Korean Job Discussion Forums

[njp6]

Hey all. I could really use some help with this one. I teach sixth graders in public school and they're getting to be a bit too much. I started teaching them at the beginning of the semester and took over for a teacher who didn't have much of a game plan at all. To be honest I made some mistakes right from the beginning. I assumed the K-teacher would make all the discipline problems disappear. I mistook the kids curiosity for respect and I thought I could make games that worked on forth graders work on sixth graders. I have since modified much of my teaching and it has helped; however, there's still a few classes that I just dread. How do you get through those? I'm looking for any advice that anyone can give; advice on lessons, behavior modifications, any tricks you have to motivate and discipline.

[thegadfly]

Could you be more specific about the problems you are having? For example, in the area where I teach, sixth graders actually need to compete to get into the better middle schools...so they are stressed out and overworked, much as their middle and high school counterparts -- so the problem I most often have is lack of homework completion and students that just want to put their head down to sleep.

At my previous gig, the sixth graders were the top age group in their school, but did not have any pressure on them yet -- so they had loads of free time and a huge ego -- they were up out of their seats, talked in Korean too much, and generally needed to be put in place and given enough to do....

Obviously, a different approach was needed in each of the places, for the same grade...so what kind of problems do you need to address?

[njp6]

I definitely have the second group. About half my classes are okay, but there are three classes where certain students refuse to stay in their seats and constantly talk Korean. One class in particular disrespects the homeroom teacher all the time (trashing the classroom, swearing, refusing to work or sit in assigned seats). It�s like the lunatics are running the asylum. Many teachers look past this behavior, and maybe I should too, but I just don't seem to have that ability. I'm stuck in a double bind. I'm supposed to teach these students in English when many refuse to do anything in any language. I'm trying to be as professional as I can but professionalism has just about flown out the window.

I also taught middle school in the states. That was tough but I've never seen anything like this.

[MarionG]

I have a stick. No, I would never, ever, hit a student. But a stick, whacked hard on a desk, makes a loud, satisfying (to me) and attention getting noise.

Getting the class to settle down at the beginning of the period is a challenge. I usually have some activity that allows me to call on students (Would you do number 3 on page 212 please Bill? [all the kids in my school use English names]) and the student who will be called on first is the one who hasn't settled down into his seat yet.

If I have problems later in the class, it's because I haven't kept things moving.

[thegadfly]

I would also suggest to keep things moving -- if you teach stuff that is too far above the kids heads, they may just give up, but if you give them stuff that is too easy, they feel justified in goofing around -- so I would suggest giving them stuff just a little north of easy, but give them a BUNCH of it -- go over new stuff as if it were review, go over way more stuff than you would normally, pile it on -- just make sure it is close enough to what they could do that they don't just give up....

For example, a 50 question quiz (single spaced, 10 pt font, 25 front 25 back is what I did) -- easy questions, but only give them 3 minutes or 5 minutes to finish the whole thing...maybe some kind of prize for the student to get the most right or finish the most...collect them, and just re-use the questions no one got to (first time I did it, no one got past #20...so #21 became #1, I made 20 new questions at the end, but I prolly could have just moved the original 1-20).

Ring leaders get called on the most...in a very large class, I divided the class into smaller groups, with the leader of each group being the worst behavioral offenders...then any time anyone in the group messed up, the leader was punished on behalf of his group.... I only did this with students that are capable of behaving but choose not to -- a truly ADHD kid should not be made a group leader then punished for everyone -- just the jerks who are instigating stuff....

I honestly prefer high energy to no energy -- it can be channeled to suit your purposes...make the class seem like it is speeding along, even if you are just circling the parking lot...teach for exposure rather than mastery for a few days...tire 'em out....

[chris_J2]

http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi?Discipline:

[njp6]

thanks for the link Chris_J2. The only thing is I've scoured that link and have found very little that has worked for me. I think the unique thing about sixth graders is they are stuck in this no-mans-land: too old to be in elementary/ too young to be in middle school. I have a discipline/ motivation system whereby the class is rewarded and punished for good or bad behaviors. Rewards are games, videos and snack parties. Punishments are mainly assigned seats and dictation tests. Most of my classes go for this except the evil three where nothing I've done seem to make a difference. (Maybe I should stop calling them the evil three to begin with.) I've found that most of the behavior ideas in the links section apply to teaching younger kids or to hagwon situations, however, if there's a specific one that has worked for you with older kids I'd like to know about it.

