The first month at MAN 2 Bukittinggi flew by for ETA Ammarah Rehman. Ammarah has learned about the Minangkabau tradition and culture while hiking through the mountains and rice fields of Bukittinggi. When she’s not hiking through the mountains, Ammarah is trying to find ways to motivate her students who expressed a lack of self-confidence when speaking English.

Students have expressed not always feeling comfortable when speaking English. Ammarah and her co-teacher Mr. Anto decided to create a motivation board. Every Monday before the flag ceremony each class will be assigned to write on a chalkboard with their dreams and motivations. After the flag ceremony, the students will present their board to the entire school and take pictures with the board. The board will then sit in front of the classroom to remind students every day about their goals and aspirations. The entire school will get a chance to decorate and write on the chalkboard. Once the board has circulated out of the class, Ammarah will hang pictures of the class posing with the board to remind the students about their motivations every day.

Ammarah hopes that the board will encourage the students to think about their goals and dreams and gain self-confidence. Many of the students wrote about wanting to attend college or becoming a doctor. The students at MAN 2 are incredibly enthusiastic and can’t wait for their turn to decorate the board. Ammarah has also asked teachers to remind the students to read what they have written on the board at the start of class to encourage and motivate them.

Ammarah Rehman is currently teaching at MAN 2 Bukittinggi, West Sumatra