My Letters to Our Lovely Lecturer

(Micro Teaching Class Edition)

Dear reader, do you know something? I like writing. One time, my lecturer asked us to made some reflection from our friends’ performance and made case study of our own performance. And this letters is written because this class. Do you know what class? Ya, micro teaching class. When she said that we had to do this task, I got a litle surprised. Wait a minute. Surprised in a good sense of course. Surprised? Why? Because as I said before, I love writing.

I want to tell you a story. But, our story doesn’t stop here. Because the story is not about that. This story tells about how far my preparation to do my task. What was that? The task was we had to perform in front of a class. It is not like most of story. Neither a big story than ever. I just want to share you how I face micro teaching class with my lovely lecturer. One day, my friends and I were divided a topic in junior high school.

I get this material for my first performance in micro teaching class. For this chance, I got the materials about numbers, especially dividing fractions. Actually, I have no problem with this topics. But, one annoying thing is how to implement this topics to my students then. I think, if we want to implement multiplying fractions is easier than apply dividing franctions from our daily lives to teaching-learning. I thought so at the time.

One day after that, I and my close friend, Wana and Nadya spent our time to had lunch in KFC and looked for the resources from ‘uncle’ google and youtube. After finished complete our resources, we had to go out from that place.

Got home, I tried to watch the video that I had downloaded, but the video couldn’t open. Unfortunately, I didn’t know why. I thought there must be some mistakes. So, I decided to focused just on material and performance. I made PPT with my best. I wanted my students not only understand the materials, but also they could enjoying.

I always looked for resources relating to my topics. After some meetings with our lecturer and had fixed our lesson plan, we go on to the day which all of us had to presented our task in front of the class. Before this moment, I want to tell you something. But, please don’t tell anyone! It is our secret, okay. Just you and me. The secret is all about our lecturer. Ssstt, don’t be surprised as it! Just calm and relax.

So, here’s the story. At that moment, we were given a task to performed opening and closing in the classroom. It had been running smoothly. Arrived at the end of the day for the opening and closing sessions in class, Onas and Yuli had to performed at that day. Onas had completed his work. But Yuli? What happened with Yuli? Do you know, it turns out he had not completed his work. Oh my God.. that's where the beginning of the disaster, we called it a disaster, which at the time, we looked our lecturer seemed angry. Maybe I was wrong. It was not angry, but rather disappointed.
            After Onas presented his opening and closing activity, we started being panic, because no one of us had ready to performed on the opening, contents, until the closing on that day. We stared at each other face expected the presence of a volunteer to face this silence situation. Do you know what? Because suddenly, the class became quiet and we can only repel-down and starting to move forward.

Finally, our lecturers left the room with disappointed. I’m sorry. After that event, I felt guilty and made myself sure that I must really ready later. I was determined to show the best. Ya, I should be able to return the smile and expectation from our lecturer who had perished because of our behavior.

Dear reader, I hope you're not tired of reading this letter yet. Now, I will tell you about the day which we had to act like a real teacher. For this time, there is no volunteer, because our own lecturer who would call our names at random to come forward. one's own why looking for trouble. Haha.

I was a third performer after Wana and Fira. I tried to control myself as much as possible so as not seemed nervous, and control my voice so as not to vibrate. Because if my voice vibrated, it would look nervous at all. Hence, for nervous problems, I guess, I was successful. There was no significant problem. You know, I had practiced many times in front of a mirror. Even when I arrived to campus, I took a few time to go to the toilet only to practice my expression. I should be shocked when somebody came into the toilet. I just gave my smile for her and disappear as soon as possible. Haha

I taught with full spirit, I gave some examples by showing the pictures and so far was so good, I guess. But suddenly, our lecturer stopped my explanation. I was shocked and just kept silent for a few moments. I realized my mistake. Too much explanation was not good. Actually, I felt a little depressed at that time. But, show must go on. I did not want the problem made my training in front of the mirror time after time be failed. I did not want to work in vain, I thought. I re-pumping passion for the best performace I had.

After finishing the performance, I felt so relieved. I heard comments from Yuli that build me up. He said that I should not just ask to one student, but also to the other students, so that there is a comparison can be seen. Our own professors said that I should give an example in the form of fractions rather more challenging in the future. Certainly every comments must be useful for my future. I believe it. Thanks to my lecturer who had given me insight how to manipulate fractions if divided by fractions. Maybe if I did not go to the board to complete the challenge of my our  lovely lecturer at that time, perhaps until now I still did not know how to manipulate fractions divided by fractions.

