Handling My Difficulty In Keeping The Attention Of Three 3rd Grader and Two 1st Grader Elementary Students At Aces.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Tugas Akhir ini dibuat berdasarkan kesulitan yang saya alami selama menjalani proses magang di ACES (Active Communicative English) di kawasan Pandu, Bandung. Selama mengajar di ACES, saya bertanggung jawab atas murid-murid Sekolah Dasar, Sekolah Menengah Pertama, dan Sekolah Menengah Atas. Namun saya difokuskan untuk menangani murid-murid Sekolah Dasar khususnya kelas 1 sampai 3. Kesulitan yang saya hadapi ialah untuk mempertahankan perhatian murid terhadap materi yang diberikan selama proses belajar. Perhatian merupakan dasar utama dalam proses pembelajaran. Tanpa adanya perhatian, materi tidak akan dapat tersampaikan dengan baik. Oleh karena itu, saya mengangkat topik mengenai penanganan dalam mempertahankan perhatian anak-anak kelas 3 dan kelas 1 Sekolah Dasar selama belajar mata pelajaran

Grammar dan Vocabulary di ACES. Penyebab dari permasalahan saya

ialah, kurangnya kreatifitas yang saya miliki sebagai pengajar dan

keadaan kelas yang berisikan anak-anak yang gemar berbicara. Dampak yang ditimbulkan dari minimnya perhatian murid selama proses belajar adalah murid menjadi bosan dengan pelajaran serta kondisi kelas yang menjadi tidak terkendali.

Saya telah menemukan tiga solusi yang cukup berpotensi untuk memecahkan masalah tersebut. Diantaranya ialah dengan penerapan penghargaan dan konsekuensi, alat bantu mengajar visual dan

keberagaman aktifitas dikelas. Namun saya akan berfokus pada pemberian penghargaan dan konsekuensi. Penggunaan alat bantu mengajar visual dan keberagaman aktifitas hanya akan saya gunakan sebagai pilihan pendukung. Hal ini dikarenakan solusi dengan

menggunakan alat bantu mengajar visual dan keberagaman aktivitas memakan cukup banyak waktu dan biaya dalam persiapannya. Secara lebih mendalam, perinciannya akan dijelaskan di dalam Tugas Akhir ini.

Dalam penerapannya, setiap solusi memiliki dampak positif dan negatif. Setiap tindakan yang hendak dilakukan, hendaknya didasari oleh semangat, dedikasi dan kecintaan terhadap profesi yang dijalani.

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APPENNDIX A

students tend to talk much.

Problem:

I had difficulty in keeping the attention of the three of 3rd

grader and two 1st grader elementary students while studying English at ACES.

Effects: time to prepare the activities.

2. The student will get tired on doing activity in the class.

Potential Negative Effects:

1. It will take extra expenses of the teacher’s to prepare the teaching aids such as pupets.

2. Not all students have the same learning style.

Potential Negative Effects:

1. Without using reward system, the students will lose their motivation.

2. The students will do the work just based on reward, not their more attention both to the teacher and the material.

2. Student’s attention can be controlled by the teacher. consequence system to keep student’s attention and control

the class.

Potential Solution II:

I will use visual teaching aids to deliver the material.

Potential Solution III:

I will prepare many kinds of activity in the class such as game, story telling and role play.

Chosen Solution:

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APPENDIX B

TRANSCRIPTION OF THE INTERVIEW

Melissa : Selamat malam Miss Rhimelda, kami dari D III Bahasa Inggris Maranatha. Saya ingin menanyakan bagaimana tentang sejarah ACES berdiri dan siapa pendirinya?

