17 Thank-Yous to my Amazing Mom

I saw a version of this on Carlos Whittaker's blog, Ragamuffin Soul.  I think it's the perfect answer to my Mother's Day post.  (It's still Mother's Day in its country of origin, so leave me alone.)

1. I was so excited to go to Kindergarten, so excited to formally learn.  I ran into that classroom, and I don't think I even looked back to see if you'd left; if I did, it was to make sure you had.  You never let me see that bother you (I'm still not sure that it did).  Thank you for fostering a love of learning in me.

2. In first grade, I was tired of being the only kid who read with expression.  All the other kids stuttered their monotone ways through our readers; I thought that must have been the cool way to read, so I started doing it, too.  I brought the style home, and you immediately scheduled a meeting with my teacher to discuss my declining reading level.  She subscribed to an older version of teaching that encouraged all students to learn at the same level and would not budge to give me more challenging work.  You took me to the public library and assigned me weekly chapter books to go through.  Thank you for protecting my skills.

3. In second grade, I began to lose my first "best" friend.  We had moved across town, and I was still clinging to the friendship, even though it was pretty much gone already.  Thank you for patiently arranging play-dates and making the drives to and from her house.

4. In third grade, I got accepted into an alternative school and that friend did not.  I was devastated and didn't want to go without her.  You made me go anyway.  Thank you.

5. In fourth grade, you got up almost every school morning to drive me to said alternative school instead of making me take the hour-and-a-half bus ride.  We used that time to attempt to cram my spelling words into my head.  None of them stuck, but the methodology you used to teach them to me did.  Thanks for teaching me how to study.

6. In fifth grade, I began to experiment with everything, including how to do laundry.  I attempted to wash my costume for the school play on my own.  It was white, and I wanted it to look amazing, because I felt fat, dumpy, and ugly.  I wanted people to see me and think I was pretty.  So I added bluing to the wash, but I didn't realize it needed to be diluted.  You stayed up making me a new costume for the play.  Or maybe you bought it... but I think you made it.  I know you made the jacket, but either way, it was your time and money that you lovingly gave to prevent the ridicule and reprimand for my actions.  I'm grateful.

7. In sixth grade, I was asked to join with the high school orchestra for their Spring trip to New York City.  You said I could go, but only if you went, too.  I was horrified that you wanted to chaperon, but no amount of begging or attitude would change your mind.  After having been on those trips as a high-schooler on those trips, all I have to say is that you made the right choice.  Thanks for sticking to your guns.

8.  In seventh grade, I went out of my way to hurt you.  We'd moved again, and I didn't want to.  You knew I was planning to run away.  You called my likely refuges and warned them.  You told them not to send me back if I left; you knew I'd do it again and in a more dangerous way.  You told me later that you had been planning to sign over custody if I left.  For the sake of my safety, you were willing to give up your rights to me.  I'm astounded.

9.  In eighth grade, I had the opportunity to tour the country with a singing group.  You didn't feel comfortable with me being away for so long with a group you didn't know well, but still you drove me the day and a half out to training.  When my phone calls started sounding fishy, you showed up at every one of our shows.  You let me finish the tour, but you still looked out for me.  I felt safer because I knew you'd be there.

10.  In ninth grade, we were dealing with my on-going night-terrors.  They were so intense.  They still scare me to this day, and I know they scared you then.  Thank you for not making me feel like a freak for having them.

11. In tenth grade, you made better costumes for ALL the madrigals.  You stayed up later than I did a lot of the time.  That couldn't have been easy for you, but I really appreciate it.  It helped me stop being so much of a social outcast, which was (is) important to me.

12. In eleventh grade, you were working again.  I knew you wanted to be working, but I didn't realize all your reasons.  There's so much you did for me with the money you made from that job that I'm only realizing now.  You give and give and give.

