The month of November flew by for ETA Gordon “Peter” Bensen as the semester at MAN 1 Kota Payakumbuh came to a close. In this month, Peter made new friends, participated in Gotong Royong, launched his CEPS, celebrated Thanksgiving, went on field trips with other teachers from MAN 1, played in a football tournament, and much more. In the midst of all that activity, the highlight of Peter’s month was playing class-wide Apples to Apples on with his 11th grade classes.
To work on creating arguments for the topic on Analytical Texts, groups of four to five students used mini whiteboards made from sheet protectors to write sentences describing why one of their red cards matched the green card Peter wrote on the board. Points were awarded to the group with the best argument.
The engagement, work ethic, smiles, laughs, and humor that came out of the activity made this the best 30 minutes of class time Peter has experienced since being here in Indonesia. Many of the Apples to Apples red cards cannot be directly translated to Indonesian, thus Peter had the opportunity to explain things like burritos, haunted houses, fruit roll-ups, junkyards, and the tooth fairy to his students. Students were able to share humor with Peter in a way they never had before, and every student wanted to continue the activity when told they had to move on. Overall, it was a very successful activity that Peter has since replicated in his various English clubs.
Gordon “Peter” Bensen is currently teaching at MAN 1 Payakumbuh, West Sumatra
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