On Thursday I actually got to meet Ryoko and tutor her. I was very surprised that she contacted me because she was very hesitant at first. She taught me a very good lesson. I always thought I didn't have a problem with speaking to shy people but I actually do! I don't know what to do when someone is quiet or they don't talk, I freak out inside. I kind of try to match the energy of others when I speak to others which I don't do on purpose, it's just what I noticed I do. So when someone is really shy I tend to close up and get shy as well. It definitely did not help the situation. I tried to ask her questions and not look directly at her face. It was difficult to get information from her too because she was so quiet when she said things and the room was quite loud. I found out, however, that she likes nutrition and she is studying nutrition in school and she is a senior. I told her about what I am writing about in my International Cultural Leadership class. I hope she thought it is interesting since it is about food and changing the public school lunch system which Jamie Oliver is popular for doing. When I showed her the lunches she was very surprised because she did not know that school lunches looked so unappetizing.
Oh yeah I remember meeting Ryoko in one of my class observations! She was indeed very shy and the other students always overpowered her with speaking, but the teacher would always manage to get her to talk by focusing just on her with a very friendly attitude - she did quite well when she did answer questions and spoke though! That's good that you got to learn about her!
ReplyDeleteI have seen her in my class observations as well and she is a great student! I know hard it is to try to get a shy person to talk. It's great that she finally contacted you though! Maybe the more you two interact the more she will open up. I'm sure she enjoyed talking with you!
ReplyDelete