Job Discussion Forums

[AbeCross]

I am a several weeks into a month-long course with military students. They are to attend and complete college in the USA and were chosen by Saudi officers from among a large pool of applicants. Up to now, the most common query in class is:
"Can I go to the bathroom?"
The second most common has been:
"Can I have a pencil?"

[The Fifth Column]

[t_murakami]

Not such a shock there ....How else to check emails, politely ??

Wait till a couple ask u if they can go smoke houka (sure they're ahead of the lesson !)

.....things could sure be worse

[lcanupp1964]

I taught military students in Kuwait. I would let them use the bathroom, which really means they wanted to check their email/facebook on their smarter-than-them smartphones and escape the class for a while. I would rotate one, or two students at a time. If someone didn't come back, I would write their name down, but would not turn that person in unless one of my bosses asked me where that student was. I knew what they were doing, but after 12 plus years in the ESL game, I learned the hard way that a big part of one's job is to make the students happy enough that they don't complain to your boss.

[plumpy nut]