entry for the week of Nov 2 :D An important week :D

Today is an important day!

This week UC guys are away for the Southern trip. What a blast! I love to come to the South too. If I had big money, one of my dreams is to come to the huge fruit gardens and floating market in the South. How lucky UC guys are :(

No class but this week is still very important to our PROJECT! Finally, after so long long long delay and waiting for approval of the SJ director, we will start the project!!! Finally :) I’m so happy. But sadly, all UC members are in the South and all Hanu boys are busy for the Asian Indoor Games III event hichic Only me and 2 other girls left will be available to conduct it this Sunday.

Today, Sunday November 8, 2009 we will start with the first Peace Culture class.

Haha I’ve just come back! How’s the project going today? U might ask that haha Funnily, only 6/23 official students + 1 kid that I taught last year but does not belong to SJ anymore came to the class WITH my effort of going directly to some of the kids’ houses in the Fisher Village to call them to class >< So much disappointed!!! I wanted it to be good since the start then I asked the Hanu girls to meet at 1.30pm, but even the kids come earlier than them hichic

The class is supposed to start at 2. But it took half an hour for me to go calling them to class, then only til 2.45pm can we start. This is my first time leading such a class and I know it should be serious enough to make them understand the significance of what they would be taught here. However, being too tough would make it a boring and not absorbable for small kids. Haizzz Finally I had to start. 3 of us have to nearly fight with them to settle the class down hichic They hardly focus and to stay in one place only was such a so damn difficult task for them hahaha SO I thought of one game that we played last year that really worked in this situation to present partly the RESPECT content of today’s class: stay silent for only 2 minutes. hahaha at first some old kids I taught last year sighed boring but since it’s a real issue for them to stay silent for a few minutes, it’s still interesting haha 3 out of 7 players were dead and being punished by singing and dancing (as Manh suggested me that haha). 2 girls were singing the kids’ song: One duck, and I thought Manh was going to do some soft dance (múa), then he suddenly jumped in and do break dance hahaha so funny and passionate Oohhh we all had fun at that time. Then I had to head them back to the main topic. I told them the meaning of the game, how 3 of them had disrespect the rule of the game. Then we stared a discussion and I tried to stick to the main topic while the kids talk when we waited for the preparation of another small game for them. I loved to listen to the kids. At first, it’s kinda awkward and they were being so unserious, then as time passed by we got more familiar and they were really frank to us. I asked them very simple questions, just kind of to care about the stuffs teachers would never be asked before like what color do you like and what scared you most. The aim of all these questions is to teach kids not to make fun of others’ ideas, respect each other’s opinion.

How funny, they tell us a kind of new version of kids’ rhyme about color:
Màu vàng là nàng công chúa, lấy cái búa đập vào đầu hahaha
Yellow is a princess, originally it should stop here but they added: who hit her head by an axe LOL see, I told ya, they’re really violent-oriented hahahaha

I listened carefully. And basically it’s kinda hard for anyone not to listen to such lovely voices and ideas. Actually, disregarding all nuisances and disobedient, they are just small kids needing love and care. The result of the talk bring me something to think about. Most girls loved pink, the boy loved black – the color of demons as he told us. 5/7 kids were scared of whom??? His/her teacher hahaha so damn funny! They even told me their successful plan to meet and hit the teacher that they hated at school in the bustop OMG I can’t believe it!!!! But really, they did :-s So scary, I told myself I must not let them hate me for any seconds hahahahaha And so we talked about the death since one of them said she’s only afraid of the death. I’m so agreed with her! I asked a few more but I hardly remembered now. It brought me so much thoughts though. Then we divided the class into 2 groups and provided them with 8 pictures. They should categorize which is the action showing the respect and which is disrespect, then telling the whole class the reason why they chose the picture. It worked. They really paid some thoughts there. It’s such a bless! Or else my class was more of a mess then a class. To encourage them to being more competitive and tried harder in thinking, I announced a prize of ice-creams for those who won! Haha they showed much more efforts and wishes to win hahaha I knew them b-)