Kidisms

A recent “incident” inspired this blog entry. We shall deem this the “repeated “swearing” occurrence.”  My current teaching internship takes place at Chinatown Learning Center, in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, Here, I have the privilege of teaching ESL to a group of adorable and eccentric kindergarten students. The word eccentric describes this energetic and lovable bunch every time I work with them, but one particular day stands out. During their play break (a time where 6 year olds unleash their pent up energy through controlled chaos… or just chaos) one of my students came bounding up to me with the smug expression of a little girl about to report pertinent classroom updates… AKA … tattletale. In a matter-of-fact tone, she divulged “X is swearing over and over again in the corner by the dollhouse.” I charged across the room with my proud reporter trotting in tow, undoubtedly eager to witness her civic duty of reporting this incident develop into a juicy confrontation between teacher and offender. To my surprise, instead of encountering a student testing out the use of profanity on a girl playing in the Barbie house, I discovered a boy deeply concentrating on some strange form of dance. As I closed in on the situation, I soon realized that I recognized that dance as none other than the legendary “Gangnam Style” routine performed by the famed Psy, King of Korean pop. True to the lyrics, our “swearing” offender in question was repeatedly belting out the verse “heyyyyy sexxxy lady, opang Gangnam style!” I quickly gulped down a fit of laughter and replaced it with the “teacher look.” Despite the resolute confidence this look may portray to the two students  now staring up at me (one with a smug I-told-you-so expression, and one with a please-get-on-with-your interruption-so-I-can-continue-practicing-for-my-burgeoning-pop-career expression) my mind was working in overdrive. Part of it was laughing hysterically at the adorableness of a tiny kindergartner putting Psy to shame with his energetic and accurate dance moves, and part of it was wondering…is sexy a swear these days? Was it always a swear? At that moment I wished I could click the pause button on the remote to freeze my students in place, run to Penn’s Graduate School of Education, and ask the professionals for their insights. Unfortunately for me, a kid-freezing remote was not yet in my bag of teacher materials (I can barely track down enough pencils) so I knew I was on my own. I turned to my future pop star and said “X, your dance moves are really awesome, but if the words you are saying are making your classmates feel uncomfortable and upset, it is a sign that they are not appropriate for school. I would be happy to see you sing and dance to a song because you are really talented! But I need you to choose a song that has words that don’t make anyone feel bad.” I held my breath waiting for X’s reaction. Would he be hurt because he had no idea sexy was a weighted word? Would he be curious and ask me more about it, which would certainly lead to a super awkward conversation I did not know how to have with a Kindergartner? Thankfully he shrugged, continued to use Gagman Style’s dance moves, and changed the words out for some farm song about ducks he must have learned in music class. I then breathed a sigh of relief and walked away from these students to mediate an epic fight that broke out on the opposite side of the room over the coveted pink marker. (I really need to get more pink markers)

Working with young children, I am sure that this will not be the first or last time I encounter situations where my students catch me off-guard in amusing and slightly awkward ways. This time, my aspiring Psy accepted my request to refrain from his lyrical choice without inquiry. However, there will surely be a next time when a spunky little soul puts me in a position to explain something that is uncomfortable and ambiguous. Instead of cursing myself for not inventing the remote control that freezes my kids while I collect my thoughts, I need to remember that I am a professional, armed with good instincts and pedagogical theories and philosophies. I must trust that no matter what curve balls my youngsters may throw my way, I can react to them with grace and in the best interests of my students. As I gain more experience in the field, I will grow more confident with my ability to address these situations, and I will have some great stories along the way. As for now, I will applaud myself for dealing with this situation in a productive way, and for feeling extremely lucky that my student didn’t ask me any further questions into the matter.  (I think I would have needed that freeze remote) I think I will celebrate by kicking back in my dorm and blasting some Psy… Gangnam Style!