Ricardo and his amazing jackets:
Whilst discussing fashion, Ricardo enlightened us as to why he began to wear jackets to school a few years ago. Indeed, he is quite noticeable because he's one of the few students, if not the only one, who can ever be seen in a jacket outside of going to the Ball or a Maturita Exam ;-) The reason is...pockets! Ricardo seems to have a pocket for everything he will need during the course of a regular school day, and the more pockets there are, the better. His collection of jackets has stopped at 2, and he seems satisfied with that. And the morning he told us this story, he really did have something in every pocket - I almost expected him to pull a rabbit or a dove out at some point...or even one of those never-ending scarfs!! :-)
I've rather do Russian... :
Another student told me that because of their aversion to a certain English teacher & their particular style of teaching, they are seriously considering taking Russian in the Maturita Exam!! :-O I am still trying to persuade them out of this madness - there is time, so there is hope.
Meanwhile in Dagestan... :
Another student, when discussing his future hopes for a family, told us that he is thinking about going to Dagestan, because not only can you find a wife fairly easily there...you can find two...maybe more?! :-) Dagestan is a far off place, just west of Georgia...quite remote. Some students felt that one wife was quite enough...
Collective Passivity:
"Our obligation is to give meaning to life, and in doing so, to overcome the passive and indifferent life." So said Elie Wiesel (a Jew who lived through the concentration camps)... And clearly this statement applies to one class (who shall remain nameless ;-) ) - for they are surely the MOST passive class I have ever met in my 8 years at this school. Collective passiveness is stifling, suffocating...it is a challenge which I have accepted. In the words of the B52's - we 'have to dance this mess around' ;-)
Food, glorious food! :
This week with one class, we will be taking the subject of Cooking and Eating to a new level - it will be a practical lesson & each student will bake or cook something & bring it to share to the lesson. The idea is that they will describe how they made their food (ingredients etc), and of course, then we will fill our faces with all sorts of goodies :-)
The Shepherd who came back from the war...:
So the story goes, as one student related the life he would like to have lived, if he had been born in another country, perhaps at another time. A soldier, tired of all the killing and bloodshed, drops out of society and goes to a land far away and begins another life as a simple shepherd. He finds a wife, who interestingly has no tongue, and he lives an idyllic life for the rest of his days - tending his sheep in the silence and solitude of the mountain pastures... (This was an excellent example of story-telling in English - fun, and creative!)
I find over the years that the more open I am with my own stories, the more I get back from the students :-)
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