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MeiYu · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 24 Location: Hangzhou

ok, i really feel like i'm up against a wall.

i just started at a large (private) primary school after having worked at an english training school (the standard mill type). so, transition from small classes (6-10 Ss) to large (30+)...very difficult.

furthermore, we (my husband and i) do not have chinese assistants or books, and only meet once a week with each class....just being eye candy i suppose.

so i am expected to teach/entertain and CONTROL 1st and 2nd graders with my overwhelming lack of chinese, no books, no assistance.... Shocked

i'm just wondering if this is normal? it is so very different for us, going from being respected and needed at our private training center, to this eye-candy role...
Rolling Eyes

and i suppose i'm looking for ideas and clues on how to control 35 1st graders who have no respect for the new laowai teacher.

has anyone had similar experiences? we like this location better, its just hard to come to terms with not being as, well, 'important' as we were. (as horrid and cocky as that sounds). Embarassed

suppose i just feel lost...and incompetent, and very much out-of-control...
the kids are mental! i have little boys pulling their wangs out in class and showing them to the girls....yesterday a boy started humping my legs! Shocked

is this normal behavior for kids this age? the youngest kids i had before were 8....

i apologize for the length of this post....but would very much appreciate comments and suggestions on control and similar predicaments. Smile

thanks

saint57 · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:09 am Post subject:

This is dumb advice but it might just work. I taught a class of forty grade six student who couldn't say hello. I could hold their attention for about two minutes. In the beginning I was so upset that I screamed at them and was ready to quit. However, they taught me something valuable. The Chinese teachers don't care about what goes on in your class. The students knew this and at the beginning of class they would pull the curtains shut. At first, I wouldn't allow this. As time went by, I realized that pulling the curtains shut was the answer I was looking for.

After a few months it was I who pulled the curtains shut. I came in with the same lesson I prepared for my other 17 classes. No one was judging me so I didn't give a sheet. After dropping the illusion that education was supposed to take place under these conditions, the class was pretty fun.

A typical class consisted of nothing more than games, paper throwing, and the occasional need for me to break up a minor fight. I felt like Billy Madison. It help me to stop taking myself so seriously.

Your school is not paying you enough to lose one second's sleep over this.

saint57 · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:14 am Post subject:

Sorry, I missed the parts about the wang pulling and leg humping. You should probably put a stop to that.

sock · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:00 pm Post subject:

The students haven't (probably) been trained yet... If you start now, you still have a chance of retaining your sanity.... I teach the same age, and this is what I can suggest:

1. Always (ALWAYS) have the kids stand up at the beginning of class and say "good morning, teacher." (And have them say "good bye teacher at the end of the class). Some people don't like the formality of it, but they do it for their Chinese teachers, and I think it helps to signal that class has started and that it has ended.

2. Divide the class into three or four groups based on where they sit, and give them happy (smiley) faces (or so-so faces/sad faces) when they are good, bad, or so-so.... At the end of class, add up the happy faces, and if you want, give the best group a sticker or sweet. Usually, if I just pick up the chalk, the kids will sit up straight and shut up. They really like the competition, and even if you don't give any prizes, they still eat it up.

3. I don't try and really teach anything new as far as grammar (they have a Chinese-English teacher for that), but try to teach them 3-5 new nouns/simple verbs a lesson... I use the flash cards that have a picture and the English word and Chinese character... It works, because the words are simple enough that even the 6/7 year olds can read the Chinese on it if they don't understand the picture.... One game that they like with these cards is a memory-type game... I take all the cards (except one or two) and stick them to the wall and they guess which one is missing... (the winning team gets a star on the board). It's not a complex game, I just want them to remember the word without seeing the picture of it.

4. I usually pick students to come up play the role of the teacher... They ask the students questions. At the end of the turn, they can give each team a smile/so-so/sad face.

5. Really naughty students are sent to the back of the room (and if they are still naughty they are out of the classroom). Usually, it only takes about 3 minutes of standing in the back of the classroom to scare the crap out of them.

6. Learn their names and have them sit in the same seat each time. I like to learn their names, because if they are acting up, I draw a big smiley face on the board, and all of the good students get their name on the board under it, and then I give the list to their head teacher... And usually, the head teachers will say something to them in their homeroom class, so it really works to get the rest of them on track... I also give the teacher the names of the terrible students (but I don't write their names on the board)...

I don't know what to do about the humping your leg and whacking off... My first graders have a thing for poking my butt when I walk by, so if you find out how to cure it, I'm all ears!

MeiYu · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 24 Location: Hangzhou

MeiYu · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 24 Location: Hangzhou