October in the United States is often marked by cooler temperatures and pumpkins. Autumn in Indonesia looked a bit different than what our 2019-20 cohort of Fulbright ETAs is accustomed to. In this batch of the Highlights, you’ll find ETAs introducing their host communities to the seasonal tradition of Halloween as well as participating in the Indonesian school tradition of Bulan Bahasa. The ETAs also share some of their most successful activities to create engaging, student-centered classrooms. Click through the following links for specific stories!
Many thanks to the ETAs for their wonderful stories and photos.
Be sure to read next month’s newsletter!
AMINEF American Program and Communications Teams
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Please share with us your favorite stories: which stories struck you as interesting, which teaching method is the 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.
What Our Readers Say
Thank you to Kristy Jackson who emailed after reading ETA Angela Zhu’s article “Love is all you need” in the September 2019 Monthly Highlights.
I was researching usage of the song, “Little Did She Know” and found your site. I am so honored that you chose to use my song in your program. As a songwriter, you hope to have one of your songs have an impact on the world however it has been a bittersweet journey to be associated with the tragedy and enormity of 9/11. I wrote this song as a way to grieve myself never knowing it would travel the world.
Thank you again for embracing it.
Kristy Jackson
Songwriter & Performer
www.kristyjackson.com
Conversation Club Switch up
This month at SMAN 7 Banjarmasin ETA Said Haji switched up his regular programming during English conversation club. Typically Said would lead the discussions, and in the past some topics discussed were mental health, bullying, and education system in Indonesia. However, this month Said implemented a new system to allow for students to take on.. Read More.
Future World Leaders
October in Temanggung was hot and full of celebrations for ETA Lucy Faust. MAN Temanggung celebrated the loss of Headmaster Pak Ali and Vice Principle Pak Musli and the addition of a new headmaster, Pak Hadi, a previous English teacher. MAN Temanggung also celebrated Hari Santri and Bulan Bahasa with performances and competitions that highlighted.. Read More.
Speech Competition
This month was filled with wins for ETA Ammarah Rehman. School competitions are constantly happening in West Sumatra and students are always practicing to bring back first place. This past month, Ammarah trained three students to compete in an English speech contest at SMA 2 Bukittinggi. The students were given five minutes to talk about.. Read More.
Spooky Stories
This month, ETA Michael Walsh wished to incorporate Halloween into his lessons. His tenth grade lesson plan for “Recounted Text” allowed students to work in groups of five. Collectively, the groups were tasked with correctly ordering sentences to reveal a short Halloween story about one of their classmates. Group members were assigned mini-tasks to ensure.. Read More.
Life Maps
SMKN 2 Salatiga is nearing the end of the semester, in which “Past Tense” and “Recount Text” are the last two topics. ETA Michelle Nguyen thought that this was a perfect opportunity to get to know her students better, in addition to allowing her students to get a better snapshot into her life. She prepared.. Read More.
King for a Day
Time doesn’t seem to slow down in Cerme as ETA Gabriel “Gabe” Umland has had a whirlwind of an October. Amidst his regular teaching, Gabe also made fajitas with home made tortillas, attended school marching band competitions, ran a 7K race with ETA Nathan Kumar, judged an English story telling competition, swam in a hot.. Read More.
Traditional Minangkabau Plate Dance (Tari Piring)
ETA Daniel Knoll was invited by his neighbor Hendri (Mamak) to practice a traditional Minangkabau dance named, Tari Piring. Mamak is the Chairman of a Traditional Culture Art School. Daniel invited the three other ETAs in West Sumatra, Ammarah Rehman, Nicholas Navin, and Jillian Castro, to join him. The other ETAs at first happily agreed.. Read More.
A Day in the Life
Even after three months in Indonesia, ETA Nathan “Nate” Kumar is still continually surprised by how different students’ and teachers’ days are compared to his own – whether it is getting up at four in the morning for their first prayer of the day, staying at school long after classes have finished, or spending hours.. Read More.
ETAs Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month
In the United States of America, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15. The month celebrates the contribution of American citizens with Hispanic heritage. This year, ETAs used the month to highlight the diversity of the United States. To introduce the concept of bilingual Americans to students, ETA Joseph Janik Miller.. Read More.
