Jedi Mind Tricks
I recently had a rough couple of weeks with my first class as they became increasingly confrontational and disrespectful. My last week of classes they were suddenly much more cooperative, and after pondering what I have been doing differently, I think I finally figured out a way to get my students on my side.
Since I made books for my class, I usually have them open up to the chapter we are going to cover so they have the charts for the grammar point we are about to learn in front of them. I have them open their books so that I don't waste time writing things on the board that they already have in their books and so there is no chance that they miscopy something and are confused by it later. Unfortunately, upon announcing that they should open their books to start a new grammar point they invariably start complaining, and within seconds the entire class is put in a sour mood and they become restless and unreceptive to what I am saying.
Two weeks ago on Thursday I had finished giving them a test and wanted to simply introduce the next topic so that the following week they would have already been exposed to it and wouldn't be so daunted by a new grammar point. I prepared some notes to write on the board to introduce the topic and wasn't planning on opening the book at all to do exercises. I was just going to review some example sentences and let them out early.
The first difference I noticed with this approach was that when I wrote notes on the board, students were quick to get into "student mode" and copy silently. This calm in the classroom was particularly striking because my class has been known to get very rowdy after the completion of a test since they realize they aren't going to have another test for at least two more weeks.
After they finished taking notes on what I had written, we reviewed some examples that I drew on the board using pictures and sentences. I was surprised at how many of my students were paying attention and actively trying to understand what I was talking about, in contrast to the usual blank stares I get until I stop speaking and they all ask the best student in their vicinity what I just said.
The most satisfying difference in attitude came just before I was about to let them go early when a handful of students who were intrigued by the examples requested more examples/practice to make sure they understood. It was at this point that I asked my students to open their books and do an exercise, and it only elicited one complaint from my most annoying student. No one joined her.
For the entire next week I employed this technique of writing things on the board to get everyone in a classroom mindset before jumping into using the textbook, and it has made my classes run much more smoothly. Additionally, I brought back giving out lollipops as prizes for winning games in class, and it still amazes me how much motivation a piece of candy can coax out of adults.
Sure it's ridiculous that it takes so much strategy to get adults to pay attention in a class that they signed up for and are paying for themselves, but when I actually do get my students to act like students, teaching isn't half bad.
Search Word Sillies
Recently, there has been an explosion of ridiculous phrases that people have entered into various search engines to end up at my blog. Blogger tracks these phrases, and I would like to share my favorites from the past few weeks and my advice in case people with similar inquiries end up at my site again.
"dentist gave me anesthetics and my nose is itchy"- Scratch it.
"best pliers to pull wisdom teeth"- Seriously, who needs a trained medical professional when you've got a bottle of moonshine, a pair of the best wisdom tooth pulling pliers available at your local Home Depot, and YouTube to replace all that fancy book learnin'?
"do Ecuadorian women like older American men"- If you're an American citizen, they like any kind of man.
Ecuador: Check
The other day the sky around the local volcano Tungurahua was uncharacteristically clear, so I took this shot from my classroom window as the sun was about to set. Volcanoes are an awesome reminder that I live in Ecuador.
End of Service
Last weekend I attended the final conference for my program, WorldTeach. I met up with the rest of the volunteers in Quito and we reflected on our time in Ecuador and caught up on what everyone is going to be doing when they get stateside. People's plans ranged from comically uncertain to fixed plans for the next several years in grad school. Quite a few people have even decided to stay in Ecuador and continue teaching because they haven't gotten enough of the Ecua-life here.
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| Just a few of my fellow WordTeachers at post EOS festivities. |
It was great getting to know all of the other volunteers in the Ecuador program this year since I actually get along well with them, but similar to when I left Notre Dame, it is sad to think that I probably won't see most of them again, let alone hang out with them as much as I did in Ecuador. Facebook is O.K., but it is no replacement for cruising around Ambato in the back seat of someone's car or taking trips to the Orient to go jungle rafting.
Should have went with Pablo
A few days ago Caitlin brought to my attention that there is a bar with ping-pong tables near her house. We went with her host brother who recently came back to Ecuador after living in Spain for a while. His name is Gandhi. My name is Krishna. To recap, my name is Krishna and I played an Ecuadorian guy named Gandhi in ping-pong.
It was almost as weird as the time I introduced myself to some guy at an Indian wedding and he pointed to the woman next to him and said, "Really, my wife's name is Krishna too!"
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