a deviously concieved idea in the works!

death · Post by **death** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 2:42 am

part of my job is to teach culture along with english. i want to create a lesson about that wacky american tradition of rolling peoples houses.
(throwing rolls of toilet paper into trees multiple times creating a tree full of streaming white toilet paper)

the school i teach at has tons of trees out front, and i think it would be a blast to get the students to roll them. (and clean it up) while i sit back and laugh. im pretty sure i can pull it off in the name of cultural teaching.
i just need to figure out how to make it a plausible lesson, with a least a tiny bit of english value!

lets put our heads together and make this work! seriously!

thanks ahead of time!

Lorikeet · Post by **Lorikeet** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 2:49 am

Presumably this is a joke, in which case, haha what a funny thing to post

If you are serious, then I suggest you start looking for another job.

Oh yeah, and "i before e, except after c" etc.

Glenski · Post by **Glenski** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 6:07 am

The only time I have ever heard of this done (traditionally or not) was at Halloween, and that was to people you didn't like.

I would think it would be terrible to teach this as an American "tradition".

Besides, I'm willing to bet you couldn't "teach" the kids to clean it up.

death · Post by **death** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:40 am

Lorikeet wrote:Presumably this is a joke, in which case, haha what a funny thing to post

If you are serious, then I suggest you start looking for another job.

Oh yeah, and "i before e, except after c" etc.

actually its not a joke. well, it kind of is. but im serious about doing it.

everyone makes mistakes, in this case spelling. but if you havent noticed by my typing; im a lazy ass that doesnt use the shift key. you think im gonna go back and spell check

bish · Post by **bish** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:12 am

Death (is that your real name)
I think any activity which involves kids throwing stuff (and being out of the classroom) is worth a try! Some people who have posted replies have no imagination! Maybe you could award different points for different braches of the tree. Then there could be a race to see how much rubbish each student can collect.... the winner is the one with the biggest pile of toilet paper (gets them to clean up, anyway).
I'm not really sure how you could incorporate any particular language point, but it would be fun anyway.

have fun.

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 9:51 am

Do you really wrap whole neighbourhoods up in toilet paper in the states? If so, then I think it would be a perfect activity to teach young foreigners. Could them confuse them about American culture but I'm sure .... er..... I know Americans do stranger things that. If you can turn it into a lesson, even better. We have some pretty bloody strange practices in the UK that I often use for comparative and superlative quizes here in Spain.
Good luck.
Dale

LarryLatham · Post by **LarryLatham** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 8:17 pm

Oh, please! Halloween TP'ing of certain people's trees in front of their homes hardly qualifies as American "culture."

Please! Young Americans working as "teachers" in other countries already suffer from the image of being immature.

Let's not promote any reinforcement of that. There is without doubt nothing to be learned from this that in any remote way furthers a language student's English.

Larry Latham

JoeUSA · Post by **JoeUSA** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 1:14 pm

Death,

I am proud to be an American, and unfortunately because of people like you and George W. our country is already getting a bad rep. If you are teaching culture and want to teach your Chinese students that "prank"... Find a new job!

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:30 am

Lighten up for God sake! You can't compare Death to George Bush (I'm not being ironic here). If you are teaching people your language as a foreign language, then culture is going to enter into it. Therefore, it's not a good idea to to take your own culture too seriously. In fact it's a far better thing to look for the trash because it's absloutely certain that your students already have. I sometimes get my students to list stereotypes about the British and the most rewarding thing is that I have learned a few things about the way the British are percieved abroad (in Spain at least) and it's not good. One of the things they say is that the British are rude and take themselves too seriously yet in my own country most people would say the opposite. And sometimes, if I'm sitting in a bar (in Seville) listening to the way British people comport themselves, I have to say that I agree 100 % with my students (although it's not always a good idea to generalise). The strange customs and quirks of a culture are an excellent way of motivating conversations (particularly with the Spanish who have some very strange and sometimes cruel customs) and if it encourages activities that are a touch "odd-ball" then three hearty cheers! It's a lot better than sitting through a grammar session which is inclined to induce sleep in many of the younger students, which means learning nothing.
Surely it's better that other cultures see Americans (and Britons, I should add) doing something daft rather than bombing Third World countries and nicking their oil. Stop bloody flag waving, stop taking yourselves so seriously and start having fun with you students. That concludes my rant for today. God that feels better!

