About SMA YP UNILA

Hello again, it has been about a month since I last posted, and I just want to put this here. This is all about SMA YP UNILA. By the way, SMA means Senior High School, YP means foundation, and UNILA stands for Universitas Lampung. Yes, the school is related to my host university.

SMA YP UNILA's Headmaster is Pak Berchah Pitoewas. I met him on the day of our orientation at UNILA. He's a very generous and kind man.

Me with Pak Pitoewas and Raku, a Japanese teacher assistant also assigned in SMA YP UNILA but under a different program.

I asked for a copy of their curriculum and I was given their Dokumen Satu ( Document no. 1) which was this thick.

It was all in Indonesian, which I could partly understand. 

This is the Daftar Isi, or Table of Contents.

It also included their school calendar for the School Year 2017-2018 as shown below.

I also saw the section where the school's vision and mision was placed. Visi means vision, and misi means mission.

What I understand from the vision stated was that SMA YP UNILA is envisioned as superior in achievement, science, and technology, and a leading or distinguished school in the city of Bandar Lampung.

There was also the structure of their curriculum, and in that section I saw the chart for all the subjects taught in all the year levels.

At the top of the first column, the words, "Mata Pelajaran" are present. Mata Pelajaran means "Subjects." The second column, named "Alokasi waktu perminggu" means "The allocated number of hours per week."  Under this column are the grade levels. There are two classes per level:MIPA and IPs, meaning Mathematics and Science class and Social Science class. Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology are offered only to the Mathematics and Science class and not to the Social Science class, while Economics, History, Sociology and Geography are offered only to the Social Science class and not to the Math and Science class. However, General Mathematics is still offered to all students if you look at letter D on the chart. When the students reach Grade 12, they are all required to study the local dialect, Bahasa Lampung, as a subject. This is indicated at the bottom of the chart, just before the totals. 

So that's their academics. They also have extra curricular activities.

As indicated on letter e, they have Ekstrakurikuler (extracurriculars). I saw that there are 14 listed. Okay, let me translate them here:

1. Sports (Futsal, Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, and different marial arts)

2. Spirituality (I don't know how they do it)

3. Red Cross Teens

4. Olimpiad Guidance (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Informatics, Astronomy, Economics)

5. Youth Scientific Group and Robotics

6. Scouts

7. Paskibra (I don't know the meaning)

8. English Club

9. Theatre Arts (Theatre, Modern Dance, Traditional Dance, Traditional Music, Vocal Group, etc.)

10. Science Club

11. Social Club

12. Japan Club

13. Marching Band

14. Photography

Wow, that was a lot of clubs. If I studies Senior High here I probably joined all the clubs! I really envy the students here. But, the next paragraph states the conditions for choosing extra curricular activities and number 3 says that all students are given the opportunity to choose a maximum of 2 extracurriculars so that their academic achievement will not be disturbed. Aw man! 

But still, it would be amazing to be part if an awesome club in high school. I still envy them.

The weekly schedule is also included in the document Monday (Senin) to Friday (Jumat).

HARI means day, JAM means period or hour, WAKTU means time, and KETERANGAN means information. UPACARA BENDERA means Flag Ceremony, and ISTIRAHAT means Break or Rest. There are istirahat everyday, which is recess and lunch break.

The last part of the document are all appendices. So yeah, that's their curriculum.

I also asked for a sample lesson plan and this was given to me. I was a bit surprised because it was quite thick.

I was thinking, "This is a lesson plan? Why is it so thick?" What I knew was that lesson plans should be short and simple, like 2-3 pages or so. But when I took a look inside the pages, I found out that it was a compilation of lesson plans. Also, for one subject matter, no matter how many hourse

 would be used for it, only one lesson plan is made for it. Take a look at this lesson on Sexually Transmitted Disease, AIDS and Pregnancy.

Allocated Time (Alokasi Waktu): 2 meetings

Then on another topic, Volleyball, the time allocation is different.

Allocated time (Alokasi Waktu): 6 meetings

The lesson plans have 8 Components: Core Competencies, Fundamental Conpetencies, Teaching Material, Learning Material, Methods and Steps for Learning, Learning Activities, Assessment, Tools and Sources for Learning.

Whew, that's a lot. Each lesson is about 6 pages, and it's so conplicated. Susan was right. It's hard to make lesson plans here in Indonesia. It's a good thing they let me make my lesson plans in the format of my sending university. I was adjusting a lot already.

During my stay at SMA YP UNILA, I observed that teachers used games a lot to motivate and facilitate learning. For teaching skills in Physical Education, demonstration with detailed explanations are most effective. When the students see that the teacher can do it, they are easily encouraged to learn the skill. Also, making students laugh is a must. All the P.E. teachers here are known to be the funniest teachers in the faculty room. I guess it's a big advantage. I noticed that when a teacher can make his students laugh, the students are more likely to listen.

Just look at how Bu Linda makes the students laugh and smile on casual conversations!

I really enjoyed my time in SMA YP UNILA. I learned a lot, and I have gained a lot of experiences here. The people are very welcoming and hospitable. But most of all they are so skilled and humble. I'll never forget them.

There were challenges that I faced, but I know that those are normal. I was able to get past these challenges and for that I'm thankful to my God.

The main challenge that I encountered as a practice teacher is the language barrier, which I managed to overcome, and I am glad to have overcome it. Nevertheless, I hope the program would make sure that the schools where future exchange students would be assigned are schools with English-speaking students, because in my case, I was not able to practice my English skills as stated in the objectives of the program because I had to use Bahasa Indonesia as my medium of instruction in teaching. 

Overall, I think SMA YP UNILA is an excellent school. They just need to develop English more among their students and teachers. I will be forever thankful to this school, and I wish them all the best.

I'll miss you, SMANILA!