Dear reader, do you know who is our lecturer? Our lecturers despite had disappointed because our behavior, but still patiently guiding us. I want to be a lecturer like you, Mom, someday. Maybe, she is someone who is reading this letter. Hehe.. Ya, she is Mrs. Rahmah Johar, our lovely lecturer. Substantively, he has restricted this paper to be one and a half pages. But I'm confused why my fingers can not stop to write. Haha. So i’m so sorry about that, because it is the first time I write a letter to my lecturer. I hope that even though this class has ended, but you still willing to guide us out of this class to be a professional teacher that loved by every student.

                                                                                                            Banda Aceh, January 2014                                                                                                                         Regards,

                                                                                          Helka Pratiwi J

anak mikro keren tampak samping 

ada penampakan tangan

tampak depan

sesi nunggu Bu Rahmah, kodak sekali

Fira sibuk ngetik, aku tetap narsis

 Maaf, jika ada salah-salah kata, terlebih grammar yang acak-acakan. 

Kan ceritanya masih belajar, gak apa donk yaaa,, monggo diperbaiki,, ^_^

Muhasabah Pergantian Tahun

Sebuah kekeliruan dalam perayaan tahun baru

 Tahun baru boleh jadi merupakan awal pijakan insan-insan dalam menjalani hidup agar menjadi lebih hidup. Sebuah batu loncatan untuk membuat janji-janji kehidupan yang lebih baik. Mendaftar target-target baru yang ingin dicapai atau melanjutkan target yang belum tercapai pada tahun sebelumnya.

 Tak jarang kita terlalu berlebihan menyikapi tahun baru. Satunya sibuk dengan perayaan megah nan mubazir. Perayaan kembang api dan peniupan terompet yang dinilai jauh dari kesan islami kerap menyambangi detik-detik pergantian tahun baru. Yang satunya malah asik mencibir pelaku penghambur-hamburan harta itu.

Aku tidak mengatakan kamu atau kalian. Aku mengatakan kita. Karena aku sadar, aku juga tidak lebih baik dari kalian. Kita terlalu naif untuk persoalan ini. Menilai satu sama lain dengan cara yang berbeda. Mencibir satu sama lain dengan cibiran luar biasa. Seolah-olah kitalah yang paling benar. Padahal mencibir satu sama lain, secara tidak langsung kita menunjukkan bahwa kita tidak lebih baik dari mereka yang kita cibir.

Berkatalah yang baik atau diam

Ya, kita sebagai makhluk Allah memang diberikan kelebihan daripada makhluk Allah yang lain, yakni diberi akal untuk berpikir dan banyak sekali nikmat lainnya, termasuk nikmat berbicara.

Kenapa dari perbincangan tahun baru malah melenceng ke nikmat berbicara?

Nah, ini dia persoalannya teman. Saking asiknya kita berbicara, kita tak sadar, terkadang kita cenderung salah menggunakan nikmat yang satu ini. Senang sekali membongkar aib dan mencari-cari kesalahan orang lain. Tak sadar, terkadang, ucapan dan tindakan kita menyakiti hati saudara kita. Demikianlah, lidah seseorang itu sangat berbahaya sehingga dapat mendatangkan banyak kesalahan.

Aku jadi teringat sebuah kisah. Mungkin kalian sudah pernah mendengar atau membacanya. Tapi apa salahnya aku berbagi sedikit kisah yang bagiku, kisah ini bisa kita jadikan pedoman bersama untuk berkata yang baik atau diam. Kira-kira seperti ini ceritanya:

Tersebutlah sebuah keluarga. Dan kisahnya berawal dari sini. Keluarga kecil yang memiliki anak laki- laki yang menjadi topik pembicaraan kita. Sebut saja namanya Ahmad. Bocah mungil ini sedang asyik bermain-main di tanah. Iseng, dia menggenggam tanah dan berlarian ke dapur. Sementara ibunya sedang menyiapkan makan untuk para tamu. Ketika ibu lengah, Ahmad malah menaburkan debu ke atas makanan yang telah disajikan.

