Today, the youngest of my students, a boy about 10, cut out heads of men and glued them to the bodies of women--we were making collages. Then, he put all these images on a piece of bright yellow construction paper and wrote: "why not try something new?" He showed me his collage, but wouldn't allow me to put it up on the wall. He carefully removed all of the pictures and put them in his backpack. "For home," he said. "For wall."

No, I don't think younger students are easier to teach--at least not for me. I don't think they have more curiosity than adults. School is school. They're not excited about English grammar any more than they will be when they're 29. Or if they are, they're nerds like me who will be teachers, and one day they'll speak energetically about the political implications of passive voice....

I'm always interested in the ways that personality always comes through in an ESOL class. In some ways, one might think that people's personalities would be hidden because they cannot fully articulate themselves English. But I often find it's the opposite. Or, at least, that whatever personality they have when they speak English is always very unmediated. Jokes and cynicism take a long time to learn.

Although I've been making endless jokes about nato (maybe with two ts?)--fermented beans. It's a food that my Japanese students either seem to really love or hate. Every time I say nato, my students think it's funny.