This month ETA Nathan “Nate” Kumar was equal parts eager and daunted at the thought of discussing Black History Month (BHM) at his school. Nate was unsure of what topics to explore, how much information to share, and whether it would be reasonable to expect his students to understand the topics discussed.
As such, Nate used various activities to talk about BHM for the various levels he teaches. For his 10th grade classes, Nate had his students read about Martin Luther King Jr. while filling in missing conjunctions.
For his Teachers’ English Club, teachers read an excerpt from MLK Jr’s “I have a dream” speech as they thought about dreams of their own.
And in his English Club, students watched “Hidden Figures” (with Indonesian subtitles) as they discussed topics of discrimination and possible conflicts in stories. Nate found, in all of his classes and clubs, his students were embracive of BHM. A few even expressed interest in learning more – Nate was thrilled to see several students open the Wikipedia page for MLK Jr. to learn more after class.
Nathan “Nate” Kumar is currently teaching at SMA Nahdlatul Ulama 1 Gresik, East Java.
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