November 2020
This month's voice:
Virginia Hanslien, "On Gratitude"
Introduction
Lindsay Herron
Editor, KOTESOL Voices
Every time I've had the pleasure of speaking with Virginia Hanslien, she has struck me as someone who seems to handle the exigencies of life with an unflappable grace, calmly navigating her manifold roles as she balances work, family, and school. The KOTESOL Voices piece she created for us this month nicely captures this calmness, I think, and reveals her reflective, thoughtful, caring nature. Her topic of gratitude seems particularly apropos right now, in a year when many of us feel frustrated and ineffectual; her words provide some much-needed comfort and positivity, reassuring teachers their work is valuable and valued, though our students might not say anything, and reminding us that even amidst the chaos of this year, there are points of light and joy.
In the spirit of this piece, and as my term as KOTESOL president draws to a close, I'd like to take a moment to share my gratitude for KOTESOL, its members, and its volunteers and leaders. I don't say it nearly often enough, but I appreciate each and every one of you! I have noticed your time, effort, dedication, and enthusiasm, all of which helps to make KOTESOL such a welcoming, supportive community of practice. Thank you all. And thank you, Virginia and all our other KOTESOL Voices contributors, for helping to make KOTESOL Voices the inspiring, insightful publication it is!
On Gratitude
Virginia Hanslien
Gratitude is an attitude that is important during this strange time of COVID-19. For the past few months, I have been writing a gratitude list at the end of the day. It has all the small things that I am thankful for. It includes things like the sweet apple I ate after lunch and the myriad of teaching-related items that I got done during the day. It is helping immensely in keeping me mentally focused and far away from the depression monster that many people suffer from.
Occasionally, students and class situations work their way onto my gratitude list. A stand-out example came in the shape of a student I’d had for a full year. My first encounter with this student came at the beginning of the spring semester for a class entitled Academic English III. He was very quiet during our first class, but he approached me afterward. I was expecting the usual questions about participation and attendance; instead, he had a number of questions he wanted to ask about my class and how I was going to handle certain situations when they came up. At the time, I was absolutely astounded at the amount of English I was hearing. I held back my astonishment, and I answered his questions. The last thing he shared that day was about a recent teaching experience of his. I had asked him if he was interested in teaching more because his questions were just so detailed. He said that he had just finished teaching math to a small group of middle school students. It had been difficult because the students had made comments about his way of teaching and his rather feminine demeanor.
We had more than a few after-class encounters from there. I remember that he talked to me after the class where I explained the midterm exam. I spent a lot of time reassuring him that I thought his English skills were quite strong. I also remember the time he spent in my office telling me about a bonus book project for class. It was obvious that he absolutely loved Matilda by Roald Dahl. He asked me at the end of the semester about what I was planning for Academic English IV. By this point, I’d realized that he really was good at shocking me with his questions. I had barely had time to process what I was going to do, mainly because it was the end of the semester, and I was thinking more about how to finish off the classes I was teaching. I did tell him that Academic English IV was going to have more reading assignments, as I had already planned on making that change.
I recognized him in Academic English IV the following semester. He spoke up in class this time, asking me questions in front of everybody. I remember smiling to myself and thinking that he had grown quite a bit. It was another eventful semester in which he questioned quite a bit of what I wanted to do in class. I was used to this with him and was not offended in the least.
At the end of the semester, he showed up after tutorial sessions were over. It is during this time that I show the grading spreadsheets to students. I want them to know not only their grade but the amount of effort they put into the class and where that effort situates them in terms of their class rank. He knocked on the door just as I was packing up.
“Hi, there! I was just packing up to go home.” I pulled out the spreadsheet for his class and showed him his grades. He then proceeded to pick up the box of books and my bag. We walked to my car together, and he said thank you to me for teaching him for a whole year. I was a little taken aback because there are so few students who actually express gratitude for their teacher at the end of the semester. He asked me why I worked so hard and why I cared about the students. I remember replying that I care and I hope students learn something in my classroom. He put the box and my bag in the car and said goodbye.
The whole encounter got me thinking about the story of Jesus healing ten men with leprosy. He tells them to show themselves to the priests. The lepers basically just turn in the direction of the temple and walk a short way down the road before the healing happens. Only one man, a Samaritan, comes back and thanks him. He is the only one filled with gratitude toward the man who healed him.
Here is the text: “Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well’” (Luke 17:17-19).
The bottom line is that gratefulness is an attitude that we need to practice more. I believe that that the others were healed of leprosy, but they were just so excited to share with their loved ones what had happened that they forgot to come back to Jesus. Likewise, there were other students that expressed gratefulness to me that semester, but the number of actual students was around 10% of the approximately 100 students who were enrolled in my classes. This passage may be right in that gratitude is only expressed 10% of the time.
Gratitude really is an attitude that we all need a little more of. We need to express it, and we need others to express it to us. I am sure that more than 10% of students are changed by what we do for them. What we do matters. It just isn’t always expressed.
About the Author
Virginia Hanslien (MA, intercultural studies) teaches at the Sejong Institute of Foreign Languages at Korea University Sejong Campus. She co-facilitates the KOTESOL Christian Teachers SIG and edits both Chroniclesofhopekorea.wordpress.com and the corresponding newsletter, Chronicles of Hope: Christian Educators in Korea and Abroad. She is completing a Masters of Education with Framingham University. She lives in Sejong City with her husband and three sons.
