Job Discussion Forums

[Gummy Bear]

I am teaching VIP students in China but this can apply anywhere. How do you keep control of your class and your sanity when these university and high school kids driving Beemers and Porsches and pay you $75 an hour, tell you "Hold Up Teach" so they can take a call on their mobile phone or start texting for 1o minutes at a crack?

[Sashadroogie]

I find arriving late and flustered to the classroom with blood dripping from my hands and spattered on my shirt, a mad look in my eye, a wild, threatening expression usually adds extra zest to my demands that they TURN THEIR GODDAMNED PHONE OFF BEFORE I TOTALLY SKITZ OUT.

That and having a school admin phone confiscation policy...

[Shroob]

[Cool Teacher]

Start strict with seriosu rules and have the studetns paste the rules into their books on the first day of class with clear penalties for breakting the rules and then when they break the rules tell all students to open the front page of the book and read out the rules and then penalize their butt!

[Hod]

As you've mentioned $75 an hour, it obviously has a bearing on how you feel. If you felt strongly enough about this rudeness, which it is, then you'd tell them to find another teacher. If you really need the cash, though, don't worry about it. You're being paid whilst they talk on the phone. Sounds great. Don't stress it.

Isn't this a bit like the well-meaning junior doctor helping his 300lb alcoholic smoker patient to manage his blood pressure and diabetes? You can only do so much, but some people don't help themselves.

[Big Worm]

There's really nothing you can do except quit, which will mean nothing to anyone but you.

At that point they are customers. who don't care about the class. and will get auto passes cuz they are customers. penalizing them will cause them to complain about you. They will be right, you will be wrong (customers).

If they don't take it seriously, you have to adjust how seriously you take it.

[Cool Teacher]

Hey some people say that yuo can do nothign but this is not true. If it is a prviate lesson then don't care about it but if you have otehr students maybe those students are angry, so you can appeal to them to help you.

[MuscatGary]

As others have intimated it all depends on whether the cash is enough to prostitute yourself, if not then quit, if yes then stop stressing and bank the money.

[fat_chris]

[simon44]

When I teach teenagers like that, I lock the classroom door at the start of the lesson - anyone who arrives late cannot get in and ends up being collared by the Principal.

If anyone uses their laptop or mobile phone without permission, then said items go in the classroom rubbish bin.

My students probably think I'm crazy, but it solved the problem of unruly male, teenagers and we all have a good laugh at anyone who dares to break those rules.

Simon

[Cool Teacher]

Today some boys in my junior high sclass said I was shoing favourims to the girls. One called me "Lolikon"!

I don't do that! I am just angry with the boys more becaue of their bad behavour.

[Lack]

I don't really deal with it. I just take the path of least resistance at my job. This is China. I'm not getting paid to teach. And if a student is not interested, there's truly nothing a teacher can do. You can take a kid's phone away and force him to sit down, but you can't make him learn. So I just do what I can. Darn, though, I want $75 an hour for lessons. I'll let them do whatever they want!

[sixthchild]

Sadly in most private schools that pay even half decent Money, this is the bs you have to put up with and it always amazes me when at the interview you ask the school admin panel about the school discipline policy and how it is implemented and what role do you play in that process and the steps to make it enforceable!
The silence is usually deafening, after about 3-5 minutes of embarrassing squirming from the other side of the room, I get up and say "bye folks, find another sucker"!

[JoeKing]

[whimsical1]