Miss Rhimelda : Waktu dulu itu namanya adalah Ace kids, pertama kali dicetuskan sama Dra. Leonny Siswanti Tanama yang merupakan bibi dari saya. Kalau waktu di Jakarta, berdirinya sekitar tahun 1998. Saya ditawarkan untuk bekerja sama pada tahun 2002 bersama beliau mendirikan cabang di Bandung karena di Bandung belum ada saat itu. Saya pada waktu itu mendirikan pada tanggal 1 April 2002 di Jalan Pajajaran Nomror 67, lantai

Name of respondent : Rhimelda Marcella Yulia, S. S

Name of interviewer : Melissa, Grace Hellen, dan Indri

Lestari

Place of Interview : ACES Jalan Pandu Nomor 63

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tiga. Kemudian karena jumlah kapasitas murid semakin banyak, pada tahun 2005 kita pindah ke Jalan Astina Nomor 16C. kemudian karena habis masa kontraknya, kami pindah ke jalan Pandu Nomor 6A. Disini tempat kami sendiri.

Hellen : Apa arti nama dari ACES sendiri? Mengapa ACES berganti nama?

Miss Rhimelda : Awalnya itu kita ingin menjangkau anak-anak, tapi kemudian juga banyak orang tua atau para pekerja yang ingin belajar terutama untuk daily conversation. Jadi, kita mengganti nama Ace Kids menjadi ACES karena Kids itu kapasitas untuk anak-anak. ACES itu adalah Active Communicative English Study. Jadi terbuka untuk berbagai usia.

Indri : Lalu, apa visi dan misi dari ACES itu sendiri? Apa ACES memiliki motto?

Miss Rhimelda : Ya tentu saja. Visi sendiri kita sebetulnya ingin membuka sekolahan yang mungkin dimulai dulu dari playgroup. Fokusnya kita ingin mengembangkan pendidikan terutama dalam bidang Bahasa Inggris supaya lebih baik lagi karena dalam globalisasi era kita memerlukan Bahasa inggris. jika anak-anak bagus Bahasa Inggrisnya dari kecil sampai dewasa akan lebih mudah untuk memasuki dunia kerjanya.

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Miss Rhimelda : Jumlah murid pertama mungkin sekitar dua puluhan, nah kalau sekarang kita sempat mencapai seratus tapi mungkin di tahun ini mengalami sedikit penurunan menjadi sembilan puluh kurang lebih.

Hellen : Fasilitas apa saja yang disediakan oleh ACES untuk menunjang pembelajaran?

Miss Rhimelda : Kita menyediakan mainan, ada beberapa mainan juga yang kita ambil dari luar dan juga buku-buku juga rata-rata kita ambil dari Singapura. Kita juga menunjang dengan laptop untuk mendengarkan listening-nya mereka. Terus kita juga ada ruang

audio jadi mereka bisa nonton juga mendengarkan lagu.

Indri : Kriteria guru seperti apa yang ACES butuhkan untuk menjadi seorang pengajar?

Miss Rhimelda : Yang pasti pertama kali adalah guru itu harus sabar, harus sayang sama murid-murid, dan terutama harus pintar. Dan untuk pertama-tama mereka harus mencoba test TOEFL yaitu nilainya harus lebih dari 550. Setelah itu kita baru mengadakan interview. Dari hasil interview baru kita bisa menentukan guru tersebut bisa diterima atau tidak.

Indi : Apakah ada masa percobaan?

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Melissa : Lalu materi pelajaran dari ACES itu sumbernya darimana?

Miss Rhimelda : Memang kita kebanyakan mengambil materinya dari

Singapura.

Hellen : Level apa saja yang tersedia di ACES miss?

Miss Rhimelda : Level kita mulai dari Toddy untuk umur 3 tahun. Kemudian Nursery itu untuk 4 tahun, kemudian ada Pre-Basic, Basic 1, Basic 2, Basic 3, Inter 1, Inter 2, Inter 3.

Indri : Bagaimana hubungan antardepartemen di ACES itu sendiri? Miss Rhimelda : Tentu saja hubungannya itu serba terbuka, jadi setiap ada

masalah kita luangkan untuk mendiskusikan dan biasanya kita ada meeting sekitar seminggu sekali untuk membahas langkah apa saja yang kita perlukan untuk menambah jumlah murid, mengatasi masalah soal disekolah ataupun masalah dari luar. Melissa : Lalu, bagaimana cara ACES untuk mempromosikan?

