First In-Class Presentation

Our first classroom visit was to one of the ‘international’ classes.  These classes are supposed to be taught in English, and there was a visiting professor from a nearby university who came to lecture.  For the convenience of the lecturer, they lectured in their subject for two block periods for one day.  For example, Monday was dedicated to biology, so students had biology for four hours that morning.  Tuesday was for math (calculus), Wednesday was physics and Thursday was a chemistry lecture.  We were told all math and science classes were taught in English, but the biology lecturer was speaking Bahasa Indonese and only the vocabulary she wrote on the whiteboard was in English.  After about 20 minutes, she walked over to where Jeanne and I sat and talked to us about the difficulties of maintaining students’ attention during such a long block.  She also spoke about students’ misconceptions in distinguishing monocots from dicots.  She said they seemed to think that any slender plant was a monocot, and she told them that the papaya is a very slender plant but nonetheless a dicot.  We discussed how this misconception can best be addressed.  She talked to us for several minutes and I think both she and the students were grateful for the break.  At the end of the period, she took attendance and then left.  It’s the students who remain in the classroom, not the teacher. 

Novi then came and whisked me and Jeanne away to separate classrooms, where we showed our presentation about Oklahoma.  In the classroom where I was, like the first class, it was predominantly female (70%) and Jeanne later said the same thing.  There is no computer in the room because each teacher has his/her own laptop and there’s just a video cable available so the teacher can plug the laptop into the projector.  The teacher who had just been in the class left her laptop and I just plugged in my flash drive.  The students in the class were the ones in charge of technology; they connected the computer, stood on a desk to turn on the projector, and brought a power supply when the laptop gave a low-battery warning.

The students were polite during the presentation, but when I got to the slide about the type of food we eat, they started oohing and aahing and I felt guilty for flashing images of food in front of them while fasting.  Little things that you don’t think of when you’re creating such a presentation!  I had barely finished and asked for questions when Novi returned and escorted me back to the principal’s office.

While there, she had a discussion with us about the impossibility of eating on campus since the cafeteria did not provide any food during Ramadhan.  She asked if it would be all right to go off campus, so we went to a nearby mall.  While we were discussing this, the principal’s phone rang and I was quite startled to hear that her ring tone was ‘Dixie’!  How's THAT for globalization?

Most restaurants in the mall’s food court were open but had temporary curtained barriers up so that people who were eating would not be seen by people who were fasting.  Probably a good idea!  After lunch, we stopped by a Carrefour store (kind of like a super Walmart) and picked up some red cabbage (for my chemistry lesson the next day) and some disposable cups (for Jeanne’s lesson with pennies about logarithmic decay).  After this, we thought we were heading back to school or the hotel but instead we drove almost to the center of Jakarta for a very special event: Hari Anak Nasional Tahun 2012 (the national day of the child).  I’ll write more of this later.

First Day at MAN 4

Days begin very early here; Novi (our host teacher) told us that a few years ago the government made a decision to start school at 6:30 AM in hopes of relieving traffic jams.  But traffic is still so intense, I wonder what it would have been like without that decision?

Novi picked us up at the hotel lobby at 5:45 but patiently waited while Jeanne and I ate some breakfast (usually, the breakfast buffet doesn’t open until 6 AM, which means we always would have missed breakfast, but since this is Ramadhan, it opens at 5:30 so fasting people can eat before daybreak).

It only took us about 25 minutes to drive to the school because we were on a highway most of the time.  But I could see traffic in the other direction was very heavy.  Novi explained that those were all the people going to work in the center of the city.  At that point, it reminded me of the BA Expressway; morning traffic is heavy going east but not west.

When we arrived at the school, the first thing we noticed was that all of the schools (there is a primary, middle and high school here, plus boarding facilities) were surrounded by an orange steel fence on top of a cinder-block and mortar wall. On the wall closest to the entrance was a large banner welcoming us.  Not only was there a banner at the front gate, there was also one hung from the third floor balcony in the courtyard.  And there was a third one (smaller, vertical one on a retractable screen) in the waiting area for the principal’s (headmaster’s) office.  Novi carted this to every class we visited and took photos of us with the banner.  I got the definite impression they were glad we were here!

