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Mydnight
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: Guangdong, Dongguan
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 Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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It's great to see that there are still mercenary types masquerading as language teachers, giving the rest of us a bad name.
Since you're asking for advice, here are two tips:
1) I don't know where you're from or what background & qualifications you have, but by going back to your native country or even teaching ESL elsewhere, you could undoubtedly make one heck of a lot more money. And money's your motivation, right?
2) It doesn't matter if you include the world's best-planned activities in your lesson; if you don't care, your students will know it, and they'll most likely become less motivated & receptive to learning. |
Wooooooh there, high-horse rider. Hiiiihoooo silver away.
Pardon me for stepping on your toes with my brutally honest post. But, I seriously doubt that I am giving you a bad name; you more than likely can do a great job at that yourself.
I do agree that I am a Merc, though. I always call myself an educational terrorist to be more specific. I have enough certs to work in any establishment in China; ESL related or not. You are obviously still in the "I'm going to change the face of China" phase that we all go through. I do hope you enjoy it while it lasts, and I hope that reality doesn't come crashing down your idealism too hard. For me it was like a planet colliding with the sun.
I have some big contracts with a few large companies currently, and I need to spend more time on those sorts of jobs because they are likely ones that could include some kind of REAL FUTURE. You can keep your middle and high schools here in Dongguan. They blow through foreign teachers like we were pencil shavings being emptied from a sharpener. They don't care who you are, what you are, what you can do for them, or how well you do; they care that you show up for class on time and go through the motions. You are a nobody and you are shown no respect.
Today I had to wait more than an hour for my ride home. It was raining heavily and the drivers had just left the school for something "important" that they couldn't have waited an extra 3 minutes. I asked could I take a taxi home (would be about 30 yuan) and get the ticket for the school to pay. I was provided with the following two options and keep in mind it was raining heavily:
I could continue to wait for the car. I did this because the second option was to walk to the bus stop and take THE ONLY BUS back to civilization, walk 20 minutes to my house, and there was no umbrella in the entire school that I could be lended. This has happened several times already and my contract states "driver on time". Respect, none.
So, before you shoot off your inexperienced mouth again, consider for a moment the Dark Side of ESL and all its realism; the only side that I know and work with. I work without the safety nets that most people here cling to. Pardon me for being negative, but my view of you now is that you have NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. |
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Mydnight
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: Guangdong, Dongguan
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, sorry about the blow out; let me steer this baby back on course.
These are some great ideas, folks. I have always wondered why there was no "fresh ideas for classes" sticky so maybe we could work towards that!
See, but even with the great ideas, I don't have enough confidence that my students would do or would even want to do any of this. I teach in a private, rich-kids school. They are princes and princesses. OH, I also have little access to multimedia equipment because each teacher has a laptop that I can't play with; no classroom computers. The last time I tried to do the present continous picture game thingie that I do, I had to basically search around for laptops I could borrow and ended up wasting the front of more than one class period waiting for one to be brought to me.
The games I am looking for are your most basic blackboard-chalk type things. You fine folks are assuming that I am able to do some "real teaching" type stuff. Their former FTs already tainted them into thinking the FT class was messing around, so I'm screwed in that aspect too.
I'll add my game I did.
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We were learning how to say stuff like "kicking a ball", "jumping out the window" junk like that; present continous junk.
Showed some crazy pictures. Even some of me in college doing crazy things like lying in the snow. We began with "what is he/she/it doing". Students then had to ask questions why and we went on and on "why is he doing that...why is he doing that...etc...etc..."
Pretty funny and if a student got stuck without knowing a question, he had to be punished by singing a song talking about something embarassing.
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So, a fourth of the clases did the game, learned how to say what they were supposed to say, and had fun. The other classes were about as easy as passing a watermelon sized kidney stone.
The classes are not well enough off to be broken up into groups. They lack maturity and don't really function well out of the typical "entire class listens to teacher" style. Thank their Chinese teachers for that one.
