So, according to comments, stories about my students are always the most popular. So here are a few golden ones from my last week of teaching:
We’re studying about 2 alphabet letters a day. For my older class, this is definite review since they can read and write and everything. The letter for the day today was J…can you name me some things that start with J class?…Usually they tell me some pretty interesting ones…it just goes to show that different age groups and cultures remember different things more specifically. However towards the end of jellybean, jump, juice, jog, Jason, Jennifer, Justin, and jar Ephraim pauses for a second and shouts MICHAEL JACKSON!! Then adds the side note…in case I don’t know, “He is America people, teacher, but he died and is in the sky. All the America people were cried” –This is the extent that pop culture influences Asia and five year olds.
The same day we were having a conversation about the Spongebob (commonly refered to as Hai mien Baobao) cartoon we had watched the day before.
This episode was the one where Spongebob and Patrick spray miracle grow on Squidward and he becomes a giant. I asked them, “If you could have one extra body part what would it be?” Michelle answers that she wants an extra eye…Eric wants an extra heart in case he dies..Justin doesn’t want anything extra he wants very very long arms. “Why? Justin…wouldn’t they be hard to move? How would you eat?”
“I want long long long arms so that I can be at home and then reach in the toy store and bank and take money and toys.”
“But Justin, what if someone trapped your hand. Couldn’t the police follow your arm and find you at your house?”
“No, I would grab the toys with one hand and use the other to hit them with kung fu” –Justin then proceeds to show his “many” kung fu moves with his best-friend Eric. These include poking out eyes and throwing them, tv-wrestling body slam moves, and lots of high kicks that come dangerously close to Jason’s face…who is day dreaming out the window.
Ok, ok…lets see…mutant body parts for stealing and kung-fu…Check.
And finally, the next day after lunch, the kids are running around wild in the 15 minutes before nap time (and by nap, I mean lay in the dark rooms and talk while we intermittently threaten them). My boss is talking with a parents and the kids are obviously not making a good impression. “Hey, hey sit down I have a game to show you”
Having exhausted my repetoire of “new, exciting” games a long long time ago I wrack my brain for something to play. Knowing what a hit patty-cake was a couple weeks ago, I settled on Slaps. After showing the older kids how to hold your hands and fake people out, and the rules for only 2 pull-aways, they started playing. After getting my hands violently slapped by uncannily strong little kids I was starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea. 15 minutes later with very very red hands and some younger kids who still didn’t understand and would repeatedly just hit me randomly…it was thankfully nap time, and hopefully while sleeping they’d forget all about this game and wanting to play with me.
Updates of pictures taken when I brought my laptop to work to show my older girls I tutor some videos to chat about.
From left: Ephrain, May, Me, Howard
May, Ephrain, Me
Howard, Jason, Justin
Allan, Jason, Justin, Ephrain, Athena, Howard, Michelle
Howard
Me and Connie (one of my second grade level kids…almost as tall as me)
Cindy (5th grader I tutor…we both love cheese and cute puppies haha)
I seriously don’t want you ever to leave Taiwan because my blog reading is going to be SOOO less entertaining!! Sorry, but the kids studying abroad in New Zealand got nothin’ on you.
Jennifer,
I was putting the finishing touches on my teaching philosophy (it’s a departmental requirement that we write one) and wanted to use that Vonnegut quote on kindness. Couldn’t quite remember it, but a Google search led me to your blog and, yes, the quote. Looks like you enjoy teaching, too. Ting-a-ling!