The little guys.

From Recently Updated

We play a lot of games in my ESL class. One such game is Pass-The-Ball. The purpose is to practice asking and answering questions.

Student 1 asks a question like, “What time is it?” Then Student 1 tosses the ball to the Student 2 to indicate who he’s talking to and that an answer is required. Student 2 catches the ball and answers the question appropriately, “It’s 3:30.” Student 2 then needs to ask a question and likewise pass the ball, and so on.

So, Yesterday, I heard lots of laughing and screaming coming from the hallway beside my classroom where the students like to hangout during break time.

I found them voluntarily playing their own form of Pass-The-Ball. Only they had evolved it into a much more violent activity.

Instead of tossing the ball, Jay hurls the ball as hard as he can and screams, “WHAT’S…YOUR…NAME?” The ball nails Tom, another student. Tom doubles over from the impact and lets out a yelp, but quickly recovers. Tom retrieves the ball and fires it with as much force yelling, “MY NAME IS TOM!!!! HOW… ARE…YOU?” The ball flies down the hallway and pounds Eric in the back of the head. Eric falls over, but gets up laughing “I’m okay….WHERE ARE YOU?” and sends the ball again. Pass the ball is now a very aggressive game of dodge ball.

My first reaction was to tell them to stop, but then I thought, it’s cool. Afterall, they’re practicing English. They just happen to be venting their frustration with the language simultaneously.

It’s really funny to watch.

Here are some pics of the students and video of another game we play that isn’t so violent.