Guru MI Belajar Manajemen Kelas di SDIT Dinamika Umat

Sekitar 16 guru dan kepala sekolah Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) kecamatan Kemang, Bogor mengikuti pelatihan manajeman kelas yang difasilitasi oleh Bapak Jalu Cahyanto hari Sabtu, tanggal 17 Mei 2008 lalu di SDIT Dinamika Umat, Telaga Kahuripan Parung, Bogor. Materi yang disampaikan adalah bukan barang baru bagi para guru namun bagi guru-guru MI, mereka sangat mendapatkan banyak hal-hal baru dalam hal teknik bagaimana mengelola kelas agar tercipta lingkungan belajar siswa yang kondusif, positif dan berdisiplin. Hal yang paling menarik yang didapat ialah bahwa para guru ditekankan pentingnya membuat 'Class Belief' atau yang biasa disebut dengan peraturan kelas, yang harus diciptakan oleh para siswa dan guru bersama-sama. Siswa harus dilibatkan untuk memikirkan lingkungan belajar kelas yang diinginkan dan guru dapat memfasilitasi kegiatan diskusi tersebut. Dengan begitu, siswa dibangun rasa memiliki kelas yang dicita-citakan tersebut dalam proses belajar mereka. Peraturan kelas bukanlah peraturan sekolah yang dibuat oleh sekolah yang memiliki banyak poin dan kesamaan untuk seluruh kelas. Peraturan kelas yang dimaksud merupakan semacam kesepatkan yang dibuat bersama untuk tujuan bersama dalam kegiatan belajar agar guru lancar memfasilitasi pembelajaran dan siswa juga lancar dalam proses belajarnya.

Beberapa tips yang di sampaikan fasilitator dalam membangun manajemen kelas antara lain:

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• Didasarkan atas bagaimana mereka berinteraksi satu sama lain

• Melibatkan siswa dan terbuka menerima feedback. Modifikasi bila perlu.

• Buat seminimal mungkin (lima) dan umum

• Gunakan kalimat positif dan singkat

• Gunakan visualisasi

• Guru harus aktif mengajarkan dan menjadi model yang tepat

• Dalam praktek, berikan penguatan pada perilaku positif siswa

Kegiatan berlangusng sangat kondusif dan bersifat workshop karena banyak melibatkan peserta dalam berdisuksi kelompok, permainan pembentukan kelompok dan sesi tanya jawab. Peserta merasakan materi yang sangat menarik dan penyampaian workshop yang fastastik. Mereka berharap ada kelanjutan untuk workshop berikutnya untuk kelanjutan ataupun dengan materi yang lain.

Training for Madrasah Teachers, SATA Donates Teaching Materials

As a SATA teacher trainer, recently I was invited by Prasasti Imani Foundation (PIF) Bogor to deliver a 5-hour workshop for Madrasah teachers in the district of Bogor, West Java. PIF is a non profit organization which is doing a one-year project for improving the competency of Bogor madrasah teachers of basic education through a comprehensive program of a series of training and workshop. The session covered a topic on developing understanding and methods of assessment of learning. An assessment is a crucial part of learning process because this part determines student achievement. A lot of teachers use conventional ways of conducting assessment, which is paper and pencil test but actually there are many ways of doing assessment rather than just paper pencil base. As many as around 80 teachers received comprehensive knowledge of effective assessment of the process of learning. Rubric, Rating Scale and Check list assessment techniques were reinforced to the teachers so that they comprehended target and method of assessing student's performance or product. They were involved in discussion and group work of creating a model of appropriate assessment form to target the learning process of students. At the end of the program, SATA donated teaching materials for teachers to upgrade their English skills to 15 school representative who were present in the workshop.

Alumni Conference, Manila 2007

As an active alumnus of State Dept Exchange program, the American Embassy invited me to participate in the Regional Exchange Alumni Conference in Manila. The cost was fully financed by the Embassy. I flew Singapore Airlines and stayed 3 nights at 5-star hotel Hyatt Hotel in Manila. I loved the trip so much!!

On October 2 -5 2007, I, and other Indonesian delegates (Shita of the US embassy Jakarta, Esti of the US Consulate Surabaya and Silvia of 2005 alumna) had the opportunity to participate in the Regional Exchange Alumni Conference Manila, Philipines hosted by the IVP-Phils, the International Visitor Leadership Program Alumni Association of the Philippines.

The two-day conference began with a gathering at the US embassy Manila and speeches from Deputy Chief of Mission Paul Jones, Philippine House of Representatives Congressman Roman Romulo, and IVP-Phils founding members, Aniceto Sobrepena and Adolfo Suzara. The evening reception resumed beautifully with a series of art, dances, and musical shows on “Arts Across Borders” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. I personally met many great and active personnel of the Philippines alumni that formed the very active organization IVP-Phils that I can learn a lot from. In addition, I had valuable conversations about the success stories of alumni activities with the delegates from other different countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, PNG, Australia, Taiwan, and other East Asia and Pacific countries. I posed with Silvia and Suzanne Weinerman, Global Alumni Coordinator.

The tight-schedule-two-day conference has given us, the Indonesian alumni, fruitful lessons with a variety content of activities such as plenary sessions, workshops, country situation sharing sessions, presentations, luncheons, and special site visit to Bulacan province with its warm people, wonderful art, dances and musical performances. It is also an inspiring session for us to boost the existing associations we have here (educator’s alumni and alumni chapters) to work more actively by reaching more alumni personnel to contribute real actions and setting targeted programs to the community and encourage other alumni to network via communication, even though it still seems to be the challenges.

I act as a coordinator of the alumni project of alumni educator’s association establishment which focuses on the teacher development programs and community services. State Alumni Teacher Association Indonesia seeks for the joint work to run a program on digital video conference with the regional exchange alumni to share issues on educational enhancement.

One of the activities was visiting a primary school in Bulacan. The school looked like Indonesian school physically. The building, the environtment, the students in the uniform and the classroom including a traditional seat setting. Well I could tell that not many differences I saw from our public school. I came in to the classroom and had a chance to chat to the students in class. They welcomed me by saying "Mabuhai!". They were very responsive to my questions and were very happy students. The classroom was equipped with a lot of stuffs to support the process of learning such as books, dictionaries, maps, and other teaching aids. It had many displays of students works as well. This school is public and supported by the alumni association in the Philippines.

Thank you especially to US embassy Jakarta which has made this fruitful event possible for me to attend so that I can learn a lot from and also to IVP-Phils and US embassy Manila that provided familial and friendly welcome and all delegates from East Asia and the Pacific for the fruitful sharing. I believe, after being there, this encourages us all to ‘START WITH US…FROM NOW…FROM SMALL THINGS WE CAN DO’ to contribute to the betterment of our community, nation, region, and the world.