VIDEOS: Crazy Kids

The only song that I've played more than "Love You Like A Love Song" is "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes." Here's a glimpse into my 1st grade class on Thursday:

Some of the kids trickle into class early to ask me questions in Korean, draw hearts on the white board, pounce on the desks, and hijack my phone. Warning: Watching this video may induce motion sickness.

Classes begin with the "Hello Song" and a series of questions that test their listening skills: How are you? What day is today? What day is tomorrow? What month is it? What is the date today? How is the weather? Then I segue into a review of the previous lesson's material. This week we finished learning the vocabulary for body parts. Here's a clip of the 1st graders singing and dancing to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes."

"One more time!"

It helps that they know how to restart the video. The kids basically teach themselves!

By the 3rd, 4th, or 5th time, the kids go ape-shit. For the most part, the girls just want to learn the song and dance perfectly --without being interrupted by the boys. The boys find amusement in disrupting the girls, screaming at the top of their lungs, wrestling each other, and pouncing on the desks.

My 5th grade class went a little bit differently. I was teaching a brief lesson about types of weather, which was impossible to get through because the boys wouldn't stop talking. I turned to the boys and asked, "Why are you talking?" One boy spoke back and said, "I'm talking." I responded, "No, I'm talking. Listen." I didn't have everyone's undivided attention for long. When the boys started talking again, I asked, "Why are you still talking?" Granted, there is a 50% chance that 50% of the kids understood exactly what I said, but the tone of my voice should have communicated what I meant. Another boy mocked me, "Why are you still talking?" I was annoyed, "Are you mocking me?" He repeated, "Are you mocking me?" My inner homegirl was about to snap my fingers in a Z-formation with my neck moving side-to-side. Oh hell no. I rhetorically asked, "Do you want to leave?" and pointed at the door. He tried to copy what I said and started to laugh. My co-teacher Hannee backed me up and scolded him in Korean. Then, he got up to leave. Everyone was so quiet. You could hear a pin drop in the classroom. The next vocabulary term in my lesson was "thunder & lightning." Now that's ominous.

In contrast, today 5th grade went very well. There is one boy who casually roams the class like a lost cat, but rarely participates during my lessons and refuses to play the games. It's weird because he always comes to class on time, if not earlier than most kids. He even pokes his head in and says "hi" during the 3rd grade class and throughout the week. But when he's in class, he confidently says "no," when I ask him to participate. Well today my inner homegirl wasn't going to let that happen. "You're playing" "No" "Yes" "No" "Yes" "No" -- I knew no one could understand this, but I asked, "Why are you even in this class if you're not going to speak English?" I considered kicking him out. It's fun having a superiority complex. I decided to let it go, but then he agreed to play the game. Surprisingly, he seemed to have a lot of fun. I guess he is really ticklish, so a few other boys started knuckling his head and tickling him. He would immediately roll over and squeal like a pig or laugh like a screaming monkey. It was hilarious.

T.G.I.F.