Job Discussion Forums

[Nemesis]

Somehow, I got saddled with an "unworkable" class -- 30 of the stupidest dullards you'd ever meet. Yes, dullards. Stupid ones. Really.

They are second year boobs that went through the first year causing terror, while their harried (newbie) teacher sobbed at the front of the class.

I was told this before I started, and was also told I could "do anything I wanted" with them because they were "unworkable". (At the time, I thought: "Whatever. I know my way around a classroom...")



At the start of this year, pretty much the whole bunch yabbered away, looking at me, pointing, and laughing. No books, pens, pencils, etc. If I asked a direct question, I'd typically get tossed off with a wave of their hand and a roll of their eyes. More talking and laughing. And so on...

The school "policy" is that students can never be removed from class.

Plan A
I laid down the hammer and went absolutely military. I put the fear of god into country rubes (nothing to be proud of and not enjoyable). Getting control of the room was only the beginning, unfortunately.

Plan B
I needed to further draw boundaries, and so "removed" the idiots from an equation by forcing them well back of the "class".

This gave me space to work with the handful of "good" kids, but...

...even though they were dead silent, the wild animals at the back were freaking everyone out (me included) with their presence -- just imagine a gang of big, dumb, Chinese teens staring at you in rigid silence.

Result? The "good kids" refused to speak. They'd respond with blank looks for any question I asked.

(Veeery excruciating, pulling English out of people under such circumstances.)

Plan C
I began creating simple reading assignments. I'd give them to kids, and then speak with them 1-1 in a corner after they were done. At least once a week, I'd assemble the ones I spoke to in a group and attempt to review together.

No dice. They still wouldn't speak as a group. So I made more reading assignments. Started having doubts about my ability to handle the problem...

The result
Interest in my handouts began to wane, to the point that only one girl in a room of 30 was even bothering. Yikes!!

The problem
I can't give handouts, because the kids won't do them. (Given the absurd situation, I can't say I blame them).

I gave up doing the actual work (IELTS training) because
a) the kids won't do it
b) the material is waaay above them (most can't even form a sentence)

I can't do conversation based stuff.

And I can't ask the idiots to leave the class.

I'm pinned. My (foreign) boss suggested I just "mime" (ie "pretend to teach, while talking to myself and ignoring the room). His reasoning was that as long as I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, I couldn't be faulted by uni admin.

Unfortunately, that's not realistic. No one should have to endure that sort of psychic torture -- to maintain someone else's facade, at that.

He agreed, I think...

******************************************

Ok, that's my post. At this point, nothing makes any sense, while logic and reality long ago left the scenario.

I have no freakin' idea how to proceed.

So go ahead and advise, or flame, or criticize, or whatever. Any feedback would be good.

Cheers

[judgedredd]

Hangman.

[SocratesSon2]

While I would advise against games like hangman, they have little practical use, I would advise creating some useful exercises and calling them "games". Many Chinese students, especially of this nature, hate doing educational exercises of any kind. If you somehow make it into a game though, and call it a game, they suddenly change their tune. Yeah it's sort of a mind trick, but it works, believe me.

[kungfucowboy83]

well if you are already in the military theme i suggest pushups for not answering a question. If they refuse yell drill sargent style at them until they break.

[jeffinflorida]

I teach 3 uni classes with a total of about 192...

90% of the class are Hell students in the fact that they are just not interested and ( to tell the truth) the subject I am teaching is simply boring as Hell. Yes it is useful but they really don't care.

So many of them are lame and while doing an exam review only 3 or 4 students bothered to pipe in even though I told them it was an interactive review.

Today out of 63 students 30 showed up on time.

Complaints to the school go nowhere...

In my class last month I did go military on some of them. Told them that I will ask them a question and they must reply by yelling "Sir, Yes Sir..." It got a kick out of them for a short time.

But I will teach my best and if they do not want to learn then it's not my fault.

Caught a student cheating on an exam yesterday. Told him "Hey Bud, don't take this the wrong way but i am going to fail you for the whole course...".

He said "you mean the exam?"

I said " No, I feel like being a MOD EDIT today, the whole course..."

[peepertice]

[johnchina]

I had a class just like this - IELTS students too. The solution is simple. Refuse to teach that particular class. When asked about why, just smile and say that they are not worth the time and effort. Don't show anger or say anything negative about them. The less you say, the less there is to discuss. The Chinese love drawing people into prolonged conversations and convincing them everything will be fine without sorting out the root cause of the problem. You're not teaching them. Final. You are not even in the school building when the class is on, so they can't pressure you into teaching the class.

This now puts pressure on the school to do something. Be prepared for the worst, i.e. the sack, but most Chinese are wary of confrontation unless they are sure you'll back down. If you're a decent teacher with a good relationship with other classes and the school staff, you should be ok.

Also watch South Park series 10, episode 7 (available online). The Dog Whisperer has some great tips!

[Lorean]

Do you take attendance?

Tell them you do not care whether or not they come to class. Then slowly wink a few times. Your class will cancel itself!

Alternatively, change your class subject to: "Applied English Profanity". First class should cover the many uses of that 'special' four letter word.

[Nemesis]

[Nemesis]

For the record, my pockets aren't filled with riches, so just up and quitting isn't, erm... convenient...

Further, my two others classes are pure gold -- probably the best two I've ever had.

As well, relations with all co-workers are solid, foreign boss included. Life here is good.

But something is telling me not to accept such a situation any longer. I feel physically sick just thinking about it -- my psyche's past the breaking point.
I need a solution that works diplomatically.

Not optimistic. Let's see.

I'll make sure to update this thread.

Thanks all for feedback thus far!

[Nemesis]

[SocratesSon2]

I'm sorry but this is your problem, and it's your job to solve it. While you may think you are a good teacher, everyone does, maybe you are just not good enough to teach at University level.

[Nemesis]

[Anda]

A few ideas to try out:

1/ go back to very basic material that you can get out of elementary workbooks from the US.

http://www.tcsig.jalt.org/en/system/files/1.4+The+Teacher's+File.pdf

2/ Us DVD cartoons and movies and have your students repeat simple statemants after you. Use Chinese subtitles but with English speaking.


3/ Hand out lessons to the better half of your students and tell them that they have to teach / help; one on one, to one of the poorer students in the class.

This may sound strange but they will help each other.

4/ to all the above, tell your students that factory workers with no skills or education earn about 700 RMB a month and that an elementary English teacher at a private school can earn up to 2,000 RMB a month while working half the hours of the factory worker. Build on this so you can tell them about other jobs here in China and the wages, conditions, hours etc. So you tell them that they now have a chance to get an education where they can earn more money but work less hours.

[Nemesis]