Sometimes I try things in classes that don't work out because the level is wrong for my students and it leaves them and me very frustrated. Saturday I was trying something new that I very much feared would end up like that (those lessons are frequently abandoned mid-way through for a game of cards). I was very pleasantly surprised at the results of my experiment though. I decided to teach some of my more advanced classes about haiku (I know it is from Japan and seems silly for an American to be teaching Japanese about something from Japan). We talked (in English) about the things that go into writing Haiku, I taught them to count syllables in English (very simple in Japanese, very complicated in English) and then I had them write their own haiku. It was so satisfying when a light dawned in their eyes that they understood how it is possible to write haiku in English (and stick to the 5-7-5 format). It was also satisfying and extremely exciting when their haiku turned out to be quite good! I have taught this lesson in 3 classes and all of them have done very well. I assigned more haiku for homework so I will hopefully get to see some more wonderful poetry, but here are a few from my parent class that thought were amazing!

Sunrise and sunset
Winter finished and spring comes
Life repeats again

Winter is coming
I feel a little bit cold
I want to make stew

(and my favorite:)
On a silent night
While watching stars in the sky
They change into snow

It just turned out to be one of those days where I felt good about being a teacher, felt I was making a difference, teaching something new and that students were enjoying and benefiting from my class. I don't always feel that, but when I do it is great!