[chris_J2]

Okay, here's what I did: I had a graded system, from 1-5, with 1 being mild, & 5 severe. In 12 months, I only ever needed to use the #5 twice: 1st time when 2 boys were punching each other in the head, & one had loose teeth & blood, the 2nd when one student chewed a corner of the handout sheet, & spat it on the floor.

1st offense: Stand up (if they behave, they can sit down)
2nd offense: Stand up, Hands Raised
3rd offense: Stand in the corner or back of the room, with raised arms
4th offense: Get out of the classroom, & if necessary, lock the doors, so they can't renter
5th offense Home Teacher

Make sure you know who all the disabled students are, & be lenient accordingly. There were about 5 of them in my school.

I also had a 'brat pack' of grade 5 girls, always egging each other on. Divide & conquer. Split them up. eg, "You! sit down the back, you! swap places with her, you! sit in that empty seat over there. No more problems!

[Tokki1]

I can't wait for my 6th graders to get the hell out and go to middle school.

Personally, I usually just wander around the room for the 15 minutes and try to rearrange them so that they aren't breaking chairs and maiming each other, then use this large, pink squeaky hammer to bash them on the heads with. I usually scream 'head shot' or 'double head shot' from the game Sudden Attack, which they find amusing.

With 40 maniacs in one classroom with a disgruntled, timid and resigned Korean coteacher, it's outright war.

For me it's all about survival. Not education. (With 6th graders, that is: they're worse than middle schoolers.)

[thegadfly]

OK, what is it about the "evil three" that make them different from the other classes? A stronger ringleader-type behavior-problem kid or kids? More indifference to punishment? Less desire for reward? Lower ability, and hence less liklihood of reward? Lower ability, and hence less understanding of teacher expectations?

Figuring out why what works in other classes doesn't work in the "evil three" is a big part of solving the problem. Each of the things I mentioned above might be a reason why your system doesn't work with these kids, or there may be something else...and there are things that can be done to redress the issue in each circumstance....

I'm seriously trying to offer suggestions, but to give a more specific suggestion, I need more specific information....

Cheers!

[R. S. Refugee]

I teach middle school. I've used one technique that generally gets kids out of their usual self-chosen seating and guarantees a random mix in the seating for each class meeting.

First, I should say that my classroom has 6 tables. That's 2 rows of 3 tables. Each table sits up to 6 students. Before the class begins everyone who comes in gathers wherever they like. When class begins, I have them count off from 1 to 6 going around the room. All the 1s go sit at table 1, all the 2s go sit at table 2, etc. Once they get there, if I see anyone pounding on anyone else, then I make additional switches of their seating. Also, if a girlfriend/boyfriend are then sitting together, I switch them. I don't know enough about the social scene in middle school to ID a girlfriend/boyfriend pair, but my co-teachers do.

A lot can be achieved just by randomly seating the students and then making minor adjustments as needed.

[njp6]

One of the reasons I haven't been too specific is it's a little tough to admit how bad things have gotten but there's no point in sugar coating it. In my worst class, and this is the absolute worst class, there's a group of boys that refuse to do anything. There are two boys who think they own the classroom, and honestly they do. They disrespect the homeroom teacher to her face. One of the boys mouthed off to the vice principal and got smacked around for it but that didn't seem to do much. The classroom is trashed; lockers smashed in and ripped apart, markers on all the desks (they were new three months ago), and at least one broken window that I know of (who knows how many they've replaced). I've seen dilapidated classrooms but this one looks like a war zone.

Their homeroom teacher is a first year teacher who has been tormented since day one. I've asked what we can do about this situation: parental involvement, talk to the principal, suspension but nothing has come of it. The teachers are scared to talk to the parents, they think talking to the principal is a sign that they can't control their classes (duh) and apparently suspension or anything like it doesn't happen here. What I'm scared of is what I'm going to do eventually. On one occasion I ushered one of the boys out of the room with a little bit of force. I felt awful for that, but then a few weeks later things started up again.

I've told my k-teacher that something needs to change, that we can't just let this happen but she shrugs in that "what can we do sort of way". I told her if no one is willing to work with me on the situation then I'm not teaching that class, because its not safe for me to be in that classroom. That seemed to work. The homeroom teacher taught English today. But that's not a solution. I just want to know if anyone has seen it this bad. If you have, what did you do? I've tried so many avenues, rewarding the kids, punishing the kids, embarrassing the troublemakers, and I've tried to be consistent so the students know what to do and what to expect. If I could get rid of the two boys then things might be okay, but until that point, that's it.

I'm not new to teaching and I've had some tough classes, but as I've said before, I've never seen anything like this.

[chris_J2]