Job Discussion Forums

[tigerlily20202]

Hello again...
Recently I started teaching two culture classes. I teach at a large university, and each class had 60+ students. The class was filled with students who wanted to join the class, drop the class, etc. I was only given an attendence sheet in Chinese, so I needed to have them write their names in pinyin...I passed it around...but the people who wanted to "sit in" also put their names down. I had said I would deal with those who wanted to join after I the students already registered had signed in, and I said this clearly and slowly...but they didn't seem to understand the purpose of this, so they ignored it.
Through out the lesson students kept coming to me, or raising their hands, and asking if they could join the class. I finally stopped the class and picked names out of a hat (they kept disrupting), because that was the only fair way to do it. I feel like this class has been a disaster so far...the rest of my classes are all going very well, but these culture classes of non-majors is like pulling teeth. They didn't seem to understand that the more people there are in the class (whose English is poor) the harder it is for me to talk, and it's more beneficial for the other students if the class size is smaller. I said no firmly and several times, but they kept asking and being persistent, to the point I was close to resorting to physical violence Second class, students still show up, thinking it's ok if they listen, which definitely makes it tougher for me.
SO: how do i get it across that
no means no
being persisent worsens your position, not betters it
larger class size is more of a strain for me
is there anyway to talk to my school to divide the two sections into three? can i change the schedule a bit? how do i handle all this?
grrrr.
trying to keep it cool....

[Tao Burp]

Go to your department dean:
1. Explain that you have students who are quite possibly not on your roll.
2. Explain that these students aren't registered and aren't paying for the class.

Money, revenue especially to the department, speaks volumes.

Addressing this problem in terms of lost revenue to the department can get results. When those students find out, they have to pay; most will stop coming and a few will pay. That's been my experience.

[ChinaLady]

I have the non-reg students stand in the back until all the reg students have found seats. at the moment, that is all the seats available. so, the non-reg students are standing for the entire class.
my students who were required to attend culture class were not the most attentive. IF you have students clamouring to come into your Culture Class you are doing something really good!
and I agree with the previous poster - talk to the Dean about the students who are not paying. and, if the class is to large to do a decent teaching job - CALL ROLL! if their name is NOT on the list - smile and say GoodBye.
love to know your secret to attract students to culture class.

[tigerlily20202]

I haven't got a clue. I don't think I'm doing anything special -- this was my first class, so I can't imagine that it would be me personally. A few of them have never spoken to foreigners before. I think they're just interested in taking a class with one, particularly one that's close to them in age. For the most part they all seem really interested and attentive, but the last two classes have been a disaster. Most of them don't speak much English and getting them to talk or understand is like pulling teeth.

[Louis]

[Roger]

Attendance control is a very sorry thing. Why the hell don't they issue us with attendance sheets in the first place???
I have got some - of six classes, I was given 2 attendance sheets; then some monitors gave me attendance sheets of their classes, but I was still short 2 or 3 attendance sheets...
When I scheduled a test, there was an astonishingly high number of students in my classes...

Seriously, you must enforce those bloody rules - absent without valid excuse: 3 times in one semester is tolerated, 4 times and they are out!
I also taught them to hand in excuses with a nice red chop!

The most interesting thing is that if I hadn't found out by pure coincidence that the school has to chop absence permissions students will take liberties! They will not come, without any excuse, and they will come again when there is a test.

They aren't even disingenious; some tell you frankly that they "overslept" last time. Or that they partied all night.

Ah, your visitors: if you make roll-calls, then you don't need to check whether you have visitors. Just call up the names of your regular students...

[Ludwig]

"No" is simply a word - a mere (and brief) binary sound in the air that is subject to what is known as 'rapid fading' (one design feature of human language). If you expect a mere sound - essentially nothing other than momentary disruptions in the air - to change the rude and anti-social behaviour of the Mainland Chinese then you are very much mistaken.

[once again]

The same has been discovered about stopping the rude and anti-social behaviour of the Sussex accent affecting people. I guess ignorance is truly universal.

[Ludwig]

I guess it is somewhat fortunate, then, that my accent is typical of the Transvaal. Have no fear, 'once again', one day you may get a real job; there is hope for you yet.

[wowzers]

A "real job"?
You say that like it's something to aspire to or desire.
Does this "real job" come with bitterness, hopelessness and rudeness?
Or is it learned along the way?

[David Bowles]

'Mainland Chinese' are surely among the most sociable and social people on earth. To call them 'anti-social' is... weird.
But anyhoo, you probably have to be really strict about this. It will probably tail off after a few lessons as students realise that the foreigner isn't actually giving out magical 'speak fluent english' fairy dust- but the classes are big enough without tourists. The problem is that the students who voluntarily sit in are usually so nice- but yeah, bringing in the authorities must be the way forward. At the lower end of the scale, the class probably has a 'monitor'- give them a bouncer type role- 'if you're name's not on the list, you're not coming in'.

[Ludwig]