Murder mystery party: A great context for the past progressive!

In the advanced English conversation class I teach at my uni here in Korea, we recently finished one of my favorite lessons: a murder mystery.

I’m a diehard mystery aficionado, so each year I literally count the weeks until I can use this lesson. I wrote this two-round murder mystery specifically to complement our textbook’s lesson on the past progressive; if there’s a more interesting and appropriate context for this verb tense, I haven’t found it. The mystery is set on our campus and takes into account realistic distances and locations. Students I taught several years ago still remind me about this lesson—and the final “whodunit” reveal.

Round 1: Using the past progressive to establish and probe alibis

First, I give students the set-up: “This past Sunday, one of your classmates was murdered. Did you hear about it?” I try to look serious, but I usually crack a smile pretty quickly; too often, at least one student looks horrified and asks, “Really?”—and then I feel a modicum of guilt, and dispel his/her concern with a wink and a grin.

Then I add the rest: “Someone in this room killed her! Ten of you were on campus on Sunday afternoon. They found her body in the Student Union Building at 4:45 p.m. The last outgoing call from her cell phone was placed at 4:23 p.m., so she was alive at that time. Your job is to find out who killed her, when, and why.”

I distribute character cards: ten students are suspects, and the remaining students are detectives. The first round, the suspects find out what they were doing around the time of the murder, but no one knows who the murderer is—not even the murderer, him/herself. This round just establishes who was where at what time and begins to give hints about motivation. The suspects write their names on the board next to their suspect numbers, and the first round officially begins.

It takes about ten minutes for the detectives to interview the suspects, preferably using the past progressive to inquire about their whereabouts. Throughout the game, suspects can’t lie about where they were, but they can mislead the detectives about their reasons for being there. As this round winds down, the detectives begin to compare notes as I slip the second round of clues to the suspects.

Round 2: What’s the motivation?

It has been said there are three basic motives for murder: money, love, and revenge. In this game, we have a little of each! The second round reveals that nearly every suspect had a motive for murder: they fought with the victim recently; they were seen kissing her boyfriend; they bought a lottery ticket with her; she found out about a secret indiscretion. A few of the suspects don’t have an obvious motive but are suspicious merely because their alibi doesn’t seem to hold up to scrutiny.

During this round, the murderer finds out who he/she is, and… well, there are actually two murderers, two suspects who worked in tandem to murder the victim. During this round the two of them generally coordinate a story to explain why they were seen hurrying away from the scene of the crime, and they either keep their heads down and mostly remove themselves from the boiling frenzy of accusations, or they gather incriminating information about the other suspects and spread it with vigor. It’s always fascinating to see what different pairs choose to do!

The closing: the final reveal

During the last twenty minutes of class, everyone is given a few minutes to share their suspicions and conclusions with their group members, and then the accusations begin. We open the floor to guesses, and together we consider each guess one by one, starting with what the suspect was doing at the time of the murder and ending with what his/her motivation could have been. Finally, I ask him or her, “Did you do it?” He or she replies honestly.

The actual murderers are rarely accused until all the other suspects have been cleared; they have no obvious motives. In fact, their clue cards explain what they did and how, but not why! It’s interesting to see if anyone can piece together their motivation based on what the other suspects say. The information is all there; it’s just a matter of putting it together and adding a little creative—and macabre—thinking.

I love this game for so many reasons. The students—even the more squeamish ones—enjoy  it; it’s set in and around our university, so it’s easy for participants to get sutured into the fiction; and it’s delightful to see how creative the students can be in their misdirections. I also love that it offers the perfect opportunity to use the past progressive as it was intended: to explain what was happening at a given point in time.

A Quick Look at ROLE REVERSAL by Mark Barnes

Here's a 3-minute summary I made of an interesting book I read, Role Reversal by Mark Barnes. I loved some parts of the book, but hated others... Hope to post a full review soon!

To Friend or Not to Friend?

An always-hot topic among English teachers in Korea—at universities and elsewhere—is whether or not to “friend” students on Facebook. To what extent is it prudent to open our lives to students? Personally, I’m a huge fan of friending students on social networks; while I agree it’s not for everyone, it certainly can be rewarding if done responsibly. Putting aside for a moment the practical classroom uses for Facebook and social media, there are many reasons why I choose to friend students on Facebook.

