bewildered wanderer

Not sure here...
I don't get angry anymore... but my classes behave very well. What used to make me angry would be things like not doing homework, talking when not allowed to, screwing around in class... Now, I keep very strict records of all these things. For example, if a student doesn't do homework, I make a note (which will lowers their overall grade). Any infraction will result in a loss of points. Instead of getting angry, I just lower their points.

But make sure you keep parents notified of their children's behavior. I usually notify a parent after 3 missed assignments, or other behavioral infractions.

This is all dependent on classroom management though

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momma

jonny danger

My kids are six and some seven. Innocence never angers me, ignorance does.

tropic of cancer

I go ape with my kids all the time, they're used to it. I feel bad if it's the younger ones (P3); I have to tell myself they're still just children - for them school is just a laugh and why not? Anyhow, I can always get them round - they love me, they're malleable.

It's a different story when it come to the P5 who have been in EP long enough and have their own little scene - which naturally involves acting superior.

The 'f - you attitude' is the main reason I wanted to step down from matayom - just couldn't handle it anymore: just wanted to wring thew little bleeders' necks.

My basic attitude though is 'I'm farang and I was hired for that reason: I'm not Buddhist, I'm not into self-control.'

On the contrary, I'm into letting people know, in no uncertain terms, that I'm pissed off with them - adults or kids - and you can take it or leave it.

fencesitter

Yes, very true.

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Reclined amongst these packs of reasons
For to smokes the days away into the evenings
All these poses of classical torture
Ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard
I did go from wanting to be someone now
Im drunk and wearing flip-flops on fifth avenue

stfranalum

this takes a ton of experience and preparation. i applaud you for doing so.

i dont. i collect late stuff and then slop it all together. but then again, university is a different thang.

---to the OP...

anger is a deadly weapon in TEFL. it can cost you your job, alienate students, and drive a teacher to quit way too prematurely.

having said that, i did walk out on a class of monks this term they werent listening, and were surfing the net after repeated pleas for them to turn their computers off. it was a bit stupid really. when i came back, they worked hard and havent looked back. moral of the story- i lost face and looked like an idiot- all for the right reasons. they were total jag-offs...and now, they understand consequences.

id say, generally, you always lose when you lose your cool in TEFL. remember, the bar is quite low for us. thats not a good thing, but when it comes to anger, you just dont need it like you do back home in westenr classrooms.

this quote goes hand-in-hand with:

enough said.


...want to last?

...want to have fun AND be a good teacher?

dont get mad.

do the point system, although its hard, it works wonders with asians. they love to please.

if that fails, enjoy the show. because any anger you have will get you the quote above, and great stories when you get fired and blame it all on "thai style" shit.

just cool it down mate. words to live by for thai teflers

Grammar Monster

Personally, I have no anger issues with my classes; but I did work with a guy who teaches at a university in Bangkok. He was a technophobe and had absolutely zero tolerance of mobile phones. The beep of an incoming sms would drive him crazy, and if a student dared to answer a call during class, he would immediately go into a Basil Fawlty-esque rant. I once saw him literally banging his head against the wall, shouting 'I'm banging my head against a wall'. The idiom was lost on the students, but it made me smile. The students got the message that he didn't like phones and electronic devices, and they found out that some foreigners are not jai yen!

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BerryGoose

I'll add that if you actually get mad in the classroom, then you have lost the war. I act upset quite often with students on a one on one basis (I work with kids). But at the same time I'm winking at another student to let them know I'm not mad really. Then it's on to a smile and the lesson. Works for me.

stfranalum

last year...on the first day of classes, a kid picked up and answered his cell phone as i was talking. this is a uni class of about 70.

i ran over to him, put my head next to his and began screaming at him (medium volume)....."HANG UP THE PHONE....HANG IT UP"

startled the snot out of him and the class.

i earned their respect though. tefl or not, you have to control a big class like that. and i was presented an opportunity that 99% of the students knew i was in the right.

overreaction- yes. but it was effective and the students loved me. they knew from that moment on, i was not to be fucked with.

(having said that, those outbursts arent to be done often, if ever again...you cant tap that well, unless in extreme cases. talking on your phone on the first day, is one of them)

Lizara

I used to get angry a lot more. Now things don't bother me so much. They're just kids. Kids misbehave. I've become much better at calmly saying, well, you want to keep talking, you go to the corner. You still want to keep talking, I'll write to your mom. They know.

