Day 10: Teaching English

Alright, it has been a couple of busy days!  Not surprisingly, the "business" corresponds with getting into classrooms.

On Wednesday (day 10) we started teaching in the English classrooms.  We were told students were learning "introductions" - I understood this to be "how to introduce other people".  In retrospect, that might not have been the goal.  The class hour was 2 hours long.  It reminded me a lot of teaching ELL in MPLS when I interned at UHC.  It was a bit chaotic.

They practiced introducing eachother with a buddy and then in fours. And then in front of class.

My board work needs a bit of work... I am so thankful for all the whiteboard space I had in my classroom.

It also reminded me of how much teachers do to create classroom norms, culture, and trust.  I used to spend hours planning my first week of school to tell the "story" I wanted students to believe in.  I LOVED planning the first week of school.  Jumping into a classroom without having those relationships, norms, and procedures in place was tough.  I channeled my high school Spanish teacher, Seniorita Haack, in the room.   One thing I most admired about her was her dedication to stay speaking Spanish to the class.  It might have taken 5 minutes to understand a simple instruction but through her actions and animated delivery, we eventually understood what she was communicating.  It would have been 100% easier to switch to English, but way less learning would have happened.  I always admire when a teachers do the thing that results in more learning, even if it is the harder path. But I digress...

Here were some other take-aways:

• It is hot.  I know, this was not a surprise but I was seriously DRIPPING in class.  I stopped putting foundation on day one of our week here because it was useless.  We have been mostly observing since we arrived but today was "action" day.   I know I am an active teacher and am thankful for my prep program making me move around the room when I teach.  It is so easy to focus on content and get "tied" to that board, but in the classroom this time I wanted to be tied to a physical fan.
• Boys... This school is only 4.5% girls.  Thus, there were a lot of boys.  We speculated afterwards how gender impacts the classroom management in the school.  I know gender effects management in the US, and I imagine that effect might be more severe in Indonesia. 
• Management.  Jem is an instructional coach and said that she also is working on classroom management which I found strangely comforting.  Classroom management is tough.  I know very few teachers who feel like they have "it" - in reality, there are some teachers who manage probably 98% of their students wonderfully, but there is always 1-2 students, even in the best-managed classrooms that challenge those strategies/techniques.  I struggled with management in this class because I didn't have any relationships with the students and it was clearly a different approach for some students.  Things like cell phones or just "off" behaviors were hard to manage, or know how it was appropriate to manage.  It made me realize in the US teachers are so "programmed" to get all students to learn - there is a huge amount of responsibility for the teachers to get the student to learn (even through, we know students play a role in learning... a pretty big role), but teachers really take a lot of that weight onto their shoulders.  I get the sense that there might not be that same weight on teacher's shoulders in this school in Indonesia.  It seemed like cell phones were ok since students didn't even try to hide the phones at all.  Yulia had consequences for the students by having them do push-ups.  Bottom line: classroom management is tricky - every where.   
• Meta point: With it being a vocational school, I kind of get the idea that there is a similar level of "it is on the students" mentality that I feel is present in a community college.  If students are in school to learn a vocation, maybe teacher see it as student's responsibility to tune-in.  This is in direct contrast to my "we are going to wait until we are all ready to start" mentality/approach to the classroom. 
• When it comes to gifts, I should have done quarters.  I had brought stickers.  Students asked me if I had any US cash on me (which, of course I didn't), but I did have some coins which they thought was fascinating.  They wanted to trade me for Indonesian coins, but I didn't have enough for everyone, so I didn't really do that, but I did give out stickers which went over OK, but not as well as the money.  PLUS quarters could have been so easy to pack and not hard to "return" later.
• After the class one student asked for my What's App number and Instagram.  I don't do Instagram much, and I barely keep on top of What's App, but I gave it to them anyway.  I figure I can always block anyone if it gets to be too much, but maybe it would be a good opportunity to help students practice their English.

After our classes on Wednesday we went back to the hotel and had a burger.  I think Pizza Hut broke me a bit.  I just appreciated having familiar foods again... I am not proud of it, but it is the truth.

From there, we did a hike to on top of the Padang sign and then saw an ancient rock formation.  We met up with Robie who worked at the "American Corner" at a near-by university.  He is studying international relations and is doing a thesis on the effectiveness of the "American Corner" and soft diplomacy.

Here is the "Padang Sign" from behind.

The SMALL white letters above my head are the "Padang Sign" from the front (Taken the first day)

It was hot - thankfully at the top, it was windy.

Trying a warrior pose.  Someone else in our group sent out pictures of them doing yoga by waterfall.  I was trying to one-up them.  I didn't.

More yoga poses - tree pose, by the tree.  Not brave enough to do it ON the tree.

Little Banana Island, which was close to the ruins.

Here's the crew!

We went out to dinner with Robie where he asked some really interesting questions.  He asked us a bit about US politics, which I have come to somewhat expect now, but he also asked us things like "When MBS comes to Indonesia, everyone is really happy/excited but when other world leaders come from western and non-Muslim countries, people are indifferent - do you think that is racist?"  He actually asked us if several things were "racist" now that I think about it.  It could have been a good opportunity to talk about the power of the word "racist" in the English language... something for next time!

At dinner I saw a guy wearing a Nebraska shirt.  I was going to just snap a picture of him when he wasn't looking but Robie suggested we go up and ask him for a picture instead.  TBH 99% of the people in Indonesia have been super warm and welcoming, this guy was either annoyed or practicing his best Hollister pose.