Making the best of...

What can I say, sometimes, things just don't go the way we want or the way we've planned.

For weeks I've been promising my 10th grade class...

"When we finish reading the book, and you've taken the test, you'll see the movie."

And yes, today was to to be the day! Only problem, ok a couple of problems. Even though the store had mailed the movie to the school, the mail hadn't been picked up from the post office for a few days. So the movie hadn't arrived at the school. Then I discovered that apparently in all the "excitement" after the accident last week, which prevented my getting to work on Thursday, that had I never reserved the video room.

Perfect match, no movie and no video room! Now, what could I do with my disappointed teenage boys? A "regular lesson?" Nope, wrong answer. I decided that the time had come for them to "write a story in English." For that they need inspiration.

In my over-stuffed little "box" in the Teachers Room are some black and white print-outs from my son's adventures abroad. A couple of years ago I used them to spur a more advanced class into writing stories.

I showed them the pictures and told them to pick out a few and make up a story about them. On the board, I wrote the "question words:"

What

Who

When

Why

Where

How

And I asked them to answer the questions about their story. They had to say when and where what happened to whom, why and how. Or who did what, when, where, how and why.

I have been teaching them literature.

Somehow, it began to work. We were laughing, and they were using English and using the Hebrew-English Dictionary when necessary.

I wrote their English story on the board, and then they translated it into Hebrew. Then I told them that next year, they're going to have to write a short little "composition" for the English Bagrut (state final.)

Thank G-d, miraculously, it turned out to be a good lesson.