Name                                : Komang Eric Widhi Antara

Major                                : Education of Informatics Engineering

Home University             : Ganesha University of Education

Receiving University       : Prince Of Songkla University Surat Thani Campus

Name of School               : PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School

Blog                                    : http://12ich.com

Sawaddee Khap!

Hello everyone, let me introduce myself, my name is Komang Eric Widhi Antara, you can call me Eric. I am a student of Education of Informatics Engineering, Ganesha University of Education. I will share my experience of joining teaching practicum program to Thailand. Surat Thani Province, Exactly. I want to say thank you to Ganesha University of Education for giving me the opportunity to take part in this program. Do not forget also to my parents who have always supported me in any condition, as well as friends who always help me to finish this program. First of all I will tell you about my trip to Thailand. I left home at 4 am, and arrived at the airport at 7 am, then we checked in for boarding to the plane. Honestly, that was my first time to get on a plane. We transited to Jakarta, after leaving Jakarta we went to Bangkok, after that we just arrived in Surat Thani province. We arrived at 11.30 pm, and were picked up by staff from PSU. We headed to the dormitory by driving the campus car, and arrived at 1 pm. In that new place, I started the adaptation, starting from the bed, food, and not forgetting I also met some of the residents of the dormitory. Then the following days we explored the PSU environment, the building, the students, where to eat, public transportation, and etc. After that we started  to exploring the PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani Schoo. PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School is a school under the administration of Prince Of Songkla University. And here is my experience during teaching practice at PSU Wittayanusorn School.

1.     General Information.

• School Profile

PSU Wittayanusorn Surat Thani School or PSU Wit Surat School was established on 27th December 2012  under the administration of Prince of Songkla University. PSU Wit Surat has an identity “Virtue and Wisdom” and Core Values called as “Family”. The “Family” has meaning that is : F is for Facility, A is for Active, M is for Marshalship, I is for Inspiration, L is for Leadership, and Y is for Youth. PSU Witt Surat School has a new building, where all the teaching and learning processes were only moved to a new building about 2 weeks ago since we arrived at Surat Thani.

• Academic Facilities:

In the new building of PSU Wit Surat School there are 30 classrooms. the building consists of 3 floors, and in each room has its own unique number, for example on the first floor the code or room number begins with the number 1, as well as the second and third floors. In PSU Wit Surat School there is also a health room, teacher room, meeting room, administration room, laboratory room such as computer, biology, physics and etc. Do not forget also in this school there is a canteen that sells a variety of foods. Then there is the ceremonial court, but for sports you must use the sports venues around Prince of Songkla University. The new school building is very clean and comfortable for students, because it is cleaned every day by cleaning staff, and also the school is far from the main road, so the teaching and learning process is not disturbed by the noise of passing vehicles. For the student transportation, students usually use a bus or orange car that is always passing around the school. There are also students who live in the dormitory and there are students picked up by their parents. And if there are teachers and students who use vehicles, there is a very large parking area that can be used.

• Teaching System:

PSU Wit Surat School has two levels of education namely Lower Level and Upper Level. Lower Level is similar to Junior high in Indonesia and Upper Level is similar to Senior high. Both levels of education are referred to as Matrium. Lower level consists of Matrium 1 to 3 and Upper Level consists of Matrium 4 to 6. The teaching and learning process in this school starts from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm from Monday to Friday, similar with Full Day School in Indonesia. And for Computer and Technology Subjects, students use computer labs to do practice.

2. Pedagogical Contents:

• Teaching Method:
  The teaching method that applies at the PSU Wit Surat School is Active Learning Method. This method applies to all subjects. This method is useful for students to be more active when the learning and teaching process takes place in class, so not only are teachers active, but students are also required to be active. So all students can better understand what material has been given by the teacher.
• Source of Learning:
  For the source of learning, especially for computer and technology subject, the students can learn from the internet, and of course from the teacher’s explanation, because computers are more practical than theories.
• Authentic Assessment:
  For the response in this school, especially for computer and technology subject is done when the teacher finishes explaining the material, then students will be given exercises that must be completed right then, of course the exercise must be done in a computer lab, and if students finish working on it students can save their work , after that the teacher will take student work to be examined and given a score by the teacher. There are also midterm tests conducted in the middle semester and final tests conducted at the end of the semester.

