Welcome to the 2017-18 Cohort’s January edition of the Fulbright ETA Monthly Highlights. We kicked off 2018 with our annual Mid-Year Enrichment Conference in Jakarta. All nineteen ETAs alongside their co-teachers came together for a four-day conference where they shared ideas, stories, and experiences. The ETAs and co-teachers alike were eager to return back to site refreshed and with their new strategies in hand. Read on to find out more about the ETAs month of January!
Many thanks to all of the ETAs for their wonderful stories and photos.
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Teaching Technique Telephone
ETA Matt Poissant was very inspired by seeing one of his co-teachers, Pak Jamasri, using an interactive English activity in his classroom when teaching about common irregular verbs. Pak Jam had the students move their desks to the side of the room and then form four lines, with one student seated behind the other, in.. Read More.
English Zone
Although it may seem like a small accomplishment, this month ETA Kyra Ghosh created an “English Zone” at her school. She compiled a collection of English poetry, quotes and proverbs written by her students and taped them to the wall to create an “English Zone” near the canteen at her school. The English Zone will.. Read More.
Cake Culture
ETA Sam Chen celebrated his 23rd birthday at site alongside his co-teachers in a way that blended American and Javanese traditions, and resulted in far too many cakes. Leading up to the big day, Sam made note of the fact that his Javanese co-teachers celebrated their birthdays not by accepting gifts and food, but rather.. Read More.
Tutoring My Neighbors
In January ETA Katia Oltmann started giving English lessons to her neighbor’s two children. The lessons started when Katia’s neighbor, who owns a laundry business and who Katia has been paying to do her laundry for the past five months, asked how much lessons cost. She was as happy to find out that lessons were.. Read More.
Good Food – Good People
In the first week of January, ETA Khalid Osman celebrated the New Year with his family and continued the festivities with a communal dinner. The dinner included distinguished guests including, Ibu Saras accompanied by her two sons and the Vice Principal along with his family. The dinner was prepared by Khalid Osman, his mom, and.. Read More.
Make Sure You Eat Your Fruits and Veggies!
This month, ETA Jam Sulahry decided that it was going to be a new year where he took the time to be hyper-intentional about the local community around him. For example, instead of taking a traditional ojek (motorcycle) around the city, he would walk anywhere under 1.5 kilometers and stop by anything that looked different.. Read More.
Indonesian Wedding
On January 28, ETA Nageen Sherani attended a colorful and lively Indonesian wedding of a teacher-friend from the school with some of her students and fellow teachers. The wedding day started early morning with a three hour religious ceremony followed by food, a reception and more food. It was exciting for Nageen to be a.. Read More.
Full Moon Party
On the last day of January, ETA Amy Quirion joined in a Bulan Tula event, a gathering under the full moon with the Batak Toba community. She was invited by her friends in Balige and it turned out to be a night full of food, dancing, and memories! Amy Quirion is currently teaching at SMAN.. Read More.
Farewells Can Be Fun Too
The spring semester at ETA Ian Morse’s school began with the departure of a few very beloved members of the school. The Ministry of Religion, which oversees the Islamic schools in the country had its birthday in December, and every five years, it comes with a shift of personnel. Ian’s headmaster, Ibu Yartam, was transferred.. Read More.
Dharmasraya
On January 28th, ETA Alex Bue and his counterpart, Bu Dona, drove from Padang to Dharmasraya, a gold-rich regency of West Sumatra founded in 2003, to host a teaching workshop at a local public high school. At SMAN UNGGUL, Alex and Bu Dona first met with headmasters from throughout the region to discuss AMINEF and.. Read More.
