LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 | 115 TRAINING THE TEACHER CANDIDATES A GOOD CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TO IMPROVE THEIR PROFICIENCIES Titis Sulistyowati Sweeties.titis@gmail.com Muria Kudus University Diah Kurniati kurniati.diah@yahoo.com Muria Kudus University ABSTRACT Teaching Practice program (PPL) must be done by the students of English Education Department of Muria Kudus University as one of the requirements to finish their study of under graduate program in English Education. PPL implementation is done in some schools that have been determined before by the department. PPL is a training program for students which offer an opportunity for the students to apply the theory and their knowledge about education as well as the implementation of English teaching directly in front of the students at schools where they have to do the PPL. As teacher trainees, the English Education Department students, do not have sufficient experience in managing a class, especially in providing effective instruction in the classroom. Providing good instructions is one of the important aspects of the success of the learning process, so it is important for teachers to understand how to organize the lesson and provide classroom interaction in a proper and effective way. The focus of this study is to explain how the classroom management techniques applied by the teacher candidates (PPL) in teaching and learning and the improvements of the students during the lesson. As the PPL program manager, Department of English Education of UMK can use this study as an evaluation by understanding the weaknesses and problems experienced by students teacher during teaching practice program, so the Department will be able to make better achievement through the implementation of the program so that students will be well prepared to carry out the teaching process in the classroom. Keywords: Teaching Practice Program, teacher candidate, classroom management INTRODUCTION Classroom management is all of the efforts made by teachers which aim to increase positive classroom atmosphere so that the results of the learning process becomes optimize. Sejathi in Muliani (2011) states that, "management is the organization, administration, use to manage learning resources effectively to achieve the goals/ targets to be desired". In conclusion, management is the implementation or organization of something in order to achieve the goal, effectively and efficiently. In order to achieve effective learning, a classroom teacher must possess the ability to manage the class well. Teachers must be able to convey instructions with clear and simple language that can be understood by their students. One indication that the students understand the instructions is they are able to respond the instructions correctly. Good classroom interaction is expected to be able to increase student 116 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 motivation and enthusiasm. It is considered as the starting point of effective teaching and learning process which is expected to improve the Moreover a teacher should also be able to overcome problems in the classroom wisely and he should have a good attitude towards students who have different characters. As a teacher, sometimes we do not realize if we often make mistakes when giving instruction in the classroom. This is maybe because sometimes teachers use language that is too difficult and complicated for the students, providing more than one instruction at the same time, or because the students do not pay attention to the can cause failure in the delivery of instruction, therefore teachers need self- reflection related to teaching and learning in the class. Students of English education depart- ment of Muria Kudus University are teacher candidates, in which during the period of their formal education they have limited teaching experience, especially in classroom management practices. Nevertheless, at the seventh semester they should take PPL that is Teaching Practice as pre service teaching program. In this program, the students are required to undertake teaching practice at some schools. The lack of experience in teaching in the classroom sometimes make some students do not feel confident to go directly into the class. The problem is not only dealing with the mastery of the English, but they are also faced with the problem of how to deal with students that they have never met before. Moreover, in fact the students' abilities are also very diverse. Some students, who have good academic competence, can quickly adjust to the classroom atmosphere, but the other students still have difficulties so they need a lot of guidance. During my time as a student supervisor I received a lot of good feedback either from the students as well as from the teachers. In general, the problems of the PPL relate to two things, namely the problem of adjusting themselves in school environment and classroom management. SMP 1 Jati Kudus is one of the schools where the students conducted PPL program in 2012. Based on the input from the supervisor teacher in SMP 1Jati Kudus, the problems faced by the students in class management are ;the mastery of the English material are still diverse among students, many students are still awkward in the classroom, they are less able to interact with students in accordance with the position as teachers, as well as the lack of media used in the classroom. Based on the explanation above, we intend to carry out a research on how the classroom management techniques applied by the teacher candidates (PPL students) of English Education Department of UMK during teaching practice. By involving the supervisor teacher we conducted preliminary observations in the classroom, then the students received feedback from LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 | 117 both lecturers and the teachers about the weaknesses of the students during the teaching practice and how to overcome the problems they face, after that we did the observations again to check the progress of students. We also conducted interviews with supervisor teacher to determine the strengths and weaknesses of students related to their classroom management implementation. By creating a good classroom management, it will have a positive impact on students' English language skills. Hopefully the results of this study will be useful to provide valuable input in the implementation of the PPL in the future, so that the implementation of the PPL will be better. Based on the problems described in the background of the research, the objectives of this study can be described as follows; To explain how the class management applied by the PPL students of English Education Department of UMK in SMP 1 Jati Kudus and to find problems faced by the PPL students of English Education Department of UMK in SMP 1 Jati Kudus. LITERATURE REVIEW Teachers have an important role in the success of education at schools. They also play an important role in enhancing the ability of students, so that teachers are expected to create interesting learning to learn. Yusnaeni (2009) states there are two things teachers should do in the class is to teach and to manage the classroom. Teaching is essentially not only the process of delivering course material, but also the teacher must be able to arrange and organize existing environment around the students. All components of teaching that include in teaching objectives, teaching materials, teaching and learning activities, methods, tools and resources, and evaluation must be performed optimally in order to achieve the goal of teaching that have been decided before. This is what we call later as the ability of classroom management. Harmer (2007:34-45) explains that classroom management includes organizing students, whether they study individually or in groups and how we use the time well. Teachers in the classroom are also concerned about the appearance in the classroom, and how we organize our voice. How we behave towards students is one important factor in the classroom. The position of the teacher in the classroom and movements performed by the teacher is also a contributory factor in the classroom. Teachers must continue to monitor what students do and how they felt during the learning process. The interaction of teachers and students is also very important in learning, for example, whether the language used by the teacher can be well understood by the students. Rukmana and Suryana in Management Education (2011) quoted from the Director General of the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education conclude that 118 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 Manjemen class is all efforts directed to create an atmosphere of effective and fun learning which can motivate students to learn well according to their ability. It can also be said that classroom management is a conscious attempt to regulate the activities of the learning process systematically. This conscious effort led to the preparation of learning materials, facilities, classroom arrangement, realizing the situation/ condition of the learning process and the timing so that the learning run well so that the teaching objectives based on curriculum can be achieved. According to Ahmad (1995:2) the goals of classroom management are as follows: a) Realizing the class situation and condition, either as a learning environment as well as learning groups that allow students to develop their abilities as maximum as possible. b) Eliminating barriers that can disturb the learning interaction. c) Providing and organizing facilities that support learning process and enable students to learn in accordance with the social, emotional, and intellectual students in the class. d) Fostering and guiding in accordance with the students social, economic, cultural background. (Yusnaeni, 2009) Rukmana and Suryana in Management Education (2011) states that the Management is essentially class activities (classroom management) includes two aspects, namely the students management and facility management a) Student management is an activity that focuses on the activities of students in the class. Students are learning objects that move and has potential. Movements in the learning process relies on the function of teachers who have a major role in guiding, directing and helping e the classroom. So that management can be defined as how the students how to manage and put students in the class emotional development. b) Facility management includes facilities used for teaching and learning process. The physical condition of the classroom environment must fulfill and support classroom interactions so that teaching learning process can run smoothly. Rukmana and Suryana in Management Education (2011) describes the factors that influence class management based on physical, socio - emotional, and organizational factors. The physical condition refers to the physical environment where teaching and learning takes place that includes the room, seating arrangements, ventilation and light settings and storage settings stuff. Socio- emotional conditions have big influence on the learning process. These conditions include: a) Leadership types applied by the teacher in the classroom, whether the teacher has led the students democratically or not. It will greatly affect on the emotional condition of the students. LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 | 119 b) The attitude of the teachers are very motivation. Teachers must be wise in giving punishment if there are students who break the rules. Teachers should be able to treat children in warm behavior and be fair dealing with students' problems. Creating conditions that make students are aware of their mistakes and trying to revise the mistakes is the duty of the teacher as an educator c) Teacher's voice is relatively influential factor in the learning process. Let the teacher's voice can be heard by all student, but the teacher should not speak too high. Volume must be in accordance with class situation and to be heard clearly for students. d) Fostering good relations (report cards) between teachers and students in the classroom is very important. With the creation of teacher - student relationships, students are expected to always be excited and feel safe in the classroom so that students would be more open about themselves. Organizational conditions is a way of organizing regular activities in schools so as to prevent the problem of classroom management. With the regulation of activities on a regular basis it is expected that the class will be embedded good habits for every student. These activities include the time class starts, changing the class, if the teacher is unable to attend the class, the collection of duties, etc. (Rukmana and Suryana. 2011) Based on the Curriculum 20117 of English Education Department, Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Muria Kudus University, Teaching Practice (PPL) is a subject that must be taken by students who have met the requirements and the implementation of PPL is conducted in schools that have been determined by the Department. PPL is a training program for students to apply the theory and educational science as well as English language instruction directly in the schools. This teaching practice is guided by the PPL Field Supervisor (DPL) of appointed by the Department of English Education of UMK and supervising teacher who is appointed by the Principal. Field Supervisor (DPL) has the task of providing guidance before, during and after the period of PPL, organize and implement campus orientation program of PPL evaluation . While the Teacher is assigned to provide consultation and guidance to PPL students and give evaluations. RESEARCH METHOD This study was conducted in SMP 1 Jati Kudus as one of schools for teaching practice (PPL). The subjects were PPL students as teachers and the seventh grade students of SMP 1 Jati Kudus. In this case PPL students have little experience in teaching that still need guidance in teaching in the classroom. The seventh grade students are still trying to adjust to the school environment because it is still relatively new for them, so they need 120 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 appropriate guidance to be able to adjust well as soon as possible with the teachers and the teaching pattern applied. In this study, we also involved teacher of SMP 1 Jati Kudus as the observer who observed the class during PPL program was conducted. Action Research in the implementation consists of several cycles. Each cycle consists of several activities that include, (a) planning, (b) action, (c) observation and (d) reflection. The stages in the research in each of the action occurs repeatedly that eventually resulted in several actions in the classroom action research. The steps are elaborated as follows. a. planning At the beginning of the planning process we did observation previously to know for certain about the problems faced by the students of the practitioner in early learning. Then we as DPL and teachers gave suggestion in the preparation of RPP (Plan Learning Program) as well as the structures and the media that will be used in teaching. b. Acting The action in the form of classroom learning teaching process was conducted by the PPL students. During the teaching learning process, the students were accompanied by the school teacher and advisor as observers. c.. Monitoring Monitoring or observation was done during the students teaching in the classroom. Monitoring was done based on observation sheet and recordings in the form of video shooting. d. Reflection Reflection is a process of describing monitoring result which included weaknesses found in the process of implementation of the action (action). Data collection techniques that we use include, among others ; observation, interviews, documentation, questionnaires and tests. Data analysis was conducted by using qualitative and quantitative a) Qualitative method was used to process data from observation, interviews, documentation, and questionnaires. b) Quantitative method was used to process data from the English language test first grade students, by calculating the average value of the class. RESULTS The teaching practice in SMP 1 Jati Kudus started at August 29, 2013. Before the students were allowed to teach, the students must have orientation first. During this period the students were allowed to observe the school environment including teachers and students. They should also did observation when the teacher taught in the class so that they would have well understanding about the condition of the class. In the second week they were assigned to teach and they were also trained to prepare the lesson plan. Before doing teaching practice, students should make observations and orientation LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 | 121 related to the physical condition of the school/institution, the organizational structure of the school, the school administration, the condition of students disciplines, the administration of teacher learning, student organizations, intra - extra- curricular activities, school infrastructure, school academic calendar and school activity schedule. To determine which classes were taken as the class of research we conducted interviewed with teachers. We did this in order to choose classes that have different characteristics so that it will provide different challenges for PPL students. Based on the information from the teacher we finally decided to take an active class 7A and less active class 7C. After implementing teaching practice program for 3 months and conducting classroom action research for two months, based on the data that we collected in the class, then we can draw the following conclusion. Graph 1 The quality of teacher activity (PPL students) In the second cycle, the teachers (PPL students) could create enjoyable situation and make the class is comfortable, so the teacher activity increased to good level. Graph 2 activeness 0 2 4 6 cycle 1 cycle 2 class 7A class 7B 0 1 2 3 4 5 cycle 1 cycle 2 class 7A class 7C 122 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 Graph 3 Percentage of the Number of Active Students activeness can be seen from the ability of the students in communicating their thinking. They started to be brave in communicating their opinion and they asked questions if they had problems They also tried to explain about the material being taught based on their point of view, although still under the guidance of the teacher practitioner. They also tried to think creatively and critically by giving comment on other students' work, although it was still very simple. Moreover they started to arise their confidence in presenting the results of their work or just read in front of the class. However, based on the test result 1 and test 2 it can be seen different value of the results of the class 7A and 7C. The result of the test of Class 7A was increasing significantly, that is 0.9 points, while the result of the test of 7C class increased only 0.3 points. So the teacher of 7C still have to work hard to improve the ability of students. Graph of increasing score of English subject can be seen as follows. Chart 5 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% cycle 1 cycle 2 class 7A class 7C 0 20 40 60 80 100 kelas 7A kelas 7C siklus 1 siklus 2 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 | 123 Classroom management In the early days of teaching practice practitioner teachers still felt awkward in class and this was because it was the first time of their teaching in the classroom and interaction with the students. The students who