Job Discussion Forums

[struelle]

[clarrie]

Get rid of the monkey suit and get off the tight rope and find a bloody big stick. If they are not receptive to 'fun and games', don't press it. Essentially (Chinese) students are not the best judge of what they 'need'. I have found in the past that teachers who rave about how much fun their classes are and how much the students really like the games, etc. they play, are criticised by the same students for not being serious.

[Voldermort]

I'm starting to get this worked out now. I have discovered that it is not so much about what you teach or talk about, but how you come across in the classroom.

For example, I have just been teaching about smoking. I first ask if smoking is good or bad, and ask why. Given the same monotonous reply for each class "it is bad for your health", I then explain that given an exam this answer would get them 0 points and that we must use 'because' and then we talk about what smoking does to your health.

After this I point out that I smoke, and ask what I should do. I then ask the to discuss in groups "How to quit smoking?". The last 10 minutes we play a game. Worked great all week.

This week I want to encourage them to talk about our city, in particular, what people can do during the upcoming holiday. Any ideas on how I can approach this topic?

[Alex_P]

I am new on this board so let me introduce myself. I am a New Yorker, I am 50 years old, I have a Master's Degree from a very, very well-recognized university. I have been teaching in China for soon three years. I have taught in Japan for six years, in Russia for three years, in Argentina for several years as well as in France and in Canada. I am also a veteran of the Public School System ESL program in a very large American city. I also speak ten foreign languages which helps me in teaching ESL. All in all, I love my job.

Frankly, I think Chinese students are the best in the world. I have taught in Senior Middle Schools and Primary Schools since I have been here. I have never, ever had a discipline problem in any class that I have taught. I lay out the rules at the beginning -- no telephones, no music, no looking out the window, feet on the floor, no sleeping, homework on time, and I progressively and positively reinforce these rules throughout the class. I make the children stand up at the beginning of the class and I make the children stand up at the end of the class. I encourage the children to eat and drink in class because after all, if the body is telling the mind to drink or to eat, there must be a reason. I closely monitor all the students who are absent (and generally I have 100% attendance). I set out a clear, comprehensible lesson plan on the blackboard in each class for each lesson. I present a variety of activities and goals in each lesson, and frankly, I encourage the children to be the teacher once they understand the objective(s) of the lesson. I have no bad children in any class. I also arrive in the classroom early and leave a few minutes late. And I always eat lunch or dinner in the school cafeteria with my students.

I just finished a term in what is considered a problematic Chinese vocational high school. When I went to the high school, the administration and the other teachers warned me that I was going to be given all of the "monster" classes that the other foreign teachers could not handle. I accepted these "monster" classes willingly and after two weeks let me assure you that there were no monster classes but the best groups of students that I have ever taught. When I left the school, I was saddled down with so many presents that I will not have to buy anything in China for the rest of the time that I will be here.

And no, I have not taught in the best schools in the country, except for the position where I am at at present. Most of my schools were in the middle of nowhere, the students had never had a foreign teacher, and the students, at least in the beginning, sufferered from a lack of motivation. I quickly remedied all of that.

When I was at my East Coast university doing my Master's Degree, in what now seems like light years ago, I had an excellent Professor Emeritus who gave me the best piece of wisdom that I have ever had. He said that there was NO such thing as a bad student, only a BAD teacher. And that is how I have run my professional life in China.

In the end, my Chinese students are polite, helpful, attentive, vigorously enthusiastic, opening to learning.

So to Roger's comment about being "authoritarian" -- yes, but in an "iron fist in a velvet glove" kind of way. I would encourage positive discipline and not regressive discipline. I would encourage teamwork over pairwork. I would encourage working with the weakest students in the class to bring them up to a moderately acceptable level. And above all -- if you have to discipline a student, give them lots of kindness afterwards. The "carrot-and-stick" approach really works.

Now, if you want to have discipline problems, why don't you try Public School No. 1__ in Bedford-Stuveystant, Brooklyn...machine guns, hand guns, knives, chains, drugs, sex in the locker rooms, etc., etc., abandoned children, beaten children, abused children, HIV children, children who do not and cannot eat supper or breakfast, perverted teachers who sexually abuse the children, teaching assistants who steal all of the teaching supplies, principals who are the subject of grand jury investigations...

Please -- don't talk to me about discipline problems in Chinese schools until you have REALLY experienced discipline problems.

I think it's a great country. And it's going places fast. And America is fading just as fast, if not faster.

I'm glad that I am here.

[kev7161]

First of all, I applaud Alex P. If I could achieve only HALF of what he says he has, then I would be a (mostly) happy camper. Let me go down his lists of things he has tried in his classroom and compare them to the last couple of years at my school (disclaimer: not ALL my kids are "bad" kids - - I've said this before. There are a lot of swell kids in my classrooms. However, there are some classes with PREDOMINANTLY rotten eggs, so this year has been . . . difficult, to say the least):

[yaco]

Clarrie

I agree with your sentiments 100 %.

What is often overlooked is that many instances, Foreign Teacher's are not responsible for assessment and therefore afforded less respect by students.

[drumbeat]

I share your feelings of frustration sometimes since i am a Physical Education teacher here in china at a high school- Senior 1 , 2 and 3. I have taught for about 5 years. I also teach Biology here to Grade 11's. I find the class management is the biggest issue especially when the structure is not so organized like my "making due" with next to no resources in this school. I have to plan much more than at home in the management areas (where to go for example for a class and what to use for resources).
It is not that the students are bad or undisciplined but they are sometimes not so motivated so that is another job for me. But they are generally great. I find Chinese girls different in respect to doing exercise too, but in general I am starting to enjoy it. I do agree with the authoritarian viewpoint and am glad to hear that I am not the only one to lose my temper. I have done it a few time and feel so bad but I yell at them the odd time and it is on a day when I really should not be at school due to sickness. Can anyone relate? What do you teachers do when you just are not feeling well or do not sleep well for a few days before or go through some anxiety about issues in life?
I think as teachers we need to be mentally so well to be really kind and patient and to on top of that teach a well organized class. I wish there was a substitute sytem here to help on days when we should not be there.
On top of that the students at my school are encouraged to come to school sick and not miss any classes.
My point is, be sensitive to what you need on top of what your students need. Take care of yourself. Do some activities that you enjoy. I do yoga with my students and am getting hockey nets made to teach them my canadian sport! no missing teeth haha

All the best,

[druidhills404]

Alex_P: