Teaching is an art. Literally.

Note to self: be mindful of my audience when I choose to sing a song as a vocabulary example. I was teaching 7th graders about different moods and emotions because we were making dialogues with the phrase "How are you today?" And I started singing "Happy" to the class (thanks to my niece for getting it stuck in my head!) and, while it got their attention and demonstrated the concept of "happy," they all started cheering and stomping and clapping afterward and chanting "Una más! Una más!" In a class of forty kids, the racket was thunderous. In fact, the "regular" teacher wandered back into the classroom wondering what the crap was going on because he could hear them all the way on the other side of the school. It was really hard to get control of the class after that, but I promised them that we'd sing next week with music and lyrics. I guess that's one way to find out where don Jesús wanders off to whenever I take over the class!

One more little note: I have noticed that singing and drawing are AWESOME ways to get kids to learn, no matter what subject. The arts are especially beneficial when learning a language. I keep running out of whiteboard ink because I draw pictures of a lot of the concepts for the kids, but do they learn the material when I write things out, give examples, and draw visuals? YES!!

Do the kids in don Carlos' classes have a much better grasp of English? Yes. What's the difference between his classes and those of don Jesús? Age group? No. Class size? No. Teaching method? Definitely. As I've said, don Jesús' method is just to give students workbooks or photocopies and have them read and write. They don't talk in English, they don't listen, they don't have visual aids. Don Carlos' students have loads of visuals, from projector pictures to videos, in addition to singing songs in English.

Even in my own experience, having visuals and music make learning so much easier. I learned Spanish by drawing pictures, watching videos, acting out skits, and listening to Juanes and Shakira.

So, starting this Friday and continuing to next week, the kids and I are going to sing some songs in English!
I'm pretty stoked.