too many kids that don't listen

[jnsummer]

i've been teaching at a senior middle school in china and i'm looking for some advice on how to make 60 kids pay attention and actually listen for a change. their english is poor but they just don't listen to begin with. please help!

 

[dduck]

I think the first rule of teaching is:

The students are most interested in themselves. 8)

So, find out which topics interest your students e.g. fashion, music, relationships, computers, sports etc. and use this information to interest them in your lessons.

Also, if at all possible, allow the students to interact - if not control the direction of your lessons. According to the first rule, the lesson should be all about them.

Iain

 

[Tdol]

i've been teaching at a senior middle school in china and i'm looking for some advice on how to make 60 kids pay attention and actually listen for a change. their english is poor but they just don't listen to begin with. please help!

What audio equipment do you have?

 

[RonBee]

i've been teaching at a senior middle school in china and i'm looking for some advice on how to make 60 kids pay attention and actually listen for a change. their english is poor but they just don't listen to begin with. please help!

It might be helpful to use a prop. I used to have a teddy bear that I used sometimes when talking to "my" kids. Also, rhyme might be useful. I have written quite a few rhymes especially for kids, and I also can devise some especially for your purposes.

8)

 

[jnsummer]

]
What audio equipment do you have?[/quote]

hi tdol, my audio gear consists of a crappy cassette player and me trying to shout over 60 'kids'. actually these 'kids' are around 18 in chronological years but in china that's around 12.

 

[Tdol]

Are you trying to get them to develop heir listening skills or just shut up? I'm afraid I teach adults in cosy small classes so I have never really had to deal with people not listening. ;-(

 

[lucyarliwu]

i've been teaching at a senior middle school in china and i'm looking for some advice on how to make 60 kids pay attention and actually listen for a change. their english is poor but they just don't listen to begin with. please help!

Hi Jamie!

More patience is needed and necessary as a teacher especial teaching foreign language to non-English speakers in my opinion
You 'll make it

 

[jnsummer]

i've been teaching at a senior middle school in china and i'm looking for some advice on how to make 60 kids pay attention and actually listen for a change. their english is poor but they just don't listen to begin with. please help!

It might be helpful to use a prop. I used to have a teddy bear that I used sometimes when talking to "my" kids. Also, rhyme might be useful. I have written quite a few rhymes especially for kids, and I also can devise some especially for your purposes.

8)

hi Ronbee,

you might have seen my reply to tdol. my 'kids' are big kids but their mental age doesn't reflect their actual years. i think a teddy would probably work in the class room. i had a go at them the other day and told them that until they can learn to listen when they are told i will treat them like little babies. they understood what i meant. it's sad that i have to belittle them and humiliate them but it seems to be working. and they're all behaving much better.

today i said to a student...."now where's your piece of paper, where's your pen?? here's some paper and here's a pen. now take the pen and write on the paper like this......the rest of the class was having a great laugh at his expense :lol: . maybe this paints a bit of a picture as to what teaching in china is like.

 

[jnsummer]

Hi Jamie!

More patience is needed and necessary as a teacher especial teaching foreign language to non-English speakers in my opinion
You 'll make it [/quote]

you get to a certain point when you know that further progress won't be made until you instill some serious discipline into the classroom. patience i have, discipline i have. my students seriously lack self discipline and that's what i'm also trying to teach them as well as listening and speaking skills.

 

[RonBee]

today i said to a student...."now where's your piece of paper, where's your pen?? here's some paper and here's a pen. now take the pen and write on the paper like this......the rest of the class was having a great laugh at his expense :lol: . maybe this paints a bit of a picture as to what teaching in china is like.

It's unfortunate that you are having so much trouble getting your students to pay attention. It is difficult to teach somebody who is not paying attention, and they, of course, are not going to learn much. However, it is a bit of a stretch for you to say that your experience is typical. I don't think you know that for sure.

It is certainly clear at this point that I originally thought you were teaching younger students than you are. Of course, that doesn't mean that my ideas are bad ones. You can still use props. (You might not want to use a teddy bear with older "kids", but it probably depends on how you would use it.) Also, rhyme can be an effective teaching tool for any age group, especially as a memory aid.

8)

 

[jnsummer]

i'm open to any suggestions and ideas you may have, thanks.

but i don't recall saying that my experiences here in china are typical of the whole country. i do know many other teachers in many different parts of china that have experienced the same problems as i have. i have taught at university here and also some friends of mine are currently teaching at universities and they've had some terrible problems with their students. basically if they don't want to learn then they make it damn difficult for the teacher and distract the other students from learning.

i am progressing slowly with my class which is good and they are paying more attention than before. i hope it continues

 

[RonBee]

The student is rewarded for paying attention, and the teacher is rewarded for being patient.

8)

 

[Tdol]

Maybe activities that divide the class into smaller groups would make things more manageable, rather than running head-on into 60 students, which is an enormous and daunting number. ;-)

 

[jnsummer]

Maybe activities that divide the class into smaller groups would make things more manageable, rather than running head-on into 60 students, which is an enormous and daunting number. ;-)

Quite right tdol and i've used a couple of group activities that went well but i'm having trouble devising activities (that don't require a lot of photocopying and cutting up pieces of paper) that would utilise smaller groups. and also monitioring them so as to make sure they're using the language and not just fooling around is difficult.

vocab games, memory games, taboo and games like that go well.

 

[Tdol]

Info gap?

 

[shane]

Jamie, don't you have a Chinese teacher in your classes?? I know exactly how it is (My biggest class here was 76 middle school kids once), I have found that instead of acting as a teacher's assistant, the local teacher is quite happy to sit at the back of the class, head down, doing some marking or something.

You really should try to make the school give you a Chinese teacher to help you in class. It's the system here, and they know it. They are just trying to get out of it (a common problem).

Anytime I had a problem class like yours, I told the principal I'm not going in the class without a Chinese teacher. That seemed to work.

hth

 

[Tdol]

76!!!!

I'd need police protection. ;-(

 

[shane]

76!!!!

I'd need police protection. ;-(

8)

 

[Tdol]

And valium. ;-)

 

[lucyarliwu]

And valium. ;-)

What does 'valium ' mean please, Tdol?

And I guess the school Shane is working at must be a famous and important middle school in the local place, which is obviously to attract more students who are crammed into one limited classroom