Monday, October 15, 2012

from the movie, "THE CLASS"


                   This movie, the class, is a French movie which is almost the scenes is inside of the classroom and campus. In this movie, the teacher, who is Mr. Francis Marin use some strategy in order to manage his students which are very shameless learners. Mr. Marin as their French teacher stands up in front of us as a professor and starts to do his role.  His experience was very challenging as he starts his role particularly his illuminating struggles with his problem-students Esmeralda, Khoumba and Soleyman.  Mr. Marin encounters his class with a different culture, behavior, values and belief. Its start with Esmeralda, who doesn’t care to interrupt Mr. Marin discussion as well as, she can tell what she wants to tell. Next is to Khomba who is a friend of Esmeralda with the same behavior, an interrupter to the teacher and to their classmate.  And to Soleyman, who sometimes used his hands just to hurt his other classmate. This kind of the students is not easy to handle, but Mr. Marin to keep order in his class. He mediating the conflict inside his classroom brings out them to the principal and trying to educate them. His class is difficult, and some of his students who have knowledge and mental skills are also the most distracting student on his class. But, Mr. Marin doesn’t care their behaviors, although it hurts his feeling, he still continue his teaching strategies and pretend to us that their behavior cannot effect his profession as their teacher, especially when Soleyman comment him that he is a gay. Every time he teaches them the French language, he challenges them to know such thing, stating its sentence using their language.  He give them an assignment, but no one is trying to read it but when Esmeralda volunteered herself to read it and the class realized that the assignment contain a diary wrote by someone who tell all her feelings, Mr. Marin noticed that  his class has keep a different emotion which he thinks why they have those behavior. So he had an idea, one of his strategy method is to write their own self-portraits which describe their aspiration, hobbies, likes and dislikes. By this, he can collect some information from his class on where they have come, why they always do on what they have shown in the classroom.  But his problem did not end at that part, when Esmeralda and Louise told Soleyman the result of his grade, which he accused Mr. Marin as part of Mr. Marin revenge is to give a negative statement during the teacher’s meeting against Soleyman. Mr. Marin was out of his mind, so he speaks a word to two girls and Soleyman got mad and trying to walk out in the middle of class discussion. Carl trying to stop him and that was the cause of the wounds of Khoumbas’ forehead. That was the very difficult problem that he encountered in his class which bring Soleyman to other school. Mr. Marin tries to solve his conflict between his classes, and still teach them. As a teacher of them, he used some techniques just to inspire his students. And he thinks, he do well his job at the end of the class. He uses an oral recitation to evaluate his student to recite all the topics that they have learned. But, one student came to him and gives him a statement, “SIR, I HAVE LEARN NOTHING”.
 
               As a teacher, we can’t understand why there are some students who have learned nothing at the end of the semester. A question comes in my mind, what did I do? Does my strategy fit to them? It is not easy to become a teacher, we think twice on what strategy we need to use in order to catch our learners’ interest and in order to motivate them.  But, if our learners learn nothing at the end of the semester, how can we say that we are an effective teacher. Is my strategy is useless? A learner can learn nothing was impossible. She can’t say that she can’t learn anything because even when we watch a movie we can remember some scene, like in a discussion. We can remember five to ten words as a prof that we have learned in our class.  Those students who have learned nothing from our discussion have a problem on their mental capacity. Maybe next time, we used some strategies in order them to learned.

"Postscript - Some random thoughts on Demonstration"


    How effectively is the demonstration method if you use it to your learner? There are many methods in teaching but, demonstration is one of the methods which your learner can easily catch up your discussion.

 
Demonstration method is one of the teaching method uses by the teacher. And as a student, a can say that one of the best method that my mentor use during her discussion in our class is the demonstration. Because as I observe when my mentor use this kind of strategy, it is easy for me to catch and understand her lesson. It gives me an interesting ideas and thoughts. Also, demonstration can directly motivate me. But, when you use this kind of teaching method, you should not hurry, because the learners lost their focus and cannot follow directly on what you have taught to them. Remember always that every student learned nothing before they enter your class discussion. Even though they have a little knowledge about your topic you should still not to hurry or skip, teach them in a procedure way, for them to understand clearly on what you have demonstrate to them.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

"THE ART OF QUESTIONING"

           As a teacher, one way to determine if your students have learned from your discussion is by giving them an oral or written question. The question has different types. Your question must be according to the level of your students. Your question must be according to the types of answers required from your subject matter. And the question must be according to the degree if person exploration or valuing. There is also a descriptive category of question. First is the cognitive memory question, where the students remember contents through processes such as rote memory or selective recall. Second is the convergent question, which the student recall all information that leads to correct or conventional answer. Third is the divergent question, where the student generates their own data or a new perspective on a given topic. And the last is the evaluation question where the students make value judgments about the quality, correctness or adequacy of information. A questioning can help you to stimulate your learners to think, to motivate their interest, to arising them form your giving task to them. Also, it can help them to organize, synthesize and evaluate their learning experience. It can develop their new appreciation and attitudes. By using questioning as a drill and practice, your students encourage to attend every task that you have given. The characteristics of a good questioning are the following: your question should be simple, clear and definitive and it should be adapted to the age, abilities and interest to the learners. Because the good question is an effective way so that, your students can communicate you clearly and can answer directly to your question as a motivation to your students.