Job Discussion Forums

[The G-stringed Avenger]

Picked a student at random today for an oral presentation. She stood up.... and ran out of the room! Much to the hilarity of the other students. Made the mistake of coming back later, whereupon I locked the door and made her do it.

So far, that's the weirdest thing to happen to me in the classroom. I'm sure many of you can top it.

[nolefan]

I pondered about writing this but I figured I'd do it anways.

I just finished my second to last class with my computer majors and I asked them about what they liked/disliked as far as the lessons and activities we did this semester go. After the classic 3 or 4 minuted of silence, I pointed at a few of them to my big surprise they said that I talked too much and it would be better I allowed them to talk some more...... mind you, this is the same class that never talks, never a word unless I point at them and force them to open their mouth. While it might not top your experience, it did leave me flabbergasted... really.

sure enough, I gave them more chances to express themselves throughout the two periods and no one opened their mouth....

[Kurochan]

I had one student who banged his head on the desk during a lesson, and another week he got up and walked around while talking to himself. It was pretty alarming! Other times he was perfectly OK. I had a talk with him one day and found out he was under a lot of family pressure -- it was literally driving him insane. He went home for the Spring Festival, and when he came back he was a lot better. I don't know if it was just the rest, he resolved family issues, saw a doctor, or whatever. He's gone to Canada now and seems all right. I hear from him from time to time.

Another time while Korea was hosting the World Cup, my Korean student came in still drunk from the night before. As soon as class was over, he started running around in the auditorium singing, "Oh, pilsung Korea," the football anthem!

My dad had this student who warned him that she had epilepsy, and would have complex partial seizures from time to time that would cause her to do really strange things. One day in the middle of class, she got up, started tearing her textbook apart, and threw it out the window. Then she got up and left the room. My dad had a student to go along with her wherever she was going to make sure she wouldn't end up in any danger.

[brsmith15]

You said this was a female student. Don't discount the fact that you caused her stress to the degree that her initial (or later) estrus cycle occurred prematuely. We have a lot of cloth seats in our school which are highly stained at the anatomically correct point. Guess why? Yup. Human blood. I even had a sample taken to the local hospital.

You must remember you are not in the US, Canada, Holland, UK. Many of these young ladies were never told by their mothers what to expect at puberty. They also watch men spit. So, they do the same in their own charming way.

[The G-stringed Avenger]

[Roger]

I think my Chinese students are no more bizarre than white folks are anywhere in the world, but here goes:

The first, and probably most common anomaly is that whatever I say, hardly anybody listens. It enters one ear and goes out by the other. My students probably expect me to rehearse some sentence in chorus with them, but no: I won't do that! I give them instructions, then sometimes ask the student with the blankest look in her face to repeat what I said; guess what? They invariably say, "sorry, I don't hear what you say!"
I have to train them to LISTEN, and to expect to have to repeat what I said. They learnt to *beep* their ears...

But there was a girl in one of my Listening & Speaking classes who fitted in nowhere. I usually asked a few students to come in front, then to pick their partners for their brainstorming. This girl would stand up, then say: 'No! THEY don't SPEAK ENGLISH! I can't understand THEM!" Said it, and refused to be joined to any group! Rather antisocial, but that wasn't my problem - it was hers!

One time - a long time ago - I made a slightly disparaging remark about Chinese cops (I had the previous day watched as police nabbed a man who had a travelling bag full of fake banknotes).
I only said something like "I wouldn't want to have any dealings with the Public Security Bureau!"
A girl unceremoniously stood up and interrupted me, "I disagree! Everybody knows the Chinese police are themost helpful in the world! Just last night we watched TV and we saw the Guangdong police handing over six cars stolen in Hong Kong to the Hong Kong police!"
My silly remark earned me a rather harsh reprobation from one of the principals as well!

I had the last week of my course with some of my students; amazingly, the last class saw 4 new students. What had happened? In period 2, they asked me whether they could take their "exam" today...
They had carefully planned their time and missed going to my class every week but the last one, hoping to sit their exam! So silly to think it only takes their presence and a paper signed by them to "pass my exam"... I had to disappoint them!

[ChinaMovieMagic]

RE: Students who won't open their mouths (and criticize the teacher for talking too much...)...

I'm wondering if:

*this also occurs when the students are in small clusters of 6, in two lines of three, doing Role Play

*if we FTs in China occasionally detect some Passive-Aggressive dynamics w/some of our students.

