English Phonics Song

Some of my S5 students shared this with me today. Fast forward to 1:30 for some quality edutainment.




Dicky and Katrina succinctly described the video, saying, "The man makes funny faces and the dancing is stupid."

Byeeeeeeeeeeee

Know Your Audience (Let's Debate)

Our form 5 students (approx. 10th grade) had an interclass English debate today. The motion was, "The Inclusive Education Policy in Hong Kong Should Be Abolished From Normal Schools." Inclusive education, for those of you who are not familiar, refers to the integration of special needs students into "normal" schools and/or classes.

Naturally, the Captain* of the Negative Side likened abolishing inclusive education to the Holocaust. "The Germans didn't want the Jews to live where they lived," Chuen argued. He continued, "So they killed them." Extending the analogy, Cheun pointed out that, "Jews are the smartest and most clever people in the World. For example, Albert Einstein."

In making this statement, Chuen took a big risk. Historically, shouting the virtues of the Jews from the rooftops hasn't always been the soundest strategy. Luckily for Chuen, he really understood the most important rule of argument:"Know your audience." Even though only one of the judges was Jewish (Guess which one? I'll give you a hint: It wasn't Mr. Ho or Dr. Lau), the point really resonated with them, or so I've heard.

*I shouldn't write students' real names on the blog, so I'll just call him "Chuen."

The judges and the winning team

Look, I'm not saying I'm a great teacher or anything, but before I got to LKPFC, most of these kids didn't know what a Jew was. "What is that, like, Catholic?" one student asked me. But just 4 months later, they can stand up at a debate (unchallenged, I might add) and state with confidence that Jews are the best, most successful people in the world. Now THAT'S teaching.

Christmas break starts Friday, so I'll have some time to catch up with the blog soon.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee