How do I make my students do their assignments?

[markclover]

Some of the upper classes (m5, m6) have an attitude that if they don't do the work then the teacher will be fired and replaced.  The attitude is 'what are you going to do about it?'

 

I have heard other teachers talk about the m6 class and they said in the past teachers have been fired due to problems in that class.

 

They are often absent because of ''buddhist day, ceremony, help the school, spin a stick, sing a song, go to university, or military training''.

 

I told the boss and she said if I can't handle the class I will be replaced.

 

I am thinking of telling the homeroom teacher but the boss said 'don't hassle the homeroom teachers'.

 

I tried to get them to do the work in class and they just sleep or throw the paper on the floor.  Some of them start but don't finish it.

 

The assignments are directly linked to the classpoints and GPA.  What is the process for dealing with students that do not meet deadlines?

[markclover]

I wouldn't mind if I could fail them.  But the school has a no fail system.

 

I've noticed that other teachers have dumbed down the material so much it's basically one presentation and a kahoot quiz and everyone automatically passes.

 

I will have start to do this because there is no way a class 37 students will do the assignments on time.

[Slip]

50% for participation and the rest is gravy,

 

TO ADD: Try and get a job at a better school.

[it is what it is]

 

effective classroom management

[pasathai]

convince them the gain face by doing it 

[Phnom Penh Trader]

Tell them ghosts will get them if they don’t do it?

[Kenny202]

Heard the same thing from many teachers I know here. Most either quit or go with the flow and basically turn up every day. Zero job satisfaction, other Thai teachers jealous and undermining and admin will rip you off or short change you at any given opportunity. Mate of mine told me only 2 weeks ago he was told at a job interview 3 months trial and future employment after that based on students assessment of the teacher. Hard to believe but a story I have heard over and over again.

[Slip]

4 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

 

effective classroom management

Yes.  I manage a maximum of thirty (relatively) motivated upper M kids per class, and have been doing for twenty years.  Fifty young adults many of whom had zero interest would be daunting to me though.

[Woof999]

Your students don't respect you and probably never will. Your employers don't respect you and absolutely never will, coupled with the fact they don't resent you because the logic needed to know that particular truth was never part of their upbringing.

 

Your choices are:

 

1.) Keep grinding away with the hope that you can make a real difference to just one child's life, which will make all the BS worth it,

 

2.) Continue your beloved profession in a land where they might learn to appreciate you. That almost certainly wont be here in my lifetime or yours.

 

3.) Change your vocation and/or the geography in which you pursue it.

 

4.) Just take the pay check and ignore everything else (and lose your soul).

 

You are attempting to swim against a flow that has existed for millennia. Just the fact that you are already in that boat.... I tip my hat to you.

 

We live in a land where, just a handful of years ago, while admitting that English skills were lacking in teachers, let alone students, the powers that be announced that they would look to hire more top notch native English speakers from...... the Philippines.

 

I totally appreciate the fact the you clearly give a damn and wish you all the best, regardless.

 

 

[Gottfrid]

Start by being a teacher.

[Hummin]

Pay the dominant strongest psychopath  in the class to beat the others up if they dont do what you say! Money talks mafia rules

[BangkokReady]

9 hours ago, markclover said:

I told the boss and she said if I can't handle the class I will be replaced.

I suppose you need to figure out if it is you or them.  It's quite possible in Thailand for a school to hire a teacher that is completely awful, simply to fill the post.  A lot of teachers are simply people who want to stay in Thailand to drink and party, with no actual teaching ability.  You can understand why a sort of "fake teaching" approach could be met by a fake learning approach in return.  It's also quite possible that a good teacher could be completely ignored and taken for granted in this system.

 

If you are the former, perhaps you should go with the flow and make your assessment as fake as the teaching and learning.  If you are the later, time to find a new school, going along with the fake teaching until the end for the sake of your own sanity.

 

Sadly, a lot of fake teaching/learning goes on in Thailand, and not all foreign teachers are treated as kindly as the Thai teachers are.  The no fail policy is pretty much country-wide, but you can work with it and even the Thai teachers can sometimes let the students run the class, not wishing to face up to having to actually discipline them.  I think if you find yourself in a situation where not only do the students not value the subject, but also seem to want you to be sacked, you should get the hell out of their as there is nothing that is going to happen to change it.

 

As nice a place as Thailand is, and as nice as some of the students can be, there can still be a lot of disrespect levelled at the ESL subject and at the ESL teachers.  I.e. some don't really view them as being completely human.

 

There's no teacher that can fully overcome the nature of education in Thailand, as the culture comes from the school by which you are employed and the system that you are operating within.  Students know they cannot fail, they know they don't need to study and they know they can get away with abusing foreign teachers.

 

It's sad, because they are of course doing themselves out of an education, and no one really likes to see young people throwing away an opportunity.

 

Might be time to look at other countries in the area.

[BangkokReady]

59 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Start by being a teacher.

You read all that and decided it must be the teacher that is the problem?  Not possibly the school or the students?

[Kenny202]

4 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Students know they cannot fail, they know they don't need to study and they know they can get away with abusing foreign teachers.

 

It seems clear to me the guy has good intentions but swimming against the tide. To many Thai's we are viewed as a different entity to Thai people. I was talking to a highly educated Doctor I lived with once. She was trying to explain to me why it was ok for the Thai women across the road to live with a Thai guy when her English "husband" left to go back to work in the UK every few months. She said when the Farang comes to stay, the Thai man goes away and she love only Farang. I said what do the other people in the village think about it? She said they think she is smart. She take care her mum really good.

 

I said what if a Thai woman did it to her Thai husband if he went away to work? "Oh! Noooo good!"

 

I said you work really long hours....What if I get a girlfriend in the day when you are at work, but when you come home from work I love only you? Nooooooo!

 

She sort of got it in the end, and didn't realize I was baiting her but this does seem to be the attitude of many, that we are to be treated different.

 

As far as the situation in the school goes trying to control the kids, it is as hopeless as two parents sending their child different messages or have different values. Kids pick up on it and exploit it immediately. Not sure how many private schools here put the kids welfare over dollars but would seem your only choice is to put up with it or try and find a school where they are actually concerned with the kids welfare, learning and discipline. Best of luck 

 

  

[HampiK]

10 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

You read all that and decided it must be the teacher that is the problem?  Not possibly the school or the students?

It could be, that this is meant like be a real teacher and search for a school who is willing to teach the students.

[Kenny202]

9 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

You read all that and decided it must be the teacher that is the problem?  Not possibly the school or the students?

Seems to be the norm on Asean now.....narcy unhelpful throw away one liners or someone trying to be a comedian. One thing I will say for the Thais is they show a lot more camradarie, support and respect amongst themselves than Westerners do.  

[BangkokReady]

7 minutes ago, HampiK said:

It could be, that this is meant like be a real teacher and search for a school who is willing to teach the students.

I suppose it could be, but I doubt it.  The user I was replying to never misses a chance to put other foreingers down.

[Gottfrid]

25 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

You read all that and decided it must be the teacher that is the problem?  Not possibly the school or the students?

Let´s say like this. There are bad apples in most schools and classes. Also, I have great experience by moving around, seeing teachers working in different schools where my children have been going. You can immediately see if a teacher owns the room or not. In my opinion, a teacher should be able to work with any assignment and own the room every time they step into a lesson.

[BangkokReady]

15 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

To many Thai's we are viewed as a different entity to Thai people.

Unfortunately this is very true, and probably one of the biggest stumbling blocks that foreign teachers face when trying to teach in Thailand.  Foreigners in general are viewed by many as not really being completely human, and therefore not deserving of the same respect that other Thais are.  Sometimes you feel like you're getting a similar experience to Africans hundreds of years ago, stolen from their home countries and locked naked into cages, being poked and prodded by curious Europeans.

 

It makes it challenging for anyone to really build a life in Thailand.

 

(It's OK though, someone will be along shortly to reassure us that we are the problem and they never have any bad experiences with any Thai people because they are better than us.)

[BangkokReady]

22 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Seems to be the norm on Asean now.....narcy unhelpful throw away one liners or someone trying to be a comedian. One thing I will say for the Thais is they show a lot more camradarie, support and respect amongst themselves than Westerners do.  

There's many that want to capitalise on any bad experience a foreigner has and use it as an opportunity to try to feel superior.  They are "more Thai than you" or "one of the good ones", and any bad experience you have is a direct reflection on you personally. ????

 

A lot of troubled people enjoy this and relish the way that Thais can look down on foreigners, so that they can look down on them also.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

54 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

One thing I will say for the Thais is they show a lot more camradarie, support and respect amongst themselves than Westerners do.  

Indeed. In my years here, I've learned the last people you should be looking to for support are other foreigners, unfortunately. They usually come here damaged, then unable to adapt to this country, become damaged further.

 

Where is OP located? I'm guessing in or around BKK. There you're going to find the worst attitudes in the schools. They know they've got a revolving door of farangs to rely upon, all stepping off the plane and wanting to be near the action.

 

I've said it too many times here, but this can be largely remedied by teaching up here in Issan. Fewer farangs have interest in this area, less action for them to partake of, but still many things to see and do in the more natural countryside. And given there are less farang teachers to be had here, I've found my work to be more appreciated both by admins and my students.

[FritsSikkink]

10 hours ago, Slip said:

50% for participation and the rest is gravy,

 

TO ADD: Try and get a job at a better school.

Then one would need qualifications.

[FritsSikkink]

10 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Heard the same thing from many teachers I know here. Most either quit or go with the flow and basically turn up every day. Zero job satisfaction, other Thai teachers jealous and undermining and admin will rip you off or short change you at any given opportunity. Mate of mine told me only 2 weeks ago he was told at a job interview 3 months trial and future employment after that based on students assessment of the teacher. Hard to believe but a story I have heard over and over again.

How many of them have a real teacher education and not something like TEFL?

[FritsSikkink]

6 hours ago, Woof999 said:

Your students don't respect you and probably never will. Your employers don't respect you and absolutely never will, coupled with the fact they don't resent you because the logic needed to know that particular truth was never part of their upbringing.

 

Your choices are:

 

1.) Keep grinding away with the hope that you can make a real difference to just one child's life, which will make all the BS worth it,

 

2.) Continue your beloved profession in a land where they might learn to appreciate you. That almost certainly wont be here in my lifetime or yours.

 

3.) Change your vocation and/or the geography in which you pursue it.

 

4.) Just take the pay check and ignore everything else (and lose your soul).

 

You are attempting to swim against a flow that has existed for millennia. Just the fact that you are already in that boat.... I tip my hat to you.

 

We live in a land where, just a handful of years ago, while admitting that English skills were lacking in teachers, let alone students, the powers that be announced that they would look to hire more top notch native English speakers from...... the Philippines.

 

I totally appreciate the fact the you clearly give a damn and wish you all the best, regardless.

 

 

A lot of foreign Western tourists teachers don't have proper schooling to do their job.

[markclover]

Thank you for your replies.  The correct answers are:

 

-  Remind the students face to face.  There is a chance they have genuinely forgotten.

-  Try to use group assignments / group projects.  This way the marking is easier.

-  Try to do in class assignments this way you can help them and make sure they finish it.

-  Consider moving to a university because you can't handle children / high school.

[markclover]

11 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Then one would need qualifications.

I have a degree in English.  Is that enough?

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, Kenny202 said:

It seems clear to me the guy has good intentions but swimming against the tide. To many Thai's we are viewed as a different entity to Thai people. I was talking to a highly educated Doctor I lived with once. She was trying to explain to me why it was ok for the Thai women across the road to live with a Thai guy when her English "husband" left to go back to work in the UK every few months. She said when the Farang comes to stay, the Thai man goes away and she love only Farang. I said what do the other people in the village think about it? She said they think she is smart. She take care her mum really good.

 

I said what if a Thai woman did it to her Thai husband if he went away to work? "Oh! Noooo good!"

 

I said you work really long hours....What if I get a girlfriend in the day when you are at work, but when you come home from work I love only you? Nooooooo!

 

She sort of got it in the end, and didn't realize I was baiting her but this does seem to be the attitude of many, that we are to be treated different.

 

As far as the situation in the school goes trying to control the kids, it is as hopeless as two parents sending their child different messages or have different values. Kids pick up on it and exploit it immediately. Not sure how many private schools here put the kids welfare over dollars but would seem your only choice is to put up with it or try and find a school where they are actually concerned with the kids welfare, learning and discipline. Best of luck 

 

  

So you lived with a "no good" woman and that must be the baseline?

[FritsSikkink]

12 minutes ago, markclover said:

I have a degree in English.  Is that enough?

They never taught you how to handle difficult children and you have to ask on the internet?

[BangkokReady]

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

So you lived with a "no good" woman and that must be the baseline?

The woman he lived with, the woman who was cheating, and the attitude of the people in the village, were all referenced in the anecdote.

 

Hearsay, anecdotal evidence, sure, but more than just one person's attitude is being presented.

[FritsSikkink]

1 minute ago, BangkokReady said:

Hearsay, anecdotal evidence, sure, but more than just one person's attitude is being presented.

There are people on the forum who marry a bar girl with less than 4 years of education and think all Thai people are like that.