Doppelgänger

High School is in full swing now. I was dreading, DREADING going back to teaching but now that I’m doing it I realize how much I love my job. I LOVE teaching high school. It helps that the majority of my students are good natured and some even ask for more homework so they can get ahead. What a concept that contrasts the normal brick in the wall.

My German II Students are happily enjoying their new German room (we were upgraded to a makeshift class room and away from the garage wall.) I’ve come equipped with a year under my belt and an arsenal of implementable ideas.

We are in review session right now. They are proficient at describing all their basic info: age, living, family, hobbies, etc. Boring, Boring, Boring! I’ve asked them to create their Doppelgänger.

Main Entry: dop·pel·gäng·er
Variant(s): or dop·pel·gang·er /'dä-p&l-"ga[ng]-&ampamp;amp;r, -"ge[ng]-, "dä-p&l-'/
Function: noun
Etymology: German Doppelgänger, from doppel- double + -gänger go-er
1 : a ghostly counterpart of a living person
2 a : DOUBLE 2a b : ALTER EGO b c : a person who has the same name as another

This word infrequently appears in the English language and obviously originated in German. To cure the boredom of describing their personal hobbies one more time I decided to be more creative and ask them to create their Doppelgänger or Doppelgängerin respectively.

According to German folklore people saw their Doppelgänger (literally meaning double walker) just before they died but it has evolved to be the precursor for the evil twin concept.

Their assignment is to create a Doppelgänger of themselves (nothing too evil). My Doppelgängerin lives in LA and shops all the time. She is a Raiders fan (boo) and watches TV all the time. ETC. While doing research for this project I came across a hilarious SNL skit using the word Doppelgänger. Click the link below, you'll bust a gut!

http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1440_doppleganger.shtml