To commemorate Earth Day, ETA Anna Ringheiser and her counterpart led a student-centered lesson on the environment. They started by asking students to brainstorm about problems they see, smell, or hear in their environment. Students also were asked what they could individually do about it. If a student couldn’t think of a solution to the problem they experience, they were able to leave it blank for a friend to fill in.

The aim of this activity was for students to break down the idea of global warming and environmental change into tangible things that they know and also to think about what is in their power to act on. They were able to understand the power of individual action in solving issues and the concept of “think global, act local.” After brainstorming, students did a listening activity with a monologue on celebrations of earth day around the world. The class ended with a wrap up of asking students what they took away from the class and what they will try to do to change their behavior to help the planet.

Anna Ringheiser is currently teaching at MAN Temanggung, Central Java