3. Teaching Plan:

• Curriculum:
  The curriculum used at PSU Wit Surat School has followed the Thai government’s rules on education. Almost the same as in Indonesia, they use the semester system, and one semester is more or less for 6 months. And when I make lesson plans, I follow the syllabus given by my mentor teacher.
• Lesson Plan:
  For the subject of computers and technology, my mentor teacher did not make lesson plans, but used the syllabus as a reference when teaching. And one syllabus material is used for 1 week only, and the following week is replaced with other material. But for activities in the classroom almost the same as in Indonesia, which is Opening, Core Activity, and also Closing learning.
• Others:
• Teaching Program: http://12ich.com/2019/09/02/teaching-schedule/
• Lesson Plan : http://12ich.com/2019/09/02/lesson-plan/

4. Teaching Practice:

• Teaching procedures in the classroom:
  The teaching procedures in PSU Wittayanusorn Suratthani School is similar to teaching procedures in Indonesia. There are three core parts in teaching procedures where both Thailand and Indonesia use it. Namely opening activities, core activities, and closing activities. The following procedures as follows:
• Opening:
  For the opening part, I came first to the classroom because I have to prepare the computer first. then students come to class. after that students say “Good Afternoon Teacher”, then I absent the students, then after that I explain what will be learned today.
• Core:
  In the core activity, In the first 45 minutes I started explaining the material, students listened to the explanation. I explained while practicing about the material, because without practice, students had difficulty understanding the material. then in the next 50 minutes the students do the exercise.
• Closing:
  In this part I thank the students for listening to the explanation of the material and doing the exercise that I gave, even though they say the exercise is quite difficult but they can still do it.
• Time Management and Activites For Each Meeting:
  In PSU Wittayanusorn Suratthani School for the computer and technology subject, the students will get 2 x 50 minutes day. For each meeting is 50 minutes of study and 50 minutes to do the exercise. The first 50 minutes the teacher will explain the material , and next 50 minutes the students will do the exercise given by the teacher.
• Problem Solving:
  There are some problems that I met when I did teaching practise at PSU Wittayanusorn School. The first there are students who do not want to listen to explanations, but I ask their friends to help explain to the student. then the problem is some students whose English is not very fluent. therefore in the material that I teach there is Thai language so students can understand what I teach.
• Others

Explaining the material

Explaining the material

Students do the excercise

Helping the students to fix error

Our mentor

5. Summary and Suggestions:

• Purpose of the teaching practice:

The purpose of this teaching practice program is to prepare future candidates for teachers who are reliable and skillful in the teaching and learning process that will be handled later. And an advantage if you can follow the teaching practice program abroad. because it can know the characteristics of students and teachers abroad, not only in Indonesia, it can be a very valuable experience..

• Outcomes of the Practice

Add new experiences by following this program, having experience in the international world, getting to know the culture of other countries. And of course have better skills and competencies than others who can be used in the workforce later. And do not forget by joining this program, UNDIKSHA will be increasingly recognized by other countries that can increase the accreditation of UNDIKSHA itself.

5.3 Challenges of the Practice:
The challenges of this practice are the students are low in English. Although I have sufficient English skills in Thailand, only a few people can speak English. Moreover, students’ English skills are very low so to make my teaching practice work smoothly I need to learn some Thai phrases so the students will understand. It does not mean that I’m giving up, sometimes I push them to speak in English because practice makes perfect.

5.4 Overall Impression:
My impression about this program is really amazing, because we can get to know the culture of other countries, especially in education. We can find out how other countries carry out their educational processes at school, and we can take the positive side to be applied in Indonesia. And of course we can meet with a new friend from another country.

5.5 Suggestion for Future Improvement:
My advice for the next teaching practice participants is to prepare yourself well, because here you will learn something new and maybe you never knew before, besides also prepare physically, because it will be useless if you follow the teaching practice but you are sick after arriving at its place. and don’t forget to also prepare enough money, because you will not know you will lack money or not.

Maybe that’s all I can share on this blog, I hope in the future more and more people can join this program, and make UNDIKSHA proud.

Khob Kun khap

See ya!