After a long semester break, ETA Anna Misenti was excited to get back in the classroom with her students again. For two weeks in mid-January, coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day, she incorporated learning about the American civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. into her classes’ lessons. The topic was an excellent way to review past tense and historical recount texts (an important part of the school curriculum) while also teaching students about a portion of American history that few had ever studied.

The lesson began with a discussion about heroes; each student was given two post-it notes in different colors, one to write the name of their hero on and the other to write the reason they admire them. Students grouped their answers on the board by color, and read their peers’ answers.

Anna then explained that MLK is a famous American hero and gave a short history lecture on slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement. After this, the students listened to MLK’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech”.

One of Anna’s favorite moments from the lesson was watching her various classes spontaneously applaud after the speech ended, moved by its powerful message. For the final activity, Anna asked students to write their own dreams for the future on sticky notes and stick them to the board to create a wall of the students’ dreams.

The answers were inspiring – students wrote about a wide variety of dreams, including making their parents proud, helping others, becoming doctors and teachers, and studying abroad.

Anna Misenti is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Padangsidimpuan, North Sumatra