Celebrating her third month of teaching English, ETA Lillian (Lily) Rhinehart has found her stride in the classroom. Throughout November, Lily helped create a series of lessons, with one standout for Lily being a deep dive into figurative language with the 10th-grade class. This week, the classes dissected the motivational songs “Roar” by Katy Perry and “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys to explore the nuances of similes and metaphors. The classroom resonated with the empowering tunes, and by the end of the lesson, every student was passionately singing along, chorusing their own powerful “Roars!”

Post-lesson, each student chose a metaphor or simile from the songs that resonated with them. Although all her students’ quotes were valuable, she was particularly moved by three standout quotes from her students:

“Roar,” Katy Perry. Simile: “Like Thunder Gonna Shake the Ground.” Student Quote: “When I felt shaken [in life] like thunder shaking the ground, but I’m [still] sure I can shake the world.”

“Girl on Fire,” Alicia Keys. Metaphor: “Feeling the catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away.” Student Quote: “Because I am strong and fearless. I will leave behind a tragic life, and I think I will fight for [my] dreams to come true, and nothing will stop it”.

From this exercise, Lily learned much about her students’ personalities, hopes, obstacles, and unique achievements. She has enjoyed getting to know her students more personally every week, building a true community in her school, and finding more inspiration from her bright students every day.

Lillian “Lily” Rhinehart is currently teaching at SMAN 4 Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan.