I usually teach elementary school students and I think I’m pretty good at what I do.
I just began teaching a junior high school class which is just a total nightmare. The kids curse at me in Chinese (I can understand but I pretend I don’t), do their homework instead of listening in class and otherwise do their best to make teaching this class a horrible experience.
On the positive side, I have found that some of the most impolite students and those that don’t pay any attention in class are my best writers. They don’t care, so they just write whatever comes to their minds amd thus their writing is pretty natural. O.K. great, but I still have a lot of students who just refuse to do writing assignments and the problem of how do I keep some kind of order during class.
Anybody want to help me out???
Get “Tools for Teachers” by Fred Jones. He talks a lot about arranging your classroom (if you have the right to do this; you may not) and how to use proximity and attention to quell potential outbursts among students. If you can’t get the book, he does have a Web site with a forum that might give you some tips. Discipline precedes instruction, and many Taiwanese students are determined that “the foreign teacher” isn’t teaching a real class, so they don’t have to cooperate.
Are you “working the room”? Or are you pretty much stuck up front? You’ll have little control if you never leave the front of the classroom, because most of the kids are in the “green zone” where they don’t feel you can keep them from doing whatever it is they’re doing. I’d also try “bare desks” during class – they may not have anything on their desks that is not needed for the task immediately at hand. That might cut down on fidgeting and so on.
One way to get more of your kids writing more naturally (using the “English voice” in their heads, to whatever degree they have one) is to do timed writings. Tell them they must write 30 words in 3 minutes. Give them a topic if you have to (they won’t be very creative) and be sure to spell out the rules that they cannot repeat words more than once in a row (otherwise you get “I am very very very…very tall” and stuff like that). Making them write for speed like that, as you have observed, gives you a better look into what’s really in their heads as to English.
You might also look into “Power Teaching” – I’ve used some of its techniques. Especially try the call-response thing to get their attention. They usually enjoy that and it’s a powerful way to draw attention back where it needs to be. Generally speaking I would try to establish solid, powerful routines so that the children always know what is expected of them, and always have something to do. Have a routine for those who finish a task early so they are not just hanging around disturbing others.
You could also try PAT (“preferred activity time”) as a bribe – basically you have the class “earn” points over the course of a period of time, then they can cash the points in for the right to do something they want to do (play a learning game, etc.) Of course the reward is something you want them to do anyway. You can either have them accumulate points toward 10 minutes of a game on Fridays, or have them lose points (minutes) of their reward time when someone violates a class rule. Sometimes, if the reward is desirable enough in their eyes, this gets peer pressure working for you.
But first, before all else, I’d read Fred Jones.
Ironlady,
I do walk around the room, but the kids just put away their cell phones when I get near them-take them out again when I walk away.
I am thinking of assigning seats, but I am also scared of causing more trouble for myself. I can’t move tables because there is a class in the same room right before and right after my class.
Any suggestions for students that finish a task early. They are too old for coloring. Also, some of the students finish quite quickly, but make a lot of stupid mistakes.
I have found that lots of students in Taiwan are confused by ‘timed writing’ and other free writing techniques. I don’t think they do a lot of this kind of stuff in Chinese schools (too bad). I have tried that already with the class, but maybe I’ll do it a few more times.
Ironlady,
Do you know where I can get a copy of Fred Jones’s book in Taipei. Don’t have it in the library (I love the library).
Also, ‘Power Teaching’ is Chris Biffle’s book?
Thanks
Kathvic,
I have had some tough junior high classes before, and I know how frustrating it can be. Although the professional techniques advocated by Ironlady are great, there are some other ways of looking at the situation, more old-school ways.
This is basically about power relationships. They will not respect you if you don’t have power. What is your power base? Are you supported by the school? Can you send students to the military discipline officer (jao guan)? Can you assign detentions? Can you reduce grades or fail students? Can you get mad at the class without being reprimanded by the school?
I think you need to assess your power base before you can move forward. And what power does the school have over you? Can you walk away from this class if it gets too much, or would that involve visa troubles?
Ironlady’s advice is pretty spot on as she is a professional. Mine isn’t but it is extremely effective.
Buy a 2 or 5 lb rubber mallet, lighter, lighter fluid and a metal bucket
Rules:
-No cellphones or they get smashed no warnings, except for ringing and then you only get one warning for that, once
-If you do your Chinese homework in class I will burn it in class. Reiterated at the beginning of each class then no further warnings.
-If you have completed the assignment and there is nothing else to do, then you may ask me to do your Chinese homework
-The rules are the rules. You know them and have confirmed it. You want mercy, ask Jesus. I only do justice.
