How Much Do You Speak Up in School?

When I was younger, I used to be a gregarious and ouspoken girl. I would always speak up in school and participate in school activities. Many people told me my easygoing smile and jaunty gait gave me an air of confidence and the truth was I truly felt confident about myself. Now I am eighteen years old and in college, I found myself plagued by self-doubt. Therefore, I have become quite reticent. I like sitting in the back of the classroom and avoid making eye contact with my teachers and classmates. Whenever a teacher's stare lingered on me, I become apprenhensive and start shaking. When a teacher asks me a question in class and I felt all my classmates craning their necks to get a better look of me, my face turns bright crimson and then pale with fear. When I look back on the past, I criy in despair because I miss so much the old me. The reason why I transform from a haughty, talkactive girl to this nervous, timid girl is that I haven't conquered my fear of speaking English in front of others after three years of living in the U.S. When My parents and I emmigrate to the U.S, I spoke and understood none English. My classmates mocked at me for my broken English. I felt miserable for my limited English and when I finally mastered the language, the doubts did not dissipate. It is horrible living in a country where I feel like I don't belong. I feel so self-conscious of my thick accent I prefer pretending I don't speak English than risked being humiliated.

Like Ms. Lee, I tend to be shy in the beginning high school, all of my friends went to different schools. I knew almost no one in all of my classes, except for those I've seen in middle school but I don’t really know them. It's hard for me to make friends because it's hard to know who’s fake/judges you or who will be there for you. In class I try to sit away from the class so I'm not called on as often. It’s terrifying when I’m called on in front of a group of strangers and mess up, I feel embarrassed and stupid. Once I figure out what everyone is like I’ll break out of my shell and talk to the kids I feel I’ll get along best with.

I have self esteem issues so i'm always reluctant to share in class. I also don't like all the attention that comes with sharing in class, it usually makes me super self-conscious and extremely uncomfortable.

When are you most confident speaking up in school? When are you the least? Are you different at home or with your friends than you are in the classroom, in terms of speaking your mind, asking questions or participating in activities? If so, what do you think accounts for that difference? At school I’m most confident speaking up when the teacher is asking me a question or when the teacher wants us to answer the question and I know the answer. In these cases I would speak up in those situations. Also if I’m off track I would speak up to get a better understanding to ensure I’m on task. I’m less confident speaking up when I know theres a smart person going to get the question right. In these cases I have found that there is no point in trying because this is usually when I don’t really get the question. I am different at home and with my friends then in my classroom because I mostly know I’m not going to get embarrassed and I’m free to talk with my friends and family. I talk a lot and I do participate in family games or playing with my friends. I do participate because there more fun then participate in school activity and I do ask question more often when I’m with my family and friends about sports and random stuff . I think it accounts for that difference because students are not shy with there family or friends and it not likely there friends will be in the same class so speaking up in class will be more nervously.

I was the type of person to be so shy in middle school and in early high school. I was a energetic kid though, in elementary everyone talked to everyone and no one was left out. It was an amazing experience. However that was in California. Then I moved to Minnesota and became shy. I lost all my friends back in Cali and found it hard to make new ones. I always cared what people thought about me. Then in late high school I changed. I changed my lifestyle. Played sports and worked out. Then that gave me the confidence to not care what anyone else thinks and that helped me open up more and be more outgoing. But I still ain't the loud mouth of the class.

Many teacher restrict conversation in classes, teachers want to talk to the class and teach their lesson instead of having more time for questions. but many teachers also have a more relaxed environment but many students abuse that and aren't focused on school when a teacher is trying to promote discussion and questions.

I agree it depends how the teacher acts and interacts with his students. Me personally when a nice and calm teacher asks me something I answer calm and clearly because I know no matter if the answer wrong she is going to help me correct it. I have this math teacher who likes to play around with his students, and if they answer wrong he will say " what are you saying, do you know in what class your in?". And I wouldn't want him to say that in front of 20 kids and embarrassed me so I prefer him not to ask me anything.

In my opinion, I think it depends on the teacher how she/he talks with her/his students. I feel most confident in class to talk with the teacher is more friendly and makes the class fun for having a conversation with each other. I feel the least confident talking in class when the teacher is not that fun and ask hard questions to answer or a teacher who gets mad fast. I speak up for myself if there is anything wrong or something that I can't understand. I don't think that I change with my friend and family I mean I don't act differently with anyone unless if I don't feel comfortable with them.

