37 I tried to make the situation in the class fun. Media or sometimes I liked to
relate what was happening in the class. Making jokes with the students, so that they were happy when they studied. Excerpt 20
Participant D did not arrange the seats in their classroom because her
students preferred to sit with their close friends. They chose with whom they wanted to sit. She was afraid that arranging the seats would make the students
uncomfortable and would not focus on the study. Participant D added that if she arranged the seats, the students would tend to make much more noise. It happened
because the students who made noise would be separated and they would speak louder to their friends. It was mentioned in Excerpt 21 that her students were
likely to arrange their own seats and she was fine with that, as long as the students felt comfortable.
The students could sit where they wanted as long as they were comfortable, and they promised to pay attention to the lesson well, I would
not move them. Excerpt 21 She stated that it was important to manage the
physical stuff and students’ seats. It influenced the learning process as shown in Excerpt 22.
It was important so that the classroom condition was comfortable. For the example, a messy classroom made the students lazy to study. It would
disturb the learning-teaching process. Excerpt 22 In conclusion, the participants had the same opinion that it was important
to create a comfortable learning environment because it influenced the teaching- learning activities. If the students felt comfortable, they would focus on their
study. Because of this belief, they did different strategies in order to create a comfortable learning environment.
38
3. Maintaining Classroom Rules
The third belief which appeared from the interviews was maintaining classroom rules. The participants believed that they should maintain the rules.
During the Teaching Practicum, they applied some rules in their own classes. Those rules were made in order to meet general expectations. Marzano, et al.
2005 defined a rule as general expectations or standards p. 5. Therefore, it was obvious that rules were essential in the classroom. The participants did some
strategies to maintain the classroom rules. Hence, they could reach a successful classroom management.
Participant A implemented three rules in her class. The first rule was that she gave five minutes lateness tolerance for the students to come to the class. The
rule was applied because the school has a moving class system so the students need time to move from the previous class. She also gave this tolerance to
students who wanted to go to the toilet. The second rule was that only one student who was allowed to leave the class during the lesson. If there was a student who
wanted to go to the toilet or throw the rubbish, it should not involve more than one student. The third rule was that the students should submit the assignments at
the end of the school hour at the latest. This rule was made because the students sometimes could not finish the assignments during the class. She added that most
of her rules could work well. Sometimes, there were some students who broke the rules. When some students broke the rules, she warned them orally as mentioned
in Excerpt 23. When they disobeyed the rules, I just warned them. It was because they
only did minor misbehavior so it was enough to warn them. Excerpt 23
39 In Excerpt 24, she added that when she warned the students, she did it in a
serious way, so that the students would obey the rules. In a serious way so that they understood when they should be serious and
obey it. Excerpt 24 Participant B also had three rules in her class. The first rule was that all
students should pay attention to their friends who were speaking. The next rule was that the students should not disturb their friends who were studying. The last
rule was that when there was a listening activity, the students should not talk until the audio finished. She declared that those rules could not really work. There were
some students who did not want to obey the rules. In Excerpt 25, she explained how to deal with those kinds of students. She usually just ignored them until they
realized their mistakes. If they did not realize, she would warn them angrily. At first, I ignored them. I ignored them until they realized. If they did not
realize, I would warn them angrily. Excerpt 25
She argued that maintaining classroom rules was important to make the learning situation ran well as shown in Excerpt 26.
Maintaining classroom rules is important so that the learning situation and activity could run well. Excerpt 26
Participant D only had one rule in her class. The rule was that the students should not make much noise. The students were allowed to use their mobile
phones, walk around, and have a discussion with their friends, but they should not make much noise. At first, her rule could not work well. There were many
students who disobeyed the rule. However, she stated that as the time went by it could work well. She stated that the students only needed time to be accustomed
to the rule. Usually, she would give some kinds of punishments for the students
40 who disobeyed the rule. The punishments were such as giving the mobile phones
to the teacher and performing something in front of the class as mentioned in Excerpt 27.
Usually, when they were working on the exercise using their mobile phones, I would take the mobile phone and give it to the teacher. When
they were making a dialog with their partners, I would ask the students who disobeyed the rule to come in front of the class to practice the dialog.
Excerpt 27 During the Teaching Practicum, Participant E had two rules in her class.
The first rule was that the students were allowed to eat, drink, and listen to music when she was not explaining the material. The second rule was that the students
should listen and pay attention to someone who was speaking in the class. Those two rules could work well in her class. She stated that if the students were given
too many rules, they tended to disobey them. On the other hand, if they were given the freedom, they would respect her. Sometimes, she found some students
were talking when she was explaining. In Excerpt 28, she explained how to deal with this problem. She gave her attention to them directly. She involved herself in
their conversation and tried to listen to them first. After they finished, she would ask them to go back to the lesson.
When it happened, we should listen to them whether they were out of topic or not. If they did, we discussed what they were talking about. I asked
them why they talked about it and then asked them to go back to the topic. Excerpt 28
Four out of five participants made their own rules to be implemented in their classes, except Participant C. In her class, Participant C did not make any
rules. The four participants made some simple rules such as the students should pay attention to others and do not make much noise. The students did not always
41 obey those rules. They tended to ignore it and do what they wanted. Therefore, the
participants had their own strategies to maintain those rules.
4. Building a Good Relationship
Teachers need to have a good relationship with the students. Cooper, et al. 2011 mentioned that based on more than 100 studies, a positive teacher-student
relationship was the key of an effective classroom management p. 223. In addition, an effective classroom management would influence teachers
’ success in their teaching-learning activity. All the participants agreed that if they had a good
relationship with their students, they could deliver the materials easily. It made the students more comfortable so that they tended to pay attention to them. Moreover,
it also made the students not afraid to ask and talk about anything to them. All the participants stated that the relationship between them and their students was like
friends. The students often shared many stories with them when they were outside the classroom. By listening to their students, the relationship was closer to the
students. Besides listening to the
students’ stories, each participant had some strategies to build a relationship with the students. Participant A tried to be more
flexible when she was with the students as mentioned in Excerpt 29. It depended on the situation and condition when she should be serious and when she should
not. She was not serious all the time because she also made some jokes with the students.
42 So, we were close in both outside and inside the class. I was not strict but
flexible. When we should be serious we should be, and when we should enjoy we should enjoy. Excerpt 29
As Garrett 2014 stated that a sense of humor can create a comfortable
learning environment p. 46. Participant A argued that building a good relationship with the students was important because it influenced the learning
process as stated in Excerpt 30. It was important because if the relationship was not good the learning
process would not be comfortable. Excerpt 30
Participant B built the relationship with the students by giving games in some meetings as mentioned in Excerpt 31. Doing the games made the students
happy with the activities and her. One of the ways to build the relationship was giving games. Using games
or having chats. The chats were not always about the lesson. There were some students I talked to personally. So, I did not talk in front of the class
but personally. Excerpt 31
She added that when she had a talk with her students, the topic was not only about the lesson. Sometimes, she also talked about
the students’ personal lives such as their addresses and hobbies as stated in Excerpt 32. Teachers show
their attention to the students by learning the students’ lives Garrett, 2014, p. 46.
For example, they asked me about my house, and then I asked them about their hobbies which were more personal. They were happy to be asked and
then they told me about it. It was like that, and I became their friend in sharing their story. Excerpt 32
Participant C tried not to be too strict with her students. She built a relaxing atmosphere by giving some jokes during the lesson. Additionally, she
tried to talk personally with the students so they felt that she cared for them as mentioned in Excerpt 33.
