Silly things to break down a uptight CH kid

I find it really important in the face of those really uptight, "I'm too cool for school for school," "I don't want to be here," kinds of CH attitudes to beat them back with over-the-top silliness. My go to moves:
1. Blowing kissing to my kids (I start with the girls and then move on to the boys... occasionally the TA too)
2. Placing stickers on kids' hands when they make a nice sentence.

Anything else that people have been doing? I'm always looking for more way to make my CH kids laugh.

Some of my favorite go-to's:
. Pink socks.
. A kick me sign on the back.
. 'Twirling hair' and batting eyelashes at the boys.
. Boasting about my amazing singing skills and then butchering a version of 'Oh Solo Me Oh.'
. Students getting to use valid language to make fun of me.

Honestly, I've been trying lately to take the focus off me in my CH05 class. The goofy teacher stuff stopped working a few months ago when we got some new students. Now I think the key is getting them to focus their attention on each other or the activity at hand.

So, I might set up a basic opening sentence like "You should always _______, but you should never _______", which gives them an opportunity to make their own humor, and get validating laughs from their peers. I step aside and let them have at it. I choose the first student with a dice roll, then after that student speaks, he chooses the next student. When kids make a goofy sentence, the camera pans to me for the reaction shot, but then the focus is back on them. I try to encourage non-dirty humor by supporting creative or absurd stuff instead.

It doesn't work all them time, but when I'm standing to the side of the room and the kids are laughing with each other and running an activity themselves, it's worth it.

Another option is an activity that demands participating from everyone, such as the Wacky Wednesday activity. All the boys (even the semi-jaded ones) took part in that activity because A) it involved competition B) the task was challenging but achievable by all students C) (I think) they didn't perceive it as something that the teacher had created that was supposed to be "fun".

Some of the jaded kids are just embarrassed to participate, laugh or enjoy themselves in an activity designed by an authority figure. If I always try to make them laugh, they always have the opportunity to deny me. If I create an activity in which everyone has to participate, then remove myself from the center of attention, they don't have anything to rebel against, so the pressure is off me and on them.

I think Shannon might agree with me that I have the lamest CH05 of all time. They are all good kids, but they are all so "too cool" to do whatever, and any activity is peppered with Chinese chatter. So I have to use Shannon's and Rosie's approach of being silly. Jesus, they didn't even like Wacky Wednesday! Or at least not at first.

So we focus on me. They are all eager to make fun of me and insult me at every opportunity in English, and I fully embrace it! I egg them on, and act like an idiot so they will laugh. One week we were describing how great I was in a writing exercise, and one st asked my ta "What's the word for "zilian" in English?" That word means narcissist! It got them thinking outside the language we had learned and they started being really creative and trying to out-do each other to describe me as extravagantly as possible. It was fun.

I think with a class like this, the goal is to get them to just speak as much as possible and have fun as much as possible. If we get through the lesson and they spoke a lot of English and had some fun, no matter how much Chinese they spoke (the girls and boys are absolutely TERRIFIED of each other), it's a win. And for me it works best if I am as silly as I would be with a CK class. They all honestly think I have an IQ of 4. (They're pretty close, too!)
They think I am lame, but they they think EVERYTHING is lame. So I just have fun with it!

In CH and higher CL classes I suggest getting to know your kids more (it doesn't always work with difficult kids, but they might breakdown eventually). Find out what interests them. Go in before class (if they show up early) see what they are doing before review. Maybe they are playing on their new mobile phone, reading a comic, studying for a math test. The things that have worked for me is making a connection with the kids. When I do attendance, I'll try to ask something specific for them. Hey Mickey, did you play computer games this week? What game was the best that you played, or what did you play the most. Showing some interest may result in a payoff later. Just a suggestion.

Couldn't agree more, Keola. I would add to that- let them get to know you as well! The more interested they are in you, the more they get to know you, the more interested in the class they will be. This will help with attention in class, behavior, and enthusiasm. I let my kids know a lot about me, my travels, my likes and dislikes, every unit brings up new subjects and I let them know my feelings and preferences as I ask them theirs. We learn more about each other and become a kind of dysfunctional family unit. it's fun! And good for retention.