The Most Dangerous Animal

Over the past seven months, I have discovered a new side to my personality. I don't bring out this new side very often but that's probably just as well. I like to refer to it as "Angry Lucy Teacher" (thanks to my Korean students who call me "Lucy teacher").

Last semester Ellie and I finished the text-book work too quickly and so we had some spare lessons to fill with whatever we chose. We decided it would be best to split the classes into two groups based on their ability levels. I would work with the more advanced kids and Ellie would work with the ones who needed some extra help. The topic we chose was animals with a special focus on dangerous animals. So, armed with various sheets of information and a vague idea of what I was going to say I stood before my first class feeling really nervous! Luckily, I had to face the grade fives first, they are easier to engage and haven't quite reached that stage where it's cool to think everything is boring and crap. The class was going well until I realised that I was running out of material but not time. I thought quickly and came up with the idea of telling the kids a story. I searched my memory and decided to tell them about the time I got head-butted in the stomach by a cow. They listened as I told the story and laughed as I acted out parts and generally made a bit of a fool of myself (that's one thing I've learned here, the kids love that!) The story was a hit and I told it to all my grade five classes....

But then, it was time for the dreaded grade six. There was no way I was telling them my cow story so I had to come up with something else. I found a list of the "most dangerous animals" in the world on the internet complete with facts about the number of deaths per year these animals are responsible for. Aha, this was something the grade sixers might enjoy! It was all going well until one particular class walked in and decided they didn't want to play along..... Before I knew it I was in Angry Lucy Teacher mode and the class was in stunned silence. Oh boy, did I let them have it! I was furious. After I'd said (ok, shouted) my piece I continued on with the process of revealing to them the top 10 most dangerous animals in the world. When we got to number one, I posed the question ,"what do you think is the number one, most dangerous animal in the world?" and before anyone else could say a word, a student called out "YOU! Lucy teacher!" Wow. I didn't realised I'd been quite that scary! Still, I laughed and told them that perhaps this was true, but only when I was angry.

So, there you have it, I am now (according to certain grade six students) the most dangerous animal and for me, that's a good enough reason to keep Angry Lucy Teacher moments to a minimum! I just hope those kids won't always remember me that way....

Lucy