Michelle Purnama

Volunteer English Teacher in Poland

Summer 2017

Cześć! (Hello!)

I spent the summer of my freshman year volunteering to teach English in a rural village in Zalasowa, Poland. I was one of the 12 volunteers who were selected out of over 40 applicants all over the country. I taught three classes a day consisting of 35 beginner students aged 7-16. I was in charge of planning, executing, managing, evaluating, and revising my lesson plans to suit the needs and ability of the students. The fun (and challenging) part of my experience is how I had to be proactive and creative in creating a hands-on, engaging, yet educational classroom experience to improve their conversational skills while sustaining their interest in learning English. On top of teaching, I also had the complete cultural immersion experience as I lived with two host families throughout my time in Poland.