PART 1: "It was the best of times..." A "Sunny Sarah" post

Semester one: September 1, 2009 – December 22, 2009. Semester two: January 4, 2010 – June 25. 2010. Notice the difference? Semester two is approximately two months longer than semester one! Planning a six-month semester felt daunting. My solution: treat January and February as a special, confined “mini-semester.” The theme...

The 2010 English Conversation Winter Olympics!

I’ve had a blast this week at school. When planning my lessons, I knew I needed to excite my students, distract them, surprise them, and laugh with them on the 1^st day of classes to re-energize them for the next couple months of English conversation. I know it’s difficult to return to school after a 2-week break.

For every lesson, I entered the classroom, said “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” and “Happy New Year!” and then didn’t say anything. This is unusual for me: I always write objectives for the day on the board and have a warm-up activity for them when I enter the classroom. If I’m handing out worksheets or vocabulary lists, I’ll tell them a story to “warm up their ears” and help them adjust to hearing English and my American accent.

I first (silently) passed out a copy of the “Olympic oath” (included below) to every student. Then I played the Olympic fanfare theme (you know, the “dah, dah, dah, dun dun dun dun...” theme); taped an Olympic poster I created with a photograph of the school, the words “Cieszyn 2010”, and my drawing of the Olympic rings to the blackboard; and then walked around the classroom and placed Olympic gold and silver medals around the necks of 3 or 4 students (I created the medals out of yarn, gold tissue paper, tin foil, and masking tape). Then I switched the music to the “flowing Olympic theme” (not the fanfare), grabbed my Olympic torch from my bag (created out of a paper towel roll, tin foil, masking tape, and red and yellow construction paper), and with lots of over-the-top “pomp and circumstance” presented the goofy opening ceremony that I wrote:

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the people of Ancient Greece created a competition to honor their gods. The events of the competition tested a person’s strength, endurance, agility, and moral fiber. Only the best could take on the games of the Olympics. For the next six weeks, you too will participate in this time-honored tradition of sportsmanship and excellence. The 2010 English Conversation Olympic Games will test your language skills in a way they’ve never been tested before. Only the best will prevail. You will be asked to think harder than ever before, demonstrate your fluency, and prove to yourself and to the world that you are a true master of English conversation. The time has come for you to pledge yourself to the 2010 English Conversation Olympic Games."

Oath:

"Please raise your right hand and repeat after me:

In the name of all the competitors (REPEAT)

I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games (REPEAT)

Respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them (REPEAT)

In the true spirit of sportsmanship (REPEAT)

For the glory of our sport, and the honor of our teams. (REPEAT)

I, Miss Sarah, officially declare open the 2010 English Conversation Olympic Games in Cieszyn, Poland.”

The students loved the first line of the opening ceremony (“Star Wars” is one of their favorite films), and I know the youngest students did not understand every word I said, but I incorporated the visual and audio/music cues to help them. I couldn’t stop smiling during the opening ceremony, and my enthusiasm rubbed off on the students, including the exhausted, droopy-eyed students in my 8:50 a.m. classes (and lots of students laughed so hard they cried). They all (to my surprise!) applauded at the conclusion of the ceremony.

I then told the students that over the next six weeks they will have the opportunity to compete for individual medals and that every class will also compete as a team. (For example, all of my 7^th grade classes are competing against each other.)

The students then voted on a team name, nominated one or two students to create their team flag, and took a team photograph. I’m displaying their names, flags, and photographs on a bulletin board in the hallway that also tracks their medals.

Here’s the team photograph and flag for one 7^th grade class. They are “The Straw Hat Pirates.”

Then, for their 1^st Olympic event, the students worked alone or in pairs and designed an English Conversation Olympic Game. They had to tell me: the name of their event, the rules, whether it’s an individual or team event, what materials are needed, the length of the event, what English skills are “challenged” by the event (grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking), and how medals (gold, silver, and bronze) are awarded.

Although I saw a couple older students roll their eyes during the opening ceremony (and two groaned when I said the games would “test their language skills”), the next minute they were excitedly brainstorming team names and designing events. Enthusiasm is infectious!

If students struggled to create an event, I helped them get excited by encouraging them to design events inspired by their interests (ranging from Twilight to football to Johnny Depp). I’m grateful for the time I spent in the fall getting to know my students; my knowledge of their personalities, interests, and quirks frequently helps me motivate them.

The 1^st event was very challenging for my youngest students; a couple under the question “what English skills are challenged by your event” wrote “nothing” BUT they filled out all other questions and worked very hard to create a game. The English component is tricky, and they learned a lot of new vocabulary in one lesson (and they were at least SPEAKING in English when they created their game – celebrate the small successes, right?).

Next week I’ll award medals to students who created events that I’ll include in the Olympics (because, of course, I can’t include all of the events in six weeks, and not all of the events are ideal for an English Conversation class). I’m designing the majority of the events (and tailoring them to each class’s ability level), but my goal is to include at least one student-designed game every lesson. A lot of the events they invented only last 2-3 minutes and are fantastically ridiculous. But I always try to include “mini-breaks” in my lesson anyways, and a lot of their games are perfect “2 minute breaks.” Plus (and the true purpose of the 1^st event), the students are very excited that we’ll get to play some of their games. Give the students a sense of ownership whenever possible, that’s my policy!

Here are my favorite silly “laughed so hard when I read them I cried” events that my students created (you’ll notice that some of these events include English skills as an “afterthought” like... “whoops, we need to somehow include English in this game!”):

1) “The Biggest Balloon”: You draw a face on a balloon, name him, blow him up, and create a 6-sentence story (in English, of course) about him. The team with the biggest balloon wins. What I loved about the event - the warning that read: “THE ASTHMA PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO PLAY THIS GAME.” (And, no, my students do not know that I have asthma.) Under the question, “what English skills are tested by your event” they wrote “strong lungs.”

2) “Who Will Eat More Garlic and Onion”: First step of the game – “gather a lot of garlic and onion from a farm” (violating the "your event MUST take place in the classroom" rule). Step two: Eat garlic and onions as quickly as possible. The students’ last-minute attempt to redeem the game and include English? You say English numbers to keep track of what you’re eating – one onion, two onions, three onions...

3) “Kettle Skid”: A self-explanatory event name. You skid a teakettle across the floor and measure the distance in feet (there’s the “American English” component I’m looking for). How are medals awarded? Gold medal to whoever’s kettle skids 100 feet, silver medal to whoever’s kettle skids 98 feet, and the bronze to whoever’s kettle skids 75 feet. We evidently need a lesson about American measurements...

4) “Wispol vs. PKS”: (Necessary background knowledge: Wispol and PKS are two competing bus companies in Cieszyn.) The event: one student draws a PKS bus (about 3 inches long) and one student draws a Wispol bus (again, about 3 inches long). You cut the bus out, and tape it to your forehead (see photograph below). Then the two students race around the classroom to determine what bus company is best. Under “English skills” they wrote “nothing,” but they did include two sample cut-out buses. The inventors of the game also creatively decided to automatically award themselves the gold medal for creating the event.

I’ll keep you updated on the Olympic games! This weekend: creating dozens of gold, silver, and bronze medals out of cardboard, yarn, and paint!