The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

19th March 2025

Reasons teachers are leaving the profession:

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.

Data from Wing Institute https://www.winginstitute.org/quality-teachers-retention

Learning a language is a skill.

Developing skills require

discipline

hard work

practice

Glenn Gould

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 STAR for 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.

The Perfect Penguin Quiz

14th July 2023

image from: https://www.animalspot.net/penguin

A fun classroom activity for ages 9 – 12

Students are put into small teams and given this questionnaire.

The teacher will place information cards around the room, possibly even outside the classroom depending on school layout.

One student from each group will look for the answer, then report back to the group. The answer is written down.

Repeat with a new student each time, then return to the original student.

Pedagogic benefits:

Reading questions and finding the correct answer.

Reporting back to the team.

Writing the answer.

Presenting the answer to the whole class, speaking clearly and loudly.

The Perfect Penguin Quiz

1) We say a herd of sheep and a pride of lions – but what is the collective nouns for penguins ?

2) Why are penguins black and white ?

3) Why do penguins huddle together ?

4) Penguins have solid, heavy bones but other birds have hollow, light bones … why ?

5) How does a penguin keep warm ?

6) Apart from Antarctica, where do penguins live ?

7) How many types of penguins are there ?

8) Why will you never see a penguin with a polar bear in the wild ?

9) Are penguins good walkers ?

10) What does a man penguin give to a lady penguin if he likes her ?

The Answers

1) A group of penguins is called a raft (in water) or a waddle (on land).

2) The black and white is camouflage – they look like waves from above, and sunlight from underneath.

3) Penguins huddle together for protection and to keep warm

4) Penguins don’t fly. Heavy bones are better for swimming.

5) Penguins make oil. They cover their feathers to keep warm.

6) Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand & Australia.

7) There are 18 types of penguin.

8) Polar bears live in the Arctic, in the northern hemisphere.

9) Some penguins can walk 60 miles on ice.

10) A man penguin gives a lady penguin a rock if he likes her. The man shows he wants to build a nest together and start a family. The stones will protect eggs.

NOW … write and draw a story

A penguin goes on holiday to the Arctic and meets a polar bear for the first time. What happens ?

You can find a lot more information, tips and pictures on this previous blog: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2023/06/28/the-teleporting-penguin-a-summer-school-project/

Good luck … learn and have fun !

A Tale of Two Classes

11th December 2020

Compare these two photos; which class do you think was more dynamic ?

The basic lesson was the same: what are you doing now, add a connector (or discourse marker) and say what you want in the future.

Students are taught how to use vernacular language, practise changes in intonation and alterations in stress, as well as chunking (natural linking together of words).

The photos, as the saying goes, tell their own story.

Photo 1 is from a high-level IELTS class where I wanted to increase vocabulary, and encourage the students to use more intonation … or basically ANY intonation in their voice.

The topic went down like the proverbial Led Zeppelin (and I wasn’t feelin’ a Whole Lotta Love for the class). I managed to elicit some half-arsed replies before they returned to their mobiles (or cell phones if you’re in the USA) or their natural comatosed state.

On the other hand, take a gander (have a look) at the second photo; same basic lesson target, but my goodness, what a difference, and this from an intermediate class.

Both classes were small in size (about six students) and predominantly teenagers, so how do we account for the chasm between them ?

To use academic language (for one of my new IELTS students):

This would seem to suggest that it was the students, as opposed to the lesson, that was the issue.

Academia GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Words such as ‘inspire’ or ‘motivate’ are synonymous with teaching. However, as someone who attempts to teach, I must add that a successful lesson relies on synergy; one cannot motivate those who actively resist being motivated.

Teachers only have so much energy, and they can’t afford to waste it on customers who shuffle into class, scowling, ignoring the teacher, sitting at the back clutching their bag, defensively, in front of them before becoming engrossed in their phones and ignoring any questions put to them. I’m not talking about children here, but young adults or adults, on a course that they chose, and need for their future.

Joking Season 2 GIF by Outlander - Find & Share on GIPHY

I wish I were.

So, to my great students, who come to class willing to learn, to be active, to practice and are polite and respectful:

Elvis Presley Saying Thank You Very Much GIFs | Tenor