This week is one of the special activities at our school that makes it great learning environment (to a mother) or a stressful summation of every fear possible (for students). We will have an announcer contest in front of the entire school. The idea is this: Students will get up in front of the students that are in the school at that hour and either recite or read a story from one of their text books.
It’s their choice as to the material they read and it’s their responsibility to get ready. It’s one of the least structured activities that we’ve done at the school so far. Some students have finished memorizing the two paragraph stories in their books, while others are planning on reading more challenging longer material flawlessly. Once they choose the material, they need to practice.
I’ve been helping them with some general rules about public speaking that I learned in my college communication classes. At the time, I hated that class, but now, considering I make a living on my public speaking skills, I’m rather glad for some of the things I’ve learned. I tried to give the students some tips they could use to improve their skills, like looking at the audience, proper speaking posture, and keeping books from blocking faces when reading. Instead of regular "reading with the class" style activities, I called the students up to the front of class to read while their peers watched. Most of the students were fine speaking in front of their friends and classmates, but I’m sure when there are 50 other students watching they might freeze. They will also get to use microphones and speak with a podium, things we haven’t practiced.
This is all in preparation for later in the week. On Wednesday, we will go "upstairs", which will be fun, because it is one of the locations I used to work at of my previous employer. My current school uses the large conference rooms, one of which I used to teach in when I worked at the location upstairs two years ago. I’ll be returning to my previous place of employment for the first time. Interesting and potentially awkward. However, since they closed the English language program after I left that location, I don’t expect to see anyone I know.
