Welcome to the first edition of the Fulbright ETA Monthly Highlights from the 2019-20 cohort! Twenty-eight new English Teaching Assistants arrived in Indonesia on July 28, 2019. This year, the ETAs will be teaching across Indonesia in the following provinces: North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu, Central Java, West Java, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi.
Many thanks to all of the ETAs for their wonderful stories and photos.
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Orientation Write-Up
The Fulbright ETA Monthly Highlights is a chance for the ETAs to reflect on a memorable moment in their grant experience. In the August Monthly Highlights, the ETAs detail their first month in Indonesia. Click through to read their stories about their first impressions, first classroom activities, and first extracurricular meetings. This year marks the.. Read More.
Introducing Yourself (to new students)
During the last week of August, ETA Nathan “Nate” Kumar returned to his site at Gresik in East Java. During this week, Nate was able to co-teach his eager and enthusiastic students at SMA NU 1 Gresik. For the first lesson with Nate, students were taught how to introduce themselves to others. The lesson was.. Read More.
First English Club & Bananagrams
On Tuesdays after school, SMAN 2 Demak hosts the English Club. ETA Tessa Sontheimer and her co-teacher Ibu Dian hosted the first English club of the year on August 27, 2019. The topic of discussion at the first English club meeting was introductions and playing an American board game. Tessa introduced herself with images of the 2019-20 Indonesia ETA.. Read More.
Where a Lost Chicken Leads
For ETA Nicholas Navin, learning baso Minang has been one of his first goals since he arrived in Payakumbuh and heard of this local language of West Sumatra. And of course, what better way is there to learn a language than through song? During his first week at site, as Nicholas was introducing himself to.. Read More.
Cultural Introductions and Insights
For the first week, ETA Shanze “Aisha” Tahir and her co-teachers Pak Yoga and Ibu Anita decided to structure their introductory lesson as one that combined teaching about question types while also allowing the ETA to discuss with the class where she is from and why she is there. The students would first learn about question types (who, what, where, when,.. Read More.
Conditional Fun
August was filled with introductions: ETA Lucy Faust was introduced to MAN Temanggung through new students, co-teachers, administrators, a local swim team, and a monkey that stopped by her room one day. After students practiced their introductions in English, the lessons learned in the classroom, linguistic and cultural, by Lucy and students alike, started to.. Read More.
School’s on for Summer
In the last week of August, ETA Joseph “Joe” Janik Miller introduced himself to his grade ten classes with an exercise about the upcoming American holiday, Labor Day. The exercise shed light on aspects of American culture that proved surprising to students and teachers, most notably, summer vacation! The lesson began with Joe challenging students to a.. Read More.
Building Connections
ETA Michelle Nguyen’s first month has consisted of a lot of connections. After spending three weeks with the ETA cohort, Michelle left feeling connected to her cohort members and has been leaning on them constantly throughout the first month. In the classroom, Michelle has, of course, made connections with her students and other teachers within her.. Read More.
Let’s Get Inter-Active!
The students at MAN 2 Klaten are used to moving about outside the classroom whether it be theater practice or playing basketball. During ETA Sophia Lockwood’s first week of teaching, the students were happily surprised to find themselves moving around in the classroom. Sophia has been working with her English co-teachers to introduce new interactive.. Read More.
“Bumi Manusia” Movie Night
During her first month in Demak, ETA Madison “Maddy” Mele accompanied student Selvia, student teachers Lia, Rofi, and Luluk and fellow ETA Tessa Sontheimer to see the Indonesian film “Bumi Manusia.” There is a movie theatre in Demak, so the group rode a short distance to get there. The film is based on the famous Indonesian book.. Read More.
