Job Discussion Forums

[Steiner]

Simple curiosity, that's why.

I'm teaching approximately 850 individuals a week, my wife has the same number.

And youuu?

[Debalky]

I've got 945 little souls per week. Hello St Peter, just wave me through...

[chinasyndrome]

43 first year medical students.

2 classes twice a week. 9 students in one, 13 in the other. 2 classes once a week. 11 students in one, 10 in the other. 1 hour and 40 minutes each class. All advanced learners.

Read 'em and weep. <CS stretches, kicks back, hands behind head and feet on stool, smiles smugly>

[gerard]

About 150.................Or 150 too many.

[Gordon]

About 200, most of them 2-3 classes/week.

[Fargi_prc]

700 Give or take... Which is about the same amount of greetings I get just walking to class.

[cheekygal]

over a 1000... the largest amount of students i taught was 1600 in total and the least was 700

[whitjohn]

130 as of today. After the National Holiday, I'll add another 60 or so in two two hour oral classes. I love 'em all!
Kunming the best place in China

[Wolf]

200 or so now (all the seniors.) Add to that another 150 or so (all the freshmen, who finish military training on Sunday and start classes after National Week.)

[Minhang Oz]

Most of these figures represent the farcical situation many find themselves in. No meaningful learning can occur given these numbers and the attendant huge class sizes and minimal weekly exposure. How can teachers provide any feedback or assessment to students based on a few minutes contact per student per week? Do people even get to know a few names, or is it just a sea of faces?

Many of the numbers above tell a few truths:

You are a token native speaker, there to boost enrolments and fees. An investment on the part of the school.

Whatever qualifications, skills, experience you have are totally wasted.

I only teach around 150 students, and even then I feel at times I'm pushing shi't up hill with a stick.

[struelle]

Hmm ... time to do some math. An average of 14 required classes a week, 20 students per class, with classes rotated every two weeks. That works out to 560 students. The small class sizes are good because I can do a lot of the previous ESL skills I learned, and can learn some names as well. But the downside is that it's very difficult to assess progress and get accurate class profiles when I only see the kids once every two weeks!

It's much better in my elective classes, where I teach the same group twice a week, and get an idea of their progress more.

Steve

[cabbagehead]

Sorry to buck the trend.

I teach 40 students a week in 14 classes.

[Steiner]

Minhang, you're absolutely right.

In their TESOL training, did anyone have courses specifically on teaching large classes?

[Minhang Oz]

Cabbagehead, all I can say is you're a lucky, lucky *beep*. I bet your students can even speak English. Come to China for a dose of reality therapy.

Steiner, I had to devise a teaching plan for a theoretical group of ten in my course. To be fair though, most of it was based on the assumption you'd be teaching ESL, not EFL, and that class sizes in your home country's system wouldn't be as ridiculous as here.

[cabbagehead]