Another week has gone by and damn am I tired! I have a total new found respect for teachers! You may think its easy standing up there in front of the classroom and just talking, but there’s a lot of energy and preparation that goes into it. Also, sometimes trying to get these damn kids to talk is like pulling teeth! Some of them are ready and raring to go, ready to show off their English skills, so it makes for an interesting class. Others, not so much.
I’ve been doing my best to keep the class interesting and actually get them talking. The primary activity I’ve done this week dealt with Roman Polanski. It’s interesting to see the same problem from a non-American point of view. When he was first arrested, there was a huge outcry from the intellectual and creative elite of the country. They said he was “too great an artist” to be sent to jail now, and that he was “too old.” Frederic Mitterrand, the cultural minister of France (and nephew of former president Francois Mitterrand) said that America was showing an “frightening face” by demanding the extradition of the director.
So to make things interesting, I divided each class into two groups, one pro-Polanski the other anti. And each one had to convince the judge (me) why Polanski should either be allowed to stay in Switzerland or be sent back to America to stand trial. Most of the classes enjoyed it, and it got the kids talking. Overall, a most enjoyable exercise; because after all, a sure-fire way to get someone to talk, is to piss ‘em off!