Some people just got it

In finishing our Clothing and Appearance unit in my third level conversation class, I figured the best way to assess everyone’s mastery of the concepts was to...well, have a fashion show.

I’d heard that fashion shows had worked well in the past, but I was hesitant to lay this bomb on my class given my previous understanding of their creative abilities was based upon a serious affinity for copying I’d observed. The prospect sounded risky, but I tried to outline the parameters of the project really well (using a women’s lacrosse party theme from college “Sophista-FUNK”, a fusion of sophisticated and funky, as my inspiration.)

The day that I presented to the class the project outlines, I held my breath while they formed into their little groups and started the awkward, ‘I’m too scared to share my ideas with a group’ thing. Creative group work is always a bit awkward for some and there is certainly a critical turning point because if someone is fearless enough to present a creative idea, all rests on the comment of the next person to speak. If the presenter’s idea is shot down, a condition I call creativityphobia or don’t-say-anything-stupid phobia results. On the contrary, if the presenter’s idea is affirmed; the group finds their creative spark and from there on out becomes a wonderful little self-governed, self-affirming machine.

So, there I am holding my breath (GASP) thinking maybe this was a bad idea, when I hear laughing.

“PROFE Ella, how do you say ‘Soy un hombre macho y sexy’ in English?”
Ha, you could say- This new style for men says, ‘I am strong (or macho) AND sexy’.
“Tell me, what is your new fashion called?” I ask.

Laura smiles and Roberto just rolls his eyes because he knows too well that this idea will require him to A.) be embarrassed in front of the entire class and b.) become Laura’s puppet or “prodigy” depending on your perspective.

“We will call it, ‘Metro-macho men’”, Laura responds.

The best asset to creative group work is a “fire starter” or bold individual who is able to jump start the creative train and gets the ball rolling. In my class that person is Laura. In an activity a few weeks back when we were describing what we would wear on our perfect date she painted a picture of herself with Brad Pitt on the Beach in Acapulco, Mexico. She’d be wearing a revealing black and white bikini and Brad would be wearing brown Bermuda shorts with his chest bare, oh and they would both be wearing transparent sunglasses, obviously.

In an activity we did just yesterday the task was to use the present perfect tense and write fun quiz for the class. My example was, 'how responsible have you been this week?' Other’s picked 'how friendly' or 'how sporty' are you? Laura wrote a quiz called, 'Are you a good kisser?' (However, there was not one question using the present perfect tense)

So not surprisingly, she was also the inventor of the next biggest thing in fashion “Metro-Macho Men”, a fashion fusing metro sexual fashion with Machismo culture.

I hope that you enjoy the pictures.