This is the way of explaining the story of Snow White to the students by an American Teacher.

As the bell rings, the children settle themselves in the classroom. Today, we’ll share the story of Snow White.
The teacher asked one of the students on the stage to talk about the story.

As the student finished, the teacher thanked him and began throwing questions to the floor.

Teacher: Which character in the story do you like? Which one do you dislike, and why?

Student: I like Cinderella and the prince! I don’t like the step-mother and the sisters. Cinderella’s very kind and pretty, but the step-mother and step-sisters were so bad to her.

Teacher: If Cinderella couldn’t make it to rush back with the Pumpkin carriage when the clock strikes 12, what do you think would happen?

Student: Cinderella’s dress would turn back to how it looked like. That’ll be awful.

Teacher: So remember, you must be a punctual person. If you’re used to being late, there could be troubles. Not only that, remember to dress yourselves appropriately like you always do. And girls, if you date some guys in the future and let them saw you being messy, you might faint! (The teacher acted as if she was fainting and the class laughed out)

Teacher: Alright! The next question. If you were Cinderella’s step-mother, would you stop her from going to the ball? You must be honest on this!

Student: (A student thought for a while and raised the hand) Yes, I’d stop Cinderella from going to the ball.

Teacher: Why?

Student: Because… because I love my own daughter and I want her to be the queen and not Cinderella.

Teacher: Yes. The usual step-mothers we see don’t seem like a good person. However, they’re good to their own child. But we must understand that they’re not bad, it’s just that they’re just not loving other people’s children like the way she did for her own.

Teacher: Next question, Cinderella was locked up by her step-mother, but how did she make it to the ball and appeared to be the most beautiful girl there?

Student: Because she’s got the fairy’s help. That’s how she got the dress, the pumpkin carriage and the servants.

Teacher: You’re right! What if the fairy did not appear? Cinderella wouldn’t make it to the ball would she?

Student: Yes!

Teacher: If the dogs and rats (that were transformed to be the carriage driver and servant) weren’t there to help her, do you think Cinderella could make her way home after 12?

Student: No, that way she would have nowhere to run and the prince would be terrified. (The children laughed together)

Teacher: Cinderella got some help from the fairy, but she couldn’t have made it if she doesn’t have friends. So children, remember that we always need friends in our lives. Our friends might not be as magical as the fairy, but they’re helpful as well. I hope that you’d make more friends wherever you go.

Teacher: If Cinderella chose to give up when her step-mother didn’t allow her to enter the ball, do you think she could still be the prince’s wife?

Student: No! That way, you’d never meet the prince, never get to know him.

Teacher: That’s right! If Cinderella didn’t want to join the ball, even if the step-mother encourage her to, things might just don’t work out as they are. Who’s the one that make the decision to join the ball?

Student: Cinderella herself.

Teacher: So children, Cinderella had no mother to love her, not even her step-mother. Therefore, she must be the one to love herself. She would chase after the things that she’d hoped for, just because she loves herself. If you have nobody else to love you, and you have a step-mother like Cinderella, what should you do?

Student: We must love ourselves!

Teacher: That’s it! No one could stop you from loving yourselves. If you think that the other people don’t love you, you must then love yourselves more! If nobody else would give you chances, you must work hard to get opportunities by yourselves! If you really love yourselves, you’d look for the things that you need. Just like the story, no one could stop Cinderella from joining the ball, no one could stop Cinderella becoming the queen. Nobody, but her, am I right?

Student: Yes!!

Teacher: Last question, do you find anything ridiculous in the story?

Student: (After thinking for a while) When the clock strikes 12, everything would turn back to their original state. But Cinderella’s glass shoes remained the same.

Teacher: Wow, you’re very clever! Look, even the great authors would make mistakes sometimes. Thus, never be afraid of making mistakes. I believe that anyone of you who aspire to be an author could do even better than that! Don’t you think so?

The children then clapped and smiled.


Postscript:

Do you still remember the 2^nd JD PIC Training Meet in 2009? I got moved when our JD Chief mentioned about communicating with the children creatively. A dialogue can be simple, but could be conveyed in different ways. But how do we creatively turn something meaningful to be easily comprehensible for the children? I believe you’d have heard the story of Cinderella. But how much do you understand about the story after the sharing above?

You might think that it’s not that easy to say something as good as the teacher above. Actually, it is not. We might not be putting much effort to think about ways to tell a story. If we could just explore more on our creativity, even a simple story could be meaningful. From this piece of sharing, we could see that everyone has their mission and role. Things wouldn’t work out if anyone of them weren’t there. This explained the teaching of “Cherry, plum, peach and damson blossoms all have their own qualities”. Everyone contributes a key that could change the ending of the story. Lastly, it is also important that we bring out a meaningful message with a more hilarious way, but in the same time, nurturing them to believe in themselves.

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