1. There’s often a close relationship between students and teachers in Korea.

I can’t vouch for the relationship between teachers and students today, in the age of social networking, in the U.S.; but when I started teaching at a boys’ high school in Jeju, I was surprised by how close the teachers and students were. It was a bit different from my own school days. For instance, homeroom teachers in Korea often function as substitute parents, offering advice, college and career counseling, comfort, discipline, and even bus fare when needed. In Jeju, and probably in other places, they visit their students’ homes to talk with the families and get a feel for each student’s living situation. The students, meanwhile, often know quite a bit about their teachers’ lives, especially in smaller cities, where they inevitably see each other on the street and in public places. Several teachers at my school invited their homeroom students to their weddings, and a few even asked students to participate in the ceremony.

The high school students I taught in Jeju were openly curious about my life; and while my current university students are generally less so, they do seem very interested when I share personal information, and they ask a lot of questions in one-on-one situations. I don’t mind answering.

1a. The Cyworld precedent

Students in Korea have a history of “friending” their teachers on Cyworld, a Korean social networking site that allows users to create “mini-home pages” full of photos, videos, music, and more.

During my second year in Korea, I was excited to create a Cyworld page; it seemed a great way to connect with students. As soon as I had successfully negotiated the many levels of registration and verification, I immediately began setting up my page. For the next several years, I diligently updated my Cyworld diary and uploaded photos of every school function, and even reticent students who never talked in class would often stop by and leave a brief message—sometimes just “Hi” or “ㅋㅋㅋㅋ” (Korean shorthand for a laughing noise). I would reply with an English message for them to read. In two years, my page had over 17,000 visits, most of which were current and former students. Facebook seems a natural extension—though it must be handled with greater caution due to its increased interconnectivity.

1b. The administration approves.

Many of the Korean professors at my university are friends with their students on Facebook. In fact, even the president of my university is on Facebook; we’re currently friends, and at last count we had 95 friends in common, the majority of whom are students at our uni.

2. It gives students access to authentic language and culture.

I first started using Cyworld to motivate my high school students to use English; I use Facebook now partly to motivate my university students to expand their English skills. I’m not sure they completely understand the memes, cultural references, and status updates I share; but many “like” them, so I believe they understand at least the gist. A few students seem to be intensively reading; they ask for clarifications of expressions or ideas, taking full advantage of the authentic input. It’s an excellent resource for them, and it makes me accessible as a resource, as well. I also believe that comprehending an English joke, such as this Foxtrot cartoon I recently posted that was “liked” by multiple students, can exponentially increase a student’s confidence—and fan their desire to seek out more of the same.

Facebook is also a platform from which we can discreetly encourage students to think outside the box and dream big. If students can read about the life experiences of someone from a different culture, they can begin to get new ideas and new perspectives on what’s possible. Sometimes people fail to dream big just because they have no idea what options exist; Facebook and the internet are great ways to introduce students to a wide world of possibilities and teach them to look out for opportunities.

3. My own personal benefit

I’m always interested in my students’ lives, and reading their Facebook status updates is fascinating and revealing—and excellent Korean-language practice. Students post about their hobbies, travels, daily lives, and military service; in doing so, they reveal tiny glimpses into their lives, personalities, and hidden talents.

Current students, meanwhile, might post about an injury, illness, or family issue that could impact their class performance and deserves some leeway, though they might forget to tell me about it directly. In contrast, I’m less forgiving when I know they’re sleeping in class because they were out drinking the night before.

I especially like using Facebook to keep in touch with former students. I love reading about their lives and loves, and they often comment on or “like” my status updates. Facebook also makes it easy to meet up with students for coffee or concerts; a favorite pastime of mine.

How to do it

It’s important to be a good role model in school and out, in real life and virtual; anywhere your students might encounter you.

When posting online, I never post anything inappropriate. I know I can rely on my friends not to post anything inappropriate on my Wall, either. That’s why we’re friends. I rarely post about politics, and I never touch on religion. If I need to vent about something, I set the privacy settings accordingly; and even then, I keep it relatively mild, just in case. Finally, I generally don’t send “friend” requests to my students; I’d rather have the students initiate it, so I’m confident they feel no pressure.

If you want to be Facebook friends with your students, I have three strong recommendations: 1) make a friends-list just for your students; 2) set your privacy settings to block this list when appropriate; 3) be responsible, be professional, and use common sense. Facebook can increase students’ regard for you, or you can lose their respect entirely. Post accordingly.

A virtual high-five

Facebook is an opportunity for students to use English for real communication and to access authentic language, new perspectives, and cultural input. Friending students, I think, also makes a teacher seem more accessible—as a resource, as a friend, as a person—and thus has the potential to bring students and teachers closer together.

