Welcome to the September edition of the Fulbright ETA Monthly Highlights. The 2018-19 cohort spent the month of September settling into life at their sites. In this edition, ETAs share stories and reflect on trying creative activities in the classroom, starting after-school English Clubs for their students and fellow teachers, and participating in school celebrations (which often ended with dance parties!)
Be sure to get next month’s newsletter!
AMINEF American Program and Communications Teams
We’d love to get your feedback.
Please share with us your favorite stories: which stories struck you as interesting, which teaching method is most fun or you’d like to apply, or which activity you’d like to hear more. Email us at: socmedia@aminef.or.id and we’ll post your feedback in the next newsletter and you may win a special thank-you gift from us.
Comic Strip Stories
On September 24th, ETA Sabrina Verleysen engaged her English Club students with the opportunity to create their own comic strip stories. By promoting the students’ creativity and imagination, Sabrina had found that her students were more excited and willing to dive into new assignments even though they may be nervous. She had discovered that her.. Read More.
Ready, Set, Learn!
ETA Darby Jones is still trying to figure out where the month of September went – it absolutely flew by! One of the highlights of this month for her was leading her Teacher English Club each week. The first week, Darby did a presentation to introduce teachers and staff to Google Drive, a tool they.. Read More.
Teachers’ English Club at SMKN 1 Sangatta Utara
Throughout September, the teachers at SMKN 1 Sangatta Utara joined ETA Brian Miner for teachers’ English club. These one hour-long meetings were held once a week at school. In their first meetings, the teachers’ English club got to know each other better through fun English games and activities—reviewing how to introduce themselves in English. The.. Read More.
Everybody Has Secrets
Throughout September at SMAN 1 Demak, ETA Sarah Wozniak was grateful for the opportunity to better know her students. Among the many things she learned from them this month, they reminded her that everybody has secrets. During September 20th English Club, Sarah, Pak Baihaqi (a history teacher), and several students played the game “Guess My.. Read More.
Good Morning, Santo Yosef!
In the corner of a dark and unused closet at Santo Yosef Senior High School a fifty-year-old antique was discovered. As it turns out the antique was a device used for Santo Yosef’s radio station in the 1970’s. Dusted off and tinkered with, the device became the impetus for a new radio show hosted by.. Read More.
Everybody Eats!
What started as a simple invitation for breakfast early one morning in September, turned into a project involving 60 student volunteers who rotate the responsibility of waking-up and assisting in ETA Alexander Lopez-Perez’ home to provide breakfast for just about 120 students, every day at 6.30am. With the slogan, “Breakfast is for Everyone” Alexander and.. Read More.
Sprouting September
September was a month to nurture the sprouting seeds of clubs, classes and relationships. On September 1st, ETA Alexandra Gwynn started the month watching the sunrise atop Mount Bromo with her fellow friend and colleague, Itha. Itha and Alexandra enjoy many of the same hobbies including hiking, eating ice cream, and developing student creativity. During.. Read More.
A Religious Education
One of the reasons ETA Elizabeth “Liz” Wallace wanted to spend her year teaching in Indonesia was to learn more about Islam. Since she is placed at a high school that practices the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) interpretation of Sunni Islam, she is constantly exposed to NU traditions and practices. This September, Liz had the incredible.. Read More.
Sharing the Indian of Indian-American
Any ETA of color knows it is often a challenge to explain how their culture fits in the fabric of America. Most representations of America that Indonesians are familiar with tend to ignore ethnic diversity. ETA Anisha Tyagi has been working these first few weeks to try and explain what it means to be Indian-American… Read More.
Proud Traditions
In late August, the principal of Stella Maris called all the teachers in school together for a big announcement. The Tourism Ministry in Jakarta had selected Stella Maris for an exciting opportunity to welcome foreign guests of honor. A traditional Manggarai song and dance teacher came to school and began pulling students out of classes.. Read More.
