-^-for posterity-^-

listening class.

it’s the same group of students as yesterday. we started out in the “c” block of the university. there are no working listening rooms there so we moved to “listening room one”. a listening room is full of separate desks with headphones. a computer sits at the front of the room and the teacher can control what all of the students hear.

we moved from “listening room one” to “listening room three” because the first room didn’t have enough seats and it didn’t have a cd player. for only having a day to prepare for this class, i set up some pretty interesting lesson plans. first of all we were going to listen to, “the sound of silence.” this would take up about an hour and would provide some entertainment. afterwards we were to take a practice test. that would hopefully eat up the remaining two hours.

the second listening room’s computer wasn’t working so my first activity was out. a room full of forty three students and nothing to do. i started with the rules of listening class. they’re the same as the rules of speaking class except for one addition: no cheating. that became rule number five. i’ve heard a lot of stories of people cheating in class and i want to do my best to avoid it. we dove right into the practice test. it was about television violence and was slightly more interesting than watching clouds pass on a windless day.

the test was split up into two parts. we did the first part before the break and the second part after the break. during the break two new students showed up. they remembered how hard i was on students who came in late to yesterday’s speaking class and they didn’t want to be singled out. they came in and sat in the back thinking i wouldn’t notice them. they surely weren’t expecting to take a practice test on the first day. i scolded them a bit for being late. they weren’t too happy about it. i gave them the test knowing that they had no answers for the first part. oh well.

then i saw the one boy cheating. his hair was parted down the middle and his face was pale and pock marked. he wore a terrible green and blue plaid shirt. he would softly look up at me when the students were answering questions. he made the mistake of quickly looking back at his paper. he came in late and was now acting shifty. as if he was hiding something. i plotted to spoil his fun. there is a large television hanging from the front of the room. in it, one can see the reflections of all of the students. i turned my back to the class and clasped my hands behind my back and stared thoughtfully up at it. i watched his head. i watched his thin mop of hair move around. he glanced up. i wasn’t looking. he glanced up again. i was seemingly not paying any attention. he took the bold move. the desks are separated by two foot high petitions. he lifted his body partially out of the chair and fixed his eyes on the person’s paper next to him. no one would say anything if they saw him cheating. i turned on a dime. caught. “i want to see you after class.” his face flushed and his head bowed.

ha!

so, we chatted after class and he remained indignant. i know his name and i’ll give him his final grade. if he wishes to succeed in my class he’ll learn to come to class on time and not cheat. that’s all i ask. that and a smile every once in a while.

jack and i are on the bus traveling up to the big city once more. we’ve run out of teaching material. it will be a quick trip but i sure need the break from long xuyen.