Please put the Handy in the bag

After much worrying about the cell phones in class problem (kids whose phones are taken away suffer such anxiety they cannot learn, or commit suicide) I confidently said at the start, "Put your cell phones (Handy in German) in your backpacks. I won't forbid you to use them, but you have to step out of the room to do it."

And they did, and it was no problem. Apparently, according to my boss, they were just taking advantage of the new guy. I know, you're not shocked. *lol*

I had a wonderful time today with 3 kids (the perfect number), one of which, Jan,  was young and shy and couldn't even spell his name in English. All 3 kids were focused, did their homework, and were super enthused to do the games I'd prepared. Also, isn't it wonderful when kids help each other without being prompted? I know it's partly ego, but kids learn better from other kids than they do teachers, so I'm happy about it.

Jan had that look on his face of complete incomprehension as I spoke, but thankfully the two smarties, Lara and Lias, filled him in. Lara said to me, "I'm sorry but I have to say this in German cuz I cannot in English, just for a moment?" I'm so proud of her for apologizing, because she gets it - I want this class to happen in English with small German breaks/translations.

I forced poor Jan to introduce himself and tell me his hobbies and his birthday. Unbelievably, it was difficult for all three kids to properly state their birthdays! Isn't that like, what you learn on day one? I asked Jan, "What is today's date." He just sat there scared. Lias translated and he did his best but wow they need help with simple things like times and dates. Even Lias couldn't tell the time properly when I held my watch in front of his face. Good grief schoolteachers! What do you do for that hour every day?

I remember in 2007 my mandatory German class (all foreigners must learn German), I had this teacher who was also amazed/distraught that we couldn't handle dates and she just drilled us, one after the other, on telling the date. I will never, ever screw that up again, and I thank her so much for it. 

We played the hot potato game with the ball and I'd prepared tons of open-ended questions to get them thinking (what was your most embarrassing moment? exciting experience? how do you feel about...) Additionally I used a lot of science questions like "Name the largest planet." Jan: "The moon." Me, "PLAN-ET." Lara, "The earth!" Me, "LARGEST." *lol* Finally Lias said Saturn and I said, "Very close." And he got it.

"How many teeth do you have?" Lias said, "32, cuz I paid attention in biology!" *lol* He deserves to be proud, but he never seems show-off-ish, somehow.

Since Jan has a dog, a Beagle! I picked his question, "Why do dogs wag their tails?" Then expanded the question to "And goats?" (Lias, "What is goat?") "And horses?" It was fun to get them following my own curiosity at the differences in the species.  Lias, "When a horse has a ...a....bug (what is "Fliege" in English? Fly.)  it will ....its tail to....the bug away." : ) Vocabulary is missing but he's trying really hard.

I switched to a new game called two truths and a lie where they have to write (on paper) three things about themselves, one of which is false. It took a while for them to understand. For example, Lara said, "So I could write 'I'm black' as my false one." I said, "But then we'd be able to guess. You have to make it difficult." (The point is to encourage questions to discover which are true/false.)

I said, "I'll go first, here are my three:

*  I heart TBBT
*  I rode on an airplane with my horse
*  I own a smartphone.

Lara knows I like TBBT but Lias said, "You can't ride an airplane with a HORSE! How do you get a horse in an airplane!" *LOL*

Lara knows I have a horse and said slowly, "When you flew to Germany, you ....brought...your ...horse?" Yes!

They looked at the smartphone one and were unable to accept that as a lie. They were stumped. I pulled out my flip phone and said, "BEHOLD!" (while flipping it open dramatically). 

Little Jan didn't quite get it and his three were 1. I'm a boy 2. I'm a girl 3. I'm 60 years old. I was so pleased he wrote three perfect sentences in English I felt like celebrating. The other kids started to ask if he really was a girl, for fun, and I said, "Well, in America Jan is a girl's name, so.."

It looks like I'll be there once a week, maybe twice. I don't mind, I just need to do something and it's something I could do, I think, if the kids accept me. Since I'm not a regular school teacher, the kids have some say in who tutors them.

But come on, doesn't everyone love mixing learning with GAMES? I think I have the potential to be a great teacher/tutor because I really want to help, and I suffered through German not long ago.

Another tactic I was able to use today was when I know the kid, and what we did before, to ask the kid about that work. To keep it in my mind what each kid is working on, so I can say, "Lara, what did your teacher think of your summary on Apartheid?" Cuz one thing I hated as a student was a teacher who could never recall what I was struggling with. With only 4-8 students, I should be able to manage it.

If you know any good grammar games, send them here!

***

I rode Mag in a rainy downpour for the first time ever today and he thought he would surely die. It ended up in a fight where I forced him to simply stand facing the rain, because he didn't think it was physically possible to do that. He actually swung his butt into me to "hunker down" from the storm! I was so pissed! I spent my entire ride riding in thick soaking rain, and then another half hour just standing on the street with him telling him "You can stand as I ask you to, even though it's pouring."

I was soaked to the skin so my wet things are all over our radiators right now, and our house is quite musty. My saddle is a dripping sponge and it's also in our living room but will take forever to dry again.

Mag needs to learn about being ridden in rain, and being obedient when the weather is lashing him sideways.

Funnily, I had to go to the Apoteke later (drugstore) and the lady (from England) actually laughed at me. She asked if I had just showered, or had been out in the rain. I said, "Rain." and she busted up laughing, like an American would. I laughed too. I guess I looked quite pathetic, picking up my meds.

It's been a while since I've heard someone belly-laugh at such a thing, "You are TOTALLY soaked!" Right on, girl!