13. In twelfth grade, you gave me my space.  I did a lot of things that I needed; those things probably hurt you, but you could also see why I needed to do them.  You stood up for me, and fought the big battles WITH me (not for me).  Words cannot express how truly grateful I am and always will be.

14.  In college, you helped me move in, you giggled with me about boys, you talked to me when I called, and let me go without talking when I didn't.  You sent me care packages (more than most kids got).  You made the 14-hour drive whenever I had an important concert.  You fought the urge to fly down every time I ended up in the ER and let me find my own two feet.  You cheered for me as I flew around the world, and you didn't panic when I told you I'd be leaving again in a matter of  weeks.  You fished me out of the waters when I got in too deep, but never coddled me.  AND helped me pay for toiletries.  You win.

15. You were nothing but nice to my boyfriends, even when you told them to get lost.  I really appreciate that.

16. I'm sure you cried when I told you I'd be moving to start my adult life out of the country, but you never let me see it.  I needed that more than you can know.  You came to visit me, I came to visit you, and we began to iron out our relationship as adults.  It's not an easy process, but I'm sure we'll get it.  Thank you for respecting me.

17. Recently, we've really begun to talk about faith - REAL faith.  Sure, we talked about "faith" as a kid, but not like this.  I appreciate that I can talk to you about things that are deep, and I'm floored by the extent of the faith you have.  When we lost Pop-pop, I felt like I lost my rock, my anchor - the thing that would helm me back in if I floated too far away.  I'm beginning to realize that I only lost one of a number of anchors, the exact number of which I can never be fully sure.  Thank you for standing firm and for opening up to me.

Call me paranoid...

But tonight I freaked out at the movie theater.

I took one of my former students, Emma, to see a movie tonight.  Circumstance selected The Dark Knight Rises for us, marking my third time seeing it.  I think the movie is fabulous, so I didn't really mind, in spite of my advising my mom to not go see it.

After everything that happened in Colorado and the copycat scares, I just don't think a trip to the theater is worth it.  The movie will be out on DVD soon enough.  But I didn't apply this rule to myself, considering South Korea's strict gun control laws.  However, I grew up in America, with one of my earliest memories being the horror of Columbine (I was in elementary school... I'm sure I could remember further back if it wasn't so late right now), and, therefore, an awareness of gun possibilities in various occasions is deeply engrained in me.  Plus, I'll admit that I'm a bit overly-paranoid, and am always aware of what is in my purse that can be quickly turned into a weapon.

So when, halfway through Batman tonight, a member of the audience got up and started fiddling with the emergency exit, I immediately found a new focus for my attention.  I pulled my Cannon Power Shot from my purse, along with a particularly sharp pen, and began contemplating the best place to hit a man with said improvised rock to incapacitate him and/or crush his skull.

                                              

My camera.

I'm pretty fond of it, but it caught me by surprise when everything was digital on it.

I'd still prefer to upgrade to something with more manual options, but with some practice,

the digital manual options are workable.

When I saw him cross in front of the audience and linger in the middle (really, directly in front of me, as I was sitting in the first row), I slowly began sliding to the front edge of my seat, so as to lose no time trying to get out of it.  I slid my cell phone in my back pocket.  Having found myself phoneless in my last major emergency situation (my car crash), I never intend for it to happen again.

He scanned the audience and quickly moved to the other fire exit, which he shook several times, quietly.  When it wouldn't open, he sprinted out the main entrance/exit, and I didn't see him again, although I was definitely looking.  Every time I saw someone's shadow growing larger as they came down the hall to that door, I was distracted from the movie to stare and make sure they didn't look extra-lumpy.  I did get distracted by the movie at one point, and, when I noticed someone standing there, I jumped so high that I scared Emma.  She definitely knew something was up, but she never asked about it.

It turned out to be nothing, but it was definitely an adrenaline-inducing experience.  I couldn't help but find myself thinking, "They may have gun control laws, but that's what keeps them from anticipating something like this."  Furthermore, as we were sitting in the front row, I felt so helpless, knowing that there would be little to nothing I could do to protect Emma; there were no chairs in front of us to help protect her, even if I got her to the floor.

