White Noise

This is what us teachers use in school. With marker pens. The words I write there are easily erasable.

One way I use it to entertain the students whilst teaching them is in my adverbs class.

I draw a picture of the whiteboard on the whiteboard, and I put some well-known words on it. ("Happy", Crazy", "Pabo", "Bathroom")

I then write the adverb above the mock whiteboard.

I stand back, about 2 meters away, and ask them the meaning. After a few answers, I demonstrate.

Then I erase the words according to the whichever adverb I have chosen.

At this point it is prudent to point out that a favorite English word of all Korean kids is "crazy"

Examples of the adverbs include:

"quietly" - I would face my "audience", put a finger to my lips to say "shush", tiptoe to the board, cartoon-like, and silently clear it.

"noisily" - "Warrrr!!! stamp stamp stamp, bang the eraser whilst yelling as I erase.

"carefully" - delicately approach the board and erase the words letter by letter, looking at my students after each letter for approval. Their response is usually "Keyeso, keyeso, bali!" ("get on with it!" - (or, literally "carry on, carry on, quickly"))

"happily" - I play a happy Korean song on the CD player ("Bingo!" is a good choice), skip to the board, laugh, smile a plastic smile (for me, difficult!) and erase the words in time to the song. The kids often join in!

"sadly" - shoulders hunched, shuffle over to the board, glance at the audience with a really sad face (sometimes I use glycerin in one eye so I could blink a tear out) and without any enthusiasm at all, clean the board. Some of the girls even start crying!

(I introduce the glycerin to my eye at the back of the class when all are doing the writing exercises, being careful not to blink too much afterwards!).

"secretly" - The boys' turn - I switch on the CD player which plays the Mission Impossible theme, and I then urgently dart low between desks with a hunted look, forever vigilant of the enemy, right to the back of the class, exhorting my students to look to the front, ignoring me. I run to the board, erase the first word, then return to the back wall, still urging my students to look forward. I repeat this for every word. I bond with the boys on this one.

And then, the favorite of all:

"crazily" - I utter a mad growl, run to the board, bang my head on it repeatedly (quite noisily) and erase ALL with my hair, using my head as the eraser, uttering mad growls as I do so. I have known students to fall off their chairs in giggles when I do this!

Abruptly I straighten up, compose myself, untousle my hair, stand up straight, clear my throat (to much laughter), and with a completely straight face I quietly ask my students "Which one shall I do again?" The answer is always "crazily".

I move to the whiteboard, bang my head on it, and faint. Thump. After the students start chattering, I stand up, sternly.

Then I repeat "crazily".

That's not the end.

Im my older student's classes, I ask them which TWO adverbs would they like me do to at the same time

You don't have to be crazy to do this, but it really does help.