Stories from the Classroom

Written by Dr. David Shaffer

I’ve been preparing for a pecha kucha presentation, and it’s got me doing some reflecting. The presentation’s for the Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL’s spring conference, and the pecha kucha’s topic is to be “Best Stories from the Classroom.” I’m contemplating on what makes a story “best”: Can an undesirable incident still be a best story?

For those of you who haven’t been to the Gwangju International Center in the past two years and are still dwelling on what the heck a “pecha kucha” might be, I will briefly explain. It’s a PowerPoint presentation of exactly 20 slides, each timed to automatically change after exactly 20 seconds. That’s 20 x 20 for a total presentation time of exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Instead of the speaker controlling the time spent on each slide, the slides control what the speaker can say about each 20-second slide. Content can be anywhere from the dead serious to the LOL hilarious.

I’m still in the process of deciding on what “stories” to include, but I’d like to share with you some of the recollections related to classroom teaching here in Gwangju that this thought process has conjured up.

HEALTHY LANGUAGE LEARNING
My English Department juniors have always been a good group of actively participating students, but like in any class, some are more active than others. One day one of these students walked into class early, almost as soon as my previous class in that room had ended. She was a tall, slender girl, and one of the more reserved students in her class. But this day, she came up to me while I was arranging things for the next class. She wanted to tell me about her medical condition – “vasovagal syncope” (which I didn’t understand until she explained it as “fainting sickness”). She wanted permission to leave class whenever she felt the symptoms coming on rather than faint in class. I, of course, had no objection.

What makes this a “best story” for me is that this student had relayed this information to me in almost flawless English, much unlike her average classroom speech production. Why? Because for her, this was an important real-life situation, and she had an important message to convey. To me this was a vivid reminder that the most effective language learning takes place in real-life contexts in which being understood is of paramount importance. Upon reflection, I regret that I didn’t consider turning this into a learning situation for the whole class.

THE INS AND OUTS OF LOVE
I thought I had a “campus couple” in one of my classes – a male and female student were regularly sitting beside each other in class. Then one day, I walked into a louder-than-usual classroom for class: it was the campus couple arguing. He looked at her, said a few more choice words, and stomped out. And he didn’t come back. He didn’t come back for weeks. The semester was nearing its end and there was still no sign of him. I asked the girl, and she said she knew nothing about him. Then, I approached some of his male classmates and told them to tell him that he needed to begin functioning if he wanted to pass the course.

He finally returned, sitting quietly with his male friends. He did extra work that I’d assigned and finally did pass the course – just barely. Reflecting back, I’m happy that I’d taken action that brought him back to pass the course. However, I scold myself for waiting so long to do anything, thinking, “He’s a big boy, knows what he should do, and needs to be responsible for his own actions.” For my part, I should have tried earlier to get word to him that I wanted him back in class, which would have given him the opportunity to still get a decent grade in the course. But I didn’t – my bad. I’m a big boy, too, and need to take responsibility for my own actions. The couple never did get back together.

LOSERS, WEEPERS
It was a course in which one of the students’ tasks was to give a presentation on a language learning topic of their choice. There was one business major in my class of English majors, and he was motivated. Though his English might not have been the best in the class, his participation was outstanding. It was his turn to give his presentation, and I had a seat in the back of the class. I don’t remember exactly what he was talking on, but he made a statement that I challenged (which was common for me to do during these presentations). His response was “Oh, but you can’t understand because you are a foreigner.”

He had struck a tender chord. The papers in front of me got pushed off my desk and fell to the floor in dramatic fashion. “How dare he!” I thought. He was talking about my area of expertise – an area that I had a PhD in while he was still working on his bachelor’s. I’d lived my entire adult life in Korea and its culture – longer than he’d lived altogether. And on top of this, I was the professor and he was the student! I gave a now-forgotten retort to his remark and was surprised at the reaction: This former ROK soldier got quiet and began to cry! He did struggle through the remainder of his presentation, though.

It took very little reflection for me to realize that my mistake was larger than his. He was responding on the spur of the moment, in a stressful situation, and in a foreign language. I should have realized this, and I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I’d caused him to lose face in front of the whole class when he was trying his best to give a presentation that he’d spent hours and hours preparing. My bad! Further reflection reminded me that we need to be empathetic with our students; we need to be understanding role models, not callous authoritarians.

EFL teachers in Korea are much like our language learning students in several important aspects. We make mistakes in the tasks before us. With time and experience, our skills improve. We make mistakes and learn from them. We learn that the power of our words lies in the meaning that they convey. And we learn how to express ourselves in an increasingly refined manner.

Hmm… How can I get all this into twenty 20-second slides?

The Author
David E. Shaffer is vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of Korea TESOL (KOTESOL). On behalf of the Chapter, he invites you to participate in the teacher development workshops at their monthly meetings (always on a Saturday). For many years, Dr. Shaffer has been a professor of English Language at Chosun University, where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses. He is a long-time member of KOTESOL and a holder of various KOTESOL positions; at present he is national president. Dr. Shaffer credits KOTESOL for much of his professional development in English language teaching, scholarship, and leadership. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.