First Semester Nearly Over - What Next ?

[chonabot]

I'm nearing the end of my first Semester here as a newbie Teacher in Thailand.

I teach M3 and M4 at a huge Government school in Isaan.

Despite a few teething problems, it has been good, not great but I enjoyed it far more than any other job ( I previous worked as a Sys Admin (UNIX) in IT for 25 years )

I spend a lot of time planning the lessons and using the course book, changing bits and pieces and finding ways to keep the students interested.

I have about 60 per class and the levels range for clever to..less than clever.

I had a few Thai teachers and a long term Western teacher observe a few lessons recently. I got a good review and would like to keep this going and hopefully improve.

My only slight concern is the control of the class.

I am not very strict, but occasionally need to keep the kids in line. M3 is apparently the hardest Mathayom to control ( puberty etc ).

My own son is 14 so I have an insight on this

Does anyone have any advice on how to improve this aspect without turning the classroom into a military zone?

I feel I have bonded with the classes and nearly all of the students - you can't win them all - but would like to find a way to step up the discipline - just a notch.

I usually have no problem keeping them interested and even entertained - but the first 5 minutes are usually a bit chaotic - especially the Period 1 and Period 5 lessons.

Please feel free to give any advice and ask if any more info is needed.

The students also were asked to fill in report cards on all of the teachers and I got a very high score ( strange concept but TIT)

I asked a similar question on another teaching forum and was told to just smile and take the pay check.....

Thanks

Chon

Edited September 21, 2012 by chonabot

[colinneil]

Try this

[chonabot]

Hmmm am I on the wrong forum again?

[Issangeorge]

Smile and take the pay cheque. If you got a high evaluation from the students that's all that counts and you will only get that if you are lax on the discipline. A very few very good teachers can have a well disciplined class and still get a high evaluation from the students, but that happens very seldom and usually where they are teaching a small class. I'm not very sure why the Thai or Farang Teachers evaluate you, because it has been my experience that if they also have the students evaluate you, they go by that. I once lost a job where I had a very good evaluation from the Head of the Department and the Director, but a bad one from the students. It was explained to me that since the students pay for me they get to pick the teacher. After that I gave up on trying to discipline the students and seem to do much better.

[thaicbr]

Hmmm am I on the wrong forum again?

Probably. You enjoy your work :D

I find just one rule works .. be quiet.

Everything else falls into place.

I make a joke about it at the beginning of semester. Ie : what are the rules. They start saying the rules. No talking Thai etc. I say NO. rule 1 be quiet. Rule 2 be quiet. Rule 3 be quiet. Then I ask rule 4 they all shout BE QUIET.

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Thaivisa Connect App

[chonabot]

Ah that rarely heard sound of silence

[engrin]

Classroom management = team games with points.

[BlackArtemis]

What has always worked well for me was to, do as you said, make a militarized zone. But I would only keep this up for the first few weeks and gradually release the reigns. Once students tested the boundaries, I would come back down hard. I would always make realistic consequences and always follow through. Students quickly learn that they can push to a certain extent. Now, I am also very friendly and flexible with the students and they quickly realized we could all have a lot of fun and maintain order. Did this work for everyone? No, and it never will. But what I did make it enjoyable for the majority of the class to the point that they would keep the joksters in line. I had no qualms about coming down on those kids either, whether that simply meant ignoring their cries for attention through negative means or loading them up with extra work or responsibilities. It's not always a sure thing as to what is going to work with what student.

Now I have the majority of my experience teaching in the Prathom age group and have only briefly taught highschool students in the US, not Thailand.

It's a live and learn profession, I would say that if you are excited to go back to 60 Matayom kids next semester, then you are enjoying the profession. Add that to the fact that you are actively looking to be a better teacher and I think you have nothing but improvement in your future.

[chonabot]

Classroom management = team games with points.

Done that already - and it works to a degree but need some new ways to bring them into line for next semester

[Towzak]

You could try a form of self discipline which might, or might not work....but perhaps worth a shot. Basically, you tie a points system into end of term marks so ideally those with higher points achieve marks towards their grade. This point is important and you need to ensure the students understand it. You randomly assign students to groups taking care to separate out the 'noisy gang' so they are not all together. Needless to say it is best done in one of the earlier lessons of a semester. A novel idea is to give each student a number then in bingo type fashion (they might actually enjoy this part) assign them to a group so, for example, first number out of the bag is number 37 and its hyperactive young Somchai sitting at the back there and he goes into group 1, next number goes into group 2 and so on. Its upto you how many per group but needs to be large enough to contain a mix of students. Now you have a number of groups containing both boys and girls, good students and bad ones and each group is allocated 100 points. Now, lets say our disruptive Somchai causes a bit of chaos and disrupts the lesson.....oh dear! you will have to deduct some points from group one's stash of 100. Somchai might not give a dam_n but others in the group just might knowing its going to have an impact on their final score. Hopefully, this will encourage some form of self discipline when you start knocking off points. You could also throw in a prize for the best group/s. It could completely collapse given the 'no fail' system and I guess you are relying on the better students to speak out. I have tried this method and it worked, not in the early stages so you have to be patient.