[/i]

JoeUSA · Post by **JoeUSA** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:58 am

Ok, so I'm a bit serious about this matter. I am usually accused of being too carefree. But teaching about strange customs like rolling the lawn is one thing holding a demonstration is another. Will you have him go with his students to draw some graffitti on a few public buildings while they are out playing? That's a custom in the states too. While you're at it why not burn a few crosses and tip a few cows. I agree it is necessary to add a little humor to the class room. I see nothing wrong with talking about all cultural things, good and bad. What I object to is leading the students into what might even be considered a criminal act in some other cultures. Remember the boy who got caned in Thailand for graffitti painting?

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 12:44 pm

Well, emotions are certainly running high on this one. Perhaps it's my cultural ignorance (never been to the States) but I was under the impression that it's a harmless prank that one plays on one's friends and neighbours. However, judging by the rather strong comments and the calls for Death's resignation it would appear that this "rolling" thing is in fact some kind of random act of vandalism. If that is the case then Death should be sentenced to himself and his innards displayed on the town bridge while I most humbly beg your forgiveness

. Mind you, I still think he's got something when it comes to odd local customs and getting out of the classroom to put something like this into practice. While they are messing around doing things like this they will indeed be learning how to use and recognise the imperative form and all kinds of outdoor vocab. Can anyone think of any odd local customs that we could turn into a language learning activity? In the North East of Spain, they roll in a whole heap of tomatoes, dress some poor bloke up as the devil and then the whole town chases him around throwing tomatoes at him. I don't think you could turn that one into a practical activity but there are all kinds of spoken possiblities. What kind of odd things do the Chinese get up to by the way?

JoeUSA · Post by **JoeUSA** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 1:40 pm

That's an interesting new way to make salsa. Sounds like a fun local custom. I'd like to watch

It sounds like more fun than cow tipping. I remember a local custom we have in the south (Southern U.S.) and I think most everywhere that was a lot of fun. It might work in most countries: THE SCAVENGER HUNT. I'm sure you are all familure with it. Teams set out to see which can find everything on a list of common, and uncommon items. i.e. a chicken feather, an empty crab shell, a photo of themselves and a foreigner (maybe a specified nationality), and the list goes on. All in English of course.

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:35 pm

Yes, a scavenger hunt would be a pretty good vocab builder and reinforcer. Also a good way of escaping from the classroom. I can't do it here on site (small school and strict director) but I could get my students to demand of a partner that they bring something to school the next day. Something that they have to look up in a dictionary and is easy to find in the house or street without getting into trouble with local authorities or parents. Bloody good idea JoeUSA! I hope Mr. Death is reading.

weta · Post by **weta** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 12:35 am

hey death,

hey give it ago, these types of lessons are the most memorable to students so why not, i don't know how well you're going to be able to clean the TP off the trees if they are big, so how bout this for an idea, TP the classroom by stacking the desks on top of each other in a pyramid type of arrangement, students could throw the TP rolls at the structure aiming to get them through the legs of the chairs, give each gap a number of points that they can earn if they get a roll through but they must answer a question in english to secure the points. give extra bonus points for throwing style, best face pulled when throwing etc etc. Don't forget to get them involved in the table stacking, good practical chance to use english here too.

have a good time,

weta

TKS · Post by **TKS** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 10:20 pm

The so called "culture" you are trying to promote was a prank done on the day before Halloween called "Devil's Night." It was a night where kids went out and caused mischief in their neighborhood. It has lost steam overall as an unofficial holiday and the toilet papering, soaping of windows, and egging of houses/cars is outdated and not representative of American culture at all.

I come from Detroit where Devil's Night was more recently celebrated (in the 90's) by burning down vacant buildings, up to, oh, about 500-900 in one or two nights. Maybe you can teach them that?

Teacher Discussion Forums

a deviously concieved idea in the works!

a deviously concieved idea in the works!

Rolling and tipping

Devil's Night