Learning Journal 1 February 11th, 2013

This is the first day of Teaching English for Young Learners class with Mrs.Ika (so glad to meet her again :D). Today I ha!e learned who children are. I thought children are "eo"le who are #etween $ until $% years old. &'I(E) has different range of young learners #ased on their age. I found out that according to &'I(E) that children are they who are under $*. I got some ti"s from Mrs.Ika to get students or young learners attention such as sing a song when we meet them (like good morning song) ask them to re"ly when we say +,elloor +,i- and ask them to cla" their hand once. I think those are im"ortant "oints to teach young learners who are !ery attracti!e. .e /ust cannot ask them to stuck on their chairs all day and I think this is an interesting challenge. .e must "re"are our energy and lesson "lan in order the young learners could understand and (it would #e #etter) "artici"ate in the class acti!ities. I ha!e seen many kids around my en!ironment these are my thoughts a#out them: attracti!e cannot arrange a sentence well (with a""ro"riate grammar) and most of them imitate what their "arents say. .e ha!e discussed in a grou" and I also found many aha moments at that time such as that the young learners ha!e a holistic a""roach to language then I finally reali0ed that they are more concerned a#out themsel!es than the others and although the adults #egin to show an interest in real life issues they also still ha!e fantasy and imagination like children do. 1t the end I figured out that children ha!e different and uni2ue characteristics. 'ot only young learners older learners do. 1s a teacher we should know our studentscharacteristics in order we can make the lesson "lan3class acti!ities #ased on their characteristics.

Learning Journal 2 February 18th, 2013

1 few days ago Mrs.Ika asked us to o#ser!e children (age $45 6). I o#ser!ed my cousin who is still 5 6 years old. 1fter had a grou" discussion we concluded that they did facial e7"ressions #ody language gestures to communicate with the adults. 1lso I found that my cousin tried to find the right term (in his way) to e7"ress how he felt. I think sometimes children-s words are un"redicta#le and really funny. E!en us as the adults did not think that way. In my case my cousin did not know what +pindang- is #ut he knows the smell when he is around a cat. 8o when his mother ate + pindang- he would say 9Nda bau mulut memeng:. 1fter we discussed we made the summary of our discussion in a fli"4chart for "oster session. .irna and I were in charge to e7"lain the results of our grou"-s discussion to the other grou"s who !isit us. I found some interesting information from other grou"s regarding the ways children communicate with the adults. 1fter today meeting I /ust figured out that the adults also ask their children when they communicate not only talk with the children slowly and then I think 91h..yes why I /ust reali0ed they do that;:< this is one of my aha moments today. 1nother one is the children also learn from media for e7am"le T= (#y watching cartoon like Disney (hannel). This will hel" the children to ac2uire their second language like what ha""ened to Mrs.'enden-s grandchild.

Learning Journal 3 February 25th, 2013

This is the >rd meeting #ut we meet in LM8 (Learning Management 8ystem). Mrs.Ika gi!es us a /ournal entitled 9,ow the (hildren in Indonesia ?ot Difficulties in Learning English as )oreign Language: and asks us to gi!e our o"inion a#out that /ournal. In this /ournal there are some facts regarding the teaching and learning conditions in some "rimary schools in Indonesia. I read that 8tern stated that 9&nder certain circumstances the early start can #e !ery ad!antageous< young children a""ear to #e remarka#ly res"onsi!e to language education in a 9natural: setting of language use of the kind offered #y language immersion: (8tern $@*>:>AB) and I do agree with him. I think It could #e #eneficial to start to introducing English as L5 to young learners may#e indirectly (without teaching the grammar) #ecause the children tend to learn unconsciously (automaticity) #y imitate the adults or media (for e7am"le T=). My friend< Tria claims that English is not su""osed to #e taught to Indonesian language learners earlier. Cut I do not agree with her. In my o"inion there is nothing wrong to teach them L5 in such young age e!en in Indonesian conte7t. If the adults can achie!e L5 ra"idly in their ages imagine how smart the children when they ha!e grown u" if they learn L5 in a young age. Df course children will #e confused if we teach them the "erfect English grammar. That is why we should teach them ste" #y ste" from the !ery sim"le one to the more com"licated. I do reali0e that the children will make some errors when they learn L5 #ut I think not only the children also the adults will do too. .e can teach English through songs "ictures or games. 8urely we also cannot force them to learn #ut it is a challenge for us to make them want to learn and show them how fun English is.

