Job Discussion Forums

[Capergirl]

As you know, yesterday was "April Fools Day" in many countries (or "Poisson d'Avril"). Did you play an April Fools joke on any of your students?

I gave my Russian trainees a 'surprise' test. They were not happy for the first few minutes...until they kept reading.

Here is the "test" I gave them:


Technical English Test

Name: __________________ Date: ___________________


A. Choose the best ending for each sentence:

1. An alloy is a material which:

(a) becomes plastic when heated.
(b) remains rigid at high temperatures.
(c) is formed by mixing other metals or elements.

2. A conductor is a material which:

(a) allows heat or current to flow easily.
(b) does not allow heat or current to flow easily.
(c) consists of copper and zinc.

3. April Fools Day is a day on which:

(a) the Easter Bunny visits children.
(b) people dress up in costumes to go trick-or-treating.
(c) people play silly practical jokes on one another.

4. Your instructor has given you this test today because:

(a) it is not a real test.
(b) it's April Fools Day.
(c) this test is really a practical joke. Ha ha.

[foster]

Had we not been having uniform tests at the moment, I would have done something...I did tell my 1A class that I was moving home last weekend and that I would not be back....but they knew I was joking.

I like that idea Capergirl...may steal that next year with your permission!

[ibasiram]

No, I didn't 'get' my students. Instead, they got me. I went onto my class and saw that I had no students, so I joyfully waited around for a while as you do. I was just about to go home, when they all came sailing into the classroom 15 minutes late.. it was a "Primus Aprillis" as they say here in Poland.
Then I had to get back to work, but I wish I had thought of a test like that to give them, ah well, there's always next year..thanks for the idea
Ibasiram

[worth]

My students got me, also. I walked into my class and there was a sign on the board that said "Listening Class canceled. Nobody like you. Bad. Boring"(grammar mistake theirs). I had completely forgotten about April Fools Day and didn't know what to think. I got on the phone to tell my boss that my students had rebeled, still having no idea it was a joke. She figured it out immediately and started laughing. By this time I'm feeling very insecure. I thought I was a fairly popular teacher, and now I learn they hate me and my boss thinks its funny. Apparently, I'm not very quick on the uptake. They sure got me!

[Shaman]

I didn't manage to pull anything on my first class of the day and they didn't get me either. No fish on attached to my back.

As a reward, I sent one student out with a classic to pull on another student of choice. I learned today that it worked seamlessly.

I instructed student A to trace the perimeter of a quarter repeatedly with a pencil, without student B's knowledge. Afterward, student A approached student B challenging the latter to roll the doctored up quarter down her nose in the attempts of having the quarter land on a small target (piece of paper). Result - a trail of pencil lead spanning the bridge of the nose.

My biz class never showed up. I got paid nonetheless - the winning end of April Fool's if I've seen it!

Shaman

[thelmadatter]

You demon you

I copied that test. I did play a joke on my students - announcing the concept of a "pop quiz" It worked

[jud]

We gave our students my April Fools test, 25 questions that begins with "Read all the questions first" and ends with "Please ignore all of these questions". It has definitions that make no sense, matching exercises that are impossibile to match, etc. etc.

One class fell for it. The others realized right away that questions about the price of their house and the quality of their English lessons (a. boring b. useless c. very expensive d. I don't know) weren't your typical test questions and that it was a joke.

Anyway, no one every reads all the questions first, so it makes a good lesson in reading instructions as well as an April Fool's joke.

[struelle]

My students got me all right, but I was on guard, so they didn't completely succeed

Walking into the classroom, the door was slight ajar, and the class was full. Odd, as it's usually wide open. So I pushed the door and heard something move on top. I figured it out. In an instant I stepped back, and *splat* a bucket of water fell down in front of me

They got that trick from their Oxford English text, in Unit 1 of Book 1, and we did a lesson on that in Sept. I had to give them high marks for creativity, though, they intended the water to douse me

Steve

[Shaman]

I think April Fool's came late - 5 cm of snow and counting in Montreal. Remind me why I'm here again...

Shaman

[johnslat]

Dear Shaman,

"Remind me why I'm here again."

Ah, the old imponderable questions: why are we here; where are we going; what should we do; how do you stuff a wild bikini?

But to answer your query - why, it's because everybody's got to be somewhere, of course.

Regards,
John

[Shaman]

[Capergirl]

[Shaman]