At the beginning of October, ETA Kylie Eiselstein wanted her students to get comfortable answering oral questions and practicing fundamental vocabulary. In each class in Year X, students were divided into four teams of ten students. Each team chose a name (memorable mentions include Migu-Migu, Cheerful, Sunshine, Kelapa Rasa Jeruk, and more).

Students completed a warm-up activity to win points at the beginning of every class. The goal of this grade-wide competition is to spur confidence in quickly responding in English while establishing a sense of routine and consistency at the start of each English class.

In the last week of school, the warm-up activity was “good-better-best,” in which each team competed in a range of small competitions and then was rated “good,” “better,” and “best.”

Some of these small competitions include the best joke in English, the most bottle flips in one minute, the best drawing, and more. This allowed students to showcase different talents and have a lot of fun doing it!

At the end of the semester, the winning teams were announced in each class and given a small prize. Additionally, the scores of each class were calculated. Across all of Year X, the top three scores were XB with 204, XE with 211, and XH taking the W with 221.

As Kylie has already informed her students, every class starts at 0 points next semester, and the teams will be switched up. With the students now accustomed to the spirit of the competition and gaining the confidence to take risks and speak out, Kylie is excited to see their enthusiasm next semester!

Kylie Eiselstein is currently teaching at SMA Santo Paulus Pontianak, West Kalimantan.