Random ESL Teaching Tips 001

Songs used to start class should involve choreography instead of being sang without movement. This improves focus and you'll easily tell if a student isn't participating. It's ok to stop a song to address a particular student who isn't participating. The class will learn that they'll get bored and have to repeat if someone isn't participating. This puts pressure on that individual.

Want a song to be fun? Do it super fast, and then try slow too.

If a song doesn't have choreography, consider adding it.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star has the same melody as the ABC song. This may make it easier to learn and perform. This may be good for a school play or performance.

The game 'Duck, Duck, Goose, Goose' can be played with the words quiet and loud. You can do other word pairs as well, e.g. big/small, slow/fast. Have everybody chant the first word together, and then shout the last one together, but their voices don't have to be in unison.

Chinese Students Failing to be Creative

A reddit post:





My reply:



Yet, everybody says that the American system of education is brain washing. Considering that students are terrified of being in an individual... who's brainwashing now?

It's not just about there only being one correct answer, it's about being part of a group and giving the groupthink answer instead of being an individual.

They literally do not want to be an individual or be seen as one, they're terrified of it. They become dependent upon their parents and peers for thinking.

This is why people in their 40s still call mom to make life decisions such as leaving an employer, finding a boyfriend, buying a home or a car. Some even have their parents manage all of their finances for them.

So they don't just need training in creativity, but evaluation of situations for decision making, actual decision making, acting as an individual instead of acting as a group, etc.

Creativity is a big part of it, but there's a reason that the Borg in StarTrek don't have art or poetry and would struggle to create that if separated from their collective. They would also struggle to appreciate it.

And now it gets personal, if you show art, poetry, expressionism, creative works to a Chinese person... they can't appreciate it and might think something is wrong with you like you're retarded and overly emotional. China has Chinese art, which... you guessed it, all looks the same. Why do Chinese cultural and traditional art all look the same? It's more than just because "This is our art style." - Why do ALL of the artists, especially the historic ones, ALL have the same style, the same rules, the same product? Why didn't any of the Chinese artists do something unique?

Now compare that to Western art. Our art is all OVER the place. We did all kinds of crazy stuff, and no two artists are alike. But in China, all artists were alike, and many of them strive to BE alike. In fact, they'll spend years of their life trying to master the ability to replicate the works of other masters... and if they do something unique, then that's fucking reject trash to them. They certainly won't be able to sell it, will they?

This is changing, this is changing really fast. But still... look how many people decide to be an artist, and then never strive to do anything unique?

The entire culture is mindfucked in exactly this way. So you as a teacher ask your students for individual answers, thoughts, feelings. You tell them to say or do something DIFFERENT instead of asking everybody to do the same thing. They've never dealt with that before.

It didn't happen at home. It didn't happen at school. It didn't even happen during their free time. That's where you get the situations of a white guy saying, "Do something different, anything is good." and the student looses it, refusing to do anything at all. Because anything would be wrong, and anything is bad. In Chinese culture, you follow and you copy. In Chinese history, bad things happen to people who don't.

Friends are the best treasure

Friends are the most important thing whether you're a jail house bird, or a Billionaire. When you remember your best friends, you don't remember caring about how tall they were,
how beautiful, or what hobbies were in common. You remember the moments that made you think, smile, and feel happy.

What doesn't matter:

• Education
• Height
• Beauty
• Income level
• Ethnicity

Me:Art

When I see an art piece, I don't just look at it, feeling nothing. I don't glance at it and pass it by. I walk up to it and stop... I experience it. I put myself inside of the art and in that moment, I feel it inside of me. So I basically want to steal fancy art and have sex with it. Join me some time, let's accost some art!

I had babies!

8 baby birds came in to my life. My father commented that he'd heard about a lady that made really good money by releasing white homing pigeons at weddings. He was ok with the idea of me cordoning off a quarter of his prize winning back yard, to put up an ugly bird coop. So I did! He never let us have pets. Years of being a father (and putting up with our shit) had softened him.

They loved to fly circles around the house, and I began training within six months.

I wanted my brother to see them.

Unfortunately, he died and came home as ashes in a box. The first time I ever did a release for an event was for his funeral. I like to think that he saw them then.

A friend made fun of me, "It looks like a GUY lives here!" So the next time she visited, I told her that I heard a strange noise coming from my window. tap tap tap. When I opened a window, there was this bird staring me down and looking angry. He said, "I got my nest right outside your window and yesterday this place was a mess. My wife left me... I think that's YOUR fault!"

SO I cleaned my room right away, and his wife came back. He was so happy that he left me a present, go open the window... So after hearing my crazy story, she opens the window. It's a chocolate bar, but it's been frozen. I say, "Oh my god, it's frozen, there's only ONE thing to do, GIVE me the candy!" - And I take out a hammer and gleefully pulverize it right in front of her.

Finally, I take the chocolate devastation and say, "Now follow me!" - we walked to a nearby restaurant that serves ice cream. Yup, we dusted the ice cream with frozen chocolate from the birdman. The moral of the story? - Have fun, be creative. I made someone smile and laugh so hard they were snorting their snot.. all for a few bucks. In life, you're going to meet many people that might give you a chocolate bar. Some might even give you the expensive chocolate. But only a few friends will give you awesome memories. That's going the extra smile!

My week

I spent a lot of time up in the mountains at Lucky Peak. Jet skis, beer, 13 people, 7 dogs. I connected more with the dogs than the people. The people were all kind and accepting, however they had a typical sense of humor and good conversation. I found myself yearning for a cup of coffee and a late night conversation about ethics, philosophy, psychology... you know, something deep.

Today, I connected with my second niece. We went to the city's 150's Birthday celebration, then went shopping. I enjoyed talking to her about fashion: shoes, whatever. She'd point out all the outfits she liked, and I was really impressed. She never asked me to buy anything, and everything she liked was tasteful. No slutty gear for this 14 year old girl. I feel proud of her, and think she's developing into a fine person. She talked a lot. I forgot how much a kid can talk... about everything, jumping between subjects in a random fashion.