Touchy Subject

Last year, I made a student cry. No, it had nothing to do with me being strict. I didn't say anything bad to offend her. I just asked a simple question, "Which do you prefer a rainy or sunny day? Why?" (Yes, I it was a class in college but the question may sound too simple. More on this next time.) She said, "I prefer sunny day because rainy day makes me feel sad." Then I asked why. When she was answering, tears were beginning to fall from her eyes. She hates raindy days because she's reminded of the cruelties of her mom.

Yesterday, I made two more students cry (first day of classes). Again, not because I looked and acted too frightening. No, I was not bitching around. As a typical first day in class, we had a getting-to-know activity.

Since it's a Speech Communication class, I wanted to gauge the students' ability (fluency) in speaking English through presentation as well as answering series of questions. I asked them to tell something important about them or something that their classmates still don't know about them. One student shared that she is emotional and she hates talking about family issues. She was stating that as if she was about to cry. I didn't dare to ask the reason as I don't want my class to turn out a values education class. Then, when I asked another student why is she taking up education, tears started to flow. While crying she shared that she's taking up Education to prove that even if she's poor she can finish college and be able to share her knowledge to others in the future.

Remember the student who said she's emotional and easily touched by family issues? Well, she also cried while listening to the other's student's story.

Sometimes, you just don't know when a particular subject will be touchy. For me, it was just a simple question which may be explained with passion. I didn't expect any emotional outburst. It was just the first day of class and we will be discussing a lot of things. Apparently, I have to be prepared with more crying moments. But I don't want to turn my class to a drama class. Maybe I should tweak my rule in class. Instead of "express yourself and let go of hesitation" it should be "express yourself, let go of hesitations, and please do not cry."