Vienna

[franceslievens]

Out of lack of something interesting to teach the children (I've been away on a weekend with some other children that were having this rite of passage typed thing) I decided to do a quiz in my third and forth grade today. The most difficult question I asked was "Give me the name of the capital of Austria."

I have learned today that third graders haven't yet learned the European capitals. They haven't even learned what a capital is.

I was very proud of my mock difficult question, though: "Give me the name of the next King of Belgium." After some puzzled looks one of the kids would jump up and give me the correct answer, feeling very smug s/he saw through the strange way of refering to the crown prince.

And another thing I learned: Kids that whine about not being able to inflate a balloon, will end up doing just that anyway.
But actualy I knew that already: The first thing most kids say, is "It's too hard. I can't do that." In my class, the world isn't for the whiners.

Comments

[comava.livejournal.com]

I used to love learning all the capitals, but I'm afraid to check and see how much I still know...

Sort of OT but I think Vienna and Austria sound so much prettier than Wien and Österreich.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I used to mix up Boedapest and Boekarest and all the Scandinavian capitals. Really I never enjoyed geography.

The sixth graders had to leans all the countries that are part of the EU -- all 26 of them. Oh, back in the day I only had to learn twelve (and the dates when they joined).

Vienna does sound nicer. Austria just reminds me of austriches. ;-)