Second Week

TEACHING STARTS...

 I finally started teaching Arnis this week. The original plan was that I teach Pencak Silat, Indonesian martial arts, but then I explained to my Cooperating teacher that I didn't know anything about Pencak Silat, let alone training in the said sport. So, she said I will just teach martial arts from the Philippines. Thus, my subject matter became Philippine Martial Arts: Arnis. They don't have that here, so I was tasked to teach it. My Cooperating Teacher, Bu (Ma'am) Linda, was kind to make arrangements so I could teach Arnis although there are no Arnis sticks here. She required the students to roll up paper cartolinas and tape them closed to serve as a modification of Arnis sticks. So colorful!

"Arnis sticks"

I was trying to give instructions in Bahasa Indonesia.

Here I let them practice it with their partners so they can identify the target better than when they're just beating the air.

I was also asked to teach gymnastics. I only taught the girls though.

Preparation for forward roll.

Me explaining how the roll must be performed.

Candlestick position.

TEACHING DIFFICULTIES

I was so nervous when the class started. "What did I get myself into?" I thought. It was my first time to ever teach a class and I had to do it in a foreign country. Great. Anyway, I just lead the students in a warm up activity and became quite embarrassed when we had to count to 8 in Indonesian and I made mistakes. I shook it off, though. I proceeded to explain and demonstrate the basics of Arnis. But then, some students started to stop paying attention while I was teaching. Maybe that was because even if I made my voice loud, the student who was translating for me was not loud enough, resulting to boredom to some students, especially those at the back. There were also boys who seemed to lack attention and randomly said jokes that the class laughed at even while I was speaking. Also, throughout the week, some of the translators forgot to tell what I was saying and just nodded when I was explaining. I had to remind them to translate what I was saying. Another difficulty was that it was hard for me to let the students assemble in straight lines. Indonesian students talk a lot, even while their teacher is giving instructuons. It really does take more time and effort to teach in another country. I couldn't help but think, " Maybe I should have just stayed in the Philippines."

SURPRISE

This week, in the middle of my musings about whether I should have just stayed in the Philippines or not, I got a visit from the vice dean of UNILA (Universitas Lampung). He asked me if I liked SMA YP UNILA. Of course I liked it, and I told him so. He asked me if I had any trouble doing my lesson plans, and I said no. He also told me that he heard I was struggling with the food because it was too spicy for my taste. He added that I can order non spicy foods here. Of course, this conversation happened with the school's headmaster and my cooperating teacher present, and I thought, "Wow, they really care about their exchange students here." I couldn't believe that I just got checked up on, and without prior notice. This motivated me to exert more effort in my teaching and be more creative in my lessons. Surely there is a way to be an effective teacher here.