In early January, the American Indonesia Exchange Foundation (AMINEF), the Fulbright Commission in Indonesia, hosted the 2020 Fulbright ETA Mid-Year Enrichment Conference. The 2019-2020 cohort of ETAs and their co-teachers arrived in Jakarta on January 7 for three and a half days of programming.
Sessions during the conference focused on teaching strategies to increase reading interest in students and managing multi-level classrooms. The ETAs and co-teachers also had the time to plan their first lessons for the second semester. The participants were in great hands as they were led through these themes by RELO English Language Fellows Devon Jancin and Rachel Wang, US Fulbright Scholar in Indonesia Jayne Lammers and Teacher Trainer Yuta Otake.
ETAs and co-teachers had opportunities to present on their best practices from the first semester. Twelve ETA and co-teacher pairs talked about interesting interactive lessons, establishing effective classroom management strategies, and the process of executing extracurriculars.
While many of the sessions were joint audience between ETAs and co-teachers, there were a handful of sessions in which the ETAs and co-teachers separated. Co-teacher only sessions focused on lesson planning and developing strong intercultural relationships. The ETA only sessions were meant to debrief the first semester as well as learn about topics relevant to their grant experience.
ETAs heard from expert speakers such as AMINEF Board Member Douglas Ramage about Politics in Indonesia, Indonesian Fulbright master’s degree alumna Hafniliana Kabri about the Education System in Indonesia, Mental Health professional Anchal Khan about maintaining mental wellness while in-country.
Other highlights of the 2020 Mid-Year Enrichment Conference included the 5th Annual Indonesia Through Their Eyes Presentation which took on a game show theme this year. ETAs used this theme to subtly relay their newfound knowledge of Indonesia as well as convey their experiences of living in the country. Co-teachers watched with amusement at the ETAs being silly while sharing their perspectives.
The following night, co-teachers and ETAs were welcomed to dinner at US Ambassador Donovan’s residence. It was a chance to network and mingle in a low-stress environment.
The ETAs had a fun outing to the Facebook Indonesia office for a morning of professional development and learning about how the company functions in Indonesia. This visit was facilitated by AMINEF Board Member Ima Abdulrahim.
The conference received strong ratings from participants. They commented that it was a professional, informative and fun time. The co-teaching pairs are looking forward to the second semester to try new strategies in the classroom to engage students, coordinating the annual WORDS competition, and continuing to build their co-teacher relationships.
