Teachers

I remember my favorite teachers. In my kindergarten, I remember Ibu Tri. She was tall and she had a mean face :) -well, actually not only a mean face, but she literally was mean, lol. She was very disciplined, strict, and smart, of course. I think that she was one of a kind. If I see kindergarten teachers nowadays, I see nice teachers, full of smiles, gentle, patient, etc. Not Ibu Tri. I cried as much as I could on the first day of my kindergarten, climbing up the tall gate, calling for my mom. My mom looked at me from behind the gate, did not know what to do because she was also afraid of Ibu Tri... hahaha... But after three days, I didn't cry anymore, and Ibu Tri smiled at me. She was right. My mom did not have to accompany me all the time because I would be fine.

Then I remember Pak Yo, one of my elementary school teachers. He was my number 1 favorite of all my teachers. He taught all the lessons, but he specifically liked singing and music. He was handsome, too. He was patient and from him, I learned to have fun. He asked me to be in the choir, asked me to join competitions of "menulis halus," "macapat," etc. He always said, don't think about win or lose. Think about getting experience, meeting new friends, and having a good time. That year was the best year ever. He taught me that a learning process should have a "fun" component in it. I heard that statement again from Brock Dubbels a few months ago, when he said that if the components of play were included in the components of work, the results would be incredible.

My undergraduate years, hmm... I remember Pak Siswo. He was one of the wackiest professors at my university, and he happened to be my advisor. I liked him because he was.. different. He was not afraid to be different. Other professors always had formal shirt, pants, and hand bags (mostly black, for male professors). He liked to wear jeans and shirt while carrying his backpack. Other professors liked their class arrangement "classroom style." He liked "theatre" style (or I called it round table style). That way, nobody could hide from this professor :) While many professors would drive best cars to work, I often saw him ride the public bus. Not ashamed or anything. He wrote and published his own books and assigned them to students - not trying to be arrogant or something, but he was looking for feedback, too. He taught differently; the class had discussions all the time (instead of memorization).

From their ways of teaching me, I kind of saw their "teaching philosophy." And as I am trying to create my own, I look up to these teachers.