Tuntutan Mangajar di Kelas abad 21 (The Demands of Teaching in a 21st Century Classroom)

For the second week, I have then prepared my lesson plans and instructional materials for my next lesson: Song and Allusion. Knowing that this is quite a technical topic, I have opted to use a creative and interesting way to start the lesson to gain their interest. I have identified from the past weeks that my Grade X students are Millenials, or more commonly known as the present Generation X, and they would need varied instructional strategies and methods that would stimulate their interest and attention all throughout the discussion. And as their 21st century teacher, I would also need to be up-to-date with the various trends that would make their learning experiences more enjoyable.

Instead of directly starting with the objectives and the lesson of the day, I have presented a popular song - Something Just like this by Coldplay and Chainsmokers, to let the students listen to first. I have chosen this song because of two reasons: first, it is a song that shows a direct application in the use of allusions in its lyrics and second, it is also a song that is well-loved by the youth of today. I have prepared an audio video presentation of the said song to cater both of my audio and visual learners.

This strategy has indeed helped my students to become more active learners in the discussion. During the sharing, they were able to connect what they have watched and listened to the topic on allusions. This has also gave them an opportunity to understand how the technical topic under figures of speech can be used in their everyday communication. The students have even reflected that allusions engage them further and help them remember the message or theme of the passage. Moreover, a number of students also shared that allusions allow the writer to give an example or get a point across without going into a lengthy discourse.

One concrete strategy that I have also used in the discussion is the use of visual illustrations and examples, such as figures and images, to help the students further understand the topic. Majority of the students can speak and understand English, but through this strategy, they could further check or recheck their knowledge and come up with a more in-depth perspective on how the concepts taught in the classroom are interconnected with each other.

Given all of these, the means of assessment that I have given to them was also aligned to the primary objective of the subject matter. Instead of giving them a pen and paper test, I have opted to make the students craft their own sentences and descriptive texts by using allusions. This did not only check their understanding in the topic but also improved their communicative skills using the English language. At this point, authentic assessment played a vital role for the understanding check of the students. Not only that they know how to answer the questions related to the topic inside the classroom but they would also have a concrete application on its use in their lives.