Monday, January 4, 2010

Speech Competition!

I'm not sure the exact day, but Zoie and I were asked to help judge a speech contest one afternoon. There would be 16 students participating, and they were all from Junior 2 (my students). It had already been quite a long day, so the task of listening to 16 speeches and then judging them seemed quite tiring and daunting.... one speech into the competition, Zoie and I knew we were in for an exciting afternoon.

First of all, Zoie and I were seated in the center of the front row, directly in front of the stage. We were given 16 pieces of paper, and asked to record each students score after he/she was finished with his/her speech. The first student entered the stage and very boldly stated, "My title of my speech is 'My Love to My School.'" Both Zoie and I were immediately intrigued by the topic of choice. She ended her speech (it was pretty good, memorized, and well rehearsed), and a second student took the stage. Quite similarly to the first student,
he very boldly stated, "My title of my speech is 'My Love to My School.'" At this point, you know where I am going. The next 14 students all opened with a similar opening statement and the exact same speech topic. Although the topic got a little old after student five, six, seven...sixteen, the speech competition certainly did not lack amazing "statements." Every student discussed how much he/she loved the school, the teachers, the atmosphere, the school grounds, etc. They were very enthusiastic about their school life, and their love for everything. Here are a list of some of the days' best quotes (in no order).

- "I LOVE MY SCHOOL! I love my teachers. In fact, you may not know this, but I love my teachers more than I love my parents!"
- "I LOVE MY SCHOOL! I love my classrooms. I love the clean doors and the clean windows in my classroom!"
- "As I was growing up, I used to love going to the beach to find seashells. I would collect so many of them. As I started going to school, I realized that I was starting to collect the shells for my life. Going to school, I would be able to collect my life shell. I LOVE MY SCHOOL!"
- "I LOVE MY SCHOOL!" I love the grass, the trees, and the playground. I love the sidewalks."

These are definitely the best quotes of the afternoon, but joking aside, the students really did do a great job in giving their speeches. What a coincidence that they all happened to choose the same topic. Very odd.... In addition to yelling "I LOVE MY SCHOOL" and "I LOVE MY TEACHERS," the students each memorized their speeches, and had the nerves to recite them in front of all of the students (315 of them). I was very proud of them, and I now encourage other students in my classes to participate in the next competition.
This experience only reminded me to keep an open mind when asked to do certain tasks. Although at first they may seem a bit useless and boring, in the end, I really enjoyed my afternoon behind the judges
table. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't excited for next semester's topic!

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