CHRISTMAS IN CLASS WITH OUR STUDENTS

STUDENTS TALKING ABOUT "THE BEST GIFT" THEY'VE RECEIVED

ROLL AN EIGHT AND GET A TURN TO RIP OPEN THE GIFT

Yesterday was so funny. Most students arrive well before class starts. So while we were waiting for the starting bell to ring, I put some Christmas music on and set a big wrapped present out that would be used later for a game. I asked if any of them knew why Americans (and others) celebrate Christmas. Although they know a great deal about our Christmas traditions, no one knew what the origin of Christmas was. I asked, “Are you being too shy to answer, or do you not know? (It’s a constant chore for foreign teachers to break their Chinese students from their “listen only to a lecture” mode of education and to feel comfortable with classroom discussions.) What if I said, ‘Anyone who can correctly tell me why we celebrate Christmas can get what’s in this present.’ Then could you tell me?” I said, “To give you a hint, the song that’s playing gives the answer.” At this, two students jumped up from their seats and raced to the computer where the songs were playing. Taking the mouse, they started whipping through sites, copying and pasting the song name, “Joy to the World” onto the internet, pulling up the lyrics, and reading through them to get their clue. I’m amazed at what these guys can do with computers. Every time I’m trying to get my Power Point lesson loaded up, screens down, power machine on, volume accessed, window shades down (all done with unlabeled buttons at the computer), I often get stuck on one of the processes and I holler “Help!”, and someone will jump up, start clicking the mouse like crazy, and everything gets fixed.