Caveat: A moment of empathy

On Saturday mornings, these days, I have a pop-music listening class (cloze passages and comprehension) with some advanced students. I have been making them find their own songs, prepare the materials (e.g. the cloze passages) themselves, and present the class, taking turns. I just sit in the back and kind of try to make sure they stay on track. 

This morning, Hyein was presenting a song. She's a meticulous student. The girls in the class were behaving the same way they always do: hyper, constantly drifting off-topic, unremittingly loquacious in utterly unprecocious ways. Suddenly Hyein looked up at me, directly, and sweeping her hand across the front row of students, she said with a matter-of-fact tone, "Now I understand your feeling, standing up here."

Somehow, this served to chasten the other students, at least briefly. The class has about 5 minutes of almost-focused quiet before returning to its more standard low cacophony. 

[daily log: walking, 7.5km]

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