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Fri 6 Jan, 2006 06:23 am
Thank you for your tips in September when I started to teach at high school as an English teacher. Although I have a TEFL, so I am quite familiar with the latest teaching methods and can solve most teaching problems, organize a lesson and a class, I am still quite slow in learning how to discipline difficult students.
You gave me some good tips in September and they worked out. I stick to these rules when dealing with disturbing or disrespect from my students:
I don't talk over them. When they disturb, I stop talking and wait. At most I pronounce the name of a particular student. This usually quickly quiets the student.
I never raise my voice unless I have to say a difficult word or sentence, but never get angry. This is something I just totally stick to. At most I say clearly that I don't approve of this or that.
These rules have helped me to maintain working atmosphere in most situations in class. I have two problems, hence questions.
At the beginning, the first five minutes of the lesson, the students tend to ignore the fact that I am there and that it is time to work. Only after above mentioned procedures they start to notice it is an English lesson, not a coffee break.
So the question is - is there a simple solution how to make them work right at the beginning? The strange thing is that once they get busy with excercise and different activities, there is almost no problem with discipline. Out of 20 students, 16 or so work hard and try and concentrate. Two or three students tend to be slow or don't try to figure out and give up an excercise.
So now I have this strange mixed reputation that I am not one of those teachers who get immediate respect from students, but the students admit that in the actuall class they all do what I tell them to do. I just don't know why after five months they act like they ignore me for 5 minutes and then switch to discipline. Are they playing games with me? Is it still fun even after 5 months? I don't get it. I am doing my best to avoid discipline devices like 5 minute "punisment" grammar tests but it seems they are asking for it.
These are 16 year old students, with above averege IQ. Ready to study at college etc.
Thank you for your tips / oh, I will ask the second question in a separate post.
By now it's probably just habit.
You could let them know that from now on you will be announcing the homework assignment in the first minute of class and you won't repeat it.
Do you really need those five minutes?
I think it's a pretty standard human thing to kinda arrive, get situated, get your brain in gear. I can see that taking five minutes.
Might be a "choose your battles" sort of thing -- only make rules for the things that really matter and that you can enforce, and let the rest go. Trying to enforce stuff that doesn't really matter and is unenforcable has the effect of damaging your credibility with no real gain.
Start each class with a 5-minute written quiz, the 5 minutes beginning with the starting bell for the period (which, by definition and custom is when students are to be in their assigned places and ready to commence work) - and ending by the clock. Make t understood the daily quiz scores will factor heavilly in the grade-point weighting calculations for each grading cycle.
Another option would be to hang one or two of the ringleaders, and leave their carcasses dangling where the rest of the mob can see them.
That's a good point, soz. It may very well not be worth fighting for.
Announce your arrival by scraping your fingernails down the chalkboard. Mention something about "ah I'll have to do this every time to get the class started, unless of course, everyone sits and pays attention when I first walk into the room".
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