For me I'm that one kid that would speak in any class, but if I know there is someone smarter than me in a certain class then i'll just stay quiet because that person knows it, unless I am stuck on something I don't understand then i have to speak up so I can be on track with what I am doing.

We koreans are the latter, hoping not to be called on class. But I like to speak often in class and feel confident when I do it. However, sometimes, I am overwhelmed by the quiet atmosphere and become reluctant to stand up. I think it's a big problem.

I am not shy. I am not quiet. people always think that if you don't talk in school your quit. and that is beneath the truth. that may just mean that you don't know the answer. people always call me shy or quiet or something around those lines people have appoints they might just not want to share all the time also if you actually have a nice little chat with the person that you might think is shy. you might think that she has a big personalty.

I relate to the author since I came as an immigrant as well, not knowing one single drop of English. The thought of starting school in the United States terrified me since it was a whole new, very different experience for me and I did not know what to expect. On my first day of fourth grade, I was fortunate enough to have met students who assisted me the minute I walked into class. (I am still friends with them, to this day). In elementary school, I remember participating a lot despite not knowing the language well. Even if my answer was wrong, I was not discouraged. I was always a shy kid, however, middle school is when my self-esteem plummeted a little bit. I became introverted and would no speak to students unless they spoke to me first. I was afraid that if I said something wrong in English, they would make fun of me. I grew out of that fear late eighth grade because I became more confident with my skills. I realized that with my friends, I was more outgoing since I would feel comfortable around them. So far in high school, I have gotten out of my comfort zone and joined a play as well as many clubs. I have also met many new students that I have become really close with through the activities I have joined.

I would say my enthusiasm to speak up in class went in the opposite way than the author. As a kid, I was very confident and knew I was smart, English was my first language so that wasn't a concern for me. As I have gotten older, my self-esteem has declined. It's very rare that I will voluntarily raise my hand to answer a question, even if I know for a fact that I know the right answer. Another way for me to speak up is if I am around my friends. They give me confidence somehow. It's hard for me to relate to this article because I am not from a foreign country and english is my primary language, but as someone who struggles with anxiety, I can say that I go through some of these things too.

Public speaking has always been my worst problem. I find it really difficult to talk to others and in front of large crowds. I barely talk in class and around my friends, but I am really loud when I'm around my siblings. I think this is because I was emotionally abused as a kid and I feel like everyone is judging me all time. Nonetheless, I'm happy that I'm not as reserved as before and I realize that everyone is nice once you get to know them.

In my opinion, speaking up in classes is different for everyone. I feel like I speak up in a classroom where it is a nice and welcoming learning environment. For example, if I have a teacher that is really welcoming and nice, I would be motivated to talk to them and ask questions. However, if I have a mean teacher who always criticizes me, I wouldn't be motivated to talk to them and ask questions. This is mainly because I think that whether I (and many other students) speak up is determined by the environment of the classroom. Related to this topic, the level of participation at my school has probably increased as students are motivated to raise their grades with participation points. Many teachers that give participation as a grade have many students that participate a lot.

For me, speaking in class has always been a lot easier than speaking outside of it, to the point of greatly annoying others. I’ve always been oblivious to the embarrassment that Ms. Lee brings up, mostly due to an ADHD-fueled lack of awareness of social norms. Where I’ve generally been a lot less successful is interacting with my peers, as I can be quite the shy doormat. I’m not an immigrant, but I can certainly understand having little to nothing in common with those that surround me. In my school’s culture, class isn’t fun -- it’s something to shirk. Not many people want to talk about the types of knowledge that fascinate me. As a result, I’ve similarly socialized with teachers instead of students, as the class’s material provides something to talk about, and they’re generally the ones who were willing to tolerate my eccentricities. Very recently, in the debate team Ms. Lee had such a bad experience with, I’ve found a group of friends. I’m not any good at the actitivy, but I’ve been forced to become far more informed about the world as a whole, and found a group of people that are similarly willing to spend their freetime reading tens of thousands of words of news articles and academic journals to formulate an argument, which provides great conversation fodder. My conversational ability and awareness of my social surroundings have greatly improved as a result, and I’m beginning to form my own opinions on things for once. I suppose I've found a voice.

Personally, I am the kid that keeps quiet and doesn't speak up. I think the reason why students don't speak up often in class is because they don't want to be wrong, or be embarrassed even though being wrong is part of learning. I wonder, if students responded to questions or a discussion anonymously via writing or typing, would it make they more comfortable and prompt more responses? Or would it cause them not to participate in the discussion as much? Since they are discussing anonymously