But what shook me more, was realizing that I, the girl who constantly preaches pacifism and that people have no right to kill each other (without specific exception from G-d Himself), was plotting the fastest/easiest way to kill this man, assuming he made one blatantly wrong move.  I'm not sure what to do with that realization, aside from a lot of prayer and research.  If I come up with anything, I'll be sure to let you know.

So that was the excitement for the evening.  I'm thinking that may have to end up being my last in-theater viewing of Batman for this generation.  Like I told my mom, it's just not worth it.

Sunday Funnies: The Current Events Conundrum

<< The last adventure || The next adventure >>

I may regret this tomorrow.

I saw Batman again today, so it's now already past midnight, and I'm just now getting home.  Not to worry, though... it was with my boss.

Additionally, I feel like I may have been sort of set up with one of her "churchmates."  His name in Cheong-gu, but, while his English was good and he's into traveling and mission trips, I just wasn't feeling it.  Maybe it's because I was so tired to begin with; maybe it's because he seems to have no intention of leaving Korea for any length of time; maybe it's because he's so focused on settling down and getting a good job.  I don't know.  All I know is that I wasn't feeling it, and he left without getting my number, so, whether it was a purposeful setup or not, it seems to have failed.

A language-barrier-riddled relationship is not one thing that I want to add to the craziness of my life right now.

Guess I'm not Korean.  Go figure. ^_~

What I've done since then

The following is what I've done since my epic display of my gastrointestinal pyrotechnic abilities.

First, I'd like to say I've discovered a newfound respect for nice anorexic people.  I'm not saying that to encourage people to be anorexic.  Don't do it.  It's not a good life choice.  I'm saying it because I ate so very little this week, and found that it's exhausting and makes it nearly impossible to be nice to anyone. It's not a good place to be.  But, on Friday, I started eating again and felt a LOT better.  Well enough, in fact, to go see The Dark Knight Rises with my friend Megan.  Let me tell you, it was most excellent, and I think you should go see it.  I so strongly feel that way that I did my nails to show my support for the Batman.  


That being said, I also want to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the people who died in the recent tragedy surrounding this movie in Aurora, CO.  It's horrific, and It brings tears to my eyes to think of anyone involved. Violence is never the answer, friends.  Only G-d can ordain the loss of life, and He ordains few to orchestrate that.

On Friday, I also received my Korean name (finally) from a friend who works in my favorite skin care store near the mall.  She decided that I should be 행복 (Haengbok) in Korean, which means "Happiness."  I like it!  She's so sweet. :)

Saturday was my productive day.  With the help of Josh Broward's wife, I dropped off my dress at the dry cleaners to be altered for Meret and Casey's wedding.  We then went back to la casa de Broward and played with a couple babies.  That was fun.  Following that, it was off to work for my final adult English class of the semester.  We Skyped with my friend Greg, who is always great in his efforts to help me teach however he can.  After class, one family offered to drive me home, which I gratefully accepted, although I managed to leave my phone in their car.  After managing to meet up with them again to get it, we agreed to meet the next day for me to take them to the nearby English-speaking church, led by none other than the previously mentioned Josh Broward.  I finished the day with some cleaning and comic-drawing, along with some TV-watching.

Today, I met up with my friend Nick for breakfast at McDonald's.  Now, before you judge me, this is maybe the fourth time I've been there this year.  Currently, they have various "Taste of [Continent]" specials, in honor of the Olympics.  We opted to try both Taste of Americas.  One was an Egg McMuffin with Canadian Bacon (mine went to Nick), tomato, and lettuce.  The lettuce was just what this hot day needed.  The other was your classic McDonald's giant pancake breakfast platter.  Once it was sausage-free, I enjoyed it immensely.  