Miss Rhimelda : Kita tidak banyak menggunakan iklan, iklan yang dipakai itu hanya dari Bandung Info Media selebihnya banyaknya mulut ke mulut. Menurut kepercayaan orang tua.

Hellen : Bagaimana cara pembagian kelas murid dalam satu kelas? Miss Rhimelda : Pembagian waktunya ketika pertama kali mereka datang

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dikelompokan antara Basic 1 dengan Basic 1. Digolongkan sesuai dengan tingkat kemampuan mereka biasanya.

Indri : Terakhir, hal unik apa yang dapat membedakan ACES dari tempat kursus yang lain?

Miss Rhimelda : Kalau menurut opini orang-orang kita baik dalam bidang

grammar-nya karena grammar merupakan basic dari Bahasa

Inggris sendiri. Jadi kta kuatnya dalam bentuk grammar. Kemudian kita kembangan dalam bentuk listening, reading.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

The title of this term paper is “Handling my difficulty in keeping attention of

three 3rd grade and two 1st grade elementary student at ACES”. As

Snowman and Biehler said “focusing on portion of currently available

information is attention” (264). Based on my experience as a teacher, I

realized that I had some problems in teaching especially in keeping attention

of my students in the class. It was easier to get their attention than keep their

attention. I needed more effort to maintain their attention on me as a teacher

and to the material as well. As Attig states, “Teachers need to have student's

attention at all times of the lesson to give instruction” (par. 1) When my

student did not keep their attention, I could not teach them maximally so that

the material would not be delivered well.

During my internship, from 7th January to 7th February 2013, I had the

position as a teacher assistant in ACES (Active Communicative English) at

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Maranatha Christian University student. I focused to teach grammar and vocabulary for the elementary

students. From my experience, I found that it was not easy to teach people

especially young learners. In fact, it was hard to keep attention of my students

while studying. They were three boys of 3rd grade and two boys of 1st grade

elementary students. When all of them gathered in one class on Saturday

morning, it was difficult to handle them. During 60 minutes of the lesson, they

were hard to keep attention both to me as a teacher and also to the given

material. They tended to talk much and disturbed one another, so that the

class’ condition became much uncontrolled. The worst was when they were

yelled at one another. It was really hard to control them. Even when I gave

them some tasks, they still tried to disturb other friends.

Thus, I decide to discuss how to overcome my difficulty in keeping 3rd

grade and 1st grade elementary student attention’s while learning English at

ACES. The advantages of analyzing the topic is to help me, as a teacher to

overcome the difficulties. In teaching, hopefully this term paper would also be

helpful and inspiring for the readers.

B. Identification of the Problem

The analysis of my problem is formulated in the following questions:

1. Why did I experience the difficulty in keeping the attention of three 3rd

grader and 1st grader elementary student while learning English at

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Maranatha Christian University 2. How should I overcome my difficulty in keeping attention of those five

elementary students while learning English at ACES?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The first objective of the study is to find the causes my difficulty in keeping

attention of three 3rd grades and two 1st grades elementary student at ACES.

The second objective is to find the best solution to overcome my difficulty in

keeping 3rd grade and 1st grade elementary student attention. Hopefully by

writing this term paper, I can learn, practice and also improve my teaching

ability. For the teacher at ACES, I hope the information can be applied and

help them to become better teachers. For the readers, I hope this term paper

will become an optional reference and improve their knowledge.

D. Description of the Institution

Based on the interview with Ms. Rhimelda Marcella Yulia, S. S, ACES is

an English Course that is located in Jalan Pandu No.6A. Established in 1st

April 2002, this course is lead by Ms. Rhimelda Marcella Yulia, S. S. as the

principal and one of the teachers. At the beginning, ACES’s name is Ace kids.

After few years, they changed it into ACES (Active Communicative English

Study). Ms. Rhimelda said “With their new brand name, hopefully they can

reach the wider group for their student of age, not only the kids. Therefore,

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Maranatha Christian University ACES is supported by three teachers Ms. Rhimelda, Ms. Yenny and Ms.

