Assignment #12
Write about a time from your past (in middle or high school) when you observed a situation in which a person had trouble having a conversation. This person would likely have struggled in a social situation and been at a loss as to how to respond to the other people present. There was likely a mismatch between the person’s response to their social setting and the response of the other people. If there was an attempt to reach out and improve this person’s ability to manage conversations and social interactions with others, describe what happened (the attempt to help may have been made by a teacher, another adult, a peer, or a small group). How effective was the attempt to help?
Kitty Lui
In my one of my classes when I was in middle school, I was paired up with a person who was generally seen as really shy and kept to herself. While I would talk to her to work on the assignment, she stuttered once and a while, took a long time to reply, and would say “umm” a lot before she would speak. It just seemed that if she was around people who she was generally not around and not comfortable with she would have some of those struggles. However, with her friends she seemed to be perfectly fine talking to them without having any of the troubles that I saw. I’m not aware of any attempt to reach out and improve her ability to manage conversation and interaction with others.
Nancy Lu
I believe that there are several instances when people have struggled in conversing with people. High school can be difficult in terms of making new friends if you don’t come in as a freshman. When I began 10th grade, there was a new girl that came to our school. Of course, in a new environment, she was very shy and to herself. She rarely talked to anyone in class and I would sometimes see her eat by herself during lunch or nutrition. I decided to go up to her in class and introduced myself and start a conversation. She was shy at first, but because I started a conversation with her, she started to open up. I would also hang out with her during nutrition or lunch to keep her company. If I didn’t come up to her, she would probably remain shy and be afraid to approach people. It’s such a huge change when people are willing to help others.
Omar Sarreal
In my past I knew some people that had a little bit trouble finding friends. There was one situation in high school that I can remember. I was volunteering for the elementary school I had attended. There was one student in particular who had just transferred from a different school that semester. This boy had a particularly hard time making friends. During lunch he would often sit by himself and quietly play by himself during recess. I recall that one day I went up to him and engaged him in some conversation and he began to tell me about where he came from and what his old school was like. Hearing about hjs experience helped me to understand him more and over the course of the week I was able to introduce him to a new group of friends that had similar interests as him. My attempt to help this boy affected him in a positive way. He now sits with his new friends at lunch and plays with them all the time.
Aliyah Deiz
I remember a time in high school, I had a guy in one of my classes who always tried so hard to be liked by everyone. Back then, I saw it as annoying and it is likely that I thought he knew exactly what he was doing. Now, I know that in certain cases, others have trouble in social settings. In his case, the teacher always stepped in, but I don’t think the teacher was well aware of what he was dealing with either. Often times the teacher would tell the student to just stop bothering others and to just keep to himself. Looking back, I can see how detrimental this could potentially be to his development as a person. I think it is very important for all teachers to learn about this kind situation and create ways to improve social situations instead of just punishing students.
Angel Moreno
I was in the ninth grade at Corona High School and my biology teacher had assigned a project that needed to be presented. It was a creative project and a summary about a concept of biology needed to be taught to the rest of the class. This girl had to sing about the process of the Krebs cycle. To begin with, understanding thoroughly the cycle is extremely hard to any student. So, now that she had to sing and teach it at the same time would be very difficult for her. She commenced her song very well but by halfway, I noticed her turning red. She then began to stutter a lot. She was wiping her sweat off her forehead constantly. She simply just could not sing the words and finish her song. The classroom went quiet for more than a minute. The teacher then told her to take her time and that it is all okay. The girl could not finish her presentation, so the teacher let her sit and present whenever she felt ready again. So, she decided to present last and it was still difficult for her to sing. That is when all of us: her friends and peers, started to cheer her on and clap for her. We were telling her that she had this and that she can finish her presentation. By simply showing support and respect to her, she was able to finish her presentation and build social skills.
SUMMARY
We have all agreed that certain situations can be very detrimental to a person's development. It's always nice to have others help one another to alleviate a situation. Friends, peers, and teachers are great ways of guiding and helping other people. Any situation can make a person feel uncomfortable or awkward, and having friends are great ways of making a positive impact.