The cool thing about teaching high school is that in some respects you get a second shot at doing or improving all the activities you didn’t do the first go around. For example, I somehow recently fell into the role of English public speaking coach (primarily to chaperon a group of students to a competition in Zilina), a faculty/American representative in the debate club, and I have also attended a whole handful of dances most closely related to American proms and homecoming, yet still an entirely different animal.
It is sort of ridiculous that I became the defacto public speaking/debate coach, because all the formal experience I have with the realm is a public speaking class I took in 8th grade (your topic is “pasta.” You have two minutes.”), the obligatory speech class from freshman year a high school, and the values debate class I strategically had to take my freshman year seeing as I’d used Mullen’s debate club—and Saint Mary’s Academy’s lack thereof—as my cornerstone argument for attending the school while my dad and I viciously battled over where I’d go. I vaguely remember how to flow a debate (don’t you just take notes?) and when I set out to make note cards for my debut debate phrases like “Lexus Nexus” bubbled right to the surface of my memory. It sort of felt like picking up an old neglected bicycle; the chain is pretty corroded, but with a little TLC I’ll be back in tip-top shape in no time.
This time around I also think the idea of debating is much cooler than I did when I was a self-conscious confused high schooler. Wow, am I an old woman already? I’m starting to echo Rod Stewart, “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger…”
As far as coaching or teaching public speaking goes, I have absolutely no formal training in that either. Let’s be honest though, I’m pretty comfortable talking in front of groups of people, I’ve even been told I’m kinda good at it once or twice. After perusing some websites in search of legit coaching resources but only finding this woman’s page where she emphasized every other syllable and used the most redundant and over the top hand gestures, I decided that I would just wing it and go with my gut. In preparation for our big meet we met after school a few times, rehearsed our speeches, and I gave tips that originated mostly out of a synthesis between my experiences talking and believe it or not, crew. I told the students to set a timer for their allotted amount of time and while practicing in front of the mirror just start talking. That way they would really know what performing for three, four, or five minutes feels like. We used to do this while practicing visualization—sprawled out on the floor, eyes closed, we’d imagine taking strokes while our coxswain barked us through a theoretical 2K.
When the big day came, we made the there-and-back journey of over 8 hours (with a little engine trouble and a brief period of being lost thrown in for good measure) for 3-5 minutes of speaking and none of the EGT contestants advanced into the final round. Out of 115 participants though, only 12 students proceeded onwards, and they all came from power-house schools in Bratislava where everyone is practically fluent in English. Initially some of my girls (I took six young ladies) were a little deflated, they felt intimidated in front of these hot shots that “spoke like native speakers,” and even threw around some attitude. I think the competition was excellent exposure though, now they’ve seen outside of the cave, they know what could be and what others their own age are already capable of. A few of them were still riding their exhilarated high when we piled back into the school van, already thinking about returning next year and taking NAMES. When I suggest we start up a more regular English olympiada club they all jumped at the idea.
Dancing Queens
As far as the dances go, I somehow never got up the gumption to write about any of the three stuzkovas I attended in November and December. Those events are perhaps best defined as a hybrid between graduation, a bar/bat mitzvah, a debutant ball, and senior prom all rolled into one. In an incredibly stoic presentation the 5th year students are awarded green ribbons which sort of signify their growing up. Believe it or not, these kids mostly manage to keep track of them and affix them to the outside of their jackets or bags for the rest of the year, broadcasting their status as soon-to-be graduates to the rest of the world. I’d loose mine in about ten seconds or leave it on some clothing that went through the wash or something. It’s kind of funny to me because in the classroom some of these students seem like such disinclined zombies, yet they take the whole program and all of the formalities very seriously. For a more comprehensive debrief of stuzkova you’ll just have to wait until next year.
The most recent dance I attended was Ples, which is like prom, except underclassman can also attend. The Slovak version however kicks off at 6:00 p.m. in the town cultural center. Instead of droves of teenagers getting together for a pre-dance dinner a-la-restaurant, the event includes a meaty multiple course meal, because honestly it’s not like there are anywhere near enough restaurants in town to accommodate. Just like Stuzkova there is also a formal greeting toast and some official programming. Some of my students sung a duet together, one 4th year girl’s little brother played a few songs on the saxophone, and one boy performed a few saucy ballroom dance numbers thereby displaying his mad extracurricular skills. The big surprise was the fire twirlers. Yeah, fire twirlers. Bet you didn’t have that at your prom, eh?
After the programming the evening activities alternated between eating and waltzing sessions. That’s another thing—I bet nobody did the foxtrot at your prom—I bet nobody there even knew how. To be fair, most people at Ples weren’t exactly virtuosos of the dance floor, but I was tickled pink to see my students out there giving it a try. And it’s classy, right? Actually, the format of the night is great for would-be wallflowers because it allows you to progressively warm up and ease into the “Disco disco” dancing that doesn’t start until about 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.
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