Job Discussion Forums

[chinatimes]

It's been 2 years since I have taught a high school class in the public system (those 40 student classes).

When I did it before, the students already knew me because I taught them for 2 months at the end of their 1st year. So, there were no surprises. We didn't have to do any introductions and I was instructed to use the book.

This week I have taught a few 1st year classes with eager students who can't say much. We worked things out step by step.

However, when I went into a 2nd year class, a completely different thing happened. They wanted to speak as fast as they could, use words they could not pronounce to impress me, and then make things over the top difficult to remember.

When I tried to simplify things and get them to spend more time focusing on their pronunciation, they didn't seem to like it. The first year students giggled and laughed a bit, then we moved on. Nope, not the second year students. If I asked "Do you ___" questions, they did not want to say a simple yes or no. They wanted to make up a different question in their head and answer something else, like it was a political debate or something.

Have any other teachers experienced this? I want the students on my side, and I don't want to come off confrontational but while the first year students seem more willing to try things and work on their pronunciation the second year students feel less obliged because they probably already understand what it is I want them to say without actually putting in the effort to say it. This limits their practice and they never improve their speaking.

One student came up to me after class and asked me if I was the same teacher last week who played music on his guitar. I obviously wasn't and I am not interested in being a Mickey Mouse entertainer for the second year students. I don't exactly know what was implied by that question or if they were trying to find out if I was the same teacher or not.

I just got a bad impression from this first second year class and hope the next 3 I have this week will go better. The first year students on the other hand have all been actively engaged in the lesson and I walked away feeling good about myself. I know the second year students are under a lot of pressure to do well, but they didn't seem to behave like the second year students I taught in the past.

[A593186]

Be clear. Music has a perfectly valid use in the classroom under the proper conditions. While I don't use it myself, to simply call it Mickey Mouse is unprofessional. TPR methods have a perfectly valid use in student of all ages. Just because you don't want to use it, as me, doesn't mean it should be degraded to the level you are knocking it down to.

[chinatimes]

[sui jin]

One student came up to me after class and asked me if I was the same teacher last week who played music on his guitar. I obviously wasn't and I am not interested in being a Mickey Mouse entertainer for the second year students. I don't exactly know what was implied by that question or if they were trying to find out if I was the same teacher or not

What amazes me about this , is that the student did not know if you were the same teacher , even though he/she remembered the music! Maybe she/he needs her eyes tested ? (seriously, some students here have terrible, but uncorrected, eyesight).

I had a similar problem in the past , when I took over one class from another FT who had to rush home. He was young and handsome and the students loved him. He had a very relaxed style of teaching, and they resisted my style, and were pretty unco-operative for the rest of the term.
Sometimes , you have to accept that group dynamics can cause problems, and the students need time to get used to , and you to them. And sometimes a rapport never develops. Good luck .

[chinatimes]

[Denim-Maniac]

Im guessing they just feel they 'know' the language / structure already, and feel learning English means just encountering new words, rather than practising existing language points.

We all know students who make he / she mistakes right? A perfect example of students learning a rule, but never practising the structure or language point and then as a result, not being able to use it.

I review a lot of stuff my students already 'know' ... they were resistant to it at first, but I stuck with it ... showed them that I knew my stuff, and they 'obey' me now. With pronunciation I do a lot of work on sentence stress, intrusion, weak forms and linking sounds. Generally this is all done with language they think they know inside-out ... Yet despite knowing all the words, they frequently fail to complete the listening tasks accurately. Now they understand that they follow me lessons and are prepared to review things they learnt ages ago. It just takes time.

[chinatimes]

I did the same thing with another 2nd year class. This time, this class was lower level overall (with the exception of 4 students). They participated better though when I called on them, which is another issue.

I think the first class was simply a "bad apple". Perhaps, they didn't have a good day. I understand they were taking tests today and the school decided to move the schedule 20 minutes earlier which mean I was 20 minutes late for my first class because no one told me (When I asked about it, they said, "Oh? Is that going to affect your classes? Well yea, if I don't know to come 20 minutes earlier in a 40 minute class we will miss half the class).

When you ask a question and no one wants to answer, what do you do? I randomly select someone. I use cards with 1-6 or 9. If I want the center, then I do 4-6. This makes them feel I am not singling them out and that it was a random selection. They stand up and participate then.

I don't know how else to get them to volunteer. 70% of the time, the person who does volunteer wants to say something completely unrelated to what I am asking.

[Non Sequitur]

I have heard that Chinese students react negatively to teacher changes and that can be a problem when they study overseas. Maybe the previous teacher encouraged the show boat behaviour and they are replicating it for you?

[chinatimes]

[Non Sequitur]

Interesting situation.
Hope you can either find out what's bugging them or turn them on to your approach.