Job Discussion Forums

[jeffinflorida]

Sick notes and excuse notes were a joke at my first uni. Those absent would simply go somewhere (like their friend at the dean's office) and ask for a note and present it to the teacher. Or ask the monitor who would produce a note on their behalf - or quickly write one for them.

The problem? All these notes were written in 100% Chinese! So who knew what the Hell they said or if they were legit ot not.

Finally the TAFE DOS told the students and teachers these note all had to be signed by him to be official - and in English.

This put a damper on the problem.

[Malsol]

[nanchang]

At my school, I and the other teachers actively tell students not to come to class if they don't want to. This way you end up with very small classes of students who actually want to learn some English.

Why do you want 45 people in class when 80% or more are going to be sleepiing, reading the paper, or wondering how to have a sexual fantasy?

[7969]

[SimonM]

I also put 10% of the grade for attendance. However since these are university students I will excuse them on occasion if they have a valid reason and contact me prior to class. However the time that one boy was "ill" on friday morning three weeks in a row... he got the sharp side of my tongue.

[Malsol]

[7969]

[Malsol]

[7969]

i'll relate my experiences here. i spent five years learning russian at university. not easy considering i had little chance to speak russian outside of the classroom in those five years. but i studied, took notes, spoke in class when the chance presented itself (which was often), watched russian tv, and once i graduated, made my first trip(s) to russia, spending several months there. i found that after a few months in country, i was quite functional in that language, mostly due to the efforts i put out in class. the professors were helpful was well of course.

now back to the topic.....

yes, creativity is important. at times, i feel i'm getting into a rut and have to remind myself to introduce a new activity just to keep things a little more lively. however we are limited by class size, major subject, location of school and the on-campus facilities.

[Malsol]

[woza17]

7969
Totally agree. When I was teaching at the Uni in Dalian I met a professor of Maths and was invited out to dinner he had the same problem and told his 100 students if you don't want to learn, don't come to class that narrowed it down to 30 and those students got the benefit of a smaller class and the others could go to the internet bar.
Come on, students have to be responsible for their education too.

Is this a hangover from the cultural revolution days where the teachers were vilified

[nanchang]

Yes, Malsol, I did read your OP and just reread it. I don't see how I have strayed from what you and subsequent posters had to say, though I am certainly expressing a contrary opinion to you and some others. I'd be curious to know why you asked.

I teach adults. Here and elsewhere I have been offered many a job, inlcuding lucrative ones, teaching kids. I don't do it for the simple reason that I don't like the rent-a-clown side of esl. Adults are required to bring their own motivation to class along with a pen and paper -- and I tell my students this.

My students are not English majors and are studying in fields where they are highly unlikely to ever need English.

Last year I taught English majors and if I could post some of the emails I've gotten from them since I left, right down to today, about missing my teacherliness (for lack of a real word), they'd bring a tear to your eye, as they do mine.

This year I take my now small classes out on excursions to view Qing Dynasty tombstones (our campus is on a reclaimed graveyard), various parts of campus they didn't know existed, the admin. building because it has cars which I can explain to them, roof tops, campus construction sites they have never ventured to, and just hang about using real English.

There is nothing I can do with 45 students that couldn't be done just as well by a Chinese teacher or a tape recorder. But cut it down to 10 or less and I am making good progress with them, and they notice this.

Everyone in China studies the same foreign language. What fun is that? I studied Spanish when I was in jr and sr high school for 4 years because mom thought I should study a language for college applications. It was Spanish or French. French sounds silly to me, so I took Spanish. I had and have zero interest in the Spanish language or the history and culture of any of the Spanish speaking countries, so I sat in class and wanked.

I have since learned Chinese well and am working on Japanese. How's that possible? I am interested. So I tell my students to find a language that interests them if English doesn't turn them on. As I tell them, I won't cry or have hurt feelings if they don't like English.

Though my school does have a pool, it has no water. More importantly, none of my female students would look good in a bathing suit

[SimonM]

[Malsol]

[Jamchuan]

I thought there would be a big difference teaching at a university so i made the switch and found it even more frustrating. Out of 30 students, i had about 5 come to class everyday. At first I took it personally and complained to their head teacher who told me not to worry that it was 'normal' for Chinese students. At the end of the term she watched my class for an evaluation and told my boss that I was 'boring' and that is why the students did not come to class. I wanted to smack her but I had to control myself. It was a review class for the IELTS and I was told to only teach from the book. You can never win with these teachers and students.