Out of practice, out of mind

I recently read an article for a teacher and summarized it for her. It was actually a chapter from a graduate school textbook about task-based language learning. While reading, I realized two things. 1. I am ridiculously out of practice when it comes to mulling over academic text. My attention span has reverted to that of a hyped-up macaque, and the notion that I'll learn something from it doesn't make it any easier to force myself to focus on the crowded font and footnotes.

I'm at a post-academic stage right now.

This is awful.

and 2. Being a teacher now, I don't think I would have survived through teacher's college. Educational theory is not only boring to dissect, but the graphs are nearly impossible for me to wrap my head around. Maybe I'm just biased against flow charts, but what the hell do they mean? In the chapter there was a flow chart with three boxes (teacher perception, student perception, and combined perceptions) with arrows pointing to each other. Was that chart really necessary? Didn't it just eat up half a page causing me to print out an extra sheet of paper with four lines on it? The author can't seriously believe that this chart is helpful in any way. I know some people are visual learners, and I'm one of them. I just don't get flow charts. If you're going to put in anything visual to supplement your words, you might as well draw a cartoon with funny zingers in thought bubbles.

It was a good wake-up call for me. I am now digging out my old anthropology materials and beginning to re-read them in the hopes that I can surpass my previous self. I'm downloading vocabulary, science, and poetry podcasts and listening to them on the subway. Finally, I'm beginning to assign myself essays to get my intellectual juices flowing...er...on paper. That just sounds gross. I've got a long way to go.

Pervading music

Interestingly, most older Koreans have a habit of singing or humming at all times, in all situations. On the subway, walking down the street, waiting, older Koreans sing everywhere. Their voices are twinged with the characteristically Korean vibrato that pervades singing here, from the oldies to modern pop music. At first, I found that vibrato particularly harsh and unpleasant...but it's grown on me. And every time I hear it, I picture the note swaying between invisible limits, and I have to smile.

Scrabble Surprises

(This one's for you Enforcer.)

Though it takes a while to explain to rules, Scrabble has been one of the most successful of all the lessons I've taught. My students have never heard of it, which isn't surprising since the Korean writing system isn't unilaterally horizontal, and thus the game couldn't have been adapted using hangeul. It was great to see the look of interest on their faces when they finally understood the game's concept.

All my students played the game. (I usually only have ~70% participation in every class.)
None of my students slept. (Which proves that it IS possible....I was beginning to despair.)
The lower-level students played as enthusiastically as the higher-level ones. (Almost never the case in regular class...with the exception of Speed Quiz.)
The students helped each other, unhesitatingly. (Helping classmates means everyone is exercising their English twice as much.)

Now, I have to admit...in the States, I'm TERRIBLE at this game. I generally make words like the, lord, rings, etc. I've also been known to invent new and exciting words like xrathero. But in Korea, there are no bad players! My English is infinitely better than my students and for the first time in my life, I've got the edge in this game.

Perhaps THAT'S why I love teaching it so much. ^^

Japan

Would you put your foot in here?

The amazing power of speed quiz

Imagine. You go to school and are told 15 minutes before class time that today's schedule is completely different than normal. Surprise. You have to teach an extra class today. Having only planned one lesson per week, you have no idea what you can throw together in 15 minutes. You slightly panic, open 15 websites, and scramble to find something, ANYTHING, that'll use English and not make you look like an idiot. Then it hits you. Of course! Filed under a neat, little folder on your desktop is your salvation. Speed quiz.

As most native conversation teachers in Korea know, there are few activities more popular (and in my case, effective) than speed quiz. Here's how it works. The class is divided into teams. The first team sends one teammate to the front of the room. On the screen is a powerpoint filled with pictures. The player can't see the pictures. The team must describe the picture to the player, entirely in English, without saying any words in the answer. (No "spider" or "man" for the picture of Spiderman, etc.) The player guesses correctly and receives a point. Teams can pass 2 times and each turn is 2 minutes long.

Sounds simple enough. Doesn't sound like a hole-in-one, does it? Oh, but it is.

My students can't get enough of speed quiz. They LOVE it. They always ask if we're going to play it. And even if we played it not long ago, they never get bored with it.

Why is it so great?
1. All the students can participate. True, not all students can put together a complete sentence, but they can definitely shout out "red" and "Batman's friend."
2. The students actually speak English. This is particularly rare with low-level students. And in a classroom full of 40, this is one of the few opportunities to get everyone speaking during the alloted 50 minutes.
3. No one sleeps. I've found this to be one of my only weapons against the Korean high school epidemic.
4. Very little preparation for the teacher. All you need is a file on the computer. (True, it takes a long time to compile that powerpoint, as it usually requires 100 slides to make it through class. Also, when putting it together you run out of ideas. Thinking of 100 random pictures can be annoying, but so, so worth it.)
5. It's hilarious! Some of my students' clues are so freaking funny. I need to start writing them down.

Example: panda
China bear! So cutey. Black circles [as in, under the eyes]

Example: Britney Spears
Pop star. Sexy. Toxic singer. Sing, no good. No hair. Has children. Crazy!

Example: California*silence. Uhhhh, country. No! America.... Uhhhh... Sushi! ---- roll!