THWAAT!!! "Evil Doers Beware! The Stinky Inkpen Is Here!"

With the powers to absorb liquid through his ballpoint tip and to write on things. He can fly, too, at least as far as he is thrown. The only weakness is that sometimes he doesn't write and you must scribble him on paper until he works again. But don't scribble too hard, or you'll have a mess on your hands. And he sometimes leaks into your pocket. ...Alright, you might be wondering what mushroom(s) I have been eating, but this is actually pertinent to my Thai experience. Go figure.

For weeks I was struggling with how to get through to these unbelievably uninterested, undisciplined, and apathetic children, who still manage to be quite fun and adorable so often. I knew they liked to draw, I knew they hated it when I talked English, and ... maybe that's all I knew. So I had an idea. It may not have been the best idea, but I like it. And it may be the best idea I can come up with, so if you knock it, you are knocking my entire existence. I am having them write (duh da da DAA!) a comic book.


The comic will fit the role of "Big Project" for the semester. I try to give them one day a week to work on it, always with a specific agenda attached to the lesson. The first was to design a hero. The students drew a picture of a hero, assigned him or her super powers and weaknesses, and they had to name him/her. Disappointedly, many children copied real comic heroes and characters although I encouraged them to come up with their own. And some students even copied their friend's copy of a hero (that happens every assignment--there is always one, usually 80%, plagiarized work). However, there were some unique entries into the hero world out of the 50 or so students who were assigned the project, and I am excited to see how they develop. The kids seem to be relatively happy when comic book day comes, which fulfills another major goal of the project.


For your amusement, some of the better or more peculiar entries:
1.
Hero Name: Thoy Lee (It's a square with a face)
Powers: run very fast, very good power
Weakness: top, head

2.
Hero Name: Super Sponge
Powers: soaks up water
Weakness: dry in sun

3.
Hero Name: Scoyco (picture is of Calvin peeing)
Powers: run very fast, fight very excellent
Weakness: when fight he urinating

Ideas and comments are welcome. There will be more updates with pictures as the project progresses.

(As a final side note, the underlying sexual connotation in the first paragraph of this post was completely unintentional. But now that I see it, it is quite hard to avoid. OH FREUD, YOU SCALLYWAG!)