Song = Comprehension Passage

Students who were walking past my form class today would have heard me playing this song:

《手放开》　李圣杰　
曲：方文良　词：十万

我把自己关起来　只留下一个阳台　
每当天黑推开窗　我对着夜幕发呆
看着往事　一幕一幕
再次演出你我的爱

我把电视机打开　听着别人的对白
也许那些故事　可以给我一个交待
你要的爱　我学不来
眼睁睁看情变坏　人怔怔看情感慨

不能给你未来我还你现在
安静结束也是另一种对待
当眼泪流下来　伤已超载
分开也是另一种明白

我给你最后的疼爱　是　手放开
不要一张双人床中间隔着一片海
感情的污点就留给时间慢慢漂白
把爱收进胸口前左边口袋

最后的疼爱　是　手放开
不想用言语拉扯所以选择不责怪
感情就像候车月台　有人走　有人来
我的心是一个站牌　写着等待
我把收音机打开　听着别人的失败
哽咽的声音仿佛诉说着相同悲哀
你的依赖　还在胸怀
我无法轻易推开　我无法随便走开
感情中专心的人容易被伤害

I felt it was a good choice as

1) It was a Chinese pop song, so more easily acceptable and arouse interest.
2) Understanding the song lyrics require some understanding of the words. Demonstrates the relevance of language to life.
3) It is bite-size compared to the usual length of normal comprehension passages. Students should have less problems managing the questions.

Well, the observable feedback I got wasn't so encouraging. In fact, some students lost their copy, some didn't even attempt any of the 3 questions!!! Quite disheartening, since I didn't know what was worse: Them not bothering to complete any work even though they are re-taking their MT paper or me being a complete failure to instill some interest in them to learn.

I don't claim to be the best teacher, but I must say I do try to vary my methods every now and then. Maybe I'm not good at bringing out the best in students, but trying to move my form class seem to be a very trying challenge. Results aren't my top priority, but attitude really seem to be lacking in most students nowadays. I entered the profession to contribute to reverse the trend of falling Chinese standards, only to face a bigger tsunami of students not very interested in learning.

I don't know about the rest, but I am really hoping for a miracle to change all these...