Monday, October 1, 2007

The Greatest Lesson

With no textbook to work from I have the ability to teach however I want. There is always a planned lesson but if the students really tried to speak English, I would just sit on my desk and communicate with them all period. Instead I sometimes deviate from my lesson only for a few minutes when I see a possibility to reach an actual dialogue exchange with a student.
The boys hit each other all the time in my class but I let it go because it never escalates to point where they become a distraction. But when I saw one boy slap another boy across his face I decided to make a quick lesson about honesty. I walked up to the boy, tapped him on the shoulder and asked "Did you hit him?" "No no teacher! No hit" said the student. "Are you lying to me?"I said. "No lie" said the student. "He's liar! He hit me!" said the victim student, pleased that his friend was getting into trouble. "Just tell me truth" I said. "Did you hit him?" NO TEACHER! That finally did it"I saw you hitting! You lied to me! Ten push ups! The class erupted in cheers as the boy got down on the filthy floor and did his push ups. When he finished and the class had settled down I explained to them. I punished the student not for hitting but for lying. When you get caught doing something bad you should always telly the truth. Lying will only make it worse. I clarified this in the case they ever commit a crime and get caught by the police. I told them if that ever happened either say nothing or lie until you get an attorney. "If you admit you stole something to the police they will arrest you and you will have no defense. Being quite or lying will give you a better chance of getting away from the crime. Always tell the truth to your family and to your friends" I said. The students nodded in agreement.
Later on in the class I was able to show benefits of truth telling when another student bit his friend in the neck. "Did you just bite him in the neck" I asked. "Yes teacher" the student said with a big smile. "Honesty, thank you for telling me truth, no push ups"