How to cope the boredom in english teaching?

[fay]

Hello everyone..
my name is fay..
I'm an English lecturer in one of big private university in central java, Indonesia..
I've been teaching English since 2001 but until now I am not really enjoying my teaching work...
sometimes I feel boring of facing bad or ill-mannered students..
how can I cope this problem?

[Tdol]

Firslty, analyse why you're bored- are you repeating yourself? If so, then change things around, use new materials, try new approaches.

[Saint Turay]

Hello,
I am an English teacher in Sheyang China. I am always happy to teach and in my class there is no dull moment.
My first advice to you is; Love your job as much as possible and love you students also.Learning a second Language is very difficult and strssful so the students of foreign language need more fun during lessons.
Love and fun solves that problem. try them and tell others.
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[Avsaroglu]

Hi Fay! I'm from Turkey. I'm studying at english teaching class at Erciyes University. I know your feelings. Maybe, you can give your students small sketches and want them to act on stage. Or you can give different subject to each student and want them to teach their friends their subjects. I tried to convey my ideas as far as I could. I hope you understood me. Good luck! I wait for your answer.

[aliaa]

Hi fay, I know how you feel because I had this experience when I was teaching teenage girls, Try to come everyday with something new, you have to surprise your students , give them songs, games even teenage students like games, let them act a play out. As tdol told you don't repeat yourself, be creative,let them share you in teaching they will feel responsible. surf the internet for new ideas, believe me it will work.

[huda23]

Hi fay,I will tell you some tips to get over boredom in the classroom and i wish it will be helpful for you :1-Be cheerful. 2- Use techniques that interest Ss most. e.g. Games, acting,miming,showing silms and movies ,using flash cards,using realia, using songs , news , cartoons and comics , word wheel , tape records , pair or group work.....etc. 3- avoid language bias. 4- Don't do anything the pupil can do.5- Utilize teaching aids but keep in mind that these aids don't substitute teacher. 6- Treat your students as your friends or sons ; treat them politely, kindly and in a respect way. 7- Take care of the first impression that the students will take about you . 8- Try to act the lesson ( avoid the formal way; Educational aids will be the perfect solution for this). Finally , love English language and your job as a teacher; believe me this will have a wonderful effect on your teaching.

[hibiscus]

I used to teach English in secondary schools. My first job was to teach English in Chinese schools. That was a tough job! I felt like I was teaching to the walls! The students were so passive that they just kept quiet. Call that good listeners but they were afraid to speak up. Imagine with 50 students in each class and I had 4 classes like that! and I had to mark 200 compositions (every fortnight)in broken English...and by the time I finished marking those papers, over a year...I think I was beginning to speak and write like them! I needed a break!
Then I taught in another school, and the students were mostly fluent in English. It is a well-known private school where the rich students are sent to.
They are more responsive. Communication in English was not a problem. It was very unlike the first school I had taught in.
Now, I have given up teaching in schools( in the city). Instead I teach at my home and those interested students would come for my lessons. (I live in a rural area now). They are also rather passive and it is very difficult to get them to speak and response in English. They are chinese-educated and are just so afraid to speak out. They don't seem to be able to express themselves in English. I told them my class is not a mute class. I'm not teaching sign-languages!
It's more of a frustration, and not boredom. I tried to get them to discuss and tell me what they think, but they just couldn't. I guess they just have to learn more adjectives!? What they lack is reading. They just don't read enough of English books/ story books or articles. These are all 13- 16 yrs old students.
Any suggestions?

[Ayo]

Hibiscus,

Wow!! That's really tough!!! By the way, I just bumped into this thread because it's kind of similar with my post. I'm an English teacher too but I teach English on line (phone, internet) to Korean students. I know what you're feeling, I too, have handled students like those. Its like you're talking to a wall, it seemed to be a very quiet and peaceful class but GOD it will take ages before they speak up or even answer a very simple question!!! Truly, it's difficult to learn a foreign language but it's doubly hard to teach foreign language to unwilling students. The problem I guess is less about the teacher/tutor, its more of the students. Even you sweat a container a day, sleep one hour a day just to prepare lesson plans; devote all your time thinking on how you're going to teach them all the things that they need to know regarding the subject...these are all nothing..if the students themselves lack interest. How sad.

We teachers still make a lot of efforts, right? Because it's our duty, if not an obligation to teach them and assure that they learn from us..So, what I did is I keep my soul always up!!! We can't do more about it because we already did!! I think that's enough....I love my students, I love my job, I love what I'm doing...those are the most important things for me..they can be mute or deaf or anything, even I talk to walls and teach sign language...still I continue teaching them...because I know all my efforts will be paid back...in time...after all maybe what they need is a little more time and make them realize that no one can help them if they don't help themselves first.

Ayo

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Ayo

Hibiscus,

Because it's our duty, if not an obligation to teach them and assure that they learn from us..

Is it genuinely possible to control learning? We can create conditions for learning to take place, but there is always a point where the ultimate control lies with the learner.