More on the high school gig

There was a new preoccupation at the high school, listening to music during class. We divided the class into groups and had them work on listening, writing, and speaking tasks in smaller groups. There were three teachers working in one class. We were hoping that would give them some individualized attention, and they could see how recycling vocabulary in various contexts would help them remember words.

The majority of the students profited from a little more attention. Some of the kids who usually don't participate with the whole class got a chance to show what they can do.

The rest did their best to ignore me. One way they did that was by putting on their headphones and listening to music. That was a first. My guess is that since they have so few other options, they choose to tune in to tunes rather than learning. That is their choice, and I am not offending by it. They chose to opt out of participation, and they weren't disturbing others. I couldn't hear their music, if it was music they were listening to. Maybe it was English learning materials. I doubt it, though.

Some of the students were adorable in their attempts to show their non-participation. They put on a good show of not participating, but they were interested nonetheless.