Trick or Treat!
The morning of October 31st in the Teachers Room, Bapak Suntono (SMAN 1 Demak’s headmaster) announced a holiday he called “Pumpkin Day.” Though no pumpkins made an appearance, the students and teachers at SMAN 1 Demak still enjoyed a Halloween full of candy and surprises. ETA Sarah Wozniak introduced teachers and students to Halloween and.. Read More.
Oh My Gourd!
As the leaves on the trees at home changed colors and her friends reunited at their alma mater to celebrate homecoming, ETA Sophia Lopresti felt like the month of October was unfamiliar this year. She wanted to share some of her favorite things about fall with her English club at school. After receiving many old.. Read More.
Ideas are Meant to be Heard!
On the last Thursday of October, the students and faculty of MAN2 were invited to attend a unique full-day conference full of presentations, game-show games, and school-spirit exercises. Inspired by the conversations ETA Alexander Lopez-Perez had with students during his office hours, the MAN2 Speaker Series (or MAN2Talks, for short) is a program held once.. Read More.
The Power of the Outdoors
With students focused on their 16 midterm exams during the beginning of October, ETA Gordon “Peter” Bensen turned his attention to his four English clubs that he runs each week. In addition to mini games, weekly “Hokey Pokey” type song lessons, etc., Peter’s 11th graders created comic book strip stories, his 10th graders read, translated,.. Read More.
Letters and Stories
ETA Anisha Tyagi’s highlight this month was finally getting a reason to communicate with her students one-on-one. Prone to pulang (go home) right after school ending, her students didn’t feel very accessible to Anisha. That was until she started her community engagement projects! Her first is a letter exchange with SMKN 3 Pangkalpinang, another ETA.. Read More.
First Month of Community English Club
Throughout the month of October, ETA Brian Miner met with community members of Sangatta Utara for weekly English club sessions. These two hour long meetings were held outdoors in Sangatta Utara’s beautiful parks and at SMKN 1 Sangatta Utara. Open to all with an interest in reading, discussing, and debating in English about a variety.. Read More.
TED Talks and Tears
This October, ETA Neelam Vohra began a Study club with the university students who co-taught at SMKN 3 these past few months. Despite having gotten to know them a bit in school, the space Study club allowed, definitely brought a new level of closeness. During the first meeting, they all watched a TED Talks given.. Read More.
Take a Hike? Gladly!
One of the most meaningful parts of ETA Elizabeth “Liz” Wallace’s three months in Indonesia so far has been connecting with her students outside of class. She is always excited to be invited to a student’s home for dinner or to accompany them to various events around Gresik. When Floretta, one of the students in.. Read More.
Weekly Feeding of Culture
Every Friday, as the air begins to cool the hot island of Bangka, ETA Kiyoko “Kiki” Nakamura-Koyama grabs her Bahasa Indonesia book and makes her way to her weekly two hour lessons. The family teaches her a new language, culture, and gentle familial love. They feed her new words and the best, and most incredible.. Read More.
Friends Turn into Family
ETA Sabrina Verleysen, from MAN Demak, had the opportunity to get to know her co-teacher Pak Jam a little better one Sunday in October. Pak Jam had invited Sabrina to join him and his family for a meal on Sunday morning and to motivate the children in his family and neighborhood to study English. On.. Read More.