It's the usual me against the world thing. |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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| OH, I also have little access to multimedia equipment because each teacher has a laptop that I can't play with; no classroom computers. |
I've always wondered about this. Almost every CT in our school has some modern state-of-the-art laptop. I have yet to purchase one for myself (for personal or professional use). On their meager salaries, I'm hard-pressed to understand how they could afford that (these include some 1st or 2nd year teachers!). The school did provide a clunky, rarely-worked computer for my use but it has long since sputtered out and they can't be bothered to replace it with a model that perhaps has been made in the 21st century. We go to computer lab once a week to learn keyboarding and there's a huge amount of slick modern Dells. So, I don't do any lesson prep that involves computers (and I don't take work home with me). Hmmmpppfff! |
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Sonnet
Joined: 10 Mar 2004
Posts: 235
Location: South of the river
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 4:21 am Post subject: |
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| Mydnight wrote: |
| You are obviously still in the "I'm going to change the face of China" phase that we all go through. I do hope you enjoy it while it lasts, and I hope that reality doesn't come crashing down your idealism too hard. For me it was like a planet colliding with the sun. |
| Quote: |
| So, before you shoot off your inexperienced mouth again, consider for a moment the Dark Side of ESL and all its realism; the only side that I know and work with. I work without the safety nets that most people here cling to. Pardon me for being negative, but my view of you now is that you have NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. |
Sorry if I offended you; you clearly have your views on the profession, and I have mine.
I'd like to know where you get this "inexperienced" thing from; I've been in this game since 2003. Ja, a shorter time than a lot of people, but I wouldn't call myself inexperienced.
I've seen a lot of the good & bad sides of the EFL industry, both here & in Europe. There's pretty much nothing I'd like to change about China, and I'm certainly not going to change anything. I care about my job, my students & my school. Ja, I have enough experience to be cynical, but that's rather different to being negative or just plain stopping caring.
Anyhow, we should probably leave it at that; I'll let the rest of you get on with your time-killing suggestions now. |
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Mydnight
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: Guangdong, Dongguan
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 4:48 am Post subject: |
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Here, there are no good sides. It is dog-eat-dog and nobody can be trusted. I said you are inexperienced because I doubt you have been in this part of the business. Simply seeing, as you say, is meaningless.
See, this is what kills me. The Chinese staff and other "zhu ren" (leaders) in the school want me to do and do and do for them but make it nearly impossible for me to do a good job. So, you tell me, Voice of Everlasting Knowledge, why exactly should I care? You have already alluded to integrity, a pointless aspect in this business, but what are the other reasons? I have become rather pragmatic out of necessity. Why should I waste so much time on a school that doesn't care about my classes? If THEY don't even care, why should I?
Ok, there is a very active thread currently: BYD , BYD AUTO, my horror story. Cheated, lied to, stolen. This is the kind of stuff I deal with nearly on a daily basis. You blame me for being negative?
Last edited by Mydnight on Tue May 22, 2007 4:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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xinpu
Joined: 07 Nov 2005
Posts: 61
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 4:48 am Post subject: |
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Sonnet: I think that the reason people end up being only motivated by money is that after a period of time here a) all other motivations get stripped away and b) it's the only thing that motivates the chinese so when in rome etc..
Anyway....my suggestion.
Two things students here like.
1. learning new words (to later forget)
2. puzzles.
Combine the two with some 'what am I questions' for example....countries
- I am a hot country
- I am near America
- I speak Spanish
- I like hot food
- I wear big hats
Answer: Mexico
takes a bit of preparation granted but will last a whole class. |
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vikdk
Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 1676
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:02 am Post subject: |
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| Why should I waste so much time on a school that doesn't care about my classes? If THEY don't even care, why should I |
I believe that some of us - at least in principle - see this as a dumbing down/giving into the system process!!!! But then again if you're an ordinary teaching hack - then its very difficult not to be negatively affected by the Chinese "let's get rich at any price" ethic - it tends to get in the way of your own job satisfaction and quality of life - and does bring on those "why should I care" days.