Saat ibu melihat adegan panas itu (buat hati panas maksudnya), sontak beliau marah dan berkata: “Idzhab ja’alakallahu imaaman lilharamain”. Yang artinya: “Pergi kamu! Biar kamu jadi imam di Haramain!”

Dan SubhanAllah, kini anak itu telah dewasa dan telah menjadi imam di masjidil Haram! Tahukah kalian, siapa anak kecil yang di doakan ibunya saat marah itu? Anak kecil yang tadinya kita sebut namanya sebagai Ahmad itu. Tidak, dia bukan Ahmad. Sekali lagi, anak kecil itu bukan Ahmad. Itu hanya nama samaran. Beliau adalah Syeikh Abdurrahman as-Sudais, Imam Masjidil Haram yang nada tartilnya menjadi favorit kebanyakan kaum muslimin di seluruh dunia. 

Dahsyatnya kekuatan doa seorang Ibu yang bermula dari perkataan yang baik.

Rasulullah SAW bersabda: “Barang siapa yang beriman kepada Allah, hendaklah ia berkata yang baik atau diam” (Muttafaq ‘Alaihi).

Lalu dalam hadist lain disebutkan: “Allah memberi rahmat kepada orang yang berkata baik lalu mendapat keuntungan, atau diam lalu mendapatkan keselamatan.” (HR Ibnul Mubarak).

Jadi, intinya, sebelum kita menilai orang lain, nilailah diri sendiri, sudah lebih baikkah kita dari orang yang kita nilai?

Di Balik Tirai Tahun Baru

Perayaan tahun baru yang megah nan mubazir. Kembang api dan terompet gencar dicari. Nikmat duniawi. Menjadikan diri layaknya selebriti. Sibuk sana sini hingga dini hari. Tapi, apalah arti kemegahan ini.

Ya, apalah arti kemegahan ini. Toh di hari berikutnya kita masih menjalani rutinitas yang tidak lebih baik dari tahun sebelumnya. Bangun pagi masih suka kesiangan. Solat masih sesuka hati, kapan ada waktu. Masya Allah. Maksiat hampir setiap hari. Wew. Kewajiban tertunda. Melakukan hal-hal yang kurang bermanfaat atau bahkan nyaris tidak bermanfaat. Lha, apa bedanya dengan tahun-tahun sebelumnya jika sudah seperti ini.

Nah, mari kita tilik kembali esensi dari makna pergantian tahun ini. (Jangan tanya esensi itu apaan. Karena aku juga gak tau. Keren-kerenan aja). Sejatinya, pergantian tahun merupakan momen yang paling pas untuk kita berbenah diri. Tolong dicatat, tidak hanya awal tahun, trus ke depan nya masih gitu-gitu aja, sama seperti tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Tidak. Sama sekali tidak. Tolong ya, dicatat.

Boleh jadi, momentum awal tahun baru ini kita jadikan ajang bermuhasabah ria. Flashback rekaman setahun yang lalu. Apa perubahan dalam diri kita? Sudahkah kita menjadi pribadi lebih baik? Apa saja daftar target yang telah kita list-kan tahun lalu dan terealisasi dan mana pula yang tidak? Apa kabar iman kita tahun ini? Tahun sebelumnya? Dan tahun sebelum sebelumnya? Semakin meningkat, ataukah malah jauh terperosok dan terseok-seok dalam lembah kesombongan? Merasa diri tidak butuh Tuhan?

Pergunakan momen awal tahun baru ini untuk memutar ulang rekaman setahun lepas itu. Kita gunakan untuk bermuhasabah. Daftarkan kembali rencana hidup kita ke depan dengan harapan-harapan setinggi langit. Makanya ada ungkapan, “Bercita-citalah setinggi langit”. Karena apa? Boleh jadi, saat proses terbang menuju langit, jalan kita tidak semulus jalan tol, ada kalanya kita melewati jalanan terjal penuh bebatuan dan kerikil, lalu kita terjatuh dan tersungkur. Saat kita terjatuh, kita gak langsung jatuh ke tanah. Paling tidak, nyangkut deh tu di loteng rumah, atau pohon tua rumah sebelah. Hehe. (Aku juga gak paham ngomong apaan). Udah gitu aja. Sekian.