Using media Arousing motivation and giving moral supports to the students

91 improvement and which ones were not. Analysis on the effectiveness of actions was performed by reflecting on the teaching and learning process. The collaborator and I analyzed the data from the observations of actions which were documented in the vignettes, field notes, and the interview transcripts to evaluate the actions. The evaluation covered several aspects including the material design, use of media, the techniques and strategies, the classroom management and classroom interaction. The material was designed in a sequence from easy to difficult, from simple to complex. As the teaching in cycle II focused on the descriptive text, similar to cycle I, some language features used in the descriptive text —despite already being given in cycle I —were repeated and reviewed in cycle II. It aimed to strengthen students‟ mastery on the area. The materials were designed in a sequence that was suitable for slow learners to be able to learn gradually, bit by bit. However, since the materials were designed in small chunks, it resulted in the larger capacity of tasks. Repetitive and high frequency tasks sparked problems i.e. the students got bored, tired and lost interest in learning. Such problems, yet, could be overcome by changing the learning pace by proposing games when the students began to show disinterest. The games were meant to be an icebreaking activity as well as a bridge that connects to the next activity, although the main purpose of the game was to avoid boredom and alternated students‟ disruptive 92 tendency to a more positive activity that benefited both the teacher and the students. The classroom interaction was also accommodated by the games, in addition to various activities including group works. Through these activities, both the teacher and the students were given opportunities to manifest interaction between the students and the teacher, and among the students. While it was indeed an English class, the interaction in the classroom was mostly dominated by Indonesian language. English was used in a small portion due to the students‟ low proficiency in English. When I asked questions in English, the students often fell silent until I repeated the question in Indonesia. However, they were able to answer some simple questions in English and when they did not know the word; they would say it in Indonesian. Throughout the implementation of actions, I was not being strict on the use of language. I believed that it was more important to raise students‟ self esteem by not criticizing them on their weaknesses, one of which was the fluency of English. It is based on the conside ration that one of the adolescents‟ characteristics is that they are ultra sensitive. Brown 2001 suggests that the teacher keep the students‟ self-esteem high by avoiding embarrassments of students at all cost. Therefore, rather than pointing out their weaknesses, I focused more on how to improve students‟ participation in classroom activity by boosting their self esteem. To build their confidence as well as to show the students that it