BELOW are some suggestions:

http://www.askaspecialist.ca.gov/archives/2003/behavior/Dec_2003.htm


>> I have found that the function of most passive aggressive behavior is not to avoid work but to gain: attention, assistance, release from feelings incompetence or powerlessness. This hypothesis calls for different strategies:

The first three focus on avoiding power struggles:

1. Try to remove the issue (work production) from the power struggle arena. One way to do this is by creating activity checklists, that is, task cards or mini-schedules that are accompanied by visuals and include the steps for completing various assignments. Teach the student to cross off each activity as she completes it. When she is off-task, walk by and point to her card. This way, you avoid direct confrontation.

2. Another technique to avoid a power struggle is to share some of the control by offering some choices:


� Do you want to use pen or pencil?

� Do you want to do this in the workbook or on your slate?

� Do you want to do this after or before lunch?

� Do you want to sit at your desk or in the book corner?

� Do you want to do the odd or the even number?


3. Another technique to avoid power struggles is: Never argue!! Try the "Broken Record" routine:

� You: " The assignment begins on page 17."

� Student: "Ra ra ra."

� You: "The assignment begins on page 17."

� Student: "Ra ra ra ra ra."

� You: "Nevertheless, the assignment begins on page 17." Walk away.



Another version of this is called "Praise-Prompt-Leave":

� First, praise by stating exactly what the student has done correctly (e.g., "You put your name on the paper").

� Next, prompt by stating the next thing he needs to do. Be specific, provide examples if needed and ask him to repeat what he is to do

� Say that you will come back and check, then leave for the time necessary for the student to complete the step.


Repeat the process as needed.

The next one helps avoid reinforcing the behavior by reinforcing the opposite behavior.
4. To avoid giving attention to work avoidance, heavily reinforce the tiniest output. If this is a student who sits with a blank paper, turn somersaults if she writes the first letter of her name on the paper.

This one is crucial because it's our own reactions to passive aggressive behavior that makes it so powerful.

5. Monitor your own reactions. Passive aggressive students make teachers feel frustrated and angry. This often leads you to try to exert control. The student expects that! Instead, try an empathic response, which acknowledges the communicative intent of the behavior, such as "Looks like you're having a bad day" or "I think this is a difficult assignment. If I were you, I might have a hard time getting started."

Let the student know that you reject the behavior, not the student: "Ripping up your math sheet is not okay, Linda, but I'll get you another and together we can get started on it." It's best to do this privately.

This one is to counteract the feelings of powerlessness that so often accompany passive aggressive behavior.

6. Involve the student in solving this problem. Let her know that you need her participation so that she will be able to succeed in your class and that you are willing to make accommodations to help her do this. Problems solve together some solutions. Try to get her to set some very modest goals. Typically, reward systems (different from reinforcement) don't work. Neither does punishment. However, natural consequences and acc

It might help to reach way down far and to find a place where you can feel empathy for this type of student is to view him as frozen in this behavior. He really wants your help (which is likely to be emotional first-aid as much as it is academic assistance) and he doesn't even know it, so he is stuck with an infantile response until you can rescue him. Passive aggression seems to be powerful but it is really the response of those who feel incompetent or powerless. <<<

Resources:

The You Can Handle Them All Web Site
http://www.disciplinehelp.com/behavior

They Fear Failure
http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/

Understanding Why Students Avoid Writing
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/writing


Passive Aggressive Behavior Tip Sheet
http://ici2.umn.edu/preschoolbehavior/tip_sheets/passagg.htm

[ChinaMovieMagic]

Sounds familiar?

http://ici2.umn.edu/preschoolbehavior/tip_sheets/passagg.htm


What characterizes the passive-aggressive student?

Most teachers could, no doubt, describe the characteristics of a passive-aggressive student who has driven them to distraction. The first time a teacher encounters a passive-aggressive student, he or she often does not understand why the student frustrates him or her so much. However, once the teacher starts to recognize the manipulative behavior of the student, it will be possible to begin to effectively help the student to change his or her behavior.

Passive-aggressive students deal with their anger and frustration by eliciting these feelings in others, thereby appearing to be the victim of the other's irrational behavior. Typical characteristics of the passive-aggressive student are:

passive listening: hearing only what they want
slow-motion: moving very slowly when asked to go somewhere or complete a task
purposeful forgetting
"accidental" destruction
frequently out of seat
frequent behavior which is either inappropriate or exhibited at the wrong time
cruel cut-downs
constant complaining
incomplete work if not constantly nagged
How do these behaviors compare between passive-aggressive and other students?

The passive-aggressive student exhibits these behaviors generally for two reasons: attention or expressing anger. During the student's development, he or she was either not given attention for appropriate behavior or was not taught ways of gaining attention through appropriate behavior or expressing anger effectively. Therefore, the student learned that attention could be effectively gained by annoying and provoking others in indirect ways "while appearing to be proper, polite, sorry, and confused by the teacher's behavior" (Berres & Long, 1979).

