Minggu, 04 November 2018

Thinking a small thing to becomes a big thing!


Beberapa waktu yang lalu aku berkunjung ke sebuah sekolah, yang mana sekolah ini adalah tempat ku mencari ilmu saat 8 tahun yang lalu. Aku kesana dalam rangka melakukan Service Learning. Setibanya disana aku sangat senang karena sebagian besar guru masih mengingat ku. Mereka kaget dengan perkembangan ku yang mulai beranjak dewasa. Mereka menyambuntku dengan hangat, senyum ketulusan mereka mengingatkan ku pada masa-masa saat aku duduk di bangku sekolah tersebut. Bernostalgia mengingat semua kenangan yang telah terukir di masa lalu. Namun di balik semua itu ada juga rasa sedih yang terselip di hatiku. Karena aku mendapat kabar beberapa guru yang bisa di bilang dekat dengan ku sudah meninggal dunia. Aku hanya bisa berdoa semoga mereka tenang di sisi-Nya disana.

Setelah bernostalgia bersama para guru-guru. Aku diajak salah satu guru untuk memasuki ruangan yang akan aku gunakan untuk melakukan Service Learning. Ketika aku masuk kelas, sesaat kelas menjadi hening, tampak terlihat dari wajah-wajah para murid mempertanyakan “siapakah orang yang bersama guru mereka.” Akhirnya aku memperkenalkan diri dan mengutarakan maksud kedatangan ku di kelas tersebut. Setelah berbicara panjang kali lebar, akhirnya aku pun mulai melakukan apa yang menjadi tujuan ku kesana.

Tertawa, bercanda bersama mereka membuat waktu begitu cepat berlalu. Setelah selesai melakukan Service Learning. Sang guru meminta ku untuk menceritakan pengalaman ku saat masih duduk di bangku sekolah seperti mereka, hingga sampai berhasil masuk di perguruan tinggi. Sang guru juga meminta ku untuk memberikan saran dan nasehat untuk mereka, agar mereka lebih semangat dalam belajar. Aku mulai bercerita tentang banyak pengalaman yang telah aku lalui. Mereka tanpak antusias dengan apa yang aku share kepada mereka.

Setelah selesai bercerita, aku bertanya kepada mereka. “siapa disini yang ingin kuliah?” Hampir semua mengangkat tangan. Lalu aku bertanya lagi. “siapa disini yang ingin kaya?” Mereka mengangkat tangan. Aku pun bertanya lagi “siapa yang ingin punya mobil dan rumah mewah?” Mereka mengangkat tangan. “siapa yang ingin sukses di masa depan?” Semua mengangkat tangan. Kemudian aku bertanya lagi. “kalian pasti punya cita-cita kan? Sekarang tolong yang berani angkat tangan, sebut nama, apa cita-cita kalian dan bagaimana planning/rencana kalian untuk mewujudkan cita-cita kalian itu. Sejenak mereka terdiam, seperti sedang memikirkan sesuatu. Setelah menunggu beberapa menit kemudian ada yang berani mengangkat tangannya. “nama saya Anisa, cita-cita ku adalah ingin menjadi seorang dokter, aku ingin kuliah kedokteran di UNAIR agar bisa mewujudkan cita-cita ku.” Ujarnya di depan teman sekelasnya. Lalu kemudian ada lagi “nama saya Rama, cita-cita saya ingin menjadi pilot. Setelah lulus SMA nanti aku ingin kuliah di jurusan penerbangan” ujarnya. Diantara puluhan siswa di dalam kelas tersebut, kurang dari 10 orang yang mampu menyampaikan apa yang aku perintahkan. Sedangkan yang lain hanya diam seakan bingung apa yang harus mereka katakan. Lalu aku bertanya kepada mereka “kalian tahu gak kenapa aku tanya seperti ini?” mereka serentak bilang tidak, lalu aku menjelaskan apa maksud dari pertanyaan ku untuk mereka.

Point dari pertanyaan tersebut adalah untuk mengukur seberapa siap kalian mempersiapkan kesuksessan kalian di masa depan. Setidaknya dengan hal kecil seperti yang sudah dikatakan oleh Anisa dan Rama sebagai contoh bahwa mereka sudah memiliki gambaran/planning untuk cita-cita yang hendak mereka raih di masa depan. Berbeda dengan teman yang lainnya. Mereka yang belum punya gambaran/planning untuk kedepannya. Mereka akan merasa bingung, tidak tahu apa yang harus mereka lakukan. Apa yang harus dilakukan, memulai dari mana, bagaimana dan sebaginya.

