The Bases are [Extra] Loaded

Do you remember substitution days in middle school and high school? You’d arrive to class to discover that your teacher was absent and you’d feel excited and a little giddy. Now, the giddiness didn’t always accurately reflect your level of interest in the class or your relationship with the specific teacher; for me, it reflected the joy of an unexpected and welcome change in the [sometimes monotonous] school day. With a substitute, perhaps you’d get to watch a movie or have time in class to (gasp!) finish your homework.

I realized recently that I’ve stripped my students of the opportunity to experience this “substitution giddiness.” I substitute for absent teachers at my school frequently. When I asked my work colleagues in September what to do when I substitute, they said, “Teach an extra English conversation class.” That’s logical. I took their advice seriously and treated substitution lessons like my scheduled lessons. I planned for them, set lesson objectives, and took advantage of the extra time with my students.

Luckily, my students have yet to groan when I substitute for them, but this spring I wanted to infuse new life into my substitute lessons. How could I distinguish my substitution lessons from my English conversation lessons?

This spring I’ve decided to treat my substitution lessons like a separate course called “American Culture.” We frequently talk about American culture in my conversation classes, but it isn’t the focus. I decided that for substitution lessons, it’s okay to have a lesson that’s not solely speaking focused. Plus, the best way to get the students to speak is to engage them in a new activity that arouses natural curiosity and therefore a natural desire to ask questions and talk. And I want substitution lessons to feel different and exciting. I also believe that you can’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) teach language without teaching culture. They are intricately and undeniably connected.

I’ve had two units so far in my “American Culture” course: dancing and baseball.

American Line Dancing

When students arrived to this substitute class, we pushed the desks to the walls and danced! Line dancing is a great classroom activity because 1) you don’t have to force people to pick partners and 2) everyone is dancing identical steps so it’s easier to teach. It was a great opportunity to let the students learn through movement and observation. They listened to my instructions but also watched me perform the steps and connected the movement with the English vocabulary. I am not a dancer but luckily thanks to my music background I have good rhythm, and thanks to Colleen, who is a dancer, I'd had an American dancing "refresher course" before teaching the lesson. I've also learned this year that how I approach the lesson (i.e., with enthusiasm and high expectations) is the key factor in the lesson’s success.

We started with the Chicken Dance, the Y.M.C.A., and the Macarena to warm-up. Then we learned the Cupid Shuffle and finished with the greatest challenge, Cotton-Eyed Joe. The Cupid Shuffle is great because it’s easy to let the students personalize the basic steps, and they loved the music for Cotton-Eyed Joe. We had a Cotton-Eyed Joe “dance-off” at the end of class to the 5-minute song (last person dancing “won”). I’ve had the opportunity to do this substitution lesson with almost all of my 7^th grade classes, and they always ask me when we’ll get to dance again. Here are the students posing for a "Y.M.C.A." photograph.

Baseball

It’s finally spring in Cieszyn (with magnolia trees blooming everywhere!) and, if we want, we’re allowed to go outside with our classes to the church park that’s across the street from the school. Two weeks ago we had beautiful weather and I decided to teach a baseball substitution lesson.

Now, if you know me, you know that I’m the person who wears the wrong colors to sporting events, and that, although I enjoy sporting events, I’m never particularly interested in who wins. I’m not especially qualified to teach people how to play baseball. (A couple friends and family members asked point blank, “Do you know anything about baseball?” when I told them of this lesson plan. I wasn’t insulted; it’s a fair question. In high school I attended almost every football game because of marching band and after all that exposure I still don’t understand the rules.) But I did my research and also knew that I would be teaching a simplified game.

The students looked at me like I’d lost my marbles when I announced we were playing baseball (don’t tell the students, but I’m always very excited when I get this look because I love surprising them). We talked about the basic rules, the names of the positions, and other baseball expressions. Then we played!

The majority of the students had never played or watched baseball before. We had a lot of fun learning the rules (again, language learning through movement; understanding the rules by applying them). It was a fun listening activity because (especially for the first 20 minutes), I helped the students with every play of the game, telling them when and where to run, what to do to get a player “out,” and answering lots of questions as they tried to apply the rules we had talked about.

The students did great, but it’s a steep learning curve when you haven’t lived in a culture where baseball is very popular and you’re exposed to the game regardless of your level of interest (I’m living proof).

Here are a couple fun baseball mishaps:

1) I realized I needed to specifically teach them how to hold the bat when the 1^st student batter stood directly behind home plate and swung the bat like you’d swing a light saber in Star Wars, straight out in front of you.

2) Sometimes I saw the students incorporating football/American soccer rules into the game. For example, I had to tell a lot of students that they couldn’t kick the baseball to their teammates; they had to throw it.

3) Before we played the game, I told the students how to get a batter “out” including by “catching a fly ball.” I had demonstrated this rule by having a student bat and I [miraculously] caught her hit in the outfield. I thought they understood until the time the pitcher threw the ball, the batter swung and missed, the catcher caught the ball and all the students yelled, “He [the catcher] caught the ball! He caught the ball! She’s [the batter] out! She’s out!” I had to laugh because, well, we weren’t the best pitchers or catchers so it was a miracle when the catcher caught the pitcher’s throw. I had to clarify that the batter had to hit the ball and someone in the outfield had to catch the ball for an out. Unfortunately, it didn’t count if the catcher caught the pitcher’s throw.

4) My favorite baseball mishap reinvented the phrase “the bases are loaded,” where there is a runner on every base (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd). I was quite busy during the game, keeping an eye on everyone. Lots of students had questions about the rules, students needed help holding the bat semi-correctly (I’m not going to pretend that I know the best way to hold a bat), pitchers were throwing balls way too high, etc. After one hit, I looked out into the field and discovered that the bases were loaded – with four people. There was a student on first, two students on second, and a student on third. I realized that I’d never told the students that you could only have one person on a base at one time. Here's a photograph of the "extra loaded" second base (Zuzia and Sara were the runners, Patryk behind them is the 2nd baseman, and Jan in the foreground was the pitcher).

It’s funny to realize that although I’m not a baseball expert, I know quite a lot about baseball because of my culture. You can’t avoid it! The lesson was also an example of how specific language is and how easy it is to think you’ve explained a rule well, but then you realize that you didn’t!

I’m thoroughly enjoying my “American Culture” substitution course and thinking about units for upcoming substitution classes this year and next! Any suggestions? I’d love to hear them!