Daniel Dit

Having just finished my 4^th full week of actual teaching, I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about education.

• Don’t expect students to write something down, unless you explicitly tell them too.
• Do follow through on threats of lost points for cheating
• Don’t think that because no one is asking questions, everyone understands the directions for the TPC (Trabalho Para Casa)
• And, perhaps most importantly, be sure to keep the lessons both informative and fun.

That’s why I have been looking forward to this week’s vocabulary topic: body parts. Beyond being able to tell my students “met ton fesse dans cette chaise maintenant!” (put your ass in that chair now!), it also meant that I could teach them one of my favorite games: Simon Says. But since it’s going to be in French, I knew that “Simon Dit” needed the brilliant linguistic powers of alliteration to have the same level of catchiness. Rolling through possible names in my mind, I saw the immense impact this decision would have. They don’t own twister. I can’t imagine they play “Pin the Tail on the Burro”. And it could be a while before Mr. Patata Cabeca is widely available in this country. This is going to be the defining body part related game for most of these students! I’m not just naming a classroom activity; I’m naming an essential part of their child/adolescent/adult-hood.

With the heavy weight of this decision resting on my shoulders, I thought about every name starting with “D” and its significance. Doris wouldn’t Portugafy well. Desmund goes hand in hand with Tutu. Deborah has too much history. Dylan belongs to Bob. Each name presented association problems that disqualified it. Then it came to me. How could I not have thought of it before? The learning-body-parts-in-French game should be known by the name of the French speaking father of the teacher who introduced it: my dad Daniel Bar.

Having now put this mission critical question to bed, I proceeded to draw up my teaching tool on papel gigante (giant paper), list the body parts I wanted to identify in egnlish, find them in my Portuguese dictionary, find them in my French dictionary, and copy them down. After a quick review to be sure I would remember where le talon (heel) and le poignet (wrtist) are, it was off to my 3 night classes.

Normally I expect my night classes to be quiet and slow. Getting my mostly tired and uninterested adult students to participate is like pulling teeth. But this time, they were animated, participatory, and engaged. Though I thought that the lesson would take the full hour and a half, students were so involved that we breezed through the material and were out in an hour. On the next day, I played Daniel Dit in my 3 afternoon classes. As opposed to the night classes, these students are mostly curious and excited teenagers, where class participation has never been a problem. So when I tell you that the resulting competitive atmosphere made the lessons a little too exciting at points, you should know that I’m not some old curmudgeon yelling at “them darn kids”. During my last and final lesson, I ended up have to draw a line on the floor with chalk, just so that the crowd of students trying to push forward wouldn’t overrun my position at the blackboard.

Next week we’re staring each lesson with a “Daniel Dit” contest, where if you mess up, you sit down. Last man (or woman) standing has been promised a prize, I thinking one of the precious fun-sized Snickers I brought with me. Maybe I Body ask Tojo to escort me to class in case things get out of hand….

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Coco and Poco update: They said it wasn't possible. I thought it had reached its zenith. All indication showed that it was all downhill from here. But Poco has proven me wrong. She can, and will, get cuter and more adorable every day. Forgetting the times where she pees on my floor, her infinite curiosity and playfulness make her a pleasure to have in the house. And now that I’ve finally gotten the smell out of the sheets, I’m very pleased with Coco’s surprise.