For me, Facebook also represents something even more important: a kind of recognition of each student’s individuality and worth. Interaction on Facebook, to me, is the online equivalent of a high-five: a brief check-in, an instant of contact, a moment of mutual recognition and reassurance—yes, I know you, I like you, you matter to me. I doubt my students feel the same, but I’m happy to show in this small way that I’m there for them, and I’m delighted that Facebook and Cyworld are there to help me create relationships that endure long after the class ends.

Five surefire videos for eliciting target language

I love using videos in my university conversation classes in Korea. I frequently incorporate enticing 1- to 3-minute clips or short films to set the context, activate schema, and elicit and model the target language. When properly integrated, videos can encourage creative or critical thinking, don’t require much time, can help students connect target language with real life situations, and can generate examples of the target language for a more inductive approach to grammar instruction.

I tend to prefer videos that are easily understood, with minimal or no dialog, so students can focus on the situation. In no particular order, here are five of my favorite videos for function- and grammar-based classes, along with a few ideas for grammar and functions they might suit:

1. Shark vs. Octopus (comparatives, predictions)

If a shark and an octopus got into a fight, who would win? Why?

Did you just pause for a moment to wonder about it? I’ve found this question immediately grabs students’ interest and gets them talking animatedly with a partner. It naturally elicits a wide variety of comparatives—or observations that can be turned into comparatives. These, in turn, can be used to guide students to the rules for comparatives. Best of all, it’s not a hypothetical question! The debate can be settled with this clip (I recommend starting around 1:15 and muting the narrator):

2. Egyptian panda commercials (excuses, explanations)

This is a little bit of a cheat, because instead of a single video I’m including three videos that can be used back-to-back. There’s actually a whole series of these commercials from Egypt; these are my favorite three, in the order that I show them. I love these because the punchline is immediate, obvious, and needs no translation.

 I usually stop the first two just before the commercial’s true purpose is revealed, and I ask my students, “Why did he do that?” At the end of the second commercial, after students have speculated about the panda’s purpose, I show the end of the advertisement. The third commercial is just a fun conclusion to the saga.

3. The Black Hole (second conditional, modals, sequencing, predictions)

Watch just the first part of this. Stop it at 1:15 and ask yourself, “What could he do next? What should he do next? What would I do next?” Or just try to guess what happens next.

4. Jumpstart (comparatives, predictions, emotions)

In the past, when we’ve done predictions, I used this amazing clip from an Indian movie called Magadheera (2009, Bhaskar, India), stopping it at 3:03, 3:12, and 4:00 to ask, “What’s going to happen next?” It's a little violent (in an over-the-top, hilarious way); generally, my university boys loved it, but a couple of the girls cringed a little. 

I've since changed to this simpler (but just as funny, in its own way) video, an animated short called Jumpstart. Watch the first 55 seconds, then stop it and try to guess what’s going to happen next:

5. Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions: The Tellyscope (giving instructions, sequencing)

Explaining how to do something can be an interesting and practical challenge for students. There are thousands of instructional videos online that can serve to model and elicit this kind of target language, but here’s my favorite. I ask students to watch it and explain how to use Wallace’s machine:

When students try to explain how to use the “tellyscope,” their responses naturally include useful vocabulary such as “push,” “pull,” “button,” and more. To achieve their goal, they also require new vocabulary such as “release” and “lever.” They have to use sequencing words combined with commands. It could be an excellent introduction to a more creative production activity, such as building and marketing an invention.

Sometimes the “instructions” units in textbooks focus on cooking and ask students to explain how to prepare their favorite recipe. In that case, I use this video, instead.

Do you use authentic videos in your classroom? Do you use them in conjunction with a workbook, or on their own? What do you do with them?

A very good place to start....

For a few months last year, I was really excited about writing for UniJobsKorea.com; it was a perfect excuse to share all the stories and reflections I’d been accumulating while teaching at my university in Korea. Now that that site and its progeny, ProfsAbroad.com, seem to be on permanent hiatus, though, I need a new place to work through and share ideas. This seems to be it!

I thought long and hard (well… for a minute or two, anyway) about the title of this blog. I kind of like it: “maunderings” seems appropriate, with its connotation of wandering and the sound of pondering.

Welcome to my maunderings. I can’t guarantee they’ll always be useful or interesting, but you have to start somewhere, right?