Tag Archives: things kids say

Accidental mispronunciations and very rude words in the schoolyard

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Cora

It’s still awfully and unseasonably hot here in North Germany, though it’s supposed to cool off tomorrow. Honestly, if they are going to have more and more schools that operate well into the afternoon, they should really revise the “hitzefrei” … Continue reading →

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Is Batman gay, Superman’s penis and some links

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Cora

Yes, the post title is search engine bait. Meanwhile, the unseasonably hot weather has made me slow and sluggish and teaching an afternoon class of fifth graders that are tiring under the best of circumstances doesn’t really help. I did … Continue reading →

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Are Mother’s and Father’s Day outdated?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Cora

This year, Germans are experiencing the fairly unusual constellation that Mother’s Day (May 13) and Father’s Day (a.k.a. Ascension Day, which is on May 17) take place in the same week. Now I’ve never been a big fan of Mother’s … Continue reading →

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Call me Popeye – Kids, character identification and self-insertion into movies

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Cora

Today, I watched a film with my afternoon class, one of those Scary Movie No. Whatever horror film parodies (the students wanted to watch it – shrug – and since it’s a parody it’s acceptable), and I noticed a very … Continue reading →

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Nihilism in YA Fiction

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Cora

After the “nihilism in fantasy” discussion a few months ago, we now seem to be having the “nihilism in YA” discussion, kicked off by this article in the Wall Street Journal in which the paper’s YA reviewer complains about YA … Continue reading →

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Up and Away

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Cora

From tomorrow on, I will be in Ireland until Tuesday, May 2nd. I’ll take my netbook along and will try to make the occasional post. Nonetheless, blogging will be light, since I don’t yet know how the Wi-Fi connectivity is … Continue reading →

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Yes, we had electricity back in the dark ages

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Cora

One of my students has recently become obsessed with The Poseidon Adventure (a.k.a the disaster film about the capsizing luxury cruise ship). He keeps drawing the Poseidon about to be hit by the monster wave and fantasizes about making a … Continue reading →

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The Sword of Damocles is hanging over our heads

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Cora

These past few days, I’ve spent much classroom time explaining to terrified seventh and eighth-graders that yes, what is happening in Japan is horrible and no, there is no direct danger to us at the moment. At least half of … Continue reading →

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New Ways of Mispronouncing “Duke”

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Cora

For some reason, Germans have incredible problems pronouncing the word “Duke”, probably because the [dju] combination does not normally occur in German. To date, my favourite mispronunciation happens in the German crime thriller Scotland Yard jagt Dr. Mabuse (Dr. Mabuse … Continue reading →

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New Adventures in Teaching

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Cora

I had a couple of weird experiences at school this week. Probably something in the cafeteria food, except that the students don’t eat there if they can prevent it. Or maybe Helmers bakery – where the students are not supposed … Continue reading →

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