On February 22 in Demak, Central Java, ETA Sarah Wozniak gathered with fellow ETA Sabrina Verleysen and English Language Fellow (ELF) Devon Jancin to host a teaching workshop for the Demak-Jepara area. Teachers from senior high schools filed into the seminar room, chatting and exchanging stories (and laughs) about their classrooms and experiences as English teachers. Over the course of the workshop, teachers worked together in groups to examine “active student engagement” and explore ways to encourage it in the classroom.

The first part of the workshop introduced student engagement, but teachers, ETAs, and ELF did not confine their discussion of “active engagement” to simple definitions. Instead, the workshop participants rapidly put their new knowledge to use by participating in a variety of active engagement strategies: thumbs up/thumbs down, response cards, four corners, speed dating, and several others. As the workshop progressed, teachers became more excited to share their opinions on the techniques presented, to adapt these techniques to their classrooms, and to share anecdotes with their peers. Though the workshop lasted only the course of an afternoon, the ETAs, ELF, and teachers left with the hope that the strategies learned, ideas shared, and friendships formed will continue to be passed down in classrooms for years to come.

Sarah Wozniak is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Demak, Central Java