The month of February was packed for ETA Natasha Anis with planning for the WORDS English Storytelling Competition, Black History Month Activities, and new adventures around Samarinda! One highlight this month in the classroom that was particularly memorable for her and her students was running an auction to teach oral and written advertisements to her 10th-grade classes.

This lesson plan was taught over two weeks. In the first week, students were divided into groups and given time to develop an item they wanted to create and sell to the rest of the class. In the second class period, the auction was held! Each group brought in a digital poster advertisement and even a prototype of their product. Natasha started the class by handing out model money and explaining American money to the students. She passed out real-life examples of $1, $5, and coins she brought from America. Every group was given an equal amount of model money to spend in the auction.

Then, each group introduced their product and demonstrated it before the class, describing what set their product apart from others, and taking insightful questions from the class such as, “If it’s waterproof, then how do you wash it?” Then, Natasha and her co-teachers Ismi and Dini facilitated the auction! Things got competitive with students yelling out their bids and trying to one-up each other. The group that managed to bid on the most items by the end of the class received a small prize from Natasha. The auction was a great way to explain American money and also get students jumping out of their seats excited to bid on their classmates’ handiwork!

Natasha Anis is currently teaching at SMAN 10 Samarinda, East Kalimantan.