Cherry. In this course, the class is divided into two kind of groups; regular and

private. Regular classes usually contain of approximately max 5 students per

class. The student can learn together in the same level. There are Toddy,

Nursery, Pre-Basic, Basic 1, Basic 2, Basic 3, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2,

Intermediate 3, and Low Intermediate.

Not only a vision, ACES also have a mission. They want to build a school

starting from pre-school. With passion, love and care from the teachers,

dedicated to learners, and also good material, ACES has already had the

good indication of building a school.

E. Method of the Study

To support the data on this paper, I used some methods. First, I

interviewed the owner of the course where I did my internship during January

to February 2013. Second, I wrote all my experiences on my Internship

Journal in order to remind me of all the things happened. Additionally, I did

research from the Internet or library to find for some articles to analyze the

causes, the effects and the potential solutions of my difficulty in handling five

elementary students.

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Maranatha Christian University In this research, the subjects are me as the assistant teacher, the three 3rd

grade elementary students and two 1st elementary students in the class at

ACES. The respondent of the interview is Ms.Rhimelda as the principal and

also one of the teachers. The focus of this study is on keeping the attention of

the three 3rd grade elementary student and the two 1st elementary students.

G. Organization of the Term Paper

The first part of this term paper is the Abstract, the overall summary of the

final paper in Bahasa. Second is the Declaration of Originality, then the next

parts are Acknowledgements and the Table of Contents. Chapter One is the

Introduction containing Background of the Study, Identification of the

Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the Institution,

Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization of the term

paper. Chapter Two will discuss about Problem Analysis. Furthermore,

Chapter Two explain the causes and effects of my problem. Chapter Three is

about Potential Solutions. It contains some ways to overcome the problem

along with the potential negative and positive effects. Chapter Four is the

Conclusion of all analysis. The last part is the Bibliography and Appendices

which contain the flowchart, the transcription of the interview with Ms.

Rhimelda as the principal and one of the teachers at ACES (Active

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

The problem of my thesis is handling my difficulty in keeping attention of

three 3rd grade and two 1st grade elementary students at ACES. There are

two causes of the problem, which I did not have creativity in teaching and the

three of five students tend to talk much. The effect of my problem is the

students got bored to both of me as a teacher and the material, and the

condition of class was being uncontrolled. There are three potential solutions

to solve the problem. The first potential solution is the teacher should use

reward and consequence system keep students’ attention. This solution is

quite common to be applied by teacher. The second potential solution is the

teacher has to use visual teaching aid to keep the students attention. By the

positive and negative side of teaching aid, I recognize teaching aid was very

helpful. It can keep students attention and also reduce their boredom while

learning. The third potential

solution of my problem is I will prepare many kinds of activity in the class

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Maranatha Christian University Based on the analysis in the previous chapters, I would like to choose the

best solution to solve the problem. The best solution is by using reward and

consequences system. Using Reward and consequences system is a good

way to develop children’s awareness of their responsibility to learn as the

student. If they realize about the rewards and consequences they will have,

they can control themselves and they will keep their attention to the teacher.

Therefore, as a teacher I can deliver the material well to them. In addition, I

will use the other two potential solution such using visual teaching aid and

preparing various activity in class just as an optional tool to support their

attention to me as the teacher. The reason why visual teaching aid and

many different activities just become an optional chosen solution because it

needed more time and expenses in the preparation. But hopefully, these two

solutions can reduce students’ boredom in class while learning, moreover

the activity should be related to the lesson. The students’ participation will

help the teacher to maintain their attention. Without the attention, the teacher

cannot teach them well. So attention is an important thing that the teacher

should set from the students since the beginning. The reason why visual aid

and many kind of activity are not my main option is because both of them

needed more extra time for the teacher to prepare. In addition, visual

teaching aids need more expanses.

At the end of word, hopefully this term paper could give educational

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Maranatha Christian University enough to be one of an option to help anyone for those who read especially

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources

Snowman, Jack, and Robert Biehler. Psychology Applied to Teaching.

New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.

Electronic Sources

Attig, Daryl. “Getting & Keeping Student Attention” pdf. 2008. 15 June 2013

http://faculty.weber.edu/dattig/ResourceTopicIndex/GResourceTopicsList

/Getting%20&%20Keeping%20Student%20Attention.pdf

Bagwell, Rebecca. “Classroom Management Techniques for Elementary

School” ehow.com. 2012. 22 April 2013

http://www.ehow.com/list_6518151_classroom-management-techniques-

elementary-school.html

Brister, Jennifer. “The Effect of Visual Aids on Learning” ehow.com. 2012

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Maranatha Christian University http://www.ehow.com/about_6395799_effect-visual-aids-learning.html

Cross ,Christopher. “Rewards Vs. Natural Consequences in Education”

ehow.com. 2012. 19 April 2013

http://www.ehow.com/info_8776879_rewards-vs-natural-consequences-

education.html

Dowling, Ellen. “Classroom Management Activities” ehow.com. 2012. 8 April

2013

http://www.ehow.com/way_5437249_classroom-management-

activities.html

Hollowell, Karen. “How to Teach Children to Focus Their Attention” ehow.com. 2012.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4898060_teach-children-focus-attention.html

Johnson, Charlotte. “How to Design Classroom Activities” ehow.com. 2012

7 May 2013

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Maranatha Christian University Kuther, Tara Ph.D. “Can You Over-Prepare to Teach a Class?” about.com.

2013. 15 June 2013

http://gradschool.about.com/od/collegeteaching/p/Can-You-Over-Prepare-For-Class.htm

Lauren, Daniella. “Objectives of Teaching Aids” ehow.com. 2012. 29 April

2013

http://www.ehow.com/about_5371920_objectives-teaching-aids.html

Lewis, Beth. “Should You Offer Extrinsic Classroom Rewards for Good

Behavior?” about.com. 2012. 12 April 2013

http://k6educators.about.com/cs/classroommanageme3/a/rewardsprizes.

htm

Mitchinson, Christy. “Audio, Visual & Kinesthetic Learning Styles” ehow.com.

2012. 25 April 2013

http://www.ehow.com/info_8326347_audio-visual-kinesthetic-learning-

styles.html

Moss, Lauralee. “How to Stop Talking in the Classroom” ehow.com 2012. 5

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Maranatha Christian University http://www.ehow.com/how_7797806_stop-talking-classroom.html

Paduraru, Carmen. “Reward System in Classroom” ehow.com. 2012. 7 April

2013

http://www.ehow.com/info_8320322_reward-systems-classroom.html

Reynolds, Tess. “Activities to Improve Attention in Children” ehow.com. 2012

4 May 2013

http://www.ehow.com/list_7411672_activities-improve-attention-

children.html

Tonarely, Katie. “How to Attract & Keep Your Learner's Attention in a

Classroom” ehow.com. 2012. 2 April 2013

http://www.ehow.com/how_7868632_attract-keep-learners-attention-classroom.html

Vaaland and Ertesvåg. “Leading or losing? -Lost in the classroom” 15 June

2013.

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Maranatha Christian University VanBaren, Jennifer. “Classroom Rewards & Consequences” ehow.com.

2012 15 June 2013

http://www.ehow.com/info_7890308_classroom-rewards-consequences.html

Vossos, Tasos “Classroom Rules & Rewards for Third Grade” ehow.com.

2012. 6 April 2013

http://www.ehow.com/info_8705112_classroom-rules-rewards-third-

grade.html

Yamamoto, Kaoru. “Does Teacher Creativity Make a Difference In Pupil

Learning?” 16 June 2013

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1000815?uid=3738224&uid=2&uid=

Handling My Difficulty In Keeping The Attention Of Three 3rd Grader and Two 1st Grader Elementary Students At Aces.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENNDIX A

APPENDIX B

TRANSCRIPTION OF THE INTERVIEW

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

B. Identification of the Problem

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

D. Description of the Institution

E. Method of the Study

G. Organization of the Term Paper

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY