ETA Allison “Allis” Cwikla has greatly enjoyed getting back into the swing of things as the second semester began at SMAN1-Temanggung on January 2. A few highlights from January include introducing her tenth-grade students to the “penny cup” and Nancy Drew, her favorite mystery detective from the United States.

To encourage class participation and conversational speaking outside of class, Allis has given each class its own penny cup. Whenever Allis notices outstanding participation in class, casual conversations in English, or the usage of one of this week’s five new vocabulary words, she gives the student(s) an American penny to place in the class cup. A special prize from America awaits the class with the most pennies at the end of the semester.

Additionally, throughout January Pak Imam and Allis introduced their students to fictional narratives. After reading various narratives, the students were challenged to write their own narrative which solved a mystery, similar to the narratives written by Nancy Drew, a fictional character in a popular American mystery series. Before writing their own mystery narratives, the students practiced with their inner Nancy Drew by solving a fictional crime set up in the classroom using clues and interrogation methods introduced by Pak Imam and Allis.

Allison Cwikla is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Temanggung, Central Java