Stories from the classroom... part I

I've recently started a new job teaching at an "International School" and it's been quite an adventure. The students here are mainly Chinese, some Taiwanese, some Korean, and a few outliers that are relatives of the faculty. The school prepares students for studying abroad. The school started a week ago, and as expected, hilarity has ensued.

At the beginning and the end of the day, we have a period of time with students in "form" class, similar to homeroom. I used to teach my form class science, but after some schedule changes, I won't be teaching them anymore, but I still have the pleasure of seeing them twice a day in form class. The class is full of middle-school aged characters, primarily mischievous little boys who have a knack for making you laugh while trying to discipline them, and sweet quiet girls who have their moments of absurdity as well.

As the school year begins, we have an activity called "Get to know you BBQ" next week. The idea behind it is a bunch of games, icebreakers, dancing, and allowing a bunch of 12-18 year old kids barbecuing raw meat and devouring either marginally cooked or over-burnt burgers. I'll be sure to eat before this little event.

This event not only accommodates the students in welcoming them back to school, it puts them in the driver seat and lets them plan out who is bringing what to the BBQ. Each form will be cooking on its own, so they will be responsible in raising funds to bring a grill, charcoal, raw meat and drinks. Interpretation: hyper kids running around after drinking too much soda pop and then laduzi-ing after eating undercooked meat.

Today during form class, the students were "debating" about how much money to raise, and how to allocate the funds to either "grill", "food", "charcoal" or "drinks". Our class leader, "Adam", a loud, bigger Chinese boy who speaks with the strangest accent (not quite Chinese, not quite British?), was trying to organize the class and decipher where our funds needed to go. Throughout the process, he added a monetary amount to each item, "the grill will be about 200 doll-lers", to which many of his classmates quickly corrected him that we were using "yuan". When deciding what kind of meat to purchase, everyone in the office seemed to have an opinion, some girls suggested lamb, some suggested burgers, some suggested steak... all of this commotion was in mixed Chinglish. As we were slowly reaching the decision for some meat from a cow, there was considerable debate on what kind of cut or meat we would like. The volume reached a high level, and as my co-form teacher and I were trying to calm the class down, our class leader exclaimed "what part of the COW do you want to eat?". As we discussed the merits of good meat, though not necessary steak, "Adam" proclaims "we only have 400 dollars to spend on meat, so we can't get steak!", to which "Roger", a lanky Chinese boy who listens to Eminem and rap, "Dollars? Shut your mouth!". Gradually, we were able to figure out how much to spend on drinks, but we still need to get a grill, charcoal and meat. The bell rang to soon and I'm not exactly sure how this little BBQ will play out.

The kids are so funny at the school, it's an interesting mix of personalities and family backgrounds. Teaching a biology class seems to only add more opportunity for miscommunication and I'm sure more antics will follow. I love that some kids are bold enough to speak their mind and be laughed at by others, while yet others are reaching that "too cool for school" phase of High school and learn that image is everything - an interesting fact since that social norm seems to hold on through high school and manifests in the work place and culture of this country. Nevertheless, keep posted for more stories...