Setting a Fun Atmosphere in the Classroom

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3. Reflection

After the action and observation stage, the next step conducted was to reflect. In this step, interviews and discussions with the collaborators and the students were conducted to evaluate the plan that had been implemented in the action stage and to analyse the observation result. The interviews and the discussion were done in every after each meeting. In this step, everyone was free to evaluate and state their opinion. The plan was reflected in the following ten points.

a. Setting a Fun Atmosphere in the Classroom

In these three meetings, the atmosphere of the classroom was getting better. The students started to participate more than before. The interaction between the students and the teacher, the teacher and the students, the students and the students improved. However there were several unexpected results happened. The following describes one of the obstacles that happened. R : ‗Tapi so far so good mereka. Aku kalau tanya-tanya apa sama Isb. Tak kira tadi masih apa ya, tak kira tadi lagi nggak enak badan terus sakit apa, kan jam pelajaran terakhir juga to ?’ But so far they are good. I often asked Isb when I needed some information before. I think she was not feeling well or so, moreover it was also the last lesson hour, don’t you think so? C3 : ‗Tantangannya jam terakhir tu... Kalau aktivitas kelas yang selalu engaging itu susah ya, maksude .’ That was the challenge of the last hour. It is not easy to provide the all-the-time engaging activity, I mean. Appendix B: Interview 5 Cycle 1 Meeting 1 B3a1 The English lesson was in last session; therefore it was necessary to always provide engaging activities to maintain students’ desire to learn English. The fun atmosphere had not successfully engaged all the students at the beginning to the middle of the ELT process. C3 : ‗O gitu? Nah, mungkin kali ya, jadi mereka nggak yang all the time ngomongin itu. Emang susah to? Tapi setelah itu mereka menjawab, mereka akan aktif jadinya. ’ 108 O so is it? Well, maybe for the next time, so theyre not all the time talking about it. It is difficult, isn’t it? But after that they answer, they will become active in the end. C2 : ‗Dan itu waktu twenty question games itu, itu sih. Itu engaging ‗ And during that twenty questions game, it was engaging. R : ‗Kemarin juga di situ engage.’ Indeed. It was also engaging yesterday in the other class. Appendix B: Interview 5 Cycle 1 Meeting 1 B3a2 The situation improved when the game was included at the end of the meeting. All of the students paid their attention to the activity. The students who previously looked weak on their table raised their heads and actively participated. The following also reflects what happened to the students. C2 : ‗Ho.o. Awalnya, eh kok awalnya mereka nglentruk banget kok di meja, tiduran. Nggak jawab .’ Yes. Initially, they were really dozing on their table . They didn’t respond when you asked. C3 : ‗Kita dapat kesan pertama yang salah.’ But we got the wrong impression. C2 : ‗Habisnya yang habis twenty question games itu, lumayan dia.’ Finally, when the twenty questions games, they got better. Appendix B: Interview 5 Cycle 1 Meeting 1 B3a3 ɒesides, it was important to pay attention to the possibility of the students’ body movement. It could enhance their learning and avoid them from being sleepy. In addition to this, an intermezzo was needed to refresh the students’ brain after loading the materials being instilled to them. The following script reflects the related problem happened during the materials input. C2 : ‗Hmmh, kalau tadi kamu tahu kelasku, yo ngantuki ngono kae.’ Hmmh, you knew my class, it made them feel sleepy. R : ‗Kalau lagi materials kayak gitu ya.. Ya itu body movementnya.’ ‗I think it was common thing during the materials input. They lack of body movement. Appendix B: Interview 5 Cycle 1 Meeting 1 B3a4 The other obstacle aroused was detected by the collaborators. They said that the fun atmosphere had not been optimum because of my personality. They 109 observed that my level of formality was too high to the students. Thus there was a space between the students and me. It can be seen in the following script. C3 : ‗So what I want to say is that, well copying that okay? Emm maybe ya, that’s because you’re used to being the way you are right now right, so you don’t feel that’s a problem. ɒut I think that’s I don’t say that’s a problem but maybe it’ll be better if you ee, try to be a little more closer, say for example if you want to address yourself, other than instead of saying I in a formal way, say miss. I think ya, that’s better. And instead of saying anda .. say..’ R : ‗Did I say Anda?’ C3 : ‗Yes, you did. It’s because you’re being, you used to it right? You didn’t realize. See? So I think and I, I, I don’t know whether I was wrong or not, but I notice, one or two students like you know, emm anda , repeated what you say if I’m not mistaken or ya, you know, it’s a bit like there’s a space between you and students, so I think that’s better. One thing, about the addressee, well I think that’s quite important since who was that? Nsy? She refers herself as saya, did you notice that? Well I think it’s just, it makes some space between you and the students probably well, although they probably do know that you are you feel close to them but I think, ya. And then.. what if what if although they are already senior high students, but what if you make the activities more apa ya .. .’ R : ‗Playful?’ C3 : ‗Aha,’ R : ‗Like what?’ C3 : ‗I’ve been thinking, I don’t know that yet. So it’s kinda game or something. I’ve been thinking about that actually and also it’s my reflection of my teaching the Turkish and I was kinda bored with the activities which I had with the Turkish usually discussion and discussion, and then ya, I’m still looking for that, I mean in the proper activity, but probably for activities to adults in my case yet playful and I think it may be can be better if you try to do some games with the students. I mean integrate. Emm ya to make them more engaged, to make them engaged more with the lesson because em, I say this also from our, my reflection and Maya’s reflection as I recalled. Maya once, said that she had fun in Miss Rowe’s class, Miss Rowe’s class was you know, full of games right? She treated us as if what to me, as if we are, we were junior high students to me, what I feel, don’t you think so? I mean we was, they had survey game and then some other games within Miss Rowe’s class in fact we were university students but still we had fun, so I think although we’re adult, or young adult, and they as well, in their case, may be well it’s a suggestion maybe they’ll have fun.’ Appendix B: Interview 6 Cycle 1 Meeting 2 B3a5 In the above script it could be noticed that there was the missing of the playfulness in the activity conducted in the second meeting. The survey game activity had not been successfully engaged all the students. In case of the less playfulness of the activity, an interview with a student was conducted to know the student s’ perception towards it. The following script shows one of the students’ opinion. 110 R : ‗Menurutmu gimana pembelajaran bahasa inggris kemarin sama hari ini?’ ‗In your opinion, what do you think about the English learning and teaching last week and today? S4 : ‗Sama-sama Miss?’ With-with you, Miss? R : ‗Hee.’ Yes. S4 : ‗Seru.’ ‗It was fun. R : ‗Kenapa?’ Why? S4 : ‗Ya kan nggak kayak pelajaran biasanya, gitu.’ Yes, because it was not like the usual learning and teaching, like that. R : ‗Emang biasanya gimana?’ ‗How was it used to be? S4 : ‗Kan cuma duduk, presentasi, ngeliatin, gitu, nonton, pertanyaan hehe. Nah kalau ini, kayak main-main gitu juga .’ You know, we just sat, did presentation, watched, and asked questions, just like that. But this was different. I feel like having fun. Appendix B: Interview 7 Cycle 1 Meeting 2 B3a6 From the script above it was known that the student had felt the playful atmosphere in the classroom. It contrasted with the previous statement. From the student’s point of view, the activities were interesting and she had fun in the classroom. Be back to the case of the high level of the formality, it was then crosschecked with the student’s perspective. R : ‗Miss Mei terlalu formal po kalau di kelas?’ ‗Am I too formal during the learning and teaching process? S4 : ‗Nggak juga. Nggak.’ ‗I don’t think so. No, you’re not. Appendix B: Interview 7 Cycle 1 Meeting 2 B3a7 It was known from above script that the student did not feel the ‗too formal’ feeling in the classroom. However the gaps of assumption between the collaborators and the student could imply something that was very useful. There was a possibility to improve the fun atmosphere in the classroom. The action implemented was successful, yet it could be more successful later on if it was designed better. Thus in the third meeting an improvement was occurred. It was shown in the following script. 111 C4 : ‗Gimana Tsan?’ How do you think Tsan? R : ‗Anak-anaknya lebih kondusif ya. Tadi aku lihat mereka menikmati suasananya dan diskusinya juga jalan. ’ The students were more conducive. When I observed them, they seemed to enjoy the atmosphere, and the discussion also run well. Appendix B: Interview 8 Cycle 1 Meeting 3 B3a8 Therefore it was concluded that the action of setting a fun atmosphere in the classroom should be implemented again. It should be re-design to engage more participation from the students and give them more challenge like what was suggested in the following script. R : ‗Oya Teh, dari tempatmu kemarin aku jadi lebih banyak belajar gimana mengorganisir, gimana berinteraksi sama anak-anak gitu ya. Tadi aku coba lebih cair tapi masih keluar kata -kata Anda seperti itu masih keluar gitu lho, terus selanjutnya aku ada harapan peningkatan mereka dalam taraf pemberian aktivitas yang tepat . Tadi sempat tanya Nsy, yang fun ternyata yang kemarin twenty one question game kemarin. Padahal itu buat intermezzo aja, jadi ke depannya cari aktivitas yang seperti itu dan hari ini tu rencananya aku pingin ngajak mereka ke aula karena di aula itu mereka itu berdiri karena otot itu mempengaruhi otak ketika ototnya kerja otaknya nggak ngantuk. Nah tetapi aku mau coba dulu dari sumber kelas ini kira -kira bisa belum. Semangatnya perlu ditambahkan lagi . By the way Teh, I learned more on how to organise, how to interact with the students from you. I tried to be warmer but I still said some words like Anda to the students, but then I still expect that there will be some improvement if I can provide them the right activities. I knew from Nsy that in fact the twenty questions game was fun even though actually it was just an intermezzo, so later on I will find similar activities like that. Actually today I wanted to take them to the hall because they can move easily and it would influence their muscle and it would influence the way their brain works so they would not be sleepy. However, I will first try this classroom. I need to enhance their spirit more .’ C2 : ‗Semangatnya emang iya mei, cuman aktivitasnya yang emang harus engaging, gimana ya, aktivitas aktivitas. Give them some project to do and maybe will be a good idea as well for them to speak English only.’ Indeed, the spirit Mei, however the activities indeed should be engaging, let us think about it, activities... activities... Give them some project to do and maybe it is a good idea as well for them to speak English only. R : ‗Iya I think, because they’re..’ ‗Yeah I think, because they’re ... C2 : ‗Ini apalagi ini tingkatnya lebih tinggi daripada punyaku gitu.’ ‗More importantly, your students’ level is higher than mine. C3 : ‗Dan kayaknya kosakata anaknya nggak separah say, maksudnya lebih tinggi daripada C2.’ And I think your students’ vocabulary is not as bad as say, C2’s I mean your students’ is higher. Appendix B: Interview 6 Cycle 1 Meeting 2 B3a9 112

b. Using English in the Classroom Interaction