What did you want to be when you grew up?

Today there were four new students in our class of fourteen. One had moved up from the beginning class, and the others were new students to the school. Today we continued talking about what things were like when the students were children. It was an excellent way to incorporate past tense verbs, and we used the chart mentioned in the previous posts.

One of the most interesting questions the learners answered was what they had wanted to be when they grew up. We compiled quite a diverse list of professions: artist, teacher, cook, seamstress, writer, doctor, doorman, tailor, soldier, dancer, disk jockey, etc. Ayanna said she had wanted to be a mechanic or an electrician. Faizah said that she had wanted to be a nurse, but instead she was now a cook. The new student from the beginning class, Lina, said she had wanted to be a police woman. Aziza insisted that she had wanted to be a soldier or a business woman. Makda said that she had wanted to be a teacher and that in Ethiopia, she had taught young children at the mosque near her home. She said it made her sad that she was not currently teaching here in the United States. I can just picture her teaching young children, and she seems like she would be a patient and wonderful teacher. We didn’t talk about what they were doing now, but it would have been an interesting discussion about what opportunities they feel they have here.

Rules

This week we talked about childhood using the grid activity to practice past tense. One question that yielded really interesting results explored the rules parents had for the learners when they were children.

The teacher wrote the question on the board, and then asked the group to list the classroom rules. At this, the students became very animated and produced quite a list:

• Speak English in class.
• Sit next to someone who doesn’t speak your language if possible.
• Call if you are going to be absent.
• Don’t stand around in the halls at break time.
• No cell phones in class.
• Sign in and out on the computer when you come to class.
• Don’t park in the marked spots in the lot.
• Bring a pencil and notebook to class.
• Be on time for class.
• Have respect for everyone.

I was quite surprised at how quick and eager they were to rattle off the rules. After completing this list, the teacher asked the students to name some family rules from childhood. I realized that this had been an excellent teaching technique in that if she had just asked the question right away, many students wouldn’t have grasped the concept of rules. Now after practicing with the school rules, the students launched into a list that included:

• No hitting or bothering people
• Come home after school
• No stealing things from other people
• No watching bad movies
• No smoking or drinking alcohol
• Don’t fight with your friends
• Use good manners and say kind things to others
• Do your schoolwork before going out to play

It struck me that every one of the rules on the list had been a rule my parents had for me when I was a child. Everyone in the room, regardless of nationality, seemed to be nodding in agreement as the rules were shouted out. I think everyone in the classroom was surprised to discover that in spite of cultural differences, more familial rules were similar than different; they seemed to have a universal quality.

Shopping debates

Today’s topic for the grid activity was shopping. At first I doubted if it would be a topic that would fill up the entire class time, but I was definitely wrong! We had a lively discussion regarding the prices at Cub, Sam’s Club, Rainbow and Target. When asked what they liked to shop for, some students listed foods or clothes, while other students listed dream purchases like homes and fancy cars. Next time, it would be interesting to ask how shopping is different than in their home countries.

One student came back to class today after a long absence. Mandisa has been in our class since I started over a year ago. She was home sick for nearly a month which was troublesome as she is probably over seventy years old. The class nearly erupted in applause when she entered the room today! Unfettered by her age, Mandisa brings an energy and joy into the classroom with her stories and sharp wit. She came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo more than ten years ago and worked as a seamstress. She and her husband have retired and live near the school in Columbia Heights. I asked her once why she was interested in learning English, and she said with a smile that she never wanted to stop learning until the day she died. Her slow progress never seems to blunt her enthusiasm to learn English as well as other languages. As we’ve discovered, Mandisa also dabbles in other languages, much to the delight of the Spanish speakers in the class. When she walks into the room, she often yells greetings in Spanish to other students, who really seem to get a kick out of it.

Fun with foods

Metro North has a partnership with the University of Minnesota Extension Simply Good Eating program. Every month, a dynamic representative comes to class to teach about an aspect of nutrition. It is always interactive, with fake food, real store ads to examine, food containers, food related prizes to take home and a snack at the end. Today’s topic was food safety. Learners had to take colorful pictures of various food items and stick them to the white board in the refrigerator, cupboard, freezer or counter section. Most students did pretty well, but others made some severe errors, such as leaving meat on the counter. It really made me realize the value of the activity, as clearly all of the students have had different experiences with food depending on their cultural background, education level and other factors.

By the end of the class period, all of the students seemed much more confidant in food safety and storage. Each student received a thermometer to take home and test the temperature of their refrigerator and freezer to make sure they were within safe ranges for food storage. It was quite a challenge to explain how the thermometer worked to some students, as some had never seen one before. Even many students who were familiar with a thermometer were baffled by the measurements. It was exciting to observe their enthusiasm to go home and practice what they had learned.