Rock, Paper, Scissors

When it comes to kids in Japan, every decision that needs to be made is done by playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. It’s called “janken”. What side of the room do we start at when picking new seats? Janken. Who wants this extra dessert? Janken. What are the teams? Janekn. Who’s going to volunteer? Janken. What’s the turn order for this game? Janken. They have it down to a science. And they do it so quickly, sometimes I’m not even sure what’s happened. Did you know you can play Rock, Paper, Scissors with upwards of ten people? You can.

So, for my first lesson with the little kids in elementary school, I teach them how to play “janken” in English. It’s absolutely the most useful thing they could know.

Speaking of the little kids, the second graders are completely out of their minds. There are ten kids in the class and at least six of them have some sort of advanced case of ADD. They just can’t focus or sit still – for a second. You can’t take your eyes off them. When you turn around for two seconds to draw a little picture on the board, all of a sudden there’s a kid right behind you. When you warm up with twenty jumping jacks (to practice counting – and to tire them out), they can’t help but to bounce into each other – and you. When you play a game that involves moving about the room, you’ll inevitably find a couple kids hiding under the piano, or rubbing their heads against the earthquake helmets hanging on the wall.