It's All About the Finish Line

The thoughts and opinions that continue to be expressed by my students doesn't always blow me away, but I do have to sit back in a state of awe as I listen sometimes.

Last week during a writing class every student was given a different writing prompt, asked to respond to the answer during our time allotted, after which we would share our work.  The first student had a question of beauty vs. brains, if he could only have one which would it be.  I was happy that he, and the rest of the students agreed that intelligence would trump looks should they have to decide, but it was some of his reasoning that made me shudder.

The Great Debate

One of the highlights of my new job is that I'm no longer a puppet teaching 'fun' English classes, these kids are here to learn and my classes are no exception.  My schedule rotates between reading and writing lessons but I also have a few debate classes thrown into the mix. It took me a few lessons to get into the swing of things with the students, understanding what their level was at, their debate style and of course personalities, but now things are going along great.  While not all the topics are received with high praise, most of our lessons have went pretty smoothly, sometimes students have surprised me with strong arguments and unique viewpoints, while other times I've been left in a slight state of shock.  Let me give you some examples...