Giggles Galore.

Work slowly picked up pace two weeks ago, as I added some new teaching responsibilities at the secondary school with which my language center is affiliated. Work has now consumed my waking hours, generating small mountains of mildly disorganized compositions heaped upon an improvised work station in the cluttered school book room. The towering stacks of orderly shelved books bring a welcome sense of peaceful order and calm.

At the secondary school I have responsibility for two different courses. The first is two sections of tenth grade English language for English First Language students. Both classes are collectively unimpressive and disruptive, but there are some remarkable students hidden amongst the rabble rousers – students who do genuinely posses native fluency and the requisite motivation to put it to good use. These students are taking the Cambridge International IGCSE exams in May (and they are unprepared for English language).

Thursday afternoons I have a public speaking and drama class composed entirely of eighth grade girls, many of whom are close friends. Due to a scheduling conflict, the teacher assigned to teach drama was lifted to take over a literature course, and I was dropped into the co-curricular slot on Thursday afternoon. The heading of the course was changed (unbeknownst to the students, as I found out) to Public Speaking. My challenge now is to promote some decent public speaking practice, have the girls perform regularly, and contain the persistent din of giggles and chatter that swirl around me. Our first exercise two weeks ago turned out to be hilarious: I drafted a series of scenarios in which one is expected to give a toast. The girls drew randomly from a bag for their individual scenario. Here are a few examples I plucked randomly from the list:

1. Your sister, who you love very much, is getting married, and you really want to give a special toast at her wedding. Unfortunately, you think her fiancé is rude and don’t like spending time with him.

2. Your girlfriend’s roommate is hosting a dinner party. Your girlfriend cannot attend, but her friend has insisted you attend. You want to repay her hospitality by giving a toast after the meal.

3. A neighbor who you don’t know very well has won an important award in a very obscure science. You know almost nothing about the award or his job, but decide to give a toast at his party anyway.

4. You are at a business dinner celebrating the promotion of a colleague. You are happy for your colleague, but believe the promotion should have gone to you instead.

The girls, initially surprised by my appearance and plan for the afternoon, warmed a bit to the task at hand. To my great relief and surprise, some (not all) of the girls were really great. They grasped the exercise and even did their best to fill the roles they randomly selected from a bag. Others did less well for a variety of reasons, but overall the experience was both satisfying and very amusing. They seem gossipy (what girl isn’t at that age says the conventional wisdom) but good-natured.
Yesterday, during our third meeting, the girls excitedly worked on a similar exercise. I placed them randomly into four groups and assigned each a skit scenario for which they needed to write a script, practice their comedy (they were all supposed to be funny), and then perform for the entire group. Here are the scenarios for context:

1. You and a friend are at a party hosted by a school mate. The boy you like is also there, but you have competition. Another girl who likes the same boy, your rival, has just arrived to the party. You decide to confront her.

2. Four different people, not acquainted with each other, find themselves sitting together at a very boring dinner party. Through a twist of fate, the four find each other’s company great medicine for the dreadful party.

3. Four women are working together in an office. They all gossip about the others behind each others’ backs, but now they are at a company holiday party. They have no choice but to interact.

4. Two men and two women are on a double blind date at a very fancy restaurant. At first, the four seem awkward, but conversation gradually begins to thaw the chilly atmosphere. Things are improving when one of the women abruptly stands up, bumping a passing waiter, who spills a tray laden with food onto the other couple.

The fourth group was particularly funny, but each scenario proved quite well conceived (if less well executed). Group four, for example, managed to incorporate an obsessively perky Chinese waitress, brilliantly acted projectile vomiting, and the surprising introduction of homosexuality into a five minute skit. We’ll see how things progress.