Job Discussion Forums

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

When you prepare a class thinking that the kids will really appreciate and participate and everyone can accomplish two important goals; learn something and have FUN!

You put so much time, thought and effort into trying to design something that you hope and pray will shake them out of their apathy...
...and then they just sit there like bumps on a frickin' log, knowing the answers but too shy to put up their hands, talking to their classmates or generally just ignoring you.

Last week I spent the classes introducing movie related vocabulary and concepts to my (relatively accomplished) middle school classes with the intention of playing some movie clips this week to illustrate 'fantasy' 'thriller' 'action' and 'animated'. I figure they'd be at least willing to TRY and name the type of movie they were watching and use some of the descriptive vocabulary that I had already given them. But Noooooooooooooo!

Sometimes I just feel like completely losing it, smacking heads and yelling just to shake them out of their ambivalence.
Wink

Paul Barufaldi · Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 271 Location: Beijing

Sometimes you need to force them to have fun. With an apathetic class it doens't matter what you do, how much thought you put into the lesson, how much you prepared. They need some good old fashioned discipline to shake them out of their collective stupor before any real progress can be made. But I know how you feel, watching the fruit of all your creative talents get regarded with as much disinterest as they might view their daily politics or geography lesson could be enough to leave a teacher questioning his own talents -until he tries the same lesson with a motivated group and finds that it can be a hit after all.

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

So true!
I know that the same lesson will be 'the bomb' when I present it tomorrow or on Wednesday but I dread my Monday classes (supposedly the brightest kids) because everything I try to accomplish is like pulling teeth.
Sometimes I just feel like walking in there and saying 'Be quiet, do your homework I'm going to read my magazine'.
Then when the teachers get wind of it and try to ream me out I'll just shrug my shoulders and tell them that I've given it 100% for the last 4 months and if they don't want to learn anything I'm not going to force them anymore.
These kids' parents are rich, they all pay 12,000 RMB per year for their progeny to attend this school and they're such....little buggers.

Venting, excuse me...
Rolling Eyes

woza17 · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 602 Location: china

How old are these kids? What is that famous saying by a hollywood Mogul. "Don't overestimate the intelligence of your audience" or something like that, especially if you are teaching big classes you have to feed them. Give them the sentence structure and let them fill in the space or spaces. When they can fill in one space successfully it gives them a lot of confidence to continue. I don't know your situation but I am hearing your frustration. Keep it simple.

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

Midlothian Mapleheart · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 623 Location: Elsewhere

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Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

I tell you what really drives me up the wall. All the complaining they do behind your back. Give them group-work and it's boring, they want a more 'Chinese' style lesson. Give them a 'chinese style' lesson and it's boring, they want to be able to talk. Give them a topic to discuss and we aren't teaching them anything useful. Give them day to day examples and you talk to fast. I could go on but you all get the jist.

What is it somebody said (Newton?) "For every action there's an equal but opposit reaction". This is certainly true in Chinese schools. They are crowded into classrooms of 50+, divided only on their 'entry examinations' and left to the teacher to deal with the mess. Well hey, NEWSFLASH!!! Foreign teachers will never be the same as Chinese teachers, not while the only requirment is to have a white face.

If our so called Oral classes were treated anything like their other classes, then that would be a great step forward. Teachers should be judged by the results they achieve and not by what the students say. The only way for this to happen is to make ESL a 'real' subject instead of just a money making scheme. Hell back in my high school I learnt French. Our one and only teacher was French. We had no time to sleep and listen to MP3's.

Most of the students across China view our classes as 'sleeping time'. Those who actually want to learn English are disrupted by their classmates and therefore complain about the teacher. It doesn't matter what we plan, we will never get 'em all.

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

Good post M.M and that's exactly what I do as well.

The kids who are doing their homework, talking to their friends or staring blankly into space are the ones I pick to answer or read if somebody doesn't volunteer. Sometimes this back fires because they just stand there looking stupid but usually I find that they know the answer but were just too shy or apathetic to raise their hand.
I make everyone stand up when answering as well.

Classes today were better, they LOVE the new Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin...I thought it was the worst movie of his career but it must be like the French worshipping Jerry Lewis...although God knows how anyone can explain that one!

Gorak · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 69 Location: SW of Khabarovsk

With high school students, I can certainly understand and appreciate the importance of being a policeman in the classroom. That is, the good cop, bad cop routine the delivers rewards/punishments on a stimulus-response basis. In my public high school, substitute teachers who were unable to control their students, were soon drummed out of the classroom.

So, what does a policeperson do in a crowd of 40 or more students in a high school classroom. For me, the priority would be to establish myself as the toughest one in the classroom and get the bad cop routine down pat. This may take several weeks.

Then, the teaching starts.

Midlothian Mapleheart · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 623 Location: Elsewhere

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mondrian · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 1:14 pm Post subject:

Midlothian Mapleheart · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 623 Location: Elsewhere

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prof · Joined: 25 Jun 2004 Posts: 741 Location: Boston/China

Gorak · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 69 Location: SW of Khabarovsk

Middy,

Your summary of teaching follows my original premise of good cop/bad cop routine in establishing discipline and order in high schools. Bad cop in the beginning; hopefully, good cop thereafter.

Gorak · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 69 Location: SW of Khabarovsk

Prof says suggests that one becomes better qualifed to work (in a high school) where the administration enforces a clear set of rules. In such situations, he says the teacher does not have to act as a policeman.

I would agree with this - but add the fact that such schools are likely to be private (and a few public) schools who have entrance criteria to only accept students who will likely abide by school rules.

If I could not find such schools to teach in, I would become better qualified by studying for a Black Belt (maybe, a Brown Belt would be sufficient) in Judo or a form of self-dense in close quarters. Abroad, there are many reports of high school students assaulting their teachers. In my high school, we only assaulted fellow students, but tried to push the buttons of vulnerable teachers. All within the school's rules.