Last weekend I was asked to come and help out with a project that one of the Thai Ajaans at CMU put together for young students from marginal schools around Chiang Mai. This was by far one of my favorite experiences as a teacher thus far. The project was a two-day seminar for English students learning the language through poetry and story-telling. It was such a fabulous idea and the students were incredibly enthusiastic. I was the only non-Thai native English speaker in the room. I was there to offer my input on grammar and pronunciation, help with activities, and just talk to the students. I loved talking to them and they loved talking to me. One girl wanted my help with something she was writing but she couldn't spit out her question because she was giggling so hard. A Thai teacher came up behind her and told me that she was very nervous to be talking to me and then told her, "Ask her nicely, 'Can you please help me?'" She did and just kept giggling. It was infectious, actually.
The first activity was interpreting a poem. First of all, I was amazed at the poem of choice. Keep in mind these are middle school students and the poem was called "Homage to my Hips." I think I was the only one who realized how funny this was. The last lines of the poem were "These hips are magic hips. I have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top." So what do you think this means, children? I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't laugh. I then worked with a small group of girls on pronunciation and reading with emphasis and expression. It felt a little uncomfortable to tell these girls to really put gusto into the lines "these hips are big hips, they need space to move around in..." They loved it. All the small groups eventually read the poem for the rest of the class, and I admit, the group that I worked with sounded the most Minnesotan. They said "arrrre" and "top" like a Minnesotan would, while the other groups say "ah" and "tup." I was impressed and proud of my girls.
I felt a little strange being singled out when asked to correct grammar for the students' (and teachers') poetry in front of the group. I was sitting in the back of the room of about 50 people and the lecturer would stop several times to ask me, "this phrase is ok, no?" Well, for one thing, who am I to correct student's poetry? If a student wants to write a poem that says "dreams boil rainbows and freedom," then I say give the kid a beret and snap my fingers in applause.
Last weekend I was asked to come and help out with a project that one of the Thai Ajaans at CMU put together for young students from marginal schools around Chiang Mai. This was by far one of my favorite experiences as a teacher thus far. The project was a two-day seminar for English students learning the language through poetry and story-telling. It was such a fabulous idea and the students were incredibly enthusiastic. I was the only non-Thai native English speaker in the room. I was there to offer my input on grammar and pronunciation, help with activities, and just talk to the students. I loved talking to them and they loved talking to me. One girl wanted my help with something she was writing but she couldn't spit out her question because she was giggling so hard. A Thai teacher came up behind her and told me that she was very nervous to be talking to me and then told her, "Ask her nicely, 'Can you please help me?'" She did and just kept giggling. It was infectious, actually.
The first activity was interpreting a poem. First of all, I was amazed at the poem of choice. Keep in mind these are middle school students and the poem was called "Homage to my Hips." I think I was the only one who realized how funny this was. The last lines of the poem were "These hips are magic hips. I have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top." So what do you think this means, children? I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't laugh. I then worked with a small group of girls on pronunciation and reading with emphasis and expression. It felt a little uncomfortable to tell these girls to really put gusto into the lines "these hips are big hips, they need space to move around in..." They loved it. All the small groups eventually read the poem for the rest of the class, and I admit, the group that I worked with sounded the most Minnesotan. They said "arrrre" and "top" like a Minnesotan would, while the other groups say "ah" and "tup." I was impressed and proud of my girls.
I felt a little strange being singled out when asked to correct grammar for the students' (and teachers') poetry in front of the group. I was sitting in the back of the room of about 50 people and the lecturer would stop several times to ask me, "this phrase is ok, no?" Well, for one thing, who am I to correct student's poetry? If a student wants to write a poem that says "dreams boil rainbows and freedom," then I say give the kid a beret and snap my fingers in applause.
1 comment:
I can just see all this skinny little Sally-hipped girls reciting the poem. What a hoot! You are a natural teacher, Mia.
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