Itu kenapa pentingnya merencanakan masa depan. Agar apa yang hendak ingin kita raih bisa berjalan sesuai rencana/planning yang kalian persiapkan sejak dini. Merencanakan mimpi kita di masa depan adalah agar kita tahu apa yang harus kita lakukan selanjutnya. Gambaran masa depan adalah peta untuk mu meraih masa depan. Berbeda dengan mereka yang belum/tidak memiliki gambaran untuk masa depan mereka sendiri. Mereka bingung apa yang harus mereka lakukan, hal yang hendak mereka capai dan lain sebagainya. Karena mereka sendiri tidak memiliki gambaran/planning dari tujuan cita-cita yang akan mereka raih di masa depan. Kita tidak bisa menunggu waktu yang menjawab akan jadi apa kita di masa depan tapi kita harus menjemput waktu dan menentukan jalan kita sendiri. Ingat! waktu itu terus berjalan ketika menyesalan menghapiri di usia tua mu nanti, kau akan menyesal seumur hidup karna kita tidak akan mengulang waktu yang telah terlewati. So? Hargai waktu yang kalian miliki saat ini dan buatlah waktu itu berharga.

Aku berikan gambaran sekilas untuk perbedaan antara mereka yang sudah memiliki planning untuk masa depan dan dengan mereka yang tidak punya planning.aku berikan ilustrasi seperti ini. Focus dan renungkan baik-baik! Ibaratkan ada dua orang si A dan si B. Mereka berdua sama-sama sedang lapar. Lalu datang orang C bertanya kepada A dan B “kalau kalian aku beri uang, kalian mau makan apa?” si A menjawab “aku ingin membeli bakso.” Lalu si menjawab “hmm sebentar aku pikir dulu. Kalau punya uang enaknya makan apa ya? Berapa uangnya?” jawab si B. Lalu orang C tersebut memberikan uang untuk si A dan si B. Dari ilustrasi diatas bisa kalian bayangkan apa yang akan terjadi? Karena dari awal tujuan si A sudah jelas yaitu jika dia punya uang dia ingin membeli bakso. Jadi ketika dia mendapatkan uang dari si C, orang A langsung membeli bakso untuk dia makan. Berbeda dengan si B. Setelah orang C memberikan uang. Si C bingung hendak membeli makanan apa untuk dia makan. Karena dari awal dia tidak menentukan dengan tegas makanan apa yang akan dia beli.

Dan begitulah bedanya antara orang yang memiliki rencana/planning dengan mereka yang tidak memiliki rencana planning di masa depan. Orang yang memiliki rencana/planning sejak dini mereka akan memiliki gambaran dan step by step apa yang akan dia lakukan untuk mewujudkan mimpinya. Sedangkan orang yang tidak memiliki rencana/planning hanya akan sibuk memikirkan ini itu tanpa melakukan apa-apa. Orang seperti ini akan terjebak dalam lingkaran kebingungan dan pada akhirnya hanya ada dua hal yang bisa dia lakukan. Tergantung dengan orang lain atau tidak jadi apa-apa!

Seorang pelajar sma yang ingin menjadi dokter, setelah lulus sekolah dia akan melanjutkan kuliahnya di bidang ke dokteran tidak mungkin dia akan mengambil bidang pertanian. Kenapa begitu? Karena dari awal dia ingin menjadi dokter untuk mewujudkan hal tersebut langkah awalnya dengan berkuliah di bidang kedokteran. Ini bukanlah hal yang takabur untuk mendahului takdir Tuhan. Tapi dengan memiliki rencana/planning adalah cara kita mempermudah mencapai apa yang hendak kita capai, selebihnya berdoalah agar Tuhan memberikan kelancaran atas apa yang kita rencanakan. Apakah ini worth it? Aku pikir iya ini akan sangat membantu karena sebuah pagelaran suatu acarapun pasti membutuhkan susunan rencana/planning secara matang. Kalau mereka langsung action tanpa adanya rencana/planning. Aku jamin acara tersebut akan berjalan sangat kacau. Mulai sekarang renungkan ingin jadi apa dan apa yang ingin kalian raih di masa depan lalu pikirkan bagaimana caranya kalian akan menggapai apa yang kalian inginkan di masa depan dengan melakukan rencana/planning sejak dini. Karna yang lebih awal itu baik dari pada terlambat atau bahkan tidak sama sekali.