-As far as cursing at me in Chinese, I’ll arm bar or pressure point you till you realize that it is a very bad idea. That’s if you don’t piss me off causing me to push you into a wall, sharp corner or other painful object.
For the timed GEPT writing you give them 3 pictures and have them write 50 words for elementary or 150 words for intermediate. I find that getting 4 large(2-3’x3-4’) erasable boards and having one student check it while the other student writes and holding only the checker accountable works quite well. Every 5 mistakes earns the checker one more story as homework, which is lowered to 4 mistakes to an additional story after one month. I check these for the class with them.
Writing guidelines that have helped me turn poor writers into writers that can pass GEPT writing part withing 2-3 months:
Rules:
-Never start a sentence with and, or, but. You do 100 lines for breaking that rule.
-Use the simple past tense, because like Loretta says you are probably incapable of using any other tense correctly
-Love “.” Hate “,” Mandarin has neither rhyme nor reason for punctuation so your students will tend to have these long rambling sentences all connected by commas.
-Short simple sentences.
-Have your writing checked by yourself and a classmate or English teacher before you hand it in. There will be no mercy if I check it and you haven’t bothered to at all. This simple rule will reduce mistakes by 33-50% just from the students own checking. If they never bother to reread their writing, I give one warning that the next time they don;t bother to check it before turning it in will result in it being set on fire in class.
Common mistakes
-Verb tense
-Not adding s to present tense verbs after he she or it
-confusing singular and plural, i.e. one of the girl. We saw the cats. We pet it.
-Comma abuse
-Using the wrong word(I actually like this mistake because it helps reinforce the vocabulary they probably have learned but forgot.
-Sentences need a subject and a verb. Believe it or not in 10 years I have never seen a Taiwanese English teacher teach this.
-Confusing verb, noun, adjective and/or adverb form of a word
-L1 interference in their writing. I’ll often say the Chinese for it and show how it is wrong in English because of the different way we would say it.
My impression:
You’re teaching a basic GEPT class, don’t know what the fuck you are doing and have no support from the management. If this is a serious class then treat it as a professional would, otherwise you are a paid clown and act accordingly.
I’d like to thank Loretta for teaching me that point.
My advice is very much along the lines of BigJohn’s and Okami’s. You need to kick their asses, and if you can’t or aren’t allowed to, this situation will never change. Taiwanese kids at that age only respect two things: Someone who is incredibly fun and someone who you don’t want to mess with. It’s hard to be really fun in English when they don’t understand enough of it. You’re going to have to get tough. Fair, but tough. Only then will they respect you.
This why I refuse to teach teenagers. I’d seriously end up throwing some of them out the window.
Okami, IMO telling the OP that she doesn’t know what the F she’s doing is uncalled for and rude, not to mention unfounded. She told us she’s teaching older students than she susually does. She knows enough to know that things aren’t going well for her, and to ask for help. Give her break.
And I can just SEE making the big-nosed teacher set fires in class becoming a wonderful new form of entertainment. Smashing cell phones? No students, administrators, or parents have confronted you for this? If not, you must never have done it. And don’t tell me it’s because you haven’t had to because just the threat and your scary look were enough of a determent.
I have before, and would in your case, forbid cell phones. Have them turned off and turned in as they enter the room. They get them back on the way out the door at the end of class.
As for the rest, you are simply going to have to find a way to earn the respect of your students. Ironlady is dead on about establishing procedures for your classroom and always keeping class active and bussy. A ‘bellringer’ to start the class, constant engagement or activity, give your lessons a closure–tell them what they will learn, teach it to them, then tell them what they learned, or get them to tell it to you (better).
With procedures, there is a right way to do everything. How do you want them to come into the room? Where and how do you want them to store their personal belongings? How and when do you want them to ask questions? Are their breaks? What are the procedures for taking a break or comming back from one? What are the procedures for leaving your classroom when the hour is over?
You can structure your class as rigedly as you like. All this structure will make classroom management much easier, will make the kids more comfortable and give them a feeling of saftey–because they know what to expect–and allow them to be more relaxed. Really, they actually want someone else (you 
) to be in charge.
Once you’ve decided how you want your class to function, it will take a week or two, at least, to train them do act as you wish. Expect to be challenged. Being fair and consistent will go a long way towards that respect goal.
And as for the challenges you expect, you will need a way to deal with them. Once challenged, YOU MUST WIN. You can make a project out of comming up with a “behavior contract” with them. Google that and get some ideas. If they’ve all signed off on it, they all have “ownership,” or “buy-in,” of their own behavior and its consequences. You can get parents to sign these contracts, as well. Parent communication can be a powerful tool.
Good luck to you! Teaching is not easy, but it can be rewarding!
I’m teaching a junior high class right now. The class I taught before was a joy. They all spoke good English, great sense of humor, and we could discuss anything. They really wanted to be there and learn the stuff, we learned a lot and had lots of fun too. Now I have a class that is pretty much what you described. Instead of separating them from their friends I decided to split the class into a boys team and girls team and use competition to my advantage. Everytime I hear Chinese I take away a point from their team. Whichever teams has the most points at the end of class I bring them a prize the next week. Usually potato chips, pop corn, cola, candy ect… This works pretty well. I hate to have to bribe the students, but the 50Nt I spend each week on their prize is worth the management I have in the classroom.
Junior high kids can be assholes, if a kid gives me attitude I’ll crack a joke about what they are wearing, how they speak English, or whatever. It’s a little mean and most people won’t agree with it but whatever. The other day I called a kid 7-11. Everyone looked confused and when he asked why his name is 7-11, I said because you’re mouth is always open, just like 7-11 always open. Everyone laughed and so did he. Now his nickname is 7-11.
Also keep in mind it will not work right away. My boys are a lot worse than my girls in this class. However after losing two classes to the girls and me mocking the boys calling them ladyboys they eventually stepped up their game. Things have been pretty smooth from that time on.
I would love to bring a metal bucket, a hammer, and a can of lighter fluid to some of my classes.
True enough, if the management isn’t backing you up, just get the hell out of there. They’re wasting your time and you’re wasting theirs.
I had a gig like this a while ago. They basically crammed a bunch of kids of different levels in a class and wanted me to be a “Studio Classroom” rock star. I’ll never be popular…
Buy two tasers, and set them out on the desk. Explain the rules you want them to stick to, clearly. Then wait.
after you’ve tasered the first two, the rest will shut up pretty fast.
I had a class like that. I let them line their bags up by the door and could only take one pen, one pencil and an eraser. Even pencil boxes became toys or places to scribble how much they hated me.
I got a little closer to them by using Taiwanese pop stars as examples. Get the kids to cut some of them out of newspapers, stick them on cardboard with magnets. The kids were more interested that way. I would place one person on the whiteboard and they had to describe him/her, who they like, what they like or dislike about them. And then later I just used them in sentences like ‘Jay is excited because he is going to see a movie with ___________’ something like that.
time draggggggs in classes like that.
Proximity is only useful if it is applied consistently and often.
With a typical Taiwanese classroom (seats in rows) you don’t have the cruising room you need. You need avenues in the classroom, and optimally to have it set up so that you can “work the room” using as few steps as possible – and making each location “intimidate” a maximum number of students.
Some say (and I agree) that you have to stop instructing until you get discipline under control. This isn’t a reflection on you as a teacher – this happens to EVERY teacher I know of. There’s always a class or a few kids who are just bound and determined to be this way – the more so with middle schoolers who are a great age group but are so hormone-laden they don’t know what to do with themselves. They’re negotiating so many aspects of their identity that they get it wrong sometimes.
I would make a point to completely stop instruction until you have their full attention. It will be nerve-wracking to do this. You will feel like you are not getting anywhere with what you have to teach (that will be true for awhile). You will be able to “catch up” later when you can teach efficiently. (Another note – this may be waaaay late in the year for this, if your class ends in June or July…you’ll have to evaluate whether it’s worth it for you to take on this war full-on, right now.)
I would lean toward confiscating any cell phone that is seen, no questions asked. (Again, this depends on whether the school will back you up or not, as has been said.) If you have even minimal approval to do this, take the phone(s). The kid can have them back at the end of the day in exchange for a note written in Chinese explaining why you took the phone and what steps the student will take in the future to avoid breaking class rules again. (This is potential parent conference fodder if needed.)
If you have anyone motivated in the class, you can also mention that all these pauses in instruction are a real pity because the same amount of material will be on the test (I think you can get away with that in Taiwan better than in the US!) and some of your more motivated students may step up.
Failing that – who are the leaders in the class? There will be students who naturally take the lead. Who is your “ban zhang?” If you don’t have one, elect one. Use the traditional Chinese methods of putting individuals in charge of groups and making them responsible for the group’s behavior (though executions might not be possible…) 
Just some ideas, have to run out the door.
I don’t know where Fred Jones might be available in Taipei, maybe someone else would know. A major bookstore should have it if it has English books – Eslite?? Probably not Caves…certainly not the Lucky Bookstore at Shita…
True, even at home, kids like structure and makes them feel secure. A routine is a great idea.
Ironlady, both are great posts and I hope someday teachers like you could teach my kiddos. 
For the Fred Jones book you can try the Book Depository in the UK. International Shipping is free. The book would get to you in about 10 days. bookdepository.co.uk Just used them for a few other books and they provide good service.
Ok, Kathvic, you have 3 parties that you have to please in this situation and 3 very good examples of class control
Parties involved are you, the students and management
3 methods:
Ironlady/Housecat: Professional approach that works with some classes, pleases management and teacher, student participation may vary wildly. This method tends to fail with teachers who aren’t familiar or used to proper teaching technique.
Valor: An approach that tends to please the students and the teacher, management may like it depending on how much they like you. It doesn’t work with all classes though. If his class was skewed towards boys, his approach would run into some kinks.
Okami: Pleases teacher and all but the hardest of students, management is either ambivalent or hate it. Your job could very well be in jeopardy if you try my approach. This approach was developed from watching Taiwanese teachers in action. This fails with teachers who act erratically. People tend not to mind a bipolar teacher when they know they have control over the teacher’s moods.
[quote=“housecat”]Okami, IMO telling the OP that she doesn’t know what the F she’s doing is uncalled for and rude, not to mention unfounded. She told us she’s teaching older students than she susually does. She knows enough to know that things aren’t going well for her, and to ask for help. Give her break.[/quote]I didn’t know what the F I was doing either with my first GEPT class many years ago at Uncle Sam’s English school. Listen that’s not rude, that’s me being honest. I’m sure management lied to her about their level. I’m sure she isn’t familiar with the GEPT format besides what management has told her because all the shit is in Chinese.
[quote=“housecat”]And I can just SEE making the big-nosed teacher set fires in class becoming a wonderful new form of entertainment. Smashing cell phones? No students, administrators, or parents have confronted you for this? If not, you must never have done it. And don’t tell me it’s because you haven’t had to because just the threat and your scary look were enough of a determent.[/quote]I’ve actually never had to, just a simple, “Do you really want to be doing that right now?” usually suffices to get my point across. Never even had to smash a cellphone, simple hammer solves all your cellphone problems. The important point is not to be erratic when you do it. This is where a lot of teachers screw up by being erratic.
[quote=“urodacus”]Buy two tasers, and set them out on the desk. Explain the rules you want them to stick to, clearly. Then wait.
after you’ve tasered the first two, the rest will shut up pretty fast.[/quote]Smartest thing you’ve said all year. 
Some examples of my methods:
Student X won’t correctly check his writing partner’s work. Real screw off of a kid that takes indifference to Zen like heights.
Conversation-How many times did you take the GEPT?
Huh?
*repeat question
Uh, one time
And you failed it, so how about we work on passing it
Result-He accurately checks his partner’s work cutting errors by 33%
Student Y won’t check her writing after writing it despite making the same errors for 3 months straight that she spots when we go over it in class
Conversation-You didn’t check the work did you?
Uh, no, I’m busy
So am I. How about the next time you decide to hand in unfinished work to me, I grab a lighter and a metal bucket and burn your homework in class because it is incomplete and you are disrespecting me
Result-She now makes 4 mistakes per 150 word essay rather than miswrite 40% of it due to L1 interference. Her mom called my boss and he got my back.
Go to google. Type in ‘google books’. Then type in ‘Fred Jones teaching’.
Why anyone bothers buying books these days is beyond me.
[quote=“Okami”]
Okay, that’s fair. It just didn’t come off very nicely to me, but I think you’ve made yourself a bit more clear now! 
[quote=“housecat”][quote=“Okami”]
Okay, that’s fair. It just didn’t come off very nicely to me, but I think you’ve made yourself a bit more clear now! [/quote]
I know Okami. Think “blunt, with a heart of gold” and you’ll understand where he’s coming from.
[quote=“Okami”]
Student Y won’t check her writing after writing it despite making the same errors for 3 months straight that she spots when we go over it in class
Conversation-You didn’t check the work did you?
Uh, no, I’m busy
So am I. How about the next time you decide to hand in unfinished work to me, I grab a lighter and a metal bucket and burn your homework in class because it is incomplete and you are disrespecting me
Result-She now makes 4 mistakes per 150 word essay rather than miswrite 40% of it due to L1 interference. Her mom called my boss and he got my back.[/quote]
So when you have the students writing 150 word essays on these big boards you give them, and then have their partners check them, do you then go over each one in class? Do you set the board up at the front and point out all the errors and correct them?