What I really can't handle is attitude, and that's why I teach P1 and not junior high or high school.

oh... one thing I love about my Thai students is that they can understand when they're in trouble without me having to act angry. My younger Korean kids never caught on that they were doing anything wrong unless I yelled at them, and I hated it, because yelling is really not my style.

tropic of cancer

[this quote goes hand-in-hand with:



enough said.


...want to last?



[/quote]
I'd be surprised if I was fired, because I hope (and believe) my diligence and creativity is recognised. I care passionately that my kids, at this extremely impressionaable point in their lives, come to view speaking English as something achievable and not to be feared, and moreover that they learn to pronounce its sounds crisply and accurately.

However, they need to observe two truths.

Firstly, we are not equals. I have the knowledge (they don't) and their parents are paying for me to impart it to them.

Secondly (and connected): learning a language via total immersion is intellectually difficult (and at age 7-11, given the capacity for distraction, a real 'do or die' kind of situation). The pay-off, for those that 'get it', could have a massive impact in their future life chances; therefore, I'm apt to get mad - at kids jeopardising their own chances but also those of their peers.

stfranalum

utterly irrelevant vis a vis anger in the classroom.

...and if you think it is relevant...youd say that your anger is a kind of "knowledge you need to impart?"

...or if you feel that you do not impart your anger to them, can you articulate why you think kids do not learn from your behavior examples?

that is, you teach them academics, but somehow your students dont learn from your actions/behavior?

a blindingly obvious fact.

but again, the fact that your school isnt free....that justifies outbursts??



lets not talk about "impact on their future" at the same time justifying angry outbursts, uuumkay?

i rant too...but its not good.

cant think of a shred of evidence to show that angry teacher behavior has any benefit.

my example above of being mad at monks and they then went on to study harder....that was a consequence of an extrinsic motivation....that is, they studied to please me...but i could have done it so many other ways than walk out on them. they felt shamed into learning. this is not good.

its like hitting a kid to make them shut up. ---yeah, you may silence them, but its the wrong way, they wont learn properly, and most likely, they will talk the VERY second you leave the room.

extrinsic motivation to be quiet. to obey.

instinsic motivations are EXACTLY what those paying parents pay you for. to teach them WHY to listen...HOW to do it.....not just to shut up and obey because teacher will bite my head off....but to learn how to listen, why its good etc.


we cant claim that the easiest path of hot tempered classroom management is simulateneously the most rational and long lasting.


youre covering a hemophiliacs wound with a bandaid my friend.

they will always bleed-aka- talk and be disruptive. therefore, we need to teach them preventative measures and skills in learning. <--- theres where you earn your salary.

the bottom line is kids dont remember jack squat from school in academics. they learn how to learn. and you are failing them by focusing on academics as the goal, while neglecting teaching them how to learn to learn- and how to behave in the classroom.

however, you may be an excellent instructor for older students- try a university. those kids get right in line at a single bark. at a uni- content matters. if you are stark raving mad, but deliver the goods for content, you may last at a uni. otherwise, justifying your behavior with "they pay, therefore im doing ok" is just a reason why youve found a school that simply tolerates your behavior.

Lotuslevi

I could not have said this better myself.

This applies even to a Western classroom. If you lose face in front of a kid, especially in front of his or her peers, this kid will resent you for it. This, among other reasons, is why I was such a shit teacher in the beginning.

You have to let a lot of things roll off your shoulders if you can`t speak Thai and say the "hell with it!" The Thai teachers are going to be more aware of you losing face than the students misbehaving, that`s been my experience anyway, which is why I prefer the younger ones.

One teacher at my first school there yelled "Shut the fuck up!" Another teacher who worked there after I left actually pushed a kid when he lost his temper. One of these guys had no experience, the other had a MA which he thought qualified him as a better teacher than any of us. What a couple of twats they were!

As for America, if you`re students fear you all the time, you`re gonna hear about it from the administration after their folks have had something to say about it. When kids misbeahved in America, and this took me way too long to learn, you quietly lead them outside, question them until they can`t find a suitable answer, and explain that they are being punished because they CHOSE to disobey the rule. Hence, you wash your hands of any resentment they might feel towards you at that moment.

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more time for wastin'

traveler2

Once I went ape shit in a class. At the time I was teaching at a school where I had been the first farang teacher within the past 3 years; I was the new white clown!.....LOL. I remember I took a desk and lifted it about 6 inches from the ground and slammed against the ground to get their attention. Of course, it was not the best way to handle it, but the classroom became suddenly quiet

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tropic of cancer