The Confusing Lives of Finger Print People.

I. Did. Not. Expect. Teaching. Family. Members. Vocabulary. To. Be. So. Difficult. GOODNESS GRACIOUS. #teachingkids #almostlostpatience #neverdoingthatagain #yaytohashtagsinablogpost

I'm knackered. And SO THANKFUL to my assistant teacher Mr Khio who explained everything so patiently in Lao. 

I'd prepared a really cute worksheet about family relations, where they were supposed to write "niece" on the line between "me" and "my uncle", for example. 

To cut a long story short: It didn't work.  

My lesson plan (ambitious, but better too long than too short):
- finish finger print family tree that we started yesterday*
- teach: "Who is this?" - "This is my ..."**
- "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"
- game: two teams, count which team has more sisters/aunts/uncles etc. in total
- do worksheet "family relations"

- start new topic: describing people (connect to family: "my father is tall")
- game: "I spy" with people ("I see a boy. He is tall. He has short black hair. He is wearing a blue T-shirt. Who is it?")
- teach new lexis: tall-short, long hair - short hair, dark skin - fair skin, long nose - small nose, curly hair - straight hair
- game: bank robbers. Description of five robbers, put pictures in the right order. 
- draw 6 faces by instructions ("long nose, short curly hair, blue eyes")
- use lexis actively: describe the other students

* I know! Finger prints - fun!! 

**No, fellow ESL teachers, I didn't plan a starter. That's because my students are all sitting in the classroom 20 minutes early and as I'm not willing to entertain them during that time, I let them draw pictures or read English word books. Also, possible future ESL employers, this is obviously not a proper lesson plan and my actual lesson plans look much different. Promise.

Today's actual lesson: 
- finish family tree / draw pictures
- teach: "Who is this?" - "This is my ..."
- "How many brothers and sisters do you have?" - "I have 2 brothers and 1 sister"

- game: two teams, count which team has more sisters/aunts/uncles etc. in total - STUDENTS ARE CONFUSED/NOT WILLING TO COOPERATE --> start fighting/drawing/mixing teams

- CHANGE OF PLAN. Invent game to give the students the opportunity to make some noise, have fun AND (!) consolidate new vocabulary: Someone throws a plastic bag in the air, they laugh, shout, scream while it's in the air, but the second it touches the ground, they have to be silent. Students have fun. Round two: While the plastic bag is in the air, we shout words from family vocab as loud as possible (eg. "SISTER-SISTER-SISTER") STUDENTS HAVE FUN, EVERYTHING IS OK.

- Make example about the worksheet, hand out worksheet, students start doing it. At least some of them. Check the first worksheets that are finished, point out that you are not your grandma's cousin. Neither her niece. Check the first answers of the slower students. Praise for correct answers. Try to explain that you're not your aunt's aunt. Call Mr Khio to explain it in Lao. See what the faster students are up to now. They take drawings by their classmates from the wall and hang up their own drawings instead, not nice, but whatever. Check more answers. Call Mr Khio to explain the difference between "niece" and "nephew" in Lao. Faster students ask permission to go to toilet. Okay, anything that keeps them busy while I give the slower ones the chance to understand new lexis. Correct spelling errors. Call Mr Khio over to explain the difference between "son" and "grandson". Now about 80% of the students have finished. The 3 girls come back from the bathroom. "Teacher, play game." 
- "No, please wait." Check more spelling errors, have Khio explain more lexis. Luckily the two teenage boys are much more patient than the girls and explain new words* to the younger ones (or in one case: do the worksheet for them thinking I wouldn't notice the writing in green instead of black pencil). Two students have filled out only two of the gaps by now. Enough, I can't have the other ones wait longer.

*I'm so confused right now that I initially spelled "words" with a V.

- DECIDE THAT WE CAN'T DO ANOTHER BRAINY ACTIVITY NOW. Look at the clock. 3 p.m. Half an hour left. SILENT QUICK PRAYER ABOUT NEW IDEA. Family bingo it is!!! Hand out paper, make them draw a grid, dictate nine different family members. Half of the students complete after one minute, the other are still at family member no.2. Wait, entertain the others. They change places for a reason only they know, but whatever, if it keeps them busy. The slower students have written three family members by now. Check spelling and literacy errors with the faster ones. Wait. Wait. Wait, because we can't start the game without all the grids completed. Wait. Wait. Play bingo. REGRET THAT I DIDN'T BRING CANDY FOR THE WINNERS. Yay, STUDENTS ARE HAPPY, even without candy. Draw new grid, wait 7 minutes for slower students to fill it out, play bingo again. LESSON OVER, THANK GOD.

I thought family systems (relatives = "pinong") were much simpler in English than in Lao. But apparently that's part of the problem. See: In Lao the words for "older brother", "younger brother" (and respectively "older sister"/"younger sister") are completely different. "Older sister" for example is "Euay", "younger sister" is "nawng sao". Culturally important. Same for aunt and uncle: It depends if it's your mom's brother or your dad's brother or the husband of your mom's or dad's sister. Even the grandparents are called different on mom's and dad's side... 

Not only my students are "supson" (confused) by now...