Humanistic Teaching

An approach to learning English

Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he howls let him go
Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe

This is a traditional choosing rhyme used by children. It is attractive and very easy to manipulate. With a little bit of calculation you can  choose whomever you like every time:

How to Cheat with Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe

Number of Students	Names	Target	Starting Position	Shift
2	A B	A	B	+1
3	A B C	A	A	0
4	A B C D	A	B	+1
5	A B C D E	A	A	0
6	A B C D E F	A	D	+3
7	A B C D E F G	A	G	-1
8	A B C D E F G H	A	B	+1

 This is all based on counting one person with each word. The number of syllables is ignored. But why bother? There are various reasons for wanting to select a child from finding a "volunteer" to model an activity to creating partners, but if the teacher wants to select a student why not do it directly? There are several reasons. One significant reason is that direct teacher selection runs the risk of creating a competition. Using Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe seemingly avoids favourtism by appearing to be random. Then there is the simple reason that Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe is engaging.  For Japanese children it can be a challenge to learn the rhyme. They can gain a sense of achievement when they master it. But, perhaps the most important reason in a way, is to see if the students actually notice that there is a pattern.Generally speaking groups that are sharp enough to notice that the results are fixed are keen learners. I've had children as young as four notice.

Once children do notice the jig is up. When they do I react as if they are teaching me something, which they are. Usually I test out the pattern so we can all discover the flaw in the rhyme. After that, when I want to select somebody I do so randomly, usually with a dice.

It is possible to to keep using Eeny-Meeny by changing the animal to be caught and counting out the number of syllables for the animal to create some variation but I prefer simple retirement. It is cleaner and truly honours the children's powers of observation.

« Random Voting | Main | Motivation »

• I had a dream...
• Turning Fifty
• Yada!

• Turning Fifty
    - Alex Case
    - Todd Pratum
  
• New Year Resolutions
    - Robert Sieveking
    - Chris (Hunt)
    - Steven Williams
    - Chris (Hunt)
    - Steven Williams
    - Robert Sieveking
  
• The Keyword Game
    - Brett Iimura
    - Renae
    - Steven Williams
    - Chris (Hunt)
  
• Yada!
    - michelle
    - stash
    - Chris (Hunt)
  
• Quitting
    - Jon Otto
    - Chris (Hunt)
  
• Improvisation
    - Dr. Michael Cubbin
  
• Violence
    - Jon Otto
    - Chris (Hunt)
    - Jon Otto
  
• Ambivalence
    - Ben Shearon
  
• Negotiated Syllabi
    - Harry
    - Phil
  
• Mitigating Quietness
    - Alison Miyake
  

• Festivals (1)
• Murmurs (9)
• Quick Activities (10)
• Untried Ideas (5)
• Worksheets (2)