Recently, I found something I really liked about this McDonald's.  When I ordered my food to go, they handed me this timer and asked me to flip it.  They guaranteed my food hot and in my hand before the timer ran out.  As you can see, they came quite good on that promise.  Maybe I'm just too American, but I must say, I like it when my fast food is incredibly fast.


I met up with the family from English class immediately following McDonald's and off to church we went.  The kids had a blast at children's church, which I think made the experience for everyone involved, although, for me, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting's Cora, Kris' girlfriend, who just moved here... YESTERDAY.  I found myself just smiling, smiling, smiling, because I was so happy to see them safely reunited here.  It's a weird feeling for me, as I'm not much of a romantic, but maybe it's because they weren't being too mushy?  I don't know.  I'm just glad CORA'S HERE!!!


After church was some much needed Mt. Fishtail, with the ever lovely Rashell, Taylor, and Becky.  Pretty much the whole church ended up deciding to lunch there, though.  Okay, I exaggerate, but still... I really like the idea of going out to eat after church.  It was sort of a tradition my family had as I was growing up, and it makes me feel more like Sunday when I get to do it.  Yes, the weekly luncheon at Yeshuat Yisrael is wonderful, and I wouldn't trade it, but that's definitely a Saturday feeling to me.  Sunday calls for some fellowship in a restaurant.  But that may just be my opinion.  If you've made it this far and can follow instructions, why don't you drop me a line and share what makes Sunday feel like Sunday for you?

Rashell and I stayed late, talking at the restaurant and then walked around a bit.  I broke my brown sandals (sad!), so I will need to do some shoe-shopping in the States when I come (happy!).  I took an afternoon nap, and - wait for it - did Rosetta Stone today!  Stuff makes a lot more sense on that thing, now, which is awesome.

And now, you are quite caught up.  I hope you had a great weekend, too!

Right here for your very much wish-fulfillment.

Way back in my freshman year of college, I was in Covenant Choir, which took a trip to Orlando, Florida.  My friend Kara and I ended up being rooming partners, and we stayed with an absolutely amazing family (Andy, Lorri, Sydney, and Carter); I still think about them sometimes, actually.  We had so much fun.

For example, I think this is one of the most adorable dogs ever.

Well, the amazing family came with their crazy dog, Ziggy, who just felt too much of a need to exert his dominance.  After watching him chase Kara's legs around the house for a half hour or so, I, half jokingly, half seriously, said I wanted a similarly awkward dog when I got older.  (Actually I want a more awkward dog, because not only do I want a dog that exerts his dominance, I want him to be so ugly it's cute.  It's okay.  You can go ahead and call the people with the jackets that help you hug yourself.  I won't hold it against you.)

For some reason, I feel like the more awkward a dog is, the more endearing it is.  I can't explain it.  Maybe I shouldn't think that absolutely awkward things are cute.  Maybe that will lead to uncomfortable situations.  Or... maybe it will make for excellent stories later.  I guess it just depends on how you see the glass.

So, yes, I challenged G-d and/or life to give me a dog with a need to exert its dominance. May I just throw it out there that you shouldn't put those kind of challenges out there without expecting them to happen.

Kara and Ziggy

Tonight, I had my friends Thomas and Bethany over for a long over-due dinner/hang-out time.  The food was delicious, thanks to The Awkward Chef.  (I made her veggie burgers again, and I finally got them all to turn out correctly!  It was a momentous occasion.)  Manila was out and running around when they came in.  (To be technical, she was the only one here to greet them; I had to run to the store for a second.)  They hit it off to begin with, but Manila must have felt threatened by Thomas' masculinity, because, by halfway through the evening, she had felt the need to mark a corner as her own.