became the sample of the research were the seventh grade students who were still adapting with the new environment in the school so that many of them were still passive. The PPL students (practitioner teachers) also still studied the materials which would be given to 7th grade students, because they the material taught is different from the subject that PPL students got in campus. They also had to think about the right method to deliver material so that the class will run smoothly and effectively. At this stage the PPL Students tried to use the media to use pictures and power point. However, to motivate students to learn, teachers must also be able to understand the character and pattern of student learning and provide opportunities for students to be able to use English language in the classroom. The use of the teaching aids gives students time to explore themselves by using the media. At this first cycle, the medium used is still limited the aids only use to help the practitioners in explaining the material but not intended to give students the variation in learning activity. Sometimes student teachers also need to lead the students to work in groups. Teaching media in this phase is the material. Due to the use of worksheets as the primary source of learning, it seems making the class more teacher centered and not students centered. Teaching media is very important, therefore the teacher practitioner need to use the media as a media exploration for students, so that they will have more opportunities to practice the language as a medium of communication. Difficulties The student teachers still have some problems in giving instruction. The language of the teacher candidates is too difficult to understand for junior high school students in grade 7. This condition led to the use of language in the content delivery is still dominated by L1, Indonesian. Sometimes the example sentences given by the teacher practitioner is less simple, so that students are less able to digest the meaning. The Sound system is also an important aspect of teaching in the classroom. The volume of the teacher's voice must comply with the conditions of the class. In a large class volume voice should be loud so that the teacher must be able to be heard by the students in the back row. The teacher oo slow so when the students are crowded, the teacher's voice does not reach all of the students in the class. The position of the teacher candidate is often only in front of the class. The position 124 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 of the teacher in the classroom will determine the effectiveness of the class. Teachers should not always be in front of the class because he needs to monitor what students do. Teachers also need to communicate directly with students as individuals, so that teachers understand the characteristics of students as individuals and learning styles of each student. It is intended that teachers can provide appropriate approaches to learning for each student. All seating positions as in the general class in Indonesia, still facing forward position the teacher as a learning center. This gives the impression that the students always work as individuals. It is necessary also occasionally change the seating arrangement and coordinating students to work in groups and make students themselves as the center of learning. CONCLUSION Classroom management performed by the practitioner of English Education student of UMK, starting from planning the class that is to create a Lesson Plan, base on the competence and learning objectives. teacher trainees starts the classroom activities from the pre learning that is by doing apperception. In the main activities of learning students must be able to master the material and explain the material by utilizing existing media. In addition the teacher trainee should be able to build rapport with students by showing hospitality. In the closing activity, the teacher trainees try to conclude learning outcomes and implement follow-up by giving assignments to students. In implementing the learning in the classroom, the teacher PPL face many obstacles, especially in growing confidence in the classroom. This is because teaching in a real classroom is a new experience for them, so many things to be learned in order to be able to adjust quickly. they are such a class organization, the use of language that acceptable, voice control, discipline the students, and foster children's motivation in the classroom. The efforts to improve in the learning process that teachers do is by optimizing the use of the media as a source of learning in order to generate students enthusiasm. They also tried to foster self-confidence so that students are willing to present the results of their work in front of the class. Developing good relations with students with more intensive guidance in the classroom. Learning success is demonstrated by the increasing number of students who are active and the average value Subjects English students to a class that is 0.9 points and 0.3 points 7A to 7C class. For students PPL, this study can be used as a reference to get some illustration on how the implementation of the PPL and the obstacles encountered, as well as an example of self-reflection effort to improve the learning process that they should do. Department of English Education of UMK can make this research as a PPL program evaluation. By knowing the weakness and strength in the LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/2 April 2014 | 125 implementation of Teaching practice Program experienced by students, Department of English Education will be able to provide better revision through the implementation of the Teaching Practice program so that students will be better prepared to carry out the teaching process in the classroom. REFERENCES Harmer, Jeremy. 2007. How to Teach English. Edinburg Gate: Longman. Muliani. 2011. Penelitian Manajemen Kelas (file:///D:/penelitian%20baru/Manajemen %20Kelas.htm) accessed on 20 April 2013 Muslich, Masnur. 2009. Melaksanakan PTK Itu Mudah (Classroom Action Research) Pedoman Praktis Bagi Guru Profesional. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara. Rukmana dan Suryana.2011. Manajemen Pendidikan. Bandung: Alfabeta TE Editor, Reflective teaching: Exploring Our Own Practice (http://www.teaching english.org. uk/articles/reflective- teaching-exploring-our-own-classroom- practice) accessed on 21 April 2013 Yusnaeni, 2009, Pentingnya Pengelolaan Kelas dalam Pembelajaran. lpmp- aceh.com/download/download.php?fileI d=33 accessed on 20 April 2013.