Diary of an English Teacher #6
It sounds common that a language teacher would require her students to deliver a speech whether that be a memorized, extemporaneous, or impromptu speech. It sounds indeed common, but students are still haunted with the enigma of public speaking. I never looked at it in the negative side. A teacher would love to see her students grow and develop intellectually and socially. I gave them guidelines and I presented them the scoring rubrics for the activity. There was a chasm of emotions and I felt overwhelmed, too. Then, an anxious face caught my attention. It was Anthony’s face. I tried to appear not to notice so other students won’t easily be affected.
I met Anthony on the third week of June and I observed that he is incapable of producing words clearly. I did not feel pity on him or on his situation. He was a confident student and he was able to deliver an intelligible response the first time he spoke in our English class. I invited him to do a Skype trial class, so I would also have a way to check on his speech. I handled speech and communication classes in the previous university I worked for a year ago. Anthony gave me a self-introduction and I felt motivated to know more about his ideals and aspirations in his life as a student. He might sound unclear when he utters words in both his native tongue and second language; however, I felt a deep sense of self-respect emanating from him. Although it was unsaid, I felt that he never regarded as a disadvantage student. Well, he is not overly confident, but he knows his limits and his classmates also felt that too.
On the day of his speech, his classmates were very excited to hear his words and to watch his facial expressions and bodily gestures convey more of his ideas and in sights on the topic, ‘Solidarity’. He had consulted me three times about the contents of his speech and I am relieved that he can do well because of his writing skills and how confident he is with what he can do more. He started off stiff but I gave him a signal to try to relax and let the words flow like that of a calm stream (I taught them a signal for that. I did not interrupt him when he started off speaking.) He got on his beat and continued on dramatically. I saw the students’ faces in awe and deep admiration. They can speak clearly but they hope to have high spirits as Anthony’s. He shared his experiences with family, friends and his peers and applied a touch of wisdom to his hardships in starting off in a class of highly competitive students. He shared his battled and how he won hearts of his friends. Truly, we can never underestimate people who are lacking some capabilities. They would always carry a brave heart and resilient soul like Anthony. He sang for us at the end of his speech and we all felt stronger and bigger than yesterday’s trials.