Remember folks sonnet isn't an ordinary hack - but an EF DOS - these guys are paid to emit sunshine from their darkest holes - in order to keep those moaning troops happy - a light which seems to shine ever bright even in their posts  |
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Mydnight
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: Guangdong, Dongguan
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| Remember folks sonnet isn't an ordinary hack - but an EF DOS |
Safety net. He/She has the backing of an international company in case anything goes wrong. The EF here is nothing but a bully doing exactly the same thing the other training centers are doing. They also hire random people on the street and also charge an arm and a leg.
I pay rent, bills, and all my expenses myself. I NEED to care about money and my time is money. If ya'll want to ho yourselves out to some school or training center for their benefit only, feel free; I applaud your patience. I just can't do that anymore. I have my picture up on schools here that I have left years ago. I didn't appreciate being used as an advert then and I don't now.
I am not just some random hack. I am a professional private contractor and I do ALL MY BUSINESS myself. I go between the insanely expensive, numerous training centers here and the stupidly low paying schools and do the middle ground. I need to put the time where it matters most. I have not turned my back on ALL my students; I work in about 5 different places.
Ya'll are some pretty judgemental folks. |
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Sonnet
Joined: 10 Mar 2004
Posts: 235
Location: South of the river
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 7:31 am Post subject: |
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| Sorry for coming across as judgemental; it's not something I like to see in other people, so it's hypocritical to have been so myself. You & I each have our own perspectives, motivation & situations; no reason to be catty if they don't agree. So, ja, sorry. I'll leave it at that. |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 9:01 am Post subject: |
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| kev7161 wrote: |
| I've always wondered about this. Almost every CT in our school has some modern state-of-the-art laptop. I have yet to purchase one for myself (for personal or professional use). On their meager salaries, I'm hard-pressed to understand how they could afford that (these include some 1st or 2nd year teachers!). The school did provide a clunky, rarely-worked computer for my use but it has long since sputtered out and they can't be bothered to replace it with a model that perhaps has been made in the 21st century. We go to computer lab once a week to learn keyboarding and there's a huge amount of slick modern Dells. So, I don't do any lesson prep that involves computers (and I don't take work home with me). Hmmmpppfff! |
schools often buy them for the chinese teachers and the teachers pay the school back. call it a loan. |
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Babala
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 1303
Location: Henan
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:11 am Post subject: |
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You can play X's and O's. I used to do this as an ending to the class. Divide the class in half, one half are X's, the other O's. Rotate the questions between the 2 teams. If your topic is food, ask one team to name 5 vegetables. If they get it right, let the student who answered come up and put his X on the board. If they can't answer, then the other team gets a shot. They tend to like this game, they get very excited about putting up the X's and O's.
Also go to this website www.bogglesworld.com It's got some game boards and worksheets that may interest your students. |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 4:16 am Post subject: |
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Another version of the X's and O's game is Battleships whereby teams draw ships onto a private grid and then compete to put on X in squares on the blackboard grid where they feel that the other teams may have ships.
These sorts of activities are of course meant to involve the students by giving them an incentive to participate in the class, not merely for entertainment value. |
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Mydnight
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: Guangdong, Dongguan
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:50 am Post subject: |
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| These sorts of activities are of course meant to involve the students by giving them an incentive to participate in the class, not merely for entertainment value. |
I know, that's why I want to get some good ones. Today I pulled up one that I haven't done in forever that most schools like. I play it sorta like a review thing.
I ask them questions from the book that we have covered. Using a deck of cards, the student takes one card and gets the points for what the card is worth if they can answer correctly. The lower point questions can be stupidly easy like "what's your name" and it makes the kids laugh and realize that they have some decent level in English hearing such a simple question. The higher point cards can be harder questions. Can go around 3 times and tally points at the end. Scoring:
2 -20 points, 3 -30, 4 -40...like this. 8 loses a turn; 10 (-50), Q (-100).
The second time you play it, change something to like -300 and have more penality cards. Makes it really funny if someone gets that -300 card. |
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Mydnight
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: Guangdong, Dongguan
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Anybody else? |
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tw
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 3898
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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| How about buying a frisbee, then take the students out for a couple hours of REAL P.E. class by playing frisbee (American) football? |
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