On February 23, ETA Gordon “Peter” Bensen, in collaboration with his school, MAN 1 Kota Payakumbuh, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Payakumbuh, hosted a workshop for English teachers from all throughout West Sumatra. The workshop was led by Rebekah Williamson, an English Language Fellow from the Regional English Language Office (RELO) who came to Payakumbuh from her post in Jakarta.

Peter, along with ETA Alex Lopez-Perez, led breakout games and activities sessions throughout the day while Rebekah ran the major sessions. The workshop, titled “Providing Tools for Engaging Students while Teaching Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing Skills” was a major success.

Months of planning went into the event, so Peter was incredibly pleased to have the day of the event run so smoothly. Forty teachers attended, representing different MAN schools from all over West Sumatra. The teachers were incredibly engaged throughout and asked many insightful questions. Their drive to improve their teaching pedagogies was clear and inspiring to all.

The committee of teachers at MAN 1 Kota Payakumbuh did a remarkable job helping set up the room, provide food, and generally allow the day of the event to run smoothly. Each teacher walked away with over 30 pages of helpful documents including a 10-page pamphlet on motivation, vocabulary, and grammar games to use in the classroom created by Alex and Peter. Multiple teachers commented that they wished the workshop was two days long! Peter and Alex look forward to reviewing the post-workshop surveys that participants are required to send back by March 16.

Gordon “Peter” Bensen is currently teaching at MAN 1 Payakumbuh, West Sumatra