization in learning, I believe the
objective of the learning could be reached effectively.
So, why go to school? What is the role of teachers? Teaching is really about
inspiration, not information. Effective teaching focuses on why and how not what. The
goal should be to spark each students imagination, to find a hook in their heart and
mind so that they feel a need to learn the material. The rest is easy because the
student then drives his or her learning. My role as a teacher is to ask provocative
questions and to help the students make a path toward the answers. If they are
motivated to find the path, they will carve it themselves. If I have to pull out a mental
machete to expose the path, then I havent done my job.
2. How has your teaching practice prepare you for your future teaching
profession?
After finishing the practice of teaching I learn a lot of things to make my teaching
much better, those things are as follows:
1) It is much easier to tap into a students drive if they know that you care about them
personally. I surprised when some of my students said It was so meaningful to have
a teacher look me in the eyes and respond to my specific comments or questions. In
these settings, I pushed myself to learn, nobody had to push me. Its no surprise that
I chose to continue studying in the field where I spent time in big classes with a fully
engaged teacher. From their comments, I come to understand that a teacher should
have a good connection between the students to catch their attention to truly learn.
2) Find a connection to the students lives and make the material immediately relevant.
Without this, the content is a like a puzzle piece that isnt connected to the rest of the
Fitriana Amani/1113014000060/ Third Reflection
students growing picture of how the world works. The student doesnt know why its
relevant, has trouble learning it, and quickly discards it when the class is over.
3) Finally, never tell students what they need to do to get an A or 90,100 score in the
class. If you do, they will inevitably do the minimum amount to get the grade they want.
Instead, I tell my students to never miss an opportunity to be fabulous. I promise to
deliver my very best in each class, and I expect the same from them. I also tell them
that I have no problem giving everyone an A, but that the bar is very high.
With this encouragement, I find that students deliver much more than they ever
imagined. They embrace the idea of being fabulous with enthusiasm and raise the bar
repeatedly as the quarter progresses. Ive been delighted by the stickiness of this
message. Its as though students are waiting to get this instruction. Theyre hungry for
permission to do their very best, to hit the ball out of the park and to shine their
brightest.
Its relatively easy to meet expectations, knowing exactly what you will get in return.
But amazing things happen when you take away the cap. Like a soda bottle thats
been shaken, individuals who remove perceived limits achieve remarkable results in
the classroom and beyond! It is up to teachers to light the fuse and see what happens.
As William Butler Yeats is quoted as saying, Education is not the filling of a pail, but
the lighting of a fire.