Jangan malu-malu! Kesalahan adalah kawan! Selalu mencoba yang terbaik! (Don’t be shy! Mistakes are friends! Always try your best!) These are just a few of the phrases that were solidified into the memory of ETA Nicholas Navin, who spent the initial fifteen minutes of each class during his first week of teaching blundering about in a less-than-fluid mix of Indonesian and the local language, baso Minang.
For Nicholas, showing his students that he was going to make mistakes learning Indonesian and Minang was important to show his students that if they make mistakes while learning English, that is both okay and encouraged. And that was the basis for a guided activity in which the students thought up numerous classroom norms and expectations, which included many other ideas such as, “don’t be afraid,” “be brave,” and “don’t laugh at others.”
Afterward, each class made a poster with their list, and even within the first few weeks of teaching, it has been a great reminder for students that can be referenced even during the middle of the lesson. But beyond that, in class, students themselves might shout across the room to each other “Don’t be shy!” and Nicholas’ co-teachers, of their own accord, initiated talking about these norms and expectations when beginning the teachers’ English club or when presenting to a local English teachers’ meeting. Undoubtedly, whether in the classroom or not, Nicholas hopes that he and everyone else will never forget, to selalu mencoba yang terbaik!
Nicholas Navin is currently teaching at MAN 1 Payakumbuh, West Sumatra.
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