My Little Minions...ah hahahahaha(evil laugh)

The kids arrived monday. Teaching is going very well. From all the time in orientation, I've really be prepared for the kids. The job I have is pretty fun and I try to enterain myself in a different way in each class. The kids here are all from a middle school and their English levels vary. I was really impressed with my homeroom kids. I showed a very famous picture and one student knew the English word philosophers. Other students knew Socrates, Plato, & Hypocratus. I was impressed and gave out blue stamps. Our reward system here is that of blue stamps and red stamps. When students arrive they get a passport which has a section for stamps in it. At the end of the week the student(s) with the most stamps get a prize. We don't let them know what the prize is, we just let them think 'oh wow' a prize. I've had a lot of fun being creative with my kids. For instance, with my homeroom I started to teach them different greeting styles in Western Culture versus their culture. I also taught them the slang phrase 'What's up dawg?' I was pretty happy to hear them say that in unison. Also lately I've been doing phonetic games with my upper level students to test their English ability to pronounce. So on the board I might have something like this written. Valkom zu da Kudee Na-Art Students must sound this out to realize it means Welcome to the Goody-Mart. The Goody Mart is one station here at the school where students practice learning how to shop. I have been doing something humorous in there to me. One of the vocabulary words for that class is tip. I ask them what it is and then tell them, 'yes, it is extra money you give when a person does a good job. So if Mr. Baker does a good job, you can give him a tip :)' The students are first look bewildered, but then after they realize that I am joking with them laugh. During review I have the list of vocabulary words on the board along with my name (Mr. Baker). I point to the word and have them say it, to make sure their pronunciation is correct. After going through a bunch of random words I go to tip. They all say tip, then I point to my name. They all say Mr. Baker. Then I point back to tip, then back to Mr. Baker. On and on. The students usually start laughing. The second class I am teaching right now is called Games Lab. In it students learn vernacular associated with games. I am teaching them descriptors (describing words) so they can play guess who and pictionary. During pictionary students draw a word on the board while their team guesses what it is. I gave one student the word feet. He drew a food on the board and his team had the hardest time guessing what the word was. Toe, Foot, Leg, Arm, they were trying to say anything. But I was happy that everyone understood feet when I said it.

I have given out some red stamps. I feel bad almost everytime. Though at one time I was laughing. One student bagged another student (hit him in the crouch). I caught him and told him I was going to give him a red stamp. He started crying aloud, no teacher, no no teacher no....It was like he was putting on a performance. It cracked me up. It also made me laugh because I was told that students would become very upset like this when they got red stamps. I talked with one teacher who had taught in the states and she said that the stamp method would not work there. Students in the US would be like, whoop de due, I got a red stamp now what? But here most students don't think or know that the prize is a mug (Shhhhhh) nor think what the real consequences of a red stamp or blue stamp is, so it works great!