Day 2: The Pinay Teacher Takes On Pokemon

     As someone who grew up in the 21st century, there are some things that I can create common ground with the students that I teach. That is...the world of Pokemon. Pokemon has somehow got even more popular than it was in my elementary school days. Ever since I gave out Pokemon stickers and brought my Pokemon Funko Pops and Pokemon cards, my kids won't stop talking about Pokemon with me! What I decided 2 months ago was to start a Pokemon Club for 1st and 2nd graders. 

    It is now the second to last week of Pokemon Club and wow I am exhausted! It has been a process to figure out what the kids wanted to do in Pokemon Club, start trading Pokemon cards and then stop trading Pokemon cards (that is another story for another day), and managing the craziness kids feel after school. Something that has stuck and got kids super excited is Battle Day. Every Thursday, the kids battle each other with their Pokemon cards in order to win gym badges from me. I create the starting pairs and once they finish battling their starting opponent, they can battle whoever they want. 

    We have had almost 5 or 6 battle days and somehow the kids still don't remember the rules of the Pokemon trading card game. The amount of questions that I have to answer repeatedly is just never-ending like "How do I start the game?" or "Do we have to use Energy cards?". One question though that made my day was, "Can you help me build my deck?". It was the first time I saw a kid trying to utilize the strategies I taught them the previous weeks and seeking out for help to understand the game better. The even crazier thing about it is the kid who asked me. This kid has been giving me a hard time ever since the beginning, but today he seek me out to help him get better at Pokemon. Even though many days in Pokemon club can get tiring, I cherish the small moments when the kids want to learn more and are curious about what we do.