Job Discussion Forums

Julieanne · Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Posts: 120

You can't do that in Mexico. Mexicans do not like confrontation and everything is about telling them false truths, giving good grades no matter what. It is a reality and if anyone disputes that they are wrong. I spent 10 years in Mexico and I saw how you cannot give them bad news or back them into a corner.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Sounds like you teach at an affluent school. Kids seem to think that if their parents pay a lot, they can get away with anything.

Be consistent with your rules and be strict.
Always have extra work for the kids when they finish early.
Try different seating.
Change activities often
Have a reward or punishment system for the class and individually.

MO39 · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:03 pm Post subject:

jestert79 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 44

It's funny - not to be discouraging, but you can have all the flashy discipline systems in the world but it all comes down to whether you can strike fear into the hearts of the kids. I remember teachers I had in middle/high school, the ones that just had this look that said "If you mess with me, I'll dismember you." I'm really bad at this, even after 2 years of teaching them - I joke around with them too much.

Learn what you can withhold from them as punishment. I had a horrible class, but they had a 10-minute break (which they LOVED) where they went down to the school club and got to buy drinks, etc. One day I put spaces on the board that would spell "NO BREAK" and I would add a letter if they talked too much - you could hear a pin drop that day.

Another system I've heard of is a sort of "good behavior lottery." Basically, if a group of kids is nightmarish, but one or two kids are patiently looking at you, you give them a little piece of paper and tell them to write their name on it. Put the papers in a box. As kids do good things in class, they get a paper and it's added to the box. Have one prize and randomly draw a name at the end of class every day.

Kootvela · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 513 Location: Lithuania

I hope the situation for the person who strated this thread has improved. I have dual experience in teaching kids.
1) state school. That was terrible. Kids know their rights but not their duties. Parents are abroad picking oranges for Spanish landowners or antisocial. Kids are brought to school at 8 a.m. and it's teachers' problem what to do with them until the timetable for that day is done. There was absolutely no discipline also because mentally handicapped childrenw ere so called integrated in the class. I hated the place and left after a year.
I'm a professional with a B.A. in teaching English and not baby-sitting. let's everybody do our jobs- I teach, social worker helps with other problems, administration find parents when a problem comes up. But when it's the teacher alone, nothing can be helped.
2) private school. That was worse. Kids are also clients and losing them means losing money. So teachers have to teach and babysit at the same time, excelling in both. Language courses want to make money, parents want their -sometimes stupid- kids learn something. Go figure.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

Kootvela - It could be argued that your responsibilities include teaching the mentally handicapped children. I am also a professional, with a BA in English and 3/4 of a Bachelor of Education degree (one more semester to go!). This year, I did my full-time student teaching in a classroom where 1/3 of the students were ESL, 1/3 were Gifted and Talented, and the others included students with ADHD and severe depression, and one student who was blind. All of these students have a right to an education. All of the students WERE integrated into the classroom through scaffolding (providing different educational supports at different levels), differentiation (varying processes and products to meet the needs of the individual learners) and formative assessment (to guide my practice and help the students identify their own strengths and weaknesses). Did your BA program not include courses in inclusive education?

I have this wonderful theory that there would be no more wars if people refused to fight in them (my dad keeps telling me this will never work, but he's a man... he doesn't get it). I wonder what would happen if teachers refused to take jobs for schools and other institutions with poorly-designed curricula, environments not conducive to learning, inadequate resources and insufficient professional development. I can't help but think that if teachers refused to teach in places like that, those types of schools would cease to exist.

Kootvela · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 513 Location: Lithuania

MO39 · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject:

This reminds me of the time deaf students (with ASL interpreters to help) were placed in my ESL reading and writing classes at a community college in the States. I'd had no preparation for teaching them and was resentful of the fact that the administration had decided to put these two groups of students in the same classes, solely to save money. Thankfully, this experiment ended when other, more appropriate, arrangements were made for the ASL students to study English at the college.

keepwalking · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 194 Location: Peru, at last

MELEE gives some great advice in the first reply. Teenagers are masters when it comes to feigning a lack of interest but the often are motivated, they just don't want to look motivated! Getting beyond that facade and finding out why they are in your class is a good place to start.

The negotiated rules are also essential. For each one make sure every one acknowledges the reasons for the rule: we put our hand up to speak rather than shout out so that every body gets to be heard when they want to speak.

There are a few other tactics for managing a class which I have found work with different groups ranging from my current overly excited bunch of Latinos to the most apathetic British teenagers.

One: don't talk over the top of your students. Tell them to be quiet and then wait. Look at your watch, make eye contact with students who are listening and smile at them. Make eye contact and raise your eyebrows at the ones who aren't.

Two: be positive - catch them doing something right. Give praise publicly at times or just a smile, a private word of congratulations, or a pat on the back.

Three: have a system for rewards and stick to it. If they all have their books out when you come in, start the class with a game. If everyone does their homework, listen to a song. Teenagers will respond to this.

The golden rule is keep using these strategies. Don't expect instant results. It takes time to get kids where you want them. That Spanish class you saw? Probably with a teacher who had the exact same issues when they started.

And at the end of the day, if you really hate it, walk away. You are a native speaker, you have a TEFL cert and some experience behind you. You will find work. It is not worth losing sleep.

Good luck with it - don't let one negative experience turn you away from teaching. It sounds like the school are not giving you the support any new teacher needs so don't be too hard on yourself. Try out the advice given here in the many responses to your posting and if things are no better in two weeks, walk. Life t�is too short and teaching too much fun to waste your time in a school where they don't back you up.