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Embarrassing Things done in class
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Sally Vaite



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 27
Location: Izmir

PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:02 pm    Post subject: Embarrassing Things done in class Reply with quote

This is probably a very worn path but I would be interested in hearing
(true please) stories of embarrassing things that you have done, or have happened in class. I have very little classroom experience at the moment but I am sure I wont have to wait too long before I can add my own story.
The only thing I can think of so far is spitting all over students in the front row- accidentally I hasten to add.
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billybuzz



Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 219
Location: turkey

PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guffed in class once ! Slightly embarrassing but blamed a smelly looking student who like a mug took the rap .
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sandyhoney2



Joined: 01 Jun 2005
Posts: 189

PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know you are talking about us, the teachers, but my own reaction to something a student said really embarrassed me. One of my students, straight-as-an-arrow, never cracked a joke in class, etc. once said to a fellow student, during a class exercise, what I heard as "You've got big b00bs."

My face immediately turned a deep red. I tried not to draw attention to it, but it was fairly obvious. The students kept demanding to know what it was that I thought he said. Apparently, he had said 'boots'.

Then of course, there was a lot of speculation, in Turkish, what it was they thought I heard. They had a good laugh.

Also, not that this happened in class, but I made the mistake of telling my students... I had been in Istanbul for about a week when I heard, one night, the sound of multiple gunfire outside our third floor apartment. I hit the deck and crawled to my room-mates, who were completely undisturbed. When they realized why I was where I was, they had a good laugh, and then explained to me what the thing called UEFA was, and how Turks tend to celebrate victories.

From that day on, whenever there was a big game on, my students would mimic gunfire in class to forewarn me.
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dmb



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397

PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I poked a (rather pretty) student's breast. Honest it was an accident. She jumped into my pointing finger.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I assume that 'to guff' is some vulgar Americanism for 'to break wind' or vulgo in English 'to fart'.
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Hector_Lector



Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Posts: 548

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To guff in Scotland is to break wind or to talk nonsense.
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thrifty



Joined: 25 Apr 2006
Posts: 1665
Location: chip van

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Billybuzz is guilty on both accounts then.

Welcome back Hector Lector, you have been sorely missed by those of us who are trying to stand up for what is right.
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Hector_Lector



Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Posts: 548

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry for the absence.

Can I just say that it is true - smoking really is bad for you Embarassed


Last edited by Hector_Lector on Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:07 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Baba Alex



Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 2411

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thrifty wrote:
Billybuzz is guilty on both accounts then.

Welcome back Hector Lector, you have been sorely missed by those of us who are trying to stand up for what is right.


Want to we want?

GUFF!

WHen do we want it?

GUFF!
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corall



Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 270
Location: istanbul, turkey

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

in my first year of teaching once i tried to say "shut-it (the window)" to my middle school kids in korea and it came out, shi.t and they noticed.

also in my first year: another korean kid (grade 1) tried to teach me a new word. then all of a sudden a korean teacher came in and scolded him. it turned out i was repeating the word *beep* over and over again in korean and i now understood why my grade 1 students were killing themselves trying not to laugh in my face.
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corall



Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 270
Location: istanbul, turkey

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 6:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the beep word was pe.nis
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Sheikh Inal Ovar



Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 1208
Location: Melo Drama School

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dmb wrote:
I poked a (rather pretty) student's breast. Honest it was an accident. She jumped into my pointing finger.


Yeah .. yeah ... that old chestnut ... had you still been in Bahrain .. Shocked

As for embarrassing ... not classroom but .. today ... after asking me what the English was for s�per and teşekk�rler .. a doğal gaz technician whose roots are firmly planted on the wrong side of the missing link proceeded to explain (in Turkish of course) how fantastic his English used to be 5 to 10 years ago ... damn near fluent ... and what's more ... his uncle is a translator don't you know ...
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Baba Alex



Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 2411

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sheikh Inal Ovar wrote:
dmb wrote:
I poked a (rather pretty) student's breast. Honest it was an accident. She jumped into my pointing finger.


Yeah .. yeah ... that old chestnut ... had you still been in Bahrain .. Shocked

As for embarrassing ... not classroom but .. today ... after asking me what the English was for s�per and teşekk�rler .. a doğal gaz technician whose roots are firmly planted on the wrong side of the missing link proceeded to explain (in Turkish of course) how fantastic his English used to be 5 to 10 years ago ... damn near fluent ... and what's more ... his uncle is a translator don't you know ...


I've had that from students who didn't want to do activities in the classroom. One students claimed she just wanted to do gap fills like she did in school. I pointed out that if they had worked, then she would have learnt English. She said that she had learnt English fluently in this method and had simply forgotten it. I asked her how long it had been. She said 6 months.
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dmb



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
had you still been in Bahrain .
I would have had to pay for the privilege. Shocked
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basiltherat



Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 952

PostPosted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

over the years, 2 embarrassing moments stand out:

1. calling a 'she' a 'he'. ..... she was a tomboy. i really cudnt tell. in retrospect shud have noticed the lack of the adam's apple. just didnt think. even the name cudnt help me. giggles all round the classroom. she wasnt joining in obviously.

2. asking a woman how many children she had before asking if she was married. unfortunately, she was around 40 odd. i presumed wrongly that she was married. she must have felt kinda humiliated cos in that particular country, girls are often married by the time their 19. again giggles all round the room.

best
basil Embarassed
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