Kids Are Nutcases: Round 2

One of my favorite things about teaching at Chundahm is our Creative Thinking Project.  The classes are three hours long (with only two 5-minute breaks) and the third hour is mostly comprised of the C.T.P.  I split the kids into groups, or if they've been particularly good that day they get to pick their own (rare), we go over that day's project and what will be expected of them when they have to present at the end of class, then they just brainstorm and more or less go wild for about 30-40 minutes.  The things these kids come up with absolutely blow my mind sometimes.  The emotions I've experience when watching their presentations range from horrified to hilarity to confused to just downright impressed.  Some of the topics we cover in class can be a bit boring, so I change the C.T.P. guidelines up in order to get the kids to actually want to participate, and so far I've found they just like telling stories and drawing best.  So we always incorporate some sort of story-telling into their presentation (they're required to write a speech along with their poster).

 

Anyway, I hang the finished CTPs up on my walls so the kids can see what the other classes are doing and laugh at their friend's stupid posters... but I do it mostly to cover the depressing graffiti covered walls (seriously).  I take pictures of the cream of the crop (at the end of the week I usually have about 20 or more CTP posters to hang up).  Here are some of my favorite from the past few weeks.

BIRDIE (mid to high-level English skills)

 This one was from a lesson about your friends influencing you in bad or good ways.  They were supposed to talk about both good and bad, but of course this group of boys seized the opportunity to make fun of 'Rachel' (code name for one of the girls in the class, they think they are so sneaky) and draw pictures of her shooting guns and smoking cigarettes.  Apparently she is in a gang called "Rachel and the bad girls."

 Jun the Third (my favorite little artist) was the mastermind behind this one.  They were supposed to create a Korea tourist brochure and this group chose Korean food as their topic.  I'm flipping it open like, oh bibimbap, nice... kimchi, okay... what the...?  Only Jun.  So realistic, too!

 Violet is a student I've had for both terms I've been at Chungdahm.  She has been in Birdie both terms too which is strange because she is a genius.  This kid literally came up with this entire concept (fair trade, in short) for her presentation in about 15 minutes.  Then she managed to explain the entire thing to her group of 3 other students so that they understood it well enough to present.  Okay prodigy, somebody's parents listen to the news on the way to school.

This group was supposed to draw a map of where North Korean refugees would go in order to get from Pyongyang to Seoul.  These kids are obviously geographically educated but not so in tune with the whole 'shortest route' concept.  They seemed to thing this made perfect sense.

PAR (relatively low level English skills)

 One of my Par students, Hannah (her twin Sarah is also in my class), likes to draw ddong (poop) on my board during break time in places where I don't automatically see it (on the corner of the board, behind papers I have magnetically stuck to the board, etc.) and then dies laughing when I find it.  She's usually a dead giveaway because she's turning bright red and shaking her head the first five minutes of class after break time, waiting in anticipation.  Freak.

 

Proof that some of my kids actually like me.  Usually when I'm the topic of a CTP you know it isn't good (I'm either a pig or an old fat lady or somebody's grandma).  In this case I'm a relatively nice looking country music singer with hearts surrounding my head.  Thanks, girls.

 Luna is my Par art prodigy - this kid is amazing.  We learned about Edward Munch's "The Scream" the other week and she decided to make her own rendition of it.  Okay Luna, I see you...

Super Pizza is a Luna creation, as well.  The groups were supposed to make their own superheros (and an arch nemesis).  Super Pizza was the hero and her nemesis was Super Coke, a mean looking girl.  When I asked the girls why they were nemesis but in real life go so well together, they just laughed like crazy people.  Sometimes these kids really escape me.