January 20, 2014

Ma Chung University

Wesley International School

Ludiya’s School

Today we went to Ma Chung University in Malang, where we set up a cultural exchange program with the students there.  We presented a little about Messiah culture, and they presented about Ma Chung culture.  They also showed us a traditional Javanese dance and allowed us to try it with them, which was a fun cultural experience.  These students were extremely friendly, and I enjoyed getting to talk to them about their culture and our culture.  They gave us a tour around their campus, and it was beautiful.  After going to the University, we went back to Wesley where I was asked to teach choir warm-ups again.  The more time I spend there, the more I learned about classroom management, and these students had a lot of fun singing while still sticking with my lesson plan and behaving well.  As long as I start class by explaining the rules and give clear directions throughout the lesson, the students behave quite well.  I also need to hold them to high standards for posture, singing quality, and noise level through rehearsal, and I do not settle for anything less than their best.  The students behave quite well when we do this.  I also had the opportunity to practice the drum set for a while during a free period today.  After teaching at Wesley, we went to Ludiya’s house where we taught some of her students through English games.  Although they didn’t understand too much English, as long as we were clear in our directions, they were able to grasp our lesson and games.  We had dinner at Ludiya’s house, sang a couple songs, tried durian, and then said goodbye to her son, Teo, which was pretty bittersweet.  He has become a good friend, and I hope we can stay in touch.