Adventures in Teaching

My students think I am many things; a jack of all trades. This week, I am a wizard. Last week, I was a giant green dragon. Next week, hopefully something in human form.

The wizard thing came about pretty naturally. To divide up the class, I decided to have students pick a card from a deck. When everyone was in their respective groups, I took one of the cards and made it vanish into thin air. Not believing one of their English teachers could actually do something cool, they asked to see it again. I performed the slight of hand a second time, and wowed their socks off. Note- although I do like magic tricks, most of these tricks and cards controls were used to cheat at poker. Who wants to play?

Naturally, they wanted to see some other tricks of the trade (pun intended), so I whipped out some pretty nifty card control stunts and impressed them. How did I do it? Not a single one could figure it out. Supernatural powers was the only logical solution. I showed them some cool bar tricks, that they can use when they are older, like vanishing a coin and stuff like that. I'll save the suckers' bets for the adults. When the break was over, and the cards had to go away, the students still wanted to play. So I said, "I have a game! It's called 52-Pick Up. Who wants to play?" Nearly all the hands went up.

I gathered them into a circle and told them that now that they were in the circle they had to play. They agreed. So I threw the cards on the floor and said, "OK, pick them up!" They raced to the floor and started collecting them. One by one, little lights started to turn on and I could here them say, "Oh, wait. 52 cards. 52 pick up. I'm just picking them up."

At which point they realized I had played a joke on them (I play a lot of jokes on them) and they handed me the cards before going back to their seats. Everyone seemed to get it, except one student, who handed me the cards and yelled, with a big grin on his face, "Again! Again! Let's play again." I'm sorry, if I had played again, that would have just been cruel.

Although, don't worry, they get me too. Addendum to the on-going egg joke from a previous post. Apparently, "egg" in Mandarin means balls (as in testicles). So when they got me to change the game of "Simon Says" to "Elephant Egg" says, little did I know that I was saying "Elephant balls" again and again and again. Sorry for the crudeness.

And last, about that dragon. Apparently, some of my students think that I have the same voice as a green dragon named Leo in one of our text books. They think he's inside of me, although I assure them that no, there is definitely no fictional green dragon named Leo hibernating in my innards.

So until next time, from you "I can dish it out but can't take it" jester and card jockey a la Taiwanese, Michael.