Every day, we start class in the exact same way. We all stand up, have a back and forth routine saying "Good Morning" "How are you?" "Where are you from?" and a few other conversational sentences that I want my students to be able to say/ respond to without thinking. Today, though, things went a little differently.
The idea of speaking in a different language for April Fools' Day has been bouncing around the TFC wechat groups for a few days now, but unfortunately, the only two languages I speak are Chinese and English. Instead, I decided to replace our routine with the English names for cities, countries, and continents, using the normal intonation/ sign language that goes along with each sentence. It went a little bit like this:
Me: "Antarctica Paris!"
Students: *Blank Stares*
Me: "Antarctica Paris!"
Students *Blank Stares* One student raises her hand while saying "Miss Cassie....what?!?"
Me: "Come on guys we've done this every single day since September! Antarctica Paris"
Students: *More Blank Stares* A few kids slowly and suspiciously respond "Good morning Miss Cassie"
...and so on. Through the whole routine.
Then, things got rougher.
A preface for this part: Testing is a HUGE part of the Chinese educational culture. Students in my 3rd grade classes ask me every day when I come to class if we're having a test as there are so many tests sprung on them so often in their other classes.
So, for prank #2 of the day, I told both my third grade classes that we are having a very big, very important, test. I told them that I was so sorry I hadn't warned them, but the test was arranged by the principal, and it was very important to him that nobody had any warning or any time to study because this translation test was going to determine if they could move up to 4th grade. I gave my usual pre-test speech about their learning being more than a test score and how proud I am of each of them, and then made them all say "I can do it!" By this point, they totally believed me, and were in very serious test-taking mode.
Then, I wrote the vocabulary words on the board, stressing that these are all words we have definitely learned before.
1. pen (they all know this one)
2. elephant (they all know this one too)
3. extreme (nope, definitely not)
4. slough (by now, I could hear whispers behind me)
I stopped writing, and reminded them that there is no talking during tests. A few kids raised their hands and tried to tell me that they haven't learned the words. I told them that this is why it's important to pay attention in class.
5. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (gasps, murmurs, one kid shouting "That can't be a real word!")
I turned back around, and insisted that it is very important that we take this test today. *Near the back of the room, one of my brightest students, who was panic-stricken 20 seconds ago, starts giggling.* I then asked them if they knew why it was so important that we took it today, and 10 students finally caught on, yelling "April Fool's Day!" The class erupted into giggles and shrieks of laughter, all of which came crashing down when one student pointed out that the words weren't ones they knew, but they still hadn't finished the test. (This happened in each class) I then had to explain that there was no test, and the giggles came rolling back yet again.
For one of my 3rd grade classes, the fun stopped there. We giggled, we laughed, and then we moved on. However, 3(3) ban, my mischievous class, latched on to the April Fools' Day nonsense in a way only 9-year-olds can. Seven students made fake pieces of candy out of notebook paper, crumpling up little pieces of paper, wrapping a piece of notebook around it, then twisting the sides to make it look like a candy wrapper. Seven times they insisted I open it, and seven times I had to pretend this piece of notebook paper actually had me fooled. Luckily, they thought it was so hilarious that I couldn't help but laugh each time when the 'big reveal' came. Then, 12 students gave me blank notes, insisting I read them and then shrieking with delight when I couldn't find the words. On top of that, there was a whole slew of jokes that are only funny when you're under the age of 10. For example:
"Why does Miss Cassie like coffee?"
"Why?"
"Miss Cassie likes coffee because Miss Cassie likes coffee!"
*Whole class erupts into a giggling fit*
Man, I love these kids.
The idea of speaking in a different language for April Fools' Day has been bouncing around the TFC wechat groups for a few days now, but unfortunately, the only two languages I speak are Chinese and English. Instead, I decided to replace our routine with the English names for cities, countries, and continents, using the normal intonation/ sign language that goes along with each sentence. It went a little bit like this:
Me: "Antarctica Paris!"
Students: *Blank Stares*
Me: "Antarctica Paris!"
Students *Blank Stares* One student raises her hand while saying "Miss Cassie....what?!?"
Me: "Come on guys we've done this every single day since September! Antarctica Paris"
Students: *More Blank Stares* A few kids slowly and suspiciously respond "Good morning Miss Cassie"
...and so on. Through the whole routine.
Then, things got rougher.
A preface for this part: Testing is a HUGE part of the Chinese educational culture. Students in my 3rd grade classes ask me every day when I come to class if we're having a test as there are so many tests sprung on them so often in their other classes.
So, for prank #2 of the day, I told both my third grade classes that we are having a very big, very important, test. I told them that I was so sorry I hadn't warned them, but the test was arranged by the principal, and it was very important to him that nobody had any warning or any time to study because this translation test was going to determine if they could move up to 4th grade. I gave my usual pre-test speech about their learning being more than a test score and how proud I am of each of them, and then made them all say "I can do it!" By this point, they totally believed me, and were in very serious test-taking mode.
Then, I wrote the vocabulary words on the board, stressing that these are all words we have definitely learned before.
1. pen (they all know this one)
2. elephant (they all know this one too)
3. extreme (nope, definitely not)
4. slough (by now, I could hear whispers behind me)
I stopped writing, and reminded them that there is no talking during tests. A few kids raised their hands and tried to tell me that they haven't learned the words. I told them that this is why it's important to pay attention in class.
5. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (gasps, murmurs, one kid shouting "That can't be a real word!")
I turned back around, and insisted that it is very important that we take this test today. *Near the back of the room, one of my brightest students, who was panic-stricken 20 seconds ago, starts giggling.* I then asked them if they knew why it was so important that we took it today, and 10 students finally caught on, yelling "April Fool's Day!" The class erupted into giggles and shrieks of laughter, all of which came crashing down when one student pointed out that the words weren't ones they knew, but they still hadn't finished the test. (This happened in each class) I then had to explain that there was no test, and the giggles came rolling back yet again.
For one of my 3rd grade classes, the fun stopped there. We giggled, we laughed, and then we moved on. However, 3(3) ban, my mischievous class, latched on to the April Fools' Day nonsense in a way only 9-year-olds can. Seven students made fake pieces of candy out of notebook paper, crumpling up little pieces of paper, wrapping a piece of notebook around it, then twisting the sides to make it look like a candy wrapper. Seven times they insisted I open it, and seven times I had to pretend this piece of notebook paper actually had me fooled. Luckily, they thought it was so hilarious that I couldn't help but laugh each time when the 'big reveal' came. Then, 12 students gave me blank notes, insisting I read them and then shrieking with delight when I couldn't find the words. On top of that, there was a whole slew of jokes that are only funny when you're under the age of 10. For example:
"Why does Miss Cassie like coffee?"
"Why?"
"Miss Cassie likes coffee because Miss Cassie likes coffee!"
*Whole class erupts into a giggling fit*
Man, I love these kids.