While the student's behavior at first glance may appear to be an attempt to avoid and escape tasks or activities, a closer examination of the behavior will reveal that it is the conflict resulting from the behavior which drives the student. It is that attention received from teachers and peers which reinforces the student's behavior, not the prospect of avoiding or escaping a disliked activity.

[badtyndale]

I had a class where NOTHING was going according to plan. It was more than just a simple case of 'you are stones and I want your blood' - this class just didn't even seem to know I was there. It was like I was Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense - I was actually getting really anxious as well as annoyed when all of a sudden... BAMMM!!!! As if from nowhere, and without even asking, ChinaMovieMagic suddenly appeared and launched into this amazing routine... it was a revelation - these kids never knew how stimulating a conversation with nobody but yourself could be. Mind you they didn't understand a bloody word of it.

[ChinaMovieMagic]

"Whole-brained Stimulation is as Whole-brained Stimulation does."

As for "asking"...perhaps it's no more volitional than neuropeptides...or geo-gravitation...it just happens...

Today I showed my Professor-students a book written for Western managers, introducing them to the management-relavent principles of the I Ching. And they were patriotically stating "I Ching is too deep...too difficult to understand...we don't know how to use it..."

And I was pleasantly surprised to hear my Self responding to their all-too-familiar reply: "Does the child need to understand the grandfather? The grandfather understands the child...and smiles...and plays...and the child learns from the grandfather..."

Surprised, the Professors smiled. A compliment...

[badtyndale]

Nevertheless, everyone loved the pussycat and I managed to fall into a baijiu-induced stupor, punctuated by pseudo-lucid dreams in which my approach to the communicative skills of EFL were praised by none other than Erving Goffman himself.

Sadly, I awoke from these comforting delusions to find only empty space... Yet, a part of me still had the hope and courage and unshakeable belief that the Magic would return...

[beck's]

When I was teaching in a a large North Amercian suburban high school a group of gangbangers entered and demanded money from one of my students. They had fronted my student a large quantity of drugs to sell at school and they were demanding payment. The gangbangers proceeded to start to beat the living daylights out of my student and like a rookie I tried to intervene. Well they called me a mudderfu-cking b-tch and told me they would cap my a--. They left when the police were called.

My intervention techniques were no doubt faulty but at that time I didn't know nearly as much Magic as I know now. From his comments I believe that Magic has a brilliant future as a teaching consultant for a school board somewhere. I can see him sitting in a cube, latte in hand, cutting and pasting snippets of the latest educational techniques and emailing them to the teachers in the trenches. They will react by deleting them. As they do so, what hat will they be wearing Magic?

[Old Dog]

Badtyndale, You mean ..... The WORD was made FLESH and DWELT AMONG US! Are you sure you were not eating a TOASTED CHEESE SANDWICH at the time?

Nevertheless, your experience - though I suspect it is APOCRYPHAL - reminds me of the scene from the movie, "Lei Feng, the Movie Magic Movers and the Sichuan Magic Lantern Show" (c. 1969, b/w, Cao Miao Miao, Golden Tractors and 3 CIVILIZED CINEMATOGRAPH AWARDS) in which - BAMMM!!!! - Lei Feng suddenly appeared in the impoverished classroom, armed only with magic lantern, launched into a singing/danging routine, with the Movie Magic Movers as supporting artists - and, lo, everyone was speaking in tongues in a trice, and COMMUNICATING INTERACTIVELY simultaneously. It was truly magical.

[brsmith15]

Back to the main theme............

About three years ago I was teaching a business course with about 15 students. One of the female students arrived late, glared at another young woman and proceeded to sit behind her. In a minute or two there proceeded an honest-to-God, right-out-of-John-Wayne-western, cat fight. Now, these two ladies were tall, gorgeous, large chested. And isn't it every man's fantasy to be in the midst of all this hormone-drive, female pulchritude? This situation, however, became a nightmare. I cleared the remaining students out of the room just as their respective boyfriends (both tall, muscular and handsome) arrive and joined in the fray. Cripes! The Four Stooges!

I finally called the PSB and a very well-dressed detective arrived. First, he put both women into a small interrogation room with me, but that didn't work because the hair-pulling, scratching, biting and screaming only began again.

It made me appreciate that age-old advice about being in a situtation that's suddenly sprung upon you, leaving you stunned and inoperative.

[Ariadne]

China Movie Magic... you are sort of scary sometimes.