Next, we were ushered in to the principal’s office that had a huge conference table and a smaller sitting area complete with sofa, coffee table and chairs in the corner.  It was here we were given steaming, sweet tea and introduced to the principal and assistant principals.  We chatted about the exchange program, and the principal seemed overcome with joy when Jeanne presented a letter of intent to become a sister school with MAN 4.  We then discussed logistics of teleconferencing when separated by a twelve hour time difference.

Before we left for our first classroom observation, we were told this would be our ‘home base’ and planning area and that we should feel free to come in and use the private restroom that was in a corner and directly accessible from both the principal’s inner office and the conference room.  After that, we were off to the classrooms.  I’ll write more about that later, but it’s almost time to go and I don’t want to be late! 

Friday, part two

After furiously typing for an hour, I discovered when I tried to publish my last entry that I had lost my internet connection and about ¾ of the post was lost.  Sigh.  I’m quite sure I wrote something brilliant and no one can say differently.  ;)

One of the things I was surprised by at SMP 49 was the easy camaraderie between the students and the teachers.  They were laughing, joking and completely at ease, which I thought was wonderful.  I mentioned before that the students remain in one room while the teachers travel.  We did not get a chance to ask the students (away from their teachers) how they felt about that arrangement.  I’m trying to imagine middle school students in the US remaining in the same class all day long.  I’d hate to be the last teacher of the day!

After meeting with the students, we came back to the media center for an impromptu professional development about global education.  The very fact that most of the conversation was in English tells me that Indonesia has been wrestling with global education far longer than we.  As I heard at an education seminar Saturday afternoon, a new addition to the Indonesian curriculum is character education.  This is deemed necessary because of the very effective globalization of American and European cultures and not through the usual routes of movies and television but with new social media that allows students to truly be a part of non-Indonesian lives.  I think exposure to other cultures, beliefs and thoughts challenges our own and this can be of great concern to the older generation.  The minister of education, with whom we met Saturday, said Indonesians were very concerned about the younger generation not knowing or valuing their own culture.  And that this was why character education was now being taught across the curriculum.  Funny how new ideas and technologies excite the young and force the old into conservative action.  As for the outcome of the meeting, I think teachers from both countries agreed that the core tenets of global education (investigate the world, recognize other perspectives, communicate effectively, and take action/solve a problem) make learning more relevant and meaningful to students.  I think the greatest challenge comes from the ‘recognizing perspectives’ and ‘communicating effectively’  strands.

After the meeting with all teachers, we divided into subject area groups again.  The science teachers’ biggest concern was all the material they had to cover.  They kept mentioning they had ‘lots of materials’ and at first I assumed they were talking about supplies for labs (at which thought I was quite envious!) but it turns out they had lots of materials (topics) to cover during the course of the school year.  And that every subject had an end-of-year comprehensive exam, so they were very stressed about doing a good job.  They also had what we would call PLC (professional learning community) meetings and vertical team meetings (subject area only, with district and city-wide groups).  With school starting by 6:30 AM and not ending until 4:00 PM and weekly meetings (which did occur during the school day), their plates seemed very full!  I’m sure the students felt they were overworked, too!

After taking our leave of this welcoming group, we headed over to the Carrefour Mall, where we ate at a little restaurant called Bumbu Desa.  The food (ribs, quail, two types of fish, white rice, red rice, mango and peppers, assorted vegetables and spinach) was all delicious, although I’m taking my colleagues’ words for the meat dishes (they smelled enticing enough for me to consider taking a vegetarian vacation).

