I have recently begun teaching an honors class that is a debate class here at LCI. The kids are in middle school, around 12 or 13, and they are incredibly smart! I was told that they would have a higher level of English but I was completely surprised the first day I taught the class. These kids had amazing 15 word sentences that were well thought out and in the correct tense! The worst mistakes they would make would be making words plural that were not supposed to be plural, like "televisions." Sometimes they get flustered and I help them remember what word they are looking for or what tense they need to use, but they are basically fluent. This has been the first time in Korea that as the teacher I have been able to relax a little bit, because there aren't five mistakes I need to correct in each child's sentence. For other classes, I am used to having to mime out the word I am saying in English since they don't know what I'm saying for goodness sake! You see me saying "R----U-----N---" and then pretending to run in place and children staring at me with blank looks. This is so far past that, and it's an amazing feeling!
I have to admit I was pretty frustrated when I was told I was teaching an Honors class at 5:30pm on a Friday meaning I would have to stay until 7pm, but now that I've seen what they are capable of I'm actually quite OK with it. I personally love debate and really enjoy teaching them words to use to make their arguments more powerful! Also, I love teaching them how to think outside of the box and watching their brains make connections to arguments they would have never thought of if not for our creative brainstorming sessions! They are so smart that I will teach them a few new words that relate to our topic of discussion and they will use it in their arguments 15 minutes later! For example, we had a debate about fast food and I taught them the word 'moderation' to help the team that was arguing that it is OK to eat fast food. The team used it with confidence as they refuted the other sides points and I was thoroughly impressed.
Since it is their last class of the day and they are tired, as I am too, I try to be goofy and fun with them to help the class to become more exciting. I hope to one day get to the point where a child is slamming his hands on the table as the intensity of his refute overwhelms him. Unfortunately, I feel that this is just a pipe dream because most of these kids are extremely tightly wound. They are all total brainiacs, pretty nerdy and shy, and are scared to even laugh at my jokes! Bless, it's so sweet, but I'm not sure how to get the passion and excitement that debate can offer into that classroom. I mean, one of the kids used the word 'hyperbole' in an argument today.....I can't remember the last time I used that word unless I was talking about literature, so perhaps it was in a college English course! But this 13 year old Korean child who has English as his second language used language like 'hyperbole' in his everyday mundane vernacular. You go boy!
They are so focused on their studies and are always doing homework, that I don't know how to make them loosen up. Nevertheless, I am excited about this class and I'm going to make them come out of their nerdy little shells if it's the last thing I do! Instead of just being good at learning I am determined to make them have fun doing it also!
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