Manila, trying to figure out her species

But that wasn't enough; she had to move on to his arm, and she didn't just chin it or something.  No, she had to go and exert her dominance.  But she wasn't too good at it, though, because he couldn't figure out what was going on.  It was pretty amusing, but I put her away anyway.  Poor, over-stimulated bunny.  We'll try again anyway.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

In spite of the weirdness of having a rabbit that thinks she's anything but a rabbit, we had a great night (and it's been good to see her acting fully healthy again - she's even eating her pellets... occasionally).  We had veggie burgers (yum).  We had watermelon (yum yum).  We had Oreos and peanut butter (yum yum yum!).  We found the faces of Mary, Jesus, and Satan in the peanut butter.  We played Fluxx until we were laughing so hard it hurt.  I don't think anyone can deny the quality of the night, and I can't wait to have Bethany and Thomas over again.  :)


PS. Identify the quote from the title of this post.  Why?  Because life it more fun when you realize how much of what I say is actually quoting something.

Blimey Cow photo-a-day 22. Your favorite superhero (AKA Batman).
Lucky for Blimey Cow, my favorite superhero generally is Batman, although he is occasionally challenged by Wolverine.  

Harry Potter Camp - Day 2 - The Hogwarts Express and Sorting

Day Two began with a much more encouraging note, as I did NOT forget the very helpful cable that my friend Kris had lent me (as opposed to Day 1, when I had many technological fiascos, about which I opted not to write).  This cable has made my life infinitely better, as I can do all my work on my Mac, and use the cable to hijack the TV to PC connection, meaning that I never have to touch the virus-riddled, never-before-defragged computer in my classroom, ever again (or at least until I start back to teaching regular lessons).  I like this cable so much that I'm seriously considering ordering one, or at least advertising via my blog that I want to get one, so maybe someone will remember it come birthday time...  Okay, enough shameless plugs.

Although Day Two started on an encouraging note, I quickly realized why a lot of teachers like those minute-by-minute lesson plans.  I definitely began to see some of their pros.  However, I, being a rather creatively-minded person, will still stick to my skeleton lesson plans, and write the minute-by-minute ones after my lesson is over.  (I plan to do those sometime this weekend, after my camp is entirely PIN-ISH-EEEEEEE! <Which is Korean-child for "finished.">)  This realization hit me when I realized that my entire lesson plan for the two 40-minute periods of the day looked like this:

1. Train video clip.  (Internet??  Download movie??)
2.  Read tickets.
3. Introductions? 

Yup.  The award for most right-brained teacher of the year goes to... Me.  Don't argue it, just give me my certificate.

Believe it or not, this lesson is one of the ones that sticks out in my memory as a particularly good one.  As we were reading our tickets, I reached in my pocket and happened upon a train ticket from a recent trip I took, so I pulled it out, and we began comparing and contrasting the two.  When we got to the part about the departure point of our train, it said "London, England."  Well, we, being underage, certainly couldn't just apparate there, so we took the only logical course of action: We got up from our seats, lined up at the door, and proceeded to walk from Korea to London... all the way until the door, where one of my more English-gifted students reminded me that they didn't have their shoes with them.  But all is well, I realized we were walking East instead of North anyway (what we would have done at the border, I have NO idea), so it was better to turn around and head to London another way.  It ended up looking surprisingly like our classroom, but there were plenty of seats lined up in a train-formation, so it must have been the right place.

Our arrival at Hogwarts was met with an immediate sorting ceremony, during which the highlight of my week (possibly the highlight of both weeks) took place:  One profoundly bespectacled student with suspiciously mussed hair sat down at my sorting hat.

My extremely round-glassesed friend

I saw his lips moving a mile a minute, and, upon inquiry, the voice behind them grew louder.  To my delight I recognized him to be quoting the movie clip attached to the title of this post, starting around 3:52.  So, I proceeded in the only logical manner - I quoted it back to him.  In fact, we continued this until the end of the scene.  I think the most satisfying part was when the rest of the students caught on to what was happening, and they started to whisper, "Harry Potter?  Is THAT Harry Potter?!"  Beautiful.

