Date/Time: January 22nd, 1:00 pm
Location: Ramin's Intercultural Exchange Class
During this class, I got to work with Estrwa and Caled on an iceberg-culture worksheet. We had to discuss and place observable culture habits "above" or "below" the surface on the cultural iceberg. I had a hard time getting Estrwa to participate in the conversation. She was sweet, but I think she was either really shy or just tired. Caled was very talkative and eager to talk with me about where to place the culture habits on the iceberg worksheet. We decided to make three sections on the iceberg: below, above, and somewhere in between.
After we placed the different habits on the worksheet, we got to briefly discuss how each habit is different in each of our cultures. I tried getting Estrwa to join in on the conversation by comparing how maybe her style of dress is possibly related to her notion of modesty, and then again how her style of dress is related to religious rituals. She ended up not really contributing much to the conversation, but instead Caled did. So I'm not really sure what happened or if I offended her or what.
We were given worksheets to fill out, but Estrwa didn't fill write anything. So I gave her my sheet so she had something to work with for future assignments. (Did I do something wrong? Why wasn't she contributing?)
Anyway, I was really impressed with Caled's English skills. Estrwa understood me (I think), but I guess this is a learning experience. I should figure out a way to get shy people involved in class participation.
Since Estrwa is not my students, I'm not sure about how to interpret her behavior. If you do have a student like this in the future, it is usually a good idea to talk to other teachers about her, and eventually speak to her directly, if appropriate. Could it be that she was paired with a male?
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