So let’s get started from small thing to big thing. Do it now and do your best for your life, your family and your friends etc. Let’s make it life wonderful ~ Good luck!


Jumat, 29 Juni 2018

Self-Directed Professional Development


Assignment 14.1:


A. Technology and TPD 
Once you are graduated from the teacher training center, The question is "will you stop learning?" If you go to shool and you meet your students, would you think that your knowledge you learn today will be sufficient enough to answer all their questions or equip them with enough knowledge and skills for their future? I believe you know the answer already. And I believe you agree with the idea that what you learn today will not be enough for equipping you for the future teaching challenges. Therefore, you will keep on learning and you will keep your self up dated with the lates technology in education.

Why teachers need to keep up with technology? Why don't we just let the students work with technology themselves and just give them assignments to do? Aren't they familiar with technology already? But how will we ask students do something with technology if we do not know what technology is available and the potential of it? Even worse if we do not know what might be the potential danger that can possibly brought about by the technology. So, learning technology continuously is a never ending effort that should be performed by teachers. It is part of their professional development (PD) as well since learning technology and how to use it will eventually enrich their knowledge, hone skills, and deepen their understanding of how actually students who have been immersed with technology learning today. It is important to always remember that without sufficient knowledge on how technology can be used in the classroom which very often offered via professional development activities teachers will never be optimally implement technology into their daily instructions (Skogerbo, 2013). 

Professional Development does not always mean attending standardized and official TPD hosted by government, or teacher training institutions etc. It does not also mean a site-based one that includes many teachers and scheduled rigorously to meet the expectation of the teachers on site.Yet, it can mean just a self-directed teacher profesional development (TPD)(Gaible & Burns, 2005), initiated and conducted by the teacher themselves. The last type of TPD probably the most feasible one for us. since it requires only our will and itention to be better teacher. Through the use of technology self-directed TPD nowadays is just a click away. But how we can start our TPD? and what tools available on the Internet that assit self-directed TPD?
Check the followings:

1. Electronic Mailing List (E-Mail List) 
is a special use of email for delivering electronic mails to a number of email recipients that belong to a group. For example, if we are a member of an e-mail list, then we can easily send an email to members (that can be hundred or thousands in number) of the e-mail list with one single click. in returns, we can also receive email from all members that is sent to the e-mail list. This email list comes in very handy especially when we want to have a special group on the internet and we want the group members to discuss things over the interenet. what we can do then is just set up the group in an e-mail list provider, invite people to join the e-mail list, and we can start doing discussion online by sending emails.
Two examples of e-mail list provider that is well-known are Yahoo Groups and Google Groups.  In Yahoo Groups you can either start your own group or find an e-groups that most interest to you. You can start you class groups, works groups, or may be your clubs' group. See the video introduction about yahoo groups here:
Now, you can try by clicking here Yahoo Groups , and search for topics/groups of your interests e.g: search for 'ESLGroup' or "ELTIndonesia'. Once you can find the links to the groups join the groups by clicking the join buttons. You will notice there that the ESLGroup is Public and therefore, needs no approval by the group owner to join. However, the ELTIndonesia is a restricted group and that's why when you click the join button you will need to be approved by the owner in order to be the member of the group. Once you become the member of the groups you can then start receiving emails from the members and you can also send emails to them as well. 
You may try other topics/groups that are interesting to you, you may try scholarship, technology or if you cannot find one you can start making your own group and inviting people to you group. What about Google Groups? It is just the same as the Yahoo Groups. If you wan to try Google groups, all you have to do is just follow the on screen instructions and you should be ok.