The rest of the students got sorted, each house ending up with a decently Harry-Potter-educated student (HPES). This plan backfired ever-so-slightly when my Slytherins went from being rather sedate to being in full character after a quick conference with their rather disgruntled HPES.  While I am amused by their enthusiasm, it's also a bit frustrated, as I really don't want to have to keep taking points from their house.  Little do they know, I have some really cool prizes for the winning house, culminating in an English copy of the first Harry Potter book, which I plan to buy tomorrow, for the student with the best attendance and attitude record.

Once they were all sorted, I had the students set to work, making their house banners.  He had had a discussion about the qualities, colors, and mascot of each house, so they already had a list of what needed to make it onto each banner.  (You can see them completed below.)  It was funny watching them, realizing that I had sorted them pretty accurately, based on either the few times I had had them in my Saturday class or my brief interactions with them the day before.  My main goal had been to break up best-friend groups, but it was nice to see them playing to their strengths as well.

Everything was, once again, running behind, so I left the kids in the classroom to finish up their project, while I went around the corner to teach the 3rd and 4th graders for 40 minutes.  When I got back, I did some hunting, and found all of the banners, except for Gryffindor.  Hoping that they hadn't lost it in some massive inter-house fight or something, I taped up the other banners, and wrote a message on the board about it, before going home for the day.  As it turned out, Emma - a student with whom I've gotten rather close, and was, in fact the motivating force behind the theme of this camp - had taken it home to spend what looks to be several hours making it.  (That's a kid after my own heart, right there.)  Yes, this is the same Emma from my Saturday class, who drew Harry Potter as her superhero:

When you think about it, the only thing that's really lacking from him being commonly thought of as a superhero is a DC Comics or Marvel logo next to his name...

So, yes, Day Two was definitely an adventure, but I could feel myself getting more and more into the swing of things, and feeling more and more comfortable with what I'm doing.  Who knows?  I may even leave this experience feeling like a decent teacher!... Well, we won't push it. ;)

Lots of love to all of you!

<3

And don't hit yourself with a bludger, friends... there are still eight more posts to go in this series (unless I decide to extend it).

Cute kid work

 Okay.  Words aren't extremely necessary for this post.  This is some of my students' work... it's pretty funny, so you may want to bookmark this one for a bad day... I know I will.

This one actually isn't funny at all, but it falls into the "cute kid work" category, as one of my students came into the room today during our planning time, asking if it would be okay if he drew my portrait on the dry erase board.  The only downfall was that I couldn't keep it. :)

Superheroes (Part 3b) - You can't fix bad hearts.

What a lesson.  One of my kids really got "IT" this time around.  The call of "Teacher, Teacher!  Help me!  Is this right?" Is a typical sound in my classroom, especially when critical thinking time rolls around, so it didn't shock me to hear it come out of his mouth, but what did catch me off guard was the answer waiting for me.  His number one con to being a superhero: "You can't fix bad hearts."

How many times have I tried to do this?  Not even just with "bad" hearts, but I try to "fix" any heart that I think is on a path different from what I would choose for them.  Let me tell you this... my efforts to fix almost always end in destruction.  No matter what I'd like to have be the case in my life, the fact remains that I am a flawed human.  No matter how close I am to G-d at any given moment, I can bring salvation to no one.  It's in moments like this that I can't help wanting to reference all of St. Augustine's Confessions, but, since I can't (well... at least not on here directly, click the link to reach a full electronic copy of the book), I'm going to quote it a bit:

My own stiff neck took me further and further away from you.  I loved my own ways, not yours.  The liberty I loved was merely that of a runaway... The blindness of humanity is so great that people are actually proud of their blindness.

