Adapted from Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond (2017). Figure displays percentages of teachers reporting each factor as important; teachers were able to select more than one reason, so percentages do not total 100.
Lessons can still be fun and engaging, stimulating and creative.
Last night, I substituted for a class of students, 10-11 years old. One boy arrived over 10 minutes late, and the other students warned me that he was the noisiest.
Within five minutes I had given him a BLACK STARfor disruption and disrespect.
Then I helped him, made him repeat new words, improved his intonation, told him that he was intelligent and could be a good student; I asked him if was going to work now …
“No!”
After two hours, both my much younger TA and I were exhausted. Class management is part of the job but it shouldn’t be the entire job.
I have heard non-teachers tell me that I “must inspire the children.”
Have you ever tired to inspire and motivate people that do not want to be inspired or motivated ? People that turn their heads away when you try to help them, that look at the wall when you talk to them, that whistle during class to block out your voice.
Try inspiring a reluctant, recalcitrant class for two hours … then do it again for another two hours … six days a week … fifty weeks a year … year after year.
I admit my own imperfections, faults and mistakes, but I think the following suggestions are reasonable:
1) Students should only have an accepted first or given name, not named after products, film characters, food, foreign expressions or non-organic items.
2) Students must learn how to behave in the classroom and the school. No running, shouting, screaming, fighting etc.
3) I always appreciate if a teacher has cleaned the board, logged out of the computer and left the room presentable. We do have cleaners, but there is no way they can cover all the rooms in the ten-minute window.
4) I do not appreciate going into a room, finding writing over the boards and equipment, computer just left with all windows open. I have to close their work before I can log into my work. Meanwhile there is a classroom of students with nothing to do, so they will talk, shout, scream etc.
5) Finding old tissues, food wrappers, empty bottles on the teacher’s console and floor is totally unacceptable. I find it disgusting, and an insult.
6) Security guards should provide security. A friend told me that in a different country, a guard began harassing a young TA, stalking her, and saying inappropriate things to her young students.
7) No student should ever be allowed to wear an inappropriate item of clothing, with either offensive text or political images.
8) Vietnamese staff should learn the importance of saying “thank you,” and “sorry.”
So what to do after a terrible day at the office ?
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Today’s subject was life-changing inventions. I had previously introduced the class to early C20th collages, mixing paint with newspaper headlines, as well as ‘found art’ – items of rubbish (trash, garbage) that could be utilisied in an artistic manner.
Let’s take that a step further. I searched my house for items that could be used to create three robots.
First, a main body: I used a detergent bottle, a hard-plastic container and a rectangular cardboard box.
As can be seen, I found cotton, hard plastic, buttons, bangles, empty medicine blisters, food jars, adhesive handles, incense sticks, bits of old plumbing … etc, etc, etc.
Some good old sticky tape and glue sticks, markers, scissors and crayons:
Don’t take my word for it; here are some stills from a Korean film:
The film is ‘House of Hummingbird’ from 2019
So, do you want to be a house-owner or a housemaid ?
Roll up your sleeves, put your nose to the grindstone, burn the midnight oil, burn the candle at both ends, turn over a new leaf, hit the books, get down to it.
At every opportunity, read, speak, write English. Then, after you graduate, you can party !
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
The Shins have a ‘Name for you’ … and I have some rules for students choosing English names for our English classes.
First, the name has to be ENGLISH, so no ‘Sans’ (a French preposition), no ‘Lavie’ (French for ‘life’, also the name of a bottled-water company).
No totally made-up names (Valhana is one example that comes to mind).
No titles (‘King’, ‘Christ’ … yes, I’m serious, one parent expects us to call his kid ‘Christ’)
and, in the name of all that’s gracious, no more:
Kelvin
Ken
Kenny
Nick
Nicky
The above names are DENIED
English is such a rich language, there is no need for every Tom, Dick & Harry to be called Ken (English humour).
Instead, choose from this list of short names:
Andy // Don // Fred // Guy // Ian // Jay // Jim // Len // Mark // Mick // Ray // Roy // Seb // Sid // Tim // Vic // Wes // Will// Zack
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
What a fantastic week – two gifts from two gifted students.
First up, an incredible piece of art from Top Cat Ruby who is around ten years old. I shall certainly have this framed.
Next, a gift from a student I no longer teach but whose classroom is near to mine (so they can hear the music I play loudly). Teachers absolutely need throat pastels, and I’m always telling my students to avoid sugar so I was over the moon with this gift from Class Captain Mina.
Thank you Top Cat Ruby, thank you Captain Mina … and not forgetting my irreplaceable TA Ms Huong, and her present:
However, Ms Huong probably gave me these to shut me up ! Regardless, thank you all so much.
Some gifts from students last night. I do tell the younglings not to eat sugar and junk food BUT if it’s a gift, all bets are off !
Little Eva once gave me a two-bar KitKat, now I’ve been upgraded to the full four-finger bar. I had it after work. and it was delicious. Thank you Little Eva, and Tommy for the Dynamite sweet.
Thay Paul's Notes 