ANOTHER BAD IDEA FROM SCHOOL
For exactly one year I taught English at a high school in Prague.
Never again.
It was more yelling than teaching, and my throat didn’t like it either.
Anyway, in order to graduate, the seniors had to take a series of oral tests called the maturita.
A month or so before the end of the year, the memorizing began; the more useless facts they could stuff into their brains the better.
Then on the day of the exam the girls put on nice dresses and the boys got into what looked like their dead grandfathers’ old suits – the dead grandfather who was five inches taller and fifty pounds heavier.
They would wait out in the hall with their classmates, memorizing more useless facts, until finally their name was called.
The student would then go into the classroom, take a seat in front of two teachers, reach into a pouch, pull out a piece of paper, and for several minutes speak on the topic which was written on the paper.
When I was one of those teachers, I sat there silently. The students had my complete attention. I listened for mistakes. Then I would judge them by giving them a grade which determined if they were successful or not.
This, of course, is not the real world.
Nor is this a conversation.
But unfortunately, it seems to be the model a lot of my students have followed.
So many times when I sit down with a student, or even start a conversation with a stranger, I get the feeling that they are the teenager again in the examination room.
They’re nervous. They just answer questions. And they try hard not to make a mistake by speaking slowly and carefully.
This is the wrong way to have a conversation.
Here’s a better idea…
NEXT WEEK: Move The Spotlight