April 23rd Entry #1 Writing Peer Teaching Writing Journals

Going back and forth (it has deepest meaning of reminding me about this morning silliness at my peer teaching session) looking at the bloom taxonomy while doing the lesson plan is surely can make me crazy. Well, at least it was what I thought when I first landed my hand on the lesson plans of the PET. But I’m like a diesel engine, slower at the start of the beginning phase, and going faster in the middle of it until the end. Just like math, physics, concept and drawing phases of my old days of being an architect, in the end I kind of like doing and drown in lesson plan, but still breathing though. Like a fast moving on person who accept good thing easily and adapting, I wish. So, yeah, am doing my lesson plan of peer teaching writing. Still.. by going back and forth at the bloom taxonomy, trying so hard to make the flow of the lesson smoothly, sequenced, graded, on the right track, not taking and then putting slightly different material into the flow of the lesson, like what Dania and Riyan did this morning. Really should keep that in mind. If it’s a story of the book, then we have to explain the target grammar using the story. And what about my chaotic peer teaching?! Let’s leave that one in the end. I don’t want to ruin my mood on the lesson plan now.   

April 24th Entry #2 Really Writing Peer Teaching Writing Journals

I made some huge mistakes in my peer teaching. Though I already played it around 4 times in my head, it was still a chaotic one. Constructing 165 minutes activities in only 30 minutes and I realized I can’t even look at my check list. So yeah, I missed the regular and irregular verbs after the students finished answering the V2 written in the email. Instead, I’m going to the negative forms which was actually should went after the regular and irregular verbs. The sequence should be types of verbs, examples and then the form of the structures. So yeah, like Ms. Syndi said, I was going back and forth. We had got only 11 minutes left when I realized that I still have to show them the how to do the mind map. Mr. Nofri couldn’t stand still that I knew exactly he wanted to explain about the regular and irregular verbs. So I gave him the part of explaining it, while I was looking at the time. Darn it, 10 more minutes while I hadn’t explained to them the mind map, and Ms.Syndi just raised her notification said,”10 MINUTES”. It’s like mind map, then check answers, then pictures to distributed, pictures explanation, then mind map practice, then answers checking, and then asking them to write email, wrap up, and then giving instruction for the assessment list to do. Nice I have only 1 minute for each step. But in the end we were able to finish it on time. The cookies and the challenge part were quite refreshing and made the class a little bit lively. But like déjà-vu, when I saw Muti and Dania raised their hands and legs when they wanted the cookies, they reminded me of someone. And yeah, I remembered Dale, he was only 2 weeks old, after I fed him a bottle of milk, he raised his hands and legs while shouting like a kid got panic attack. And yeah I panicked and right away lifted him that I was afraid something went wrong about him. Then he was smiling, and burping. Oh my God, my DELicious 2-weeks old baby boy had just bullied me. And this was his face like….  

   
He was saved from vomiting. This face was also something that I remembered after I finished my part on peer teaching. I do really know how to connect things to my baby boy, don’t I?! 
The procedure of the challenging part is quite something that I made up. I was aware that we had only 30 minutes to teach on writing. Writing is like twice longer to teach rather than reading. Reading is receptive skill, so when the student can get the comprehension by summing up the reading material, then the TO is achieved. But in writing which is productive skill, we have to teach the grammar and how to construct the reading material and then make the students create their own product of writing. This should be achieved in 30 minutes?! That’s why I came up with the challenging idea to stop the writing activity and asked them to read instead without having to say,” Consider done”. I hate those two magical words which over and over the trainer warned us not to say it. I can’t remember how many times I told Mr. Nofri to stop saying that since Ms. Mitta told us only the trainers have the privilege to say those magical words, and we are only trainees. I made the game of stopping their activity and especially because it was peer teaching that all of them are already great teachers (a very valuable opportunity to get to learn from those wonderful creatures), without having to say,” Consider done”. It felt like a criminal got caught after the guard said, “Don’t run away!” ran away, and then got caught. 
It’s like the “while” activity in writing after I gave them the instruction on pre writing, they were writing and see if one student already finished one sentence, asked one if he/she was brave enough to read her/his writing in front of the class he/she will get one cookie. I asked Mr. Riyan, our perfect Englishman, but he was chickening, so I asked Intan who always wants to take any challenge without thinking the consequence, and she said yes. I only need another one student to be able to challenge her and Muti did in correct way reading the whole email. She got 2 cookies and Intan got one cookie because of her bravery of being the first. The one who did the effort, Muti was happy with 2 cookies, and Intan as the first who brave enough was also happy got a cookie without have to say anything. The purpose is to give other students’ comprehension about the right answers. If those two couldn’t say the correct answers, they still got 1 cookie each for the bravery. The purpose is to inspire other students to not being afraid of making mistakes. That learning process can be achieved from making mistakes and knowing the true answers. Good man learns from mistakes, and wise man learns from other’s mistakes. I think it’s a good type of scoring that I can apply in class after one student finished his/her writing and ask the others to finish their writings as well to be hung on the wall with the purpose of having all students finished their writings. Using the material from the book for teaching grammar in story checked, sequencing verbs-examples-form of structure checked, deciding focus on grammar or model writing checked, sequencing mind map to model writing instead of the other way around which completely wrong and silly checked. Okay, I’m good to move on to my lesson plan now.

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