Job Discussion Forums

[kev7161]

Most of you regulars know I work for an international school and I teach a variety of subjects. Unfortunately, I have worked with the same group of kids for over 2 years now. I think they'd be better served if they had a new teacher this year - - one with fresh ideas and fresh angles in which to approach the subjects. See, after about 6 weeks of school so far, I see a few bored kids who easily venture off into daydream land. I do my best to be very thorough in the subject matter I teach and review, review, review before giving a test. On the other hand, it's also time for these kids to start meeting me halfway (yes at this oh-my-god-they're-so-young age of 3rd graders). But, I'm not going to post two pages on why I feel I'm still doing a halfway decent jobs with these kids, but rather about the parents.

See, today I met with two parents of two boys who, although very clever and can attain good marks (which they have numerous times in the past), are now starting to slip. I must call these boys out during lessons a half dozen times a day. They find something INFINITELY more interesting at their desk to play with (like their pencils and erasers) or they talk during lessons or they try to put their heads down, etc. Yes, even at this young age, they are showing tendancies of your "typical" Chinese student. So the parents (two seperate meetings, by the way) are imploring why their little darling is starting to show Bs and Cs instead of their former (mostly) As. "Well," I tell them, "for one thing, the subjects are getting more challenging. The English level is rising and topics are becoming more complex. Another thing," I continue, "Is that your son has not been focusing on the lessons very closely since almost day one of the school year and, as this is an ENGLISH program and English is not their native tongue, they need to listen all the more attentively." The Chinese teacher in my class translated.

One parent nodded sagely, knowing the behaviors of her child, and gave him a tongue-lashing right there in front of me! Go mom! The other, who tends to spoil her child if you can ever believe that (and, who by the way, kept him out of school for 3 days just before the holidays due to "illness" and who kept him out 2 additional days after the holiday because they weren't done yet), basically insinuated that it was all my fault and little emporer couldn't possibly be to blame. Then she wanted to see how, overall, the class was doing in grades - - making me believe that if all the kids were suffering then it IS the teacher's fault. Well, I happily showed her all the As that many of my students earn across the board and how her child isn't really doing that poorly at all - - a B in English for September, an A in Math, and a B in Science. So, yeah, the kid's a pain, but he's smart enough to be an above average student. The problem is, he brought home a low-scoring test and that's when she hit the roof.

To sum up, I RARELY hear from these parents and I send home tests to be signed every week and a grade summary every month (the "official" grades don't set in until mid-term and end of the term). At the parents' bequest, I send homework home every weekend and, as stated above, I try to be quite thorough in my lessons with a variety of teaching styles used. But when I get this kind of feedback from a parent or two (very little feedback from the parents of my successful students who pretty much make all As all the time - - about 25% of my class), it just makes me annoyed. I guess it comes with the territory of teaching, but I wish I had a video camera in the classroom filming the behavior of some of these "little darlings"!

PS: I openly criticized in front of her son about keeping him out of school for two days after the holiday without telling us. It got back to her, as I hoped it would - - I wonder if this is her way of retaliating?

[LongShiKong]

I believe learning has its own intrinsic motivation. Is it any wonder that the Chinese method of test-based instruction rather than 'guided discovery' when coupled with intense pressure from parents, doesn't, in the long run, sap the enthusiasm of even the most gifted?

I suspect the parent-child relationship, the basis from which interpersonal communication skills develop, is a significant factor in overall student performance. It's paramount in an oral skills class. Autism studies prove empathy is an essential factor in developing intelligence in early childhood. It stands to reason that parents who simply scold their kids for poor grades or force their shy kids to utter set phrases to foreigners on the street merely reinforce the notion of English as a subject, rather than as an interpersonal communication skill which they themselves lack.

To my surprise, I've witnessed the in-class performance of confident, stellar students plummet like falling stars and vice versa--watching shy children with appallingly limited language sense suddenly blossom into communicators. I can only attribute this to external factors--namely the parent-child relationship.

Ironically, usually the more confident children need more attention (encouragement) than the weaker students in order to keep them motivated. They're the ones who can't refrain from shouting out answers to your questions when you're trying to give weaker students a chance. Keep in mind, the achievers have probably been used to a lot of attention at home which is why they're so smart in the first place. Start thinking of their misbehavior in terms of 'displaced communication'. If they tune out 'by putting their heads down' it's probably a sign that you're not engaging them.

I think you're doing the right thing by putting thought and effort into your lesson prep. To provide as much stimulation and encouragement as possible in my classes, I elicit new vocab. or grammar before I teach it and spend considerable time preparing materials and homework that challenge Ss as most coursebooks and 'work'books simply insult their intelligence with mundane fill-in-the-blanks and all-too-easy substitution exercises designed to ensure everyone gets an A.

Motivational Techniques

I initially thought stars and stickers were for 5 yr. olds but I've come to appreciate the value of such motivational tools despite their apparent value--it's not WHAT you give out that matters. I've also found simple games effective in elicition such as darts, baseball (with an inflatable bat), bowling and ring toss (with pop bottles and rolls of tape), etc. I reward a short answer with one try and a long answer with 2 or more.

[kev7161]

Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated. Actually, many of the points you touched upon transpire in my classroom. I'm actually a huge proponent of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and I try to structure my week of lessons in that manner. We do individual work of course, partner work, group work, kinesthetic lessons, visual and aural lessons, tactile activities, etc. We use Venn diagrams and word maps and story maps in my Science, Reading, Math lessons and more. We play games, sing songs, and award points/stickers/prizes to not only top students, but students who show improvement from one week to the next (and it's not only improvement academic-wise, but behaviors, fulfilling responsibilities, etc.). I encourage, plead, needle, and ask my kids to use English as much as they can. If a child comes to the board and can't, say, figure out a math problem, I let him/her pick a classmate to come up and help him. THEY have the choice of either picking an advanced student or someone closer to their level. In other words, I try to pull out all the tricks of the trade when it comes to educating my charges. I'm certainly not the perfect teacher and when I reflect back on some lessons I can see where mistakes were made . . . I'll try to do better next time.

So, you're right, I'm obviously not engaging all the students all the time and that's something I need to work on. However, I'll reiterate, at some point, students have to meet the teacher half-way. Why isn't that clever student not raising his hand although he usually knows the answer? Why is something in his hands vastly more interesting than the subject at hand (I know! I know! Teacher's not dazzling them enough!)? Why must he turn around and talk to another student during a lesson? Why, when give an assignment, can't he manage to crack open his book to find one of those simple fill-in-the-blank worksheet answers? Please understand, these truly are not your average Chinese student when it comes to their English abilities and comprehension levels. You'd have to actually visit my classroom to get the full gist of these kids. Even the lowest level learners (well, except for one) are head and shoulders above a neighboring Chinese 3rd grade class (in Chinese AND English). But the battle that we all face are the doting parents whose child can do no wrong. Then, when a low-yielding test comes home to be signed, that's when the sometimes accusatory questions arise. Somehow, I the teacher did something wrong and that's why their child failed the test (although a majority of the class didn't!).

PS: I like your bowling idea! I'll give it a try.

[LongShiKong]

If we inform parents how and why we teach the way we do, and the role they can play in helping their child, it might prove mutually beneficial. This, of course, is debatable due to cultural differences but if the only communication parents receive is their child's grades at the end of term, it's only natural they become outraged when they realize their child's grades have dropped without any prior warning. After all, they're paying a premium price for a premium product.

My sister's a teacher in a privileged kindergarten in Canada. The amount of communication with parents is impressive at this level; not just report cards but regular newsletters phone calls and meetings with parents.

One day I called her after encountering what seemed insurmountable discipline problems. She reminded me how important empathy was, not just in the classroom--letting Ss know how she felt and getting them to recognize and respect the feelings of others.
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Other Game Ideas:
Magnet Shuffleboard with a target drawn on the floor with whiteboard markers. If the magnets are all the same way up, they will repel other magnets when struck rather than stick together. Mastermind: do a site search for this one--I posted it on another forum.

[beck's]

Kev: You are doing all the right things. I can tell from your posts on this thread and on other threads that you are a wll-read and self-analytical teacher who is trying to do the very best by your students.

The difference between your situation and a situation in North America is that you had one parent chastise their child in front of you. In North America the parents give a teacher instant disrespect and most of them are overtly adversarial. You are not at fault. The western ideology of education is simply moving east like Macdonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC.

[kev7161]

Thanks for the compliment! (pssst! I'll pay you later!)

[LongShiKong]

Could we draft a Letter to Parents?
How many FTs would be interested in working together to draft a letter to parents we could later translate into Chinese? For that matter, I'd also like to write a letter to the Minister of Education outlining my thoughts concerning failed attempts at Educational Reform.

[SnoopBot]