 Who will enable me to find rest in you?  Who will grant me that you come to my heart and intoxicate it, so that I forget my evils and embrace my one and only good, yourself?  What are you to me?  Have mercy so that I may find words.  What am I to you that you command me to love you, and that, if I fail to love you, you are angry with me and threaten me with vast miseries?  If I do not love you, is that but a little misery?  What a wretch I am!  In your mercies, [L-rd G-d], tell me what you are to me.  'Say to my soul, I am your salvation' (Ps. 34:3).  Speak to me so that I may hear.  See the ears of my heart are before you, [L-rd].  Open them and 'say to my soul, I am your salvation.'  After that utterance I will run and lay hold on you.  Do not hide your face form me (cf. Ps. 26:9).  Lest I die, let me die so that I may see it.

 It is only G-d who can bring people to Him.  He uses us and our loves to act as an example, but, in the end, it is He who opens hearts.  This is an important lesson that I must never forget.  I am called to love G-d.  Beyond that, there is nothing more important, nothing I can ever do better.  If I focus on that, everything else will fall into place.

Superheroes (Part 3) - Sometimes it's better just to let someone else save the world.

Well, I'm truly impressed with my Saturday Class... again.  You'd think I'd be used to that by now.  One of my goals for that class (well, all of my classes) is to get my kids critically thinking, not to just take for granted what they're force-fed.  So last Saturday, I assigned them a Venn Diagram of the pros and cons (and neutrals, a word which they defined themselves) of being a superhero.  First, we watched this hybrid clip from the Superman movies to get the juices flowing (I've also linked the Smallville version of this clip to the title of this post... just in case you wanted yet another perspective):

Then, we set to work.  The kids had some great thoughts.  I tired not to think too much about it before hand, because I didn't want to influence what they said, and it turned out great.  They came at it from such a different perspective than I can, so they had some interesting thoughts.  Take a look:

At the end of the day, about two-thirds of the class decided that they would rather let someone else be the superhero, while the other third vehemently maintained that the fame and honor would be worth it (and yes, we did talk about the pros and cons of fame too, which is why it's listed as neutral.  But it's interesting... lack of privacy isn't so much of a con here).  I'm so proud of them.

So, what do you think?

Would you rather be the superhero or leave that to someone else?

Superheroes (Part 2) - The hero doesn't always win.

You may have seen these photos on Facebook already, but that's okay.  I'm going to talk a little more about them here.  After talking to my kids last Global Zone about heroes (which you saw), I talked to them about villains.  I had to start just by teaching them the word "villain."  It's kind of counter-cultural to have someone who hurts the group, so it took a little coaxing to get them there, but with the help of some Superman, Harry Potter, and Dragon Ball Z references plus an episode of the PowerPuff Girls (click on the title of this post to see it) we finally got there.  In fact, I didn't ever give them any part of the definition; I let them come up with their own.  Two of my classes had pretty much the same answers:

But it was my third class of which I was really proud.  We spent some time talking about how a superhero isn't always handsome, just as a villain isn't always ugly, but what really blew their minds was when I told them that the villain didn't always have to lose to the hero, so that couldn't be one of the characteristics.  I could tell that they weren't being able to fathom that idea, so I used the only example that popped into my head: September 11th.  Luckily, they had heard about that, and could follow my example.
Then, they did the other thing I wanted them to do: they realized that it was the same characteristics setting superheros apart from heroes that set super villains apart from villains.  This left the conversation open to talking about how easy it is to turn from being good to being bad, and that we always have to fight to be good.  We talked about how we have to always fight the bad guys, even when they win, or else we become bad guys too.  It was a really good lesson.
I want to share their notes with you too.  The top half is their answers, followed by their examples underneath.  Please note, that all I did on this list was act as scribe and veto the previously mentioned wrong answers:

I'm so proud of them, really, I am.

Keep fighting evil, guys.  The fight is not yet over.

Love you!

Superheroes (Part 1)

Soooo... I'm doing this Superhero project with my Saturday class.  Hopefully, by the end, the kids will have learned to think critically enough to make an actual comic strip and/or book.  I wanted to show you some of the superheroes they drew.  Tell me which one you'd want protecting your city!