Just Call Me Miss Kruti

I want to be completely honest: I didn’t think I would enjoy teaching. I came into Indonesia thinking, “Fine. I’ll teach, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” During training I was overwhelmed with all of the teaching strategies the Peace Corps was throwing at me. In 2 and a half months, I not only had to learn how to teach English to non-English speakers, but I also had cross-cultural training in order to work with an Indonesian counterparts. I thought teaching would be a bore, a chore, would make me snore, and just another requirement from Peace Corps.

However, I look forward to teaching.

Every.

Single.

Day.

Me teaching a lesson outside of school at another teacher's house. She has a built in classroom on the side of her house. 

I walk into each class, throw both hands in the air, and scream, “HELLLLOOOO!!!” And the crowd of 30 goes wild. They scream right back, sit eagerly in their seats, and wait for me to ask them questions in English. I ask them how they are, how their families are, whether they have already prayed…etc. Simple questions that everyone can answer in unison.

After I teach a topic, I ask them to put their thumbs up if they understand and their thumbs down if they don’t understand. I yell, “ON THE COUNT OF THREE. ONE. TWO. THREE! SHOW YOUR THUMBS” The students love this because students openly admit confusion. It is hard for some students to ask questions because they are shy or feel stupid. The thumbs up/down system allows students to be slightly anonymous. In fact, I’ve seen some students put their thumbs up, look around, and then put their thumbs down realizing that the rest of the class is just as confused as them. The students are still warming up to me, but they now understand that it’s okay to be confused. In fact, I tell them that I am just as confused when I speak their native language.

I also taught the kids a song PCV Russel learned at Boy Scouts. It goes like this:

I like bananas, coconuts, and grapes (3x)

That’s why they call me

TARZAN OF THE APES.

When the students sing the last line, they shout at the top of their lungs and beat their chest with their fists. It’s a great way to release energy at the beginning or end of each class. Sometimes, I go right into the lesson and I will hear a student humming along to the tune. Soon, other students will join him/her. I see this as a sign that students are losing focus so I turn around and yell, “STAND UP.” I make them sing the entire song 3 times until they have all of their energy out. Afterwards, they all sit down and quietly continue taking notes. I don’t mind when my lesson is disrupted because it keeps students on task after I encourage them to let out their energy. I mean…they’re kids. They should have fun, especially in school!

Not only are my students great, but also my counterpart is wonderful. My counterpart is the person that I co-teach with. We make a great team. During training, volunteers were warned that we might be frustrated with our counterparts because of cultural differences. I was terrified that my counterpart, Ibu Muji (Bunda for short), would be unmotivated and expect me to teach alone. I was also afraid she would not show up to class or that she would always be late.

When I met her, one of the first things she said to me was, “I love how disciplined Americans are. I try to always be on time.” I officially developed a lady crush on this woman, and it had only been 10 minutes. Bunda has been an incredible help with my transition into my village and my school. She lesson plans with me, which many Indonesian teachers don’t do.  Many teachers enter class and simply teach straight from the book.  However, Bunda is open to teaching through fun games and activities. We incorporate at least one game into each topic.  We are fully prepared for each class and know exactly what to expect.

The other great thing about our relationship is that we can read each other very well. When she is tired or having an off day, I do most of the talking and vice versa. She is also quick to translate for me when my Bahasa Indonesia is not grammatically correct or when my English confuses the students. She also encourages me to take water into class even though that is not the cultural norm. It is considered rude to eat or drink while others are not being served. However, she doesn’t care if I chug water while I sweat profusely near the white board. She was also okay when I encouraged the students to bring water into class. She said, “For this class, it’s more than okay!”

Of course, my counterpart and I have been frustrated with each other. That’s natural when teaching with another person. However, Bunda and I are really open to learning from each other. That’s what makes this relationship great and class so much fun.