Students Say the Darnest Things

For one of my first lessons, I wanted students to practice asking questions; specifically forming a question from a prompted self-descriptive sentence.  For example: I am a good dancer. --> Who is a good dancer? or My favorite Pokémon is Snorlax. --> Whose favorite Pokémon is Snorlax?  Okay, you get the drift.

So for the classroom activity, I had students write one unique fact about themselves on a small piece of paper and put it into a hat.  Next, I had students take turns pulling a fact from the hat and posing the appropriate question to the class.  Then, we would try to guess who wrote that fact.  Sounds pretty dull, but the activity turned out to be incredibly entertaining.  As it turns out, Korean high schoolers have lots of delightful and outlandish things to say.  Here are some of my personal favorites.

Like most girls their age, my students are boy-crazy.  Like seriously, boy-crazy.  Some of them have pictures of male celebrities taped to their desk or inside their notebook.  Just mentioning Justin Bieber's name during a lesson is a surefire way to wake up any drowsy class.  Below are some personal facts that reflect this hormonally driven obsession.

Totally didn't know his first name... I learn something new every day!

"I like man small eyes." "I love socer players." "My favorite American actor is Zac Efron."

Nearly all of my students are thin as toothpicks.  But boy, do they have ravenous appetites.  In between classes, they are always snacking.  Every day, it's a challenge to teach classes during 5th Period (right before lunch), as students are incredibly distracted by their growling bellies and daydreaming about food.  Here are my favorite food-related personal facts.

NOM!!!!

I really like to chicken, too.

^_^

HAHAHAHAHA

My students are all super well-rounded.  In addition to getting good grades, they are award-winning pianists, baton twirlers, poets, etc.  But here are some of their more unconventional talents, likes, and dislikes.

So impressive, especially breathing.

Thanks Captain Obvious

Zombie movies and cute stationary... what's not to love?!

So hardcore.

How are you human?!?!?!

And... here are some of their favorite things.  Somehow, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens didn't exactly make the cut.

Arsenal, cooool... but what is a durty?!?!

♥♥♥

HAHAHAHAHA

YAY!!! *^^*

Korea has extremely strict and unrealistic standards of beauty.  Nearly every day, I hear students say that they are ugly or want to get plastic surgery.  For this reason, I plan on spending two weeks, teaching students to think critically about why inner beauty is more important than outer beauty (more on this lesson in another blog post).  But here are some of the personal facts that inspired this decision.

No!!! You are amazing, just the way you are!

Another victim of Korea's double eyelid surgery epidemic :(((

THIS IS WHAT MORE STUDENTS SHOULD BE SAYING!

Korean adults lack any semblance of a social filter.   They are incredibly frank and will happily volunteer information about the most private matters; e.g, they haven't showered in three days, their daughter is kinda ugly, etc.  The same holds true for my students.  They tell me extremely personal things about themselves: things that are probably better left unsaid.

Earwax and Bangs, I'm guessing.

Uhhh, I'm calling your bluff.

Next class, I need to teach my students the phrase: "Too much information"

I am very rarely at a loss for words.  I'm the kind of person that has an opinion about everything and  will usually let you know what I'm thinking.  But every once in a while, something unexpected comes up and leaves me speechless.  This is certainly one of those instances...

A big dot AND an amazing dot...

A dot on your butt?!  I am so confused... O_o

My students are kind and sweet, but terribly overworked.  They are literally at school 13-14 hours every day and are always sleep deprived.  As you can imagine, they will use every opportunity to catch up on sleep.  During the ten minute breaks between classes, many students will rest their head on their desks and try to squeeze in a power nap.  In addition to 5th period woes, it is usually difficult to teach 1st period classes, as students are barely awake in the morning.

Today, my students were especially tired.  When I walked into my 1st period class, I found nearly all the students passed out on their desks.  Of course, I was thoroughly amused and had to take a photo to capture this sight.  Kindly note the student in the back who is totally photo-bombing this picture!!  My job may be stressful and tedious, but it is certainly never boring.  :)