2. Online Forum (Message Board)
In addition to the e-mail list, online forum is basically similar with it. It is also a place where people can discuss things online either directly over the web or via email. An example of online forum can be found here:
3. Social Media
Almost every internet users nowadays probably is familiar with that term social media and have account in one of the social media sites. Social media is a place where people share and exchange infomation. It is built on the idea of web 2.0 that promotes the creation and exchange of user-generated contents (Kaplan & Haenlien, 2012). The social media is gaining more and more popularity today as a a kind of medium for social interaction and communication. It has been proved effective to attract internet users because of the features that social media offers. Some features are content sharing ( e.g instagram and youtube), micro blogging (e.g. twitter), social networking (e.g. facebook), professional networking (e.g. Linkedin) and also feature like mobile device friendly. 
With those features people in social media do many things like shopping, marketing, discussing, chatting , conferencing and still many other real life businesses. Using social media in education is not an exception. check this video:
 If we can use it for education that it means we can also use it for teachers education as well. Teachers can share and exchange information with other teachers in other schools through social media. They can do through egroups that can be found in social media like in Facebook, Twitter, Path, Pinterest etc. All you have to do is login to those social media and start searching the intended group for example TEFL, ESL, TESOL etc and join the group. An example of how Twitter can be used for Professional development can be check here:
Or you may also create your own group there, see how to do it here:
 In short, through social media groups, teachers can share their knowledges and exchange informations. Thus they can alwasy be updtaed with new information about education and teaching knoledge. People can share lesson plans, discuss ideas to solve specific problems etc. So, through online discussion in the social media groups, there will be no longer lonely teachers who have no one to talk to when having problem in the class. Eventually, there will be no theacher that will be left behind.
Another social media that are very useful for teacher professional development is video sharing sites like YouTube,TeacherTube, Vimeo, Schooltube, WatchKnowLearn, Edutube etc. Teachers can just subscribe to those video sharing sites and they will be updated with resourceful and useful videos for their teaching activities.

4. Open Online Course
Another alternative for TPD is open online courses where teachers can expect to get updated knowledge about education. They can also share knowledge, discuss on current ideas, and even get certification upon completion of the online courses. The followings are some open online courses that can be a good place for teachers for exploring about teaching knowledge. There, teacher can register  and join the online courses for free:
3.     Coursera 

5. Online Seminar (Web-based Seminar)
 Online webinar is also another alternative for teacher self-directed professional development. Check the following sites for available webinars. In those sites teachers can join the upcoming webinars, or just watch the recorded ones. If you join the webinar you can get more incentives since you can post questions or share your knowledge with others as well:
1.     ASCD Webinars
3.     EdWEB

Assignment 14.2: 
THis assigment will be the last assignment for this course. You will individually need to find a TEFL/TESOL groups in yahoo groups, google groups, or in social media like facebook, twitter, path etc. The, join the group, and post a question or comment on one of the discussion forum there. Take the screen shot and upload through the assignment folder.

Class Management

Assignment 13.1:



Today technology has become a major driving force in our life. we rely most of our life's business on the use of technology. Ranging from making phone call, traveling distance places, making daily food, and handling various works. we use technology at home, in the office, at schools, and everywhere. In terms of schools, Technology today has contribute so much leap that make education today develop faster and faster. But unfortunately technology may never be able to replace human teacher to educate (Wright, 2013). It is only tool that may help teachers to ease them in educating people.

For teachers and students, today there are many tools available, that may help in teaching and learning process. We have been discussing and trying some of them during this course. Yet, it will be much more useful if we can specifically learn and try the tools that will help us to better prepare to be teachers and manage the class. Managing the class is very important because a better classroom management is an important component in creating an effective classroom environment (Jones, 1996: Manning & Bucher, 2012). In this session we will look at some tools that are available on the Internet that can help us store students learning prgress information, communicate with students and parents, distribute quizzes, making wikis, sharing files, buidling class web, scheduling etc.

A. Gradebook
B. Lesson Planning
B. Scheduling

c. Quiz Creator
D. Behaviour Management
E. Miscellaneous
Assignment 13.2 :
choose three of the tools above that interest you. Then, write down 2 paragraphs of detailed plan of how you will use the tools in the classroom!

Teaching Listening: Podcasting


Assignement 11.1:


Teaching Listening:
The goal of teaching listening skills is to produce students who can use listening strategies to maximize their
comprehension. To help students achieve the goal there are of course many things that teachers should consider.Yet,
the consideration should be mostly on the process of listening rathen that the product of listening. If focus on the
product of listening only then the tendencey is that we do not teach listening rather we test listening. Then what are
the strategies? The following articles discuss theories about the developemnt of listening skills, tips on how to
deliver a listening activities and some practical tips on listening activties that can be performed by teachers and
students while learning a language.



