Job Discussion Forums

Drizzt · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 229 Location: Kyuushuu, Japan

Hello everyone,

I have 21 classes during the week and almost ALL of them are great. They are attentive and responsive.

I do have two of three classes, however, where some of the kids that sit in the back of the class disrupt class by continuously chattering. They are high school students and the classes have 56 students each, so it causes quite a distraction. They especially do it when other students are trying to give a presentation or sometimes when I am trying to talk. I've tried a few things to remedy this, but inevitably they start up again after a few moments.

If anyone can share ideas on what they do to resolve this I would appreciate it.

Kris

cujobytes · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:56 am Post subject: >

BB gun.

Babala · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 1303 Location: Henan

Get them out of the back. Remember back when you were in school? If you want to screw around, you sit in the back. Separate them from their friends, make up a seating plan. Let them know that anyone caught chatting will have to get in front of the class and speak in english for 5 minutes on a topic you assign. After you make one do it, the rest will see that you are serious.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I certainly agree with Babala on all points. Splitting them up with a seating plan SHOULD work. In my case at the beginning of the school year, my classroom was simply too small (I had 32 students in the "rough" classes). So they still turned around and talked to each other and told jokes and laughed. Amazingly, after I kicked the offenders out of the class (after several repeat warnings), I was told that - - no matter what - - all students must stay in the classroom at all times.

I would give a seating chart a try. On the one hand, I think that maybe seating them beside one of your better students might help them improve. On the other hand, they may simply start talking to that better student, thus distracting him and hurting the performance of the better student - - possibly even copying off him during a written assignment or test. You would think that sitting them right up front (like I did) would curb their desires to chat, but that didn't work at all with mine. Simply a lack of respect and a lack of wanting to practice English were the problems.

cujobytes · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:59 am Post subject: >

BB gun

Drizzt · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 229 Location: Kyuushuu, Japan

Ok guys, thanks for the advice...I think I will try to seating chart idea.

geekyguy · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:45 am Post subject: Re: >

I've completely given up on it. My classes range in the 70 to 90 student range. If a student wants to sleep, cool. If they want to eat, cool. If they want to read, cool. Quiet is fine. If they get too disruptive I'll just stop talking until the other students shush them. Let the students that want to learn handle them. Peer pressure is an especially strong deterrent.

My students also change seats every week. It keeps them social with the entire class but it doesn't really help me to learn their names.

Like you, I have two classes with ~90 students that exhaust me. The Chinese English teacher is completely apathetic and has never attended. I've let them watch Pimp My Ride, Unwrapped and other American TV that I have downloaded. I have them this week and might download Cops.

I'm only the second foreign teacher in this town and I recently learned that the last teacher would lose it and yell at them. I'm not here to baby or even coax them into learning spoken English. I know English. I speak it quite well.

Fortunately, despite the class sizes most of my students are interested and attentive.

darkchild · Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 47

definitely separate them!
sometimes shame will get to them, so making them stand in front of the class could work, but some students are just the class clown and nothing will work. but i do find that chinese students do give quite a lot of respect to teachers, so you might not have too much trouble.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Seating chart won't last long - CHinese students get rotated around the classroom by order of the government, so to speak: the authorities want all kids to be seated in front in turn, then be moved to the rear so that their eyes get exposure to every distance in the classroom.

Songbird · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:48 am Post subject:

Peg small pieces of chalk at them! Works every time! I got this idea off my old ag science teacher who was obsessed with doing this- bloody brilliant, I say!

cujobytes · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:34 pm Post subject: >

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

ekirving · Joined: 29 Mar 2005 Posts: 57 Location: Back Home :-(

Many of the above suggestions seem quite practical, particularly the approach of embarrassing the disruptive students in front of their peers. Others seem dependant upon the setup at your particular school--I have no control over my classes seating plans.

In my case I teach at four schools and find I have recurring discipline problems at only one. I've had students refuse to work or answer questions, vandalise class equipment, and even assault each other (in one case an attempt was made with a 1'6" long chain!)

The level of endemic misbehaviour at this school reminds me (fondly?) of high school years back home, which provide me with an extensive first-hand body of knowledge of how best to deal with troublesome students. I find I get the best results when I stop and think "When I was their age, what would have shut me up?"

In the case of students who are passively resisting learning (e.g., doing homework for other subjects, reading irrelevant books, etc.) I find that disciplining against this sort of behaviour takes too much time away from the lesson. We can't hope to teach every student, but instead, as we are in a Communist country, we should aim for the greatest good for the greatest number.

For students who are actively disrupting the class I have several approaches. On a first offence they are asked to stand and repeat an English phrase, or answer a question. If they repeatedly re-offend they are moved into the front row, or where this is impractical, made to stand beside me at the front. In more extreme cases simply asking the student to leave can be quite effective (at least they can't interfere anymore, barring annoying reappearances outside the class windows).

In one regrettable incident I was forced to physically eject a student from my class. Not only did he refuse to work, he also point blank refused (in English) to either be quiet or leave. He then stared me in the eyes and said "What are you going to do about it!?". Unable to let such a blatant challenge to my authority go, I lifted him clean out of his chair, grabbed him in a bear hug and threw him (literally) out of the room. He then proceeded to kick the back door in (damaging the lock) and returned to his seat. So, admitting defeat, I fetched his Chinese teacher, who whispered briefly in his ear then led him away in tears. I don't know what she said but he hasn't been disruptive since.

monju · Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Wutaishan, China

below

monju · Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Wutaishan, China

You're wasting your time trying to do anything with the disruptive students.
I taught at the same school for more than six months, and in that time tried just about everything.
You are dealing with people who think you are a big joke - your main purpose is to entertain them. In Shanxi, in particular, the people think they are better than everyone else, because Shanxi is supposedly the cradle of Chinese "civilisation".
This is called culture shock! Better to just forget them and move on to a more civilised place - you've onluy got a couple more months.