Job Discussion Forums

[jaytee]

I have recently recieved a job in china teaching 15-18 year olds of an unknown skill level. This is my first time teaching and I think its fair to say that im a little nervous. Actually im crapping myself. I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on how to cope with stepping into that classroom for the first time. Any comforting information would be much appreciated.

[kev7161]

Well, the first thing you don't want to do is look or act nervous. Sometimes being a teacher is like being on stage. You have to be in command of your emotions and "act" like a teacher.

I teach this age group as well. You really have to establish some ground rules from day one and then follow them consistently. You will probably get a mixture of English levels from the very-good to the almost-none-at-all levels. I would suggest the first week of lessons to be "getting to know you" lessons. Such as students interviewing each other, then presenting their classmate to the rest of the class. You can certainly divulge a little or a lot of yourself (depending on how much you want to share) by letting the students ask questions. You can play games such as have the students write down three things about themselves and see if the other students can guess which student it is.

Anyway, whatever creative things you can come up with. If you find that most of your students don't speak or WON'T speak English for you, then it may be a matter of this not being a "conversation" class, but rather a pronunciation class with other types of English activities thrown in. You'll get the hang of it sooner than you might imagine.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello jaytee:

Some good advice from Kevin.

Speaking honestly, I would tell you that being nervous is not always a bad thing. It means you care about what you're doing (or planning to do) and that's a good thing.

Even after 11 years of teaching English around the globe, I still get nervous before the start of each class. After you get going with your lesson plan, the nervousness will disappear without you even being aware of it.

The best advice I can give you is this: Go into the classroom prepared --- and treat your students with genuine respect. If you think you're nervous, just try to imagine how nervous your new students will be!

Now go and break a leg, dammit!

[Ludwig]

Personally I would be concerned if you did not evince some fear; after all, this will be your maiden voyage on HMS Teacher. I would ask you to remember, however, that all current teachers must have taught for the first time at some point. Try to think of some of your past teachers and remember that they too would have gone through this. Were they all highly dynamic, 'go-getters', literally oozing confidence?

Remember that the students will judge you on how you perform, not on how much experience you have (if they even know). When you walk in, you simply have to make sure that they see a teacher, no more, no less. I think you should consider the students as, if you, from the word go, plan and implement student-centred activities, you will work your way out of the (quite natural) fear of having countless eyes fixated on you.

As I am sure you will know from past experience, it is often the case that fear quickly evaporates once you actually begin to do that which engendered the original fear. The classic example of this is public speaking. The first time I was to actually give a short workshop seminar presentation my heart was pounding, yet, once I began, it simply vanished and, afterwards, I found it hard to believe that I had been nervous as, in fact, I rather enjoyed it.

Remember that there are introvert teachers and extrovert teachers and there exists the full spectrum between. Do not be tempted into thinking you need to attempt to modify your personality in order to make yourself more in tune with what the students demand/expect/desire, etc. Concentrate on being a teacher, modelling and supervising student-centred activities, and you will not have time to be nervous!

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

This is an old adage, but it is old for a reason. As noted by the UN translator Peter Mertvago in his 'Dictionary of 1000 German Proverbs', such expressions "have been variously described as succinct and often didactic statements embodying the traditional wisdom of a people or as moral metaphors based on natural observation tersely summarizing experience".

[Roger]

You haven't told us what kind of English you are going to teach, but based on long-term insight I can inform you that you will no doubt be assigned to do so-called - and often rather frustrating - "oral" English.
You need not worry so much about your rapport with your students but whether they are intellectually up to what's in store for them.
The main drags will be large classes combined with incompatibly different skill levels.
I concur wholeheartedly with those who suggest you must set the rules on day one. Make it clear to them that they must bear responsability for their own failure. They must not count on getting simultaneous translation - to which they are inured. Don't worry too much about what's suitable for your students either - you can't engage them on philosophical debates. Train them to speak about obvious things COMPETENTLY, and as individuals rather than as members of a class. Steer them away from their habit of class action, i.e. chorussing. Have them talk in front of their peers - if you can get them to do that.
If you get no materials provided by your school I suggest you develop them on your own. The books they get here usually are appalling, and students get easily bored. How about teaching them some subjects such as geography or climate with English as a medium of instruction? You could dictate all the relevant vocables without needing to translate them if you go about it expertly enough. I have done that with primary school kids, and they were cooperative and happy.

[Seth]

i would say that you are in a huge trial by fire. if you can handle this caliber of student in china, you can handle anything in life. this is hell on earth, my friend, and you are put to the test. if you don't have a chinese co-teacher with you, make sure you get one. if you don't, complain loudly. stay strong.

[leeroy]

Some good advice, just to chuck in my 2c...

Perhaps even more important than "it's OK to be nervous", is "don't beat yourself up when it goes wrong". First time teaching? Well it's inevitable that things will go wrong sometimes; I've been teaching for a modest 3 and a half years, and I can still mess things up like the best of them. I suspect that this is the case for those who have been teaching for 30.

Especially in such a context as teaching in China - as anyone who's read the China forum (or taught Chinese students elsewhere) will testify, there are a whole load of other cultural factors to complicate things.

Good luck