January was a month of exciting new beginnings for ETA Lucy Srour. After what felt like an eternity away from her site, Lucy was re-energized for a new semester at SMA N 1 Sangatta Utara.

At the end of the first semester, Lucy and her co-teachers distributed an anonymous survey to their students to gain a better understanding of what they liked about the classroom setting with an ETA. The survey included open-ended questions for student suggestions. Many students mentioned a desire for media and videos in the classroom. Lucy was eager to implement these activities and others she learned from her fellow ETAs during their mid-year conference! 

Thus for Lucy’s lesson on the narrative text, she decided to use the Oscar-nominated short film, “Hair Love.” The story is a touching film about a daughter and her dad struggling to tame her hair. Lucy loved observing the students’ reactions as they sat wide-eyed watching the film.

Their laughter at the cute moments and sweet “awwws” at the tender moments showed their genuine interest in the film. Afterward, students worked to fill out a narrative text story chart. They were delighted to make their own stories based on the film and often asked to watch it again.

Lucy Srour is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Sangatta Utara, East Kalimantan.