Purposes of Practicum
The main objective of the teaching practicum is to provide student teachers with authentic hands-on experience in teaching. This is required to develop their teaching skills and to start collecting experiences to enrich their professional wisdom. It is not enough to read about teaching or to observe others teach, something students have done for years. Student teachers have to practice themselves because practical knowledge and wisdom are held by the individual and cannot easily be transmitted from person to person. Student teachers need know-how, and by connecting the skills of teaching to knowledge, through reflection, they will gradually start developing practical wisdom.
Procedures of Practicum
- Know the topics that going to be taught
- Make lesson plan according to the topics
- Consults with supervising instructor about the lesson plan
- Prepare the lesson and materials
- Practice teaching in class
- Evaluate/post conference with supervising instructor
Outcomes of Practicum
The teacher becomes more trained in teaching, such as creating the best lesson plan, know the appropriate teaching methods used, has the skill of manage the class, and manage time. Teachers also studied about the characteristics of each class and each student, and becomes know how to conduct the lesson with their own characteristics. One more outcomes of this practicum is, teachers has developed the English skill to teach.
Challenges of Practicum
The challenges of teaching this time is how to explain the lessons using English because in Indonesia English is considered as foreign language so it is rarely used in daily life, then how to control the class when the students are noisy, and how to manage such a short time to finish the lesson without rushing everything.
Overall Impressions
As a teacher, we can what it’s like to teach in a real class situation, arrange the best lesson plan for certain topic, understand the importance of teaching method, understand how to manage the class, and understand what exactly needed to be a good teacher for the students.
Suggestions for Future Improvement
For the future teacher, the most important thing is to develop the English skill for teaching in the classroom. Master the topic, establish the best teaching methods, and manage the class efficiently so that the objectives of the learning can be reached maximally.
