Job Discussion Forums

[Fortigurn]

I'm pondering one of the questions in a form sent to me by a school to which I've applied:

[MTurton]

Toss his ass out promptly. It will do wonders for the rest of the year.

[Fortigurn]

[Taylor]

Do you even know how old the potential students are? That is obviously a key factor in dealing with any classroom situation.

I can assure you that 98% of Taiwan's population would not understand those "politically correct" responses anyway. You could translate those into Russian or Greek and get the same response!!!

Non-verbal communication, directed peer pressure, engaging classroom activities--along with an established reward system--are the keys to classroom control. If this doesn't make sense, I will write more later.

Personally, the school to which you are applying does not sound like my cup of tea....but "to each his own" as for places of employment.

Considering your experience, you might like the place.

Best wishes,

Taylor
Kaohsiung/Dallas

[MTurton]

Look, obviously you can't answer the truth, that you toss the kid out of class first thing (don't let it escalate). So give them the answer you wrote, about how nice and firm you'd be. They'll like that.

Taylor's answer is right on, but you can't write that either. Write what you wrote in the first paragraph, as it sounds wonderful, and then when you get here, do what Taylor and I advise. I have a whole page on disciplinary tricks I have used at one time or another (just wait until you have a class of 70 16 year olds to control, with no assistant teacher).

Michael

[Fortigurn]

[Fortigurn]

Michael, I have been killing myself laughing over your disciplinary action page. I think it's brilliant. Thanks so much for sending me the link.

I've filled in the questionnaire. The only funny one was 'What is your philosophy of education'.

[Frankie Knuckles]

Hello Fortigurn,

I went to an inner suburban private boys school in Melbourne so I think I know where you are coming from. I have only been teaching in Taiwan for a few months but I have also had previous experience teaching both adults and young kids in Japan. I don't really think you will have to much to worry about in regards to discipline here in Taiwan if you choose to work at a respectable school. Generally the behaviour of kids in the classroom is better here than it is in Australia. I remember how bad some of the kids were when I went to school in Melbourne even in a well respected private school and how disrespectful they were towards the teachers. I could never be a teacher in Australia because I think young people don't have much respect for teachers. It is part of Australian culture really, to not respect people in positions of authority.

Frankie

[Fortigurn]

[ncaraway]

As a newbie teacher I perused this thread (and others) looking for tips on classroom management. I'm facing some of the issues I've seen peppered through various threads here:

* preschool kids who scream and run around
* kindergarden classes disrupted by one kid who tries to show off
* elementary school kids who don't seem to want to be in class and thus don't try

For preschool and kindergarden I have a Taiwanese TA (usually a volunteer who is an English major at a nearby university) that helps somewhat but not much. For the elementary school kids I'm on my own and my Chinese is limited (though I do try). There are good days and bad days. Yesterday was a bad day.

My buxiban has small "point" cards that teachers are allowed to give students as rewards. I've tried to use these for positive reinforcement, giving them to students that are obedient or who answer questions correctly. This helps somewhat. I have a feeling the tactic is somewhat undermined because I suspect that the Taiwanese teachers just give the cards to all students.

I also started calling on the disruptive students more often to answer questions. Most are unable to because they haven't been paying attention. The unexpected result of this tactic is that those students' parents contacted the school saying their children now have "a negative feeling about learning English". I explained the tactic and rationale to my boss and she seems to be siding with me but has requested that I try to give those students more individualized attention.

For the preschoolers, I have tried clapping my hands to get their attention. It works sometimes but not often. One suggestion I read somewhere was to turn the lights off and on to get their attention. I am reluctant to try that since the light switch is within their reach and I can envision them disrupting the class even more by turning the lights off themselves.

My buxiban is small and I'm the only native speaker (i.e., westerner). I asked if I could observe the other teachers to see how they manage the classes but that request didn't go over too well. And so, I figured I'd ask folks here for tips or suggestions.

Many thanks!

[Taylor]

Hello everyone,

One bad apple can spoil the bunch.

This old proverb is certainly true when applied to a classroom.

If I were in this situation, I would let the management know that a few student (among dozens, I presume) are causing "a negative feeling about TEACHING English."

Those students need to learn respect. They need to respect the teacher and their classmates. (Not to mention the parents of all of the children who are working to pay for the tuition, books, etc.)

RESPECT IS THE BOTTOM LINE.

It's been too long since I've taught learners under 8 years old, so I'll leave that to the others who may want to contribute.

As for the elementary school-aged children, your only hope involves peer-pressure and operant conditioning.

With regard to the prize cards, you need to find out how many cards each student has at the present time. See if the students like to 'hoard' them or convert them to prizes. Are the prizes cute, fashionable stuff that looks like it was made in Japan... or unwanted junk that looks like it came from the Mainland?

The students need to be rewarded as a class every 6 to 9 months. At my previous school, we had an 'apple' system. If the class achieved 100 apples--and kept them for a week-- then they were treated to a Pizza party. This might cost $1000 NT or so, but it was always worth it. We would also have fried chicken, drinks and cookies.

The school should pay, but even if the teacher pays, it's probably worth it-as long as you would still get paid for "teaching" that hour.

Each of the apples had a small piece of velcro on the back, allowing them to be easily (and quickly) removed and added back as necessary.

If you give a 10 second countdown for them to be quiet and open their books, and everyone does so..... They get one apple.

If they miss your ten second deadline, they lose at least one apple--maybe 2 or 3. Only give them apples back when students do well. It might be those students who caused the penalty or others who never cause trouble that allow the class to reclaim the apples.

Well, it's 9:55 AM on Sunday morning. I'm heading to church!

More later!!!! Best wishes everyone!

Taylor in Texas

[ncaraway]

Taylor,

Thanks so much. These are great ideas. I will pose some as suggestions to my boss. I think she will be receptive.

A related anecdote: tonight I had to administer a make up oral exam to a student so in addition to my regular TA the woman who works the front desk came to help manage the preschool students. I stepped out of the classroom for 3-4 minutes for the exam and when I walked back into the classroom one of the students was screaming in the woman's face. I could tell she was not happy but she took it like a good sport.

When I took this job one of my friends in the States commented that Asian kids are more well-behaved than American kids. I replied that that remains to be seen. After all, kids will be kids.

Anyway, thanks again for your feedback. I welcome other suggestions or resources for consideration.