The links  below inspire us with activities/Lesson plan that can be adapted to teach listening

In addition to those theories and activities for teaching listening, what should also be taken into account is the 
materials to be used. Listening is really not only a classroom activityfor language learners but should also be a 
recreational activity outside classroom. Listening will be much more meaningful if what to listen is really of 
students interest and students has option to do that, such what, when and whereever they want to listen.

Podcast is one technology that may enable that. It will give teachers easy access to authentic listening materials 
wherever and whenever they want as long as there is internet connection. Students can also do the same. Moreover, with 
podcast both students and teachers can build their own library of their interest. So, What is Podcast?

PODCAST :

PODCAST was originally from the 'audio blogging' activity in 1980's. but then the term podcast was coined following
the introduction of iPOD by the Apple Company in 2001. The term Podcast itself was introduced for the first time by a
british journalist, Ben Hammersley in 2004. He blended the word 'Boradcast' and 'iPod' into Podcast.

The idea of podcast was actually broadcasting of media than can be in the form of audio, video, or even document
files. The broadcasting was done thorugh the internet and what more is that subscription is enabled, and those media
is downloadable and that makes audience can access the media easily by using either PC, MAC or Portable devices, such as IPOD or Android Devices. For further information about PODCASTING see here:
1. 
What is PODCAST
2. 
Podcast explained

Few examples of podcast can be checked here:
So.. Have you got an idea what podcast is? The follwoing videos show how to SUBSCRIBE to a PODCAST SERVICE by
using A PODCAST RECEIVER Software, for example 
GPODDER and iTUNES:

if you have problem locating the URL adddress of the podcast you want to subscribe checkt he following video:
Once you have the URL of the podcast you can the start subscribing to the podcast feed by using GPODDER or ITUNES.

Technology and The teaching of listening skills:

The following slides by Paula hodgson outline some of the important ideas about teaching listening with technology:

One kind of technology that is ubiquitous today is PODCAST. Then, how we can use podcast for language teaching? and why are the potentilas that it offers for language teaching and learning.The following articles provide answers for the two questions:

2.     Podcasting for ELT 

In addition to the above mentioned podcasting sources, the following websites provide podcasts though not specifically for the purpose EFL teaching and learning but may still be usefull for EFL teaching and learning since they give chance to learners to listen to authentic listening materials which are based on various topics that might interest EFL students.

1.     VOA News 
2.     BBC 
3.     National Geographic 


Assignment 11.2:
Looking bacjk at an article in this link (Podcasting for ELT), at the last part you will find information about how to create you own podcast. Here are the steps taken from the article:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be able to produce your own podcast, you require:
  • A means of recording audio in the mp3 file format
    You can do this on a PC equipped with speakers and a microphone. However, if you want to record students in your classroom, you will need a handheld mp3 player or mobile phone with recording facilities.
  • Audio editing software
    The program 
    Audacity is a powerful free tool that is popular with many podcasters. Although you can simply record the show in order, using a tool such as Audacity allows you to edit out the mistakes, change the order of students and add music and sound effects, creating a more professional show. Don't worry, Audacity is remarkably easy to use.
The following is a video tutorial about making podcast file using Audacity:
  • A weblog
    This is your podcast's home on the Web.  Here you can publish show notes to accompany the podcast.
  • An RSS feed
    A subscription feed that supports 'enclosures' is available free at Feedburner. Feedburner makes it very easy to produce the feed that people use to subscribe to podcasts. The feed is created by ticking checkboxes in a list.
  • Space online to store the audio files. There are now some sites such as Our Media that offer this for free.
What you have to do is:
1.     In  your group ( See the grouping page), Make your own podcast by recording a coversation (your own conversation) about cultural differences or culture shock that you have ever witnessed, experienced, or thought of. The conversation should not be longer than 3 minutes. The following are examples of podcast on the topics of culture differences and culture shock. check them:
·         Culture shock podcast - CULIPS
·         Working overseas - ESLPOD
·         Kisses in Canada- CULIPS
·         The Cajun Culture
2. To better the quality of your recording you may use AUDACITY to edit your recording.
3. Upload your recording to soundcloud (
https://soundcloud.com/)  and send me the URL! Just one URL for every group.