Our last stop on Friday was in the heart of Jakarta, which is beautiful, modern and with lots of lush landscaping around buildings.  Our destination was AMINEF (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation).  It’s actually the Fulbright exchange program, but Indonesian law prohibits any exclusively foreign foundation, hence the combined effort of US and Indonesian parties.  Mike McCoy, the director, explained the foundation’s work, they covered the logistics of the Fulbright scholars and helped Indonesian students who wanted to study in the US.  He made the comment that Fulbright scholarships in the STEM areas just went begging, and that if we knew anyone who wanted to apply for a 10 month program they were all but assured of being accepted.  Good to know.  He also told us that the Indonesian government was currently devoting 20% of its budget to education!  That was an eye-opening figure and makes me wonder what we’re dedicating to education.

After our meeting, we were given gifts of hand-made coffee mugs celebrating 60 years of the Fulbright program in Indonesia, which was a very nice gesture.  On our way back to the hotel we encountered something quite startling: a small monkey (perhaps a macaque?) on a leash that had a DOLL face mask on with blond hair pulled up into a pony tail!  The man holding the end of the leash was lounging in the middle of the median and was accepting coins tossed his way.  Traffic was slow but unfortunately sped up just as we caught sight of this monkey so I didn’t have a chance to get photographic evidence (but one of the other teachers had a telephoto lens, so he got a picture that I’ll try to snag).

This entry is really too long, especially without pictures, so I’m going to turn the tap off for now.

School's Out For The Summer

But not for the students of 49 Junior High.  Yesterday was supposed to be a holiday for them, but it was the day we arrived to experience their school.  So many students volunteered to be there for the half the day to meet with American teachers.  I'm wondering how many of my students would have shown up on the morning of Thanksgiving for such a visit, although I'm sure some would have.

The school was about a 30 minute bus ride away, and the students were all lined up along the balcony of the third floor to greet us.  The teachers and principal were in the courtyard and seemed very happy and excited to meet us.  We were led upstairs (past both their trophy case filled with gleaming metal and another case filled with artwork made from recycled material) and led into the media room, where the principal and our IREX guide, Susanna Miller, gave brief speeches.  The principal opened with a prayer and blessings for our efforts and Susanna thanked our gracious hosts.  We were divided up into subject area groups and went up another flight of stairs to the classroom, where the students awaited.

As we entered the classroom, our host teacher, Aziza, asked the students to greet us.  One student, obviously designated the class leader, stood at attention and commanded the other students to rise and greet us.  And they did.  Just like back home.  We introduced ourselves and then they had an opportunity to ask questions.  At first a bit shy, they then eventually felt comfortable enough to ask such questions as, "Do you believe in love at first sight?" and "What about ghosts?  Do you think there are ghosts?"  Fourteen year old students seem to have similar concerns the world over!

The students were all dressed in navy blue slacks or skirts, white shirt or blouse and navy blue ties and black Converse shoes.  We thanked them for coming in on a holiday and asked what they would usually be doing (sleeping, playing video games, eating, hanging out with their family).  It seems this group was the students' family at school, as they never left their classroom, but the teachers were the ones who travelled.  There were posters that were up all over the wall (Give Peace to the World, Experience Is the Best Teacher, No Racism: We're All Family) and I asked the students if they had put them there.  They said yes, because their teacher wanted them to.  Honest bunch.

Well, after typing all of the above and then some more (about an hour's worth), I lost my internet connection but didn't know it until I tried to publish this post.  So, I'm coming back to it briefly, just to post and I'll write more later.  But, on the bright side, you didn't have to wade through my ramblings.  Now I'll have more time to reflect and condense.  What's that old saw?  "I would have written a shorter note, but I didn't have time."  :)

Breaking Dawn Over Jakarta

After a long journey, we're all safely here in Jakarta.  I was hoping to upload pictures directly from my iPhone, but I've been having some issues with that.  I just wanted to get in a quick update before breakfast and our travels of the day.

Boy, that trip across the Pacific is incredibly long for those of us in 'steerage'.  No surprises there.  But I would like to say that I really enjoyed the Airbus; it has a great configuration of seating (3-3-3), so no one is miles away from an aisle.  Our flight attendant was just an absolute doll; both in looks and attentiveness to passenger needs.  The flight was very smooth, with only a little bit of turbulence over Japan (I figured due to differential heating of land mass, perhaps) and no storms.  When I wasn't trying to catch a quick nap, I enjoyed watching our progress across the Pacific, and I could see the line between light and dark on the trip monitor.  The entire way to Hong Kong, we trailed the dawn behind us and it didn't catch up until we stopped at Hong Kong.

As we were waiting at LAX, I was looking around at most of the travelers and the majority were Chinese.  I imagined that they were going to visit friends and family and I thought of the true sacrifice immigrants make, even in these days of air travel, to live so far from family.  Of course, the internet reduces that distance, but Skyping doesn't replace hugs!

On the flight from Hong Kong to Jakarta, I was watching the in-flight monitor, with our positional information.  As I watched, I realized we had both crossed the International Date Line and the equator in the same 12 hour period.  The equator surprised me; I had looked up Jakarta's lat. and long. before we left noted that it was only 6 degrees from the equator.  But that's 6 degrees BELOW the equator!  As we flew over Vietnam, I looked down to see miles and miles of what looked like pristine beaches.  And I thought the elementary child that I was could never have imagined I'd see Vietnam in that way someday, instead of the way I saw it night after night through the eyes of Walter Cronkite.

As we approached Jakarta, I kept expecting to see something that resembled Florida.  Probably shouldn't have such expectations, but the climate and flora would seem to be similar.  But there was a great deal of haze and more brown than green.  After we disembarked, it took us about an hour and a half to retrieve our baggage and go through customs.  Our host, Lilia, greeted us outside the airport with a huge smile and bottles of ice-cold water!  What a wonderful treat!  We then bundled up all our bags into a small bus that was called 'Big Bird' and took off to the hotel.

An hour and a half later, we were checked in and I finally got to stretch out and sleep.  Not a very exciting thing to do, but I just couldn't resist.  I had a few challenges with adaptors and such, but finally got phones to charge and internet to connect.  One last observation before I head down to breakfast: the breaking dawn reference is only there to remind me to comment on the almost equal hours of daylight and darkness here on the equator.  When we arrived at the hotel yesterday, it seemed as if it were quite late in the afternoon/evening when it was only 4:30.  But that was because we were only about an hour and a half from sunset.  And at 5:30 this morning, it was the proverbial darkest hour.  But now the sun is up, the cars and motobikes are buzzing by, horns are honking and it's time to go experience Jakarta with a head cleared by a marvelous sleep.

48 Hours

More or less, and I will be in Jakarta.  Exactly halfway around the world, or at least I think so since there's exactly a 12 hour time difference.  But I'm sure I'll still be livin' on Tulsa time for a few days. 

In final preparation for this trip, I searched through my gmail account to find and print my trip itinerary.  My search parameters brought up an email that I had forwarded to myself from April of 2011: the initial application for this program!  If the journey of 1,000 miles (or 9,900) begins with a single step, that was the step.  And if changes in latitude do lead to changes in attitude, you'll be the first to know.

Tulsa coordinates:
latitude: 36° 07' North
longitude: 95° 58' West

Jakarta coordinates:
latitude: 6° 08' South
longitude: 106° 45' East

I will post pictures and commentary as I am able, so I hope you'll pack your bags and travel with me.  And please comment and let me see this journey through the lens of YOUR eyes as well as mine!

Visas and Vaccinations

Today marks the magic moment: less than two weeks until I depart for Jakarta.  I believe there's a vulgar phrase about something suddenly becoming real, and the two week point is that reality check.

My mind has been split this summer between preparing for Indonesia (visa, vaccinations, cultural presentation, gathering of gifts, finding appropriate clothing, communicating with host teacher, working on my capstone for the TGC program and reading) and my work at the University of Oklahoma Schusterman Center where I spent my days thinking about tissue culture and optical sensors.  I can feel my brain approaching overload and I can't wait to begin my journey so I can expand my mind in a different direction.

The India cohort is now in their third day of travel, and you should check the link at the top of this blog that will whisk you away to links to their blog sites (Weebly --> Resources for Teachers --> Travel Blogs --> India).  Some have already posted thoughtful stories and marvelous photos!