Keeping you abreast of the Situation

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG BLOG FOR ME! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! :)

Two weeks ago in my Culture class, I talked about Halloween. I showed pictures of Jack-o-lanterns and explained trick or treating. Then I showed them some pictures of some Halloween costumes and I thought it was a fun way to learn about a Holiday in another culture. Then I assigned them the task of dressing up in a Halloween costume the following week (last week) and giving a 1 minute speech on their costume. 1 minute. That's all. I also decided to tell them that this was going to be considered their mid-term exam and it would be worth 30% of their grade. (Disclaimer: Telling them this one week in advance is plenty of time for them in this culture because they will forget about it until the week before anyway...we've learned our lesson.) I got a lot of groans and moans out of them, but that always happens when you ask them to do something that requires them to get their behinds out of their seats. So, I didn't think much of it, sent them on their way and saw them the next week. (Last week.)

I got to class and got myself setup to grade them as they spoke. I had my computer and I was running out of battery, so I needed to sit near the front of the room to charge it (The only plug in this particular room) or else I would have sat in the back. The class was going rather smoothly. They weren't as excited about the idea as I thought they might be once they got into it, but I didn't care because I, as their teacher was doing something fun for them and their mid-term. In-between every person, I looked to the back of the room and called for the next volunteer. Mid-way through class, just after the break time, I looked to the back of the room and noticed some people sneaking out of class. I thought to myself, "I don't even care. I'll take attendance at the end of class and those 5 people will be counted absent." Content with my decision, I turned to continue listening to the speeches. 5 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed, 15 minutes passed and more and more people had left the classroom. Some had completed their speeches, but some hadn't even tried. I still had the same plan in mind to count all those absent who left, but I was steaming in my seat. By the end of class, the last people in class was the girl who was finishing her speech and her friend. There were 4 girls standing in the back of the classroom waiting because they needed to ask me a question. That's it. I looked down at my watch and we still had 7 minutes of class left. It didn't hurt my feelings at all, I was just so frustrated with the fact that everyone sees the Asian cultures, especially China as being full of such a respectful students. What is more disrespectful than walking out of class when your teacher has given you no such permission?

So I decided that the next week (this week) I was going to let them know that I understood what was going on and they would all be counted absent. (I hope that wasn't too confusing) So, this week I walked into class and I wrote on the board, "What is a speech?" And I stood there. I asked the question out loud, and I stood there. Silence. And more silence. Normally this type of a situation KILLS me with the Chinese students because they are so shy to volunteer information. It's like pulling teeth to get them to volunteer anything, so normally I just don't do it. But today was different. I was fine with the awkward silences. I waited and waited and waited. I waited so long they began to chat among themselves. I told them to stop talking. I asked the question again. I wasn't yelling, but by the looks on their faces, you would have thought I killed their puppy. I'm not normally that quiet, and I think it freaked them out, but I wanted them to know that I was serious. I digress...

Finally someone answered and I explained that a speech is something that cannot be done to only one person, or it looses its effectiveness. They understood and I explained the above situation of me being left in the room with one girl and her friend. I never raised my voice, however, I was bone chillingly quiet. I said what I needed to say. I told them that if they wanted to leave the classroom, it was okay with me, but they needed to expect a failing grade in attendance. (That's the shortened version.)

We then completed the speeches left over from last week. After that I wrote on the board, "Write a one page paper on the importance of Attendance." I told them to tell me their opinion about it, whether they think it is important or not. And I waited. This took quite a while and I took them up when they were finished. I gave them some busy work to do out of the book and read their responses. Some of them sickened me because they were so rude. Some held nothing back, some were more respectful, and some apologized profusely for leaving early the previous week. Some said they thought I was mad at them and said they were sorry. The ones who held nothing back stated how they thought attendance is important because the student should respect the teacher, but if the teacher does not respect the student then the student shouldn't respect the teacher. They stated that last year when they had to give speeches their foreign teacher let them leave class and so should I. That's how I should respect them. The same girl who thought I was just playing games at the beginning of the semester said, "I think you should teach us something in this class and then I would want to come. I hated the exam, so I didn't want to stay. I think it is my right." Yup, it's your right. You are 100% correct about that one! You got it! The way I addressed this was I explained to the whole class that the reason I had a few activities at the beginning of the semester was to gauge their English speaking abilities. I also said that I gained a great amount of knowledge about some students who didn't want to participate in the activities. Some students didn't follow the directions well, and they were the ones who might have needed to think more clearly about the activities.

I addressed the comments about the students thinking I was mad at them. I told them I was not mad, but serious and I think they should understand that. I got a lot of head nods from that one. I think we're all on good terms now. I got a lot of eye rolling from the main student who complained about my teaching methods earlier this semester. Water off a duck's back- no biggie. BUT--

I think there's a possibility that fire might ignite again soon after this last class. That's what the title of this blog has to do with. I'm not meaning to count my eggs before they hatch,and be a worry wart about "getting in trouble" with my supervisor, but I do like to rehash things in my head to make sure I did the right thing. And well, since I have a blog, I thought I would write it out.

After writing all that I feel like there might be some stuff that didn't make sense. Story of my life, haha! At least it makes me feel better to write it out! :) Anyway, thanks for reading! I love you all!