A s a Foreign Language teacher for several years, I have come to accept that my students are not dunce; they are dumb.  That’s right….they are dumb.  In a classroom in which we expect them to learn a language which is totally foreign to them, a language which does not extend beyond the walls of the classroom, a language which they are taught laced with the native language (whatever that is, but that is for another day), they are, simply put…speechless.

We expect them to wrap their tongues seamlessly around vowel and consonant combinations which are alien to them and we expect them to do so in 3 hours a week for 13 weeks while they contend with reading and writing and listening while juggling 5 to 6 other courses, work and family commitments.

So our students are silent, speechless, dumb.  In highly academic and scholarly circles, this dumbness is called reticence and it emanates from language anxiety; a phenomena long studied by teachers, researchers, administrators and the like.

So what do we do?  Well, we start by knowing who we teach. From there we can know what makes them anxious and begin to explore how best to reduce the anxiety factor[s].  They really are not dunce….just dumb.

I am driven to explore, to uncover, to discover and to re-present. I live to describe and to de-scribe, to unwrite and to rewrite. Mine is the passion to ignite fire within my students, to evoke laughter, to share knowledge, to learn and to teach.  My zest is indelibly intertwined with ludic actions, reflective reasonings and with practical advice. My name is Michelle Stewart-McKoy and  iLearn…..iTeach…..iEducate!