Cultural Contributions

This past week I was given the chance to lead a class activity completely on my own for the first time. The school was hosting a special cooking class in the evening and my supervisor knows how much I enjoy cooking, so she granted me the opportunity to combine my love of cooking with teaching and be “Head Chef” for the day. It was a bit challenging to find a kid-friendly recipe that did not require too many ingredients or an oven; but after discussing it with some of the other teachers, we settled on a chocolate banana dessert because those are two foods very near and dear to every Indonesian’s heart! The recipe was a hit, and the students were surprisingly attentive throughout the entire instructional period. Thankfully, the mess was minimal and easy to clean up after the event. Because the activity went so well, I will be one of the main planners for the school’s small 4th of July event next week. I am excited to share a bit of American history as well as present ways that we celebrate the holiday.               

This is not the first time that being one of the few American teachers at the ESL school has had its benefits. As a native English speaker, I am able to offer suggestions whenever the Indonesian teachers are unsure how to best communicate a topic or grammatical concept. It is neat to be able to share my perspective as someone who grew up going to English class every single day and recommend some of the methods used by various teachers that I have found most effective. My background as an English speaker has also enabled me to assist both teachers and students when they are searching for the English word for something, but cannot quite remember it. At other times, the things I learned in Theories and Models regarding emotional intelligence, particularly reading body language, have helped me to read situations and fill in the remaining language barrier gaps. Additionally, it is fun to bring a bit of American culture and slang to the classroom – I like to teach the students some informal phrases that they would likely hear if they were to visit the States, but won’t find in their textbooks. 

One of the long-term American teachers here will be going home to visit family for the month of July, so I will be taking on much more responsibility starting next week. Up to this point, I was mainly contributing to the team by being extremely flexible, filling in wherever needed, assisting in whichever classroom was short-handed – essentially being the best follower I could be. Now, I will have a more structured role, be actively involved in the lesson planning process, and exercise more leadership. I am looking forward to this increase of responsibility and being entrusted with more assignments throughout the rest of my time here.