Vavoom Vanna

Next week, most Korean students will be participating in final exams (their year starts in March, ends in December). So in preparation for final exams, my co-teachers have asked me to play games with the students; you know give them a chance to relax. Well the teacher in me protested and said that I would not play games for four weeks (yes four weeks). So last week I secretly played a game with a grammar skill attached to it. Well wouldn't you know it--it bombed. Big time. It was horrible.

So this week, game week number two, we played a different game. A game that you all know and love. A game that I was positive would go over with the kiddos. A game surprisingly similar to hangman, but with money. Yup, I played Wheel of Fortune all week with my students, other wise known by my students as 'Tire of Luck'. In my teacher defense, I chose words and phrases that would be on their tests next week...so there I taught something!

Can I just say that Wheel of Fortune week has been the best week yet! I had almost every kid interested. Almost every kid participated. There were screams of joy for $1000 letters. There were screams of agony for Bankrupt (or 파산 -ppa san-in Korean). There were even chants for other teams to get Bankrupt. Nothing like a little healthy competition. My boy classes were much more into playing than the girls, who wisely used the time to pop each others zits and stare into their little hand mirrors.
Many of my boys actually got 'excited' when Vanna showed up (I showed a video to explain the game; much easier than actually trying to explain it). 'OOOOHHHH Sooo Sexy!!!" So its good to know that she's still got it.

My favorite moment of the the week was when 'Cody' a charming second year that reminds me of Rufio from Hook was trying to win the game(he also has the same type of 'puck you' personality as well). He was purposely calling out letters like q and z for the other teams to guess. And wouldn't you know it, they did. He was the leader in my Bankrupt chants, and screeched like a girl when another team landed on it. When he won, he paraded around the room flexing his muscles (what they had to do with winning still has me puzzled) and screeching "YEAH!!!" Cody was told to sit down many times, and to calm down, but the Tire of Luck was just too much to handle.

So now, when I'm asked (told) to play games, we will play the Tire of Luck.
I'm not going to lie. My week went very well. I'm glad that real teaching does not go to waste here, and my students are like any other students across the world. Forget playing a 'learning game'. They just want Vanna and candy.