Learning Journal 4 March 4th, 2013

In this Bth meeting I ha!e learned some games to teach young learners one of the games I learned today is through song. The song is to teach color. The first thing we should do is ask the children to make a #ig circle. 1fter that the teacher asks the children to follow after the teacher sing the song the lyric is like this: 9.ho is wearing #lue; (the color of the clothes) E57F u ea4eo ,ani (the name of the student) is wearing #lueG: It is made in order the children are a#le to know s"ecific color #y "ointing their friend who wears that color. In this game I think the children learn to #e critical #ecause they ha!e to #e fast to "oint someone and mention the color while they are singing. This game also makes the children mo!e their #ody and they will not #ored easily. Cefore the class is o!er we made a grou" discussion to remem#er the instruction of each game Mrs.Ika had demonstrate that we ha!e done today also asked our o"inion regarding the way she teaching and the techni2ue she used at the end of the class.

Learning Journal 5 March 11th, 2013

Today we start the lesson #y doing ?uessing .ords game to re!iew some "re!ious lessons and to check our understanding of what ha!e we learned until this week. ,onestly I ha!e not re4read the "re!ious materials so I get some "ro#lems when "laying the game. It seems that I ha!e to read more in order I could "ass the e7am later. I ha!e learned kinds of multi"le intelligences #y ?ardner they are linguistic logico4 mathematical musical s"atial #odily4kinesthetic inter"ersonal intra"ersonal and naturalist. Mrs.Ika asks us to inter!iew some "eo"le in the class that might ha!e those intelligences not only me the others also inter!iew me. Hersonally I reali0e that I ha!e some of those intelligences such as linguistic #ecause I lo!e to reading and writing stories #odily4 kinesthetic #ecause I lo!e to mo!ing around and I would lo!e to working alone than in a grou". Cut recently I found that I am "retty good at sol!ing "u00le too. I know that e!ery#ody has their own strength. .e need to "ro!ide !arieties of acti!ities that can accommodate the students- intelligences #ecause e!ery#ody has different "otential and has more than one intelligences the teacher should #e smart in creating games and "ro!iding !arious acti!ities for the students.

Learning Journal 6 March 25th, 2013

Today Mrs.Ika gi!es us some new ideas of ty"es for young learners they are to"ic4 #ased story4#ased content4#ased and task4#ased. I /ust figure out that to"ic4#ased and content4#ased ha!e a significant difference. To"ic4#ased can #e used to other lessons #esides English #ut content4#ased is used to certain lesson and using English as the medium language. In grou" of three Mrs.Ika asks us to arrange the /um#le of teaching se2uences. I ha!e some difficulties to determine which one of those se2uences should #e "laced first. Df course my grou"-s result is different with the others. Mrs.Ika says that ha!ing fun (games) for young learners is not true the acti!ities should ha!e meaning in order the children could kee" the material we teach to them in their minds. I do reali0e that the teacher should make some considerations in arranging teaching se2uences in order it went well and could im"ro!e the "lanning "rocess on su#se2uent occasions. .e also need to consider the timing of each se2uence. If we want to teach English to young learners we can used im"ersonal to "ersonal method. It is good to know our students- characteristics and get to know each other.

Learning Journal 7 April 8th, 2013

Today is !ery funI .e will demonstrate our games which had #een designed last week and the students will #e my classmates. My grou" decides that 1disa will #e the teacher since Mrs.Ika gi!es us the freedom to "ick the teacher. 8he is chosen #ecause she lose the "a"er4rock4scissor game ("oor 1disa). Cut #efore the class is started we make sure that the rule of our game (Cring Me game) is clear also hel" 1disa to make the instruction clearly and can #e understood #y the students. My grou" comes on first. 1fter arrange the chairs and "re"are e!erything 1disa starts to demonstrate the game. Each grou" is gi!en $% minutes to "erform. I do reali0e that my grou" "erformance is not "erfect and far from what I e7"ected. May#e it is #ecause 1disa was ner!ous #ut I did not #lame her #ecause if I were her I will do some mistakes too. 8he had a "ro#lem to control the class and the students tend not to "ay much attention to 1disa. 'e7t is Jiyanda-s grou" I found the game interesting #ecause it is !ery challenging for me. The game is called Detecti!e game. ,e handled the class !ery well and I think the instructions were "retty clear. Cut I think he was a little #it too hurry may#e it is #ecause of limited time and actually this game is a #it hard #ecause I need to "ay attention to the instruction which is "retty long or I will not understand. .ell may#e he could ask one student in each grou" to hel" him (to distri#ute the "ictures). Third grou" is Indah-s. In my o"inion Indah made the class acti!ities with good se2uences and made the students want to "artici"ate. Cut I do not really understand what for the matching task she ga!e to us and yet she ran out of time. Indah-s grou" and mine made the same mistake which was the s"ace for each grou" was too small and could not accommodate e!ery mem#er in one grou". The last grou" of today is .ildan-s he introduced Domino game. .ell I think the instructions were not too clear enough. 8o the students got a clue when the game started. Cut through this game the students could #rain4storming and all of the mem#ers in each grou" could "artici"ate in the game. I like the way .ildan check the students- work so it can im"ro!e the students- "ronunciation.

)rom here I learned that e!ery game has its difficulties and also make a clear instruction is not an easy task. The teacher must make the instructions clear and short in order the students could understand.

Learning Journal 8 April 15th, 2013

This is the second day to demonstrate the other grou"s- games. The first grou" is 10hari-s. I think he was too much e7"lanation and I #elie!e young learners will not "ay attention to him. The game is sim"le #ut he made it too com"licated. ,e re"eated the instructions o!er and o!er which was not hel"ing him to control the students it was caused the class uncontrolla#le. 'e7t is 'ur-s grou". 8he also ga!e too much e7"lanation and some students (es"ecially those who ha!e short height) could not see her and #arely heard the instructions gi!en. The most im"ortant thing is word4choosing she chose some words which were too hard to #e understood #y young learners. Coth of these grou" ha!e the same "ro#lem which is cannot control a #ig class. (ome to think a#out it may#e they could say +,i- or +,ello- to gra# the students- attention and gi!e them an e7am"le regarding the rules of the game. The last grou" is Meydina-s. I guess this grou" had the #est "erformance today. The teacher was !ery careful in word4choosing and she ga!e the students an e7am"le of what they should do also asked them to re"eat the instructions which are good to check the studentsunderstanding. In conclusion she can control a #ig class although I think the ending of the game was not clear enough. 1gain the word4choosing is !ery im"ortant es"ecially for young learners. .e ha!e to make sure that the students understand the instructions #y make it clear and short. 'ow I know that it is hard to teach a #ig class with many students on it.

Learning Journal April 2

th

, 2013

Today I learned that we can teach young learners through stories #y considering the students- le!el and the difficulty le!el of the story. .hen we choose the story we need to consider the "lot of the story kind of story the "artici"ants and the "ur"ose of the story. I also think we can use the story in whilst stage #ecause the teacher could gi!e the lesson while reading the story in fun way. Moreo!er teaching through stories could #e !ery #eneficial such as de!elo" communication skills learning new !oca#ularies s"ring#oard into reading de!elo" children-s imagination and muscle coordination also nourishes the mind. 8tories can im"ro!e children-s !oca#ularies and can #uild communicati!e acti!ities #ecause using story is more interacti!e. There are many ways to read a story interestingly such as "ro!ide the students to read the story #y asking them to do something or we can ask them to sing3shout the name of the characters while reading the story we also can choose some students randomly to #e the characters and the other students read aloud the story with the teacher< this way could "ractice some new words (it could #e !er#s ad/ecti!es etc.) while the characters do actions of the story. Cesides that I learned to make the #oring story #ecomes more interesting. There are se!eral ways such as make an un"redicta#le ending (this is more like s"oof te7t) use media and add some dialogues in the story to make it more ali!e. Moreo!er using stories is economical and en/oya#le.