Me Too!!



Sometimes when I get excited about what's happening in class, I'll say to my students, "Guess what!!"  Unfortunately, due to the language barriers, my cheerful exclamation is always met with metaphorical crickets... They don't get it!  Today, though, Susie and I decided to change this.

At the beginning of our 6th STD (remember, that means Standard!) class today, Susie and I did a demonstration for the students in order to teach them how to respond to "Guess what!"  Our demonstration was complete with excited faces, energetic voices, and exaggerated body language!  Here's a taste of how that went:

"Hey Rachel, guess what!"

"What?!"

"I'm so excited to work with 6th STD today!"

"No, way-- me too!"

<pause for a little bit of laughter>

"Hey Susie, guess what!"

"What?!"

"I looooove to dance!"

"Hey, me too!"

<pause for a little more laughter>

Finally, it was time to test it on the students, so we invited them to respond to the next one!

"Hey 6th STD, guess what!" I called out, hands outstretched to receive their response.

"What?!"  they replied, many of them using the same exaggerated body language that Susie and I had modeled.

"Today we're going to practice Self-Confidence in class!"

"Me too!!!" the 20+ students cried out!


Now, although this may be one of those you-had-to-be-there stories, this was seriously one of the golden moments of my day!  Susie and I couldn't stop laughing for a minute after the students mimicked us so perfectly!  We didn't foresee the misunderstanding of "me too!" as being the necessary response in the conversation, but it definitely made for a good laugh!  We spent the rest of the class period sprinkling our dialogue with an occasional "Guess what!", and the students responded to it every time :)

Now I don't have to worry about awkward crickets whenever I say "Guess what!" with 6th STD!


Here are a few more notes from today:

  • Our darling Parakeet room was invaded by a large, black, wasp-looking creature!  After about 10 minutes of Susie and me trying to kill or capture it, one of the cleaning ladies miraculously appeared with a magical bug spray and destroyed the frightening critter!
  • I've taken to walking barefoot a lot on campus, and I really like it!  My best friend calls it earthing, and I feel like it's a healthy thing that everyone should try :)  
  • I have been really impressed with how invested the boys have been in most of the classes recently!  They seem to be working harder and harder each week, and they are often more focused and confident than the girls, which is surprisingly different from my experience in the States.  It's refreshing to be in a culture where boys aren't blinded by the harmful lies of dance being a female activity.  Here, everyone can dance, and everyone is invited to dance!  I'm so grateful for the power and grace these boys add to the classes!



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