The groups don't have to sit together and you can carry on doing your lessons as per usual but taking note of who pushes the boundaries just a bit too far. With chemically imbalanced M3 I would imagine not having to be too strict with the points deduction as they do seem to be notorious for arsing about particularly the lower grades of that year. It was always M3 /5 with me and were affectionately known by all teachers, including Thai teachers, as 'the animal class' and they really had got arsing about down to an art form. I got along with them fine but some of the things they got upto I had to say to myself 'I didn't really see that'. A small number of them used to have a cigarette in the toilets before my lesson then sit at the back of the class and turn the floor fan on.....the idea being to blow the smell of smoke from their clothes !

Good luck! with it Chonabot...teaching a class of 60 is dam_n hard work

[chonabot]

Damn fine idea there Towzak - thanks !

Have you tried this before?

[Towzak]

yes, I've tried it before with a particularly large and noisy class and it worked ok. I should add that I would never mark a good student down and they would eventually get what they deserve come marking time, I couldn't in all honesty take away points from a good student just because a member of their group was a complete pain. It's just a bit of psychology really to calm things down a bit hence the reason a small prize might also be a good idea. Thai students often like competitive games and pitting themselves against each other so those type of things are worth bearing in mind and integrating into a lesson.

[richard10365]

Keep smiling and sit with your Thai coworkers in the canteen at lunch. Forget about how things work in the west and concentrate on how they work in Thailand. Work within the system and the system will work for you. Rock the boat and you will get rocked out of the boat. haha...I think I'm being too cliché this morning. My apologies. Good luck and enjoy your teaching.

[Somtamnication]

Sit ups, push ups and run around the school always work for me.

Peer pressure is another way. Let the students chose the punishment.

[phuturatica]

End of the semester indeed! Well done and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far seeing as you're a newbie teacher. I also teach Matthayom students and classroom management is one of the most important things you have to establish in my opinion. They're at that age where they're starting to make their own decisions and even develop balls (literally?! Haha) so they could start to get a little cocky with attitude etc.

I have found the best way to gain control over the class is by getting down to their level and having fun with them. If you start to act like one of the cool kids, they'll respect you and work with you rather than against you. Obviously there is a very fine line between being too casual as you still need to maintain that head of the class role.

Rather than just walking into the classroom and going straight to the textbook and curriculum try and spice it up a little. Have a little banter with them and get to know them on a more personal level. Try one lesson where you have a group activity and have them express their true colours and make it very easy going and fun. I had one lesson where I told the students they had to recreate a music video for a song which was in English and the students worked in groups and came up with some really creative things and made such a big effort. I filmed the whole thing and by the end of the lesson we were all in stitches laughing. I still have jokes about that one lesson with them now and they co-operate with me a hell of a lot more now they know they can look at me as their friend AND their teacher.

In terms of discipline the students need to know that there is a limit and they are not to push it. Have banter with them and have a laugh but if anyone steps out of line or goes too far then you must discipline them there and then. Don't let them override you or they will just think they can get away with it and continue to do it further. I have noticed that there is always a student who is trying to act big in front of their mates, there is always one who is the daring one to push your boundaries and test you. Isolate this child and make them look like the fool in front of their mates, not you.

What I normally do if one of the students is being unruly, I ask them if they are a baby and if not then why are they acting like one? If they continue to be unruly in the class I separate the from their group of friends and make them sit at the front next to me and say that if they continue to act like a baby, I will treat them like one and they must sit near me so I can keep a close eye on them. Teenagers hate being called babies or being belittled in front of their mates so it usually concludes in them moving, sulking a little but then they know in future what will happen if they try to be big in front of their mates.

At the end of the class, I'll just have a quiet word but make it clear I am no longer still angry and I want them to enjoy the lesson with their friends but they must understand not to push my boundaries. The whole thing usually ends with them apologising and having a laugh about it all afterwards.

[teacher17]

I've taught both matthayom and prathom students (currently teaching prathom). One of my classes in the high school where I worked before was awful (but mostly because a few boys decide to always interrupt the whole class on a daily basis). As Phuturatica says, young men are just starting to "grow up" and though they may look fairly mature....by no means are they mentally mature. And some of the girls are like this as well.

I did everything I could think of to get those boys to be good....but nothing really worked. In the end I just always told a Thai teacher. Looking back, I think I took the class too seriously and if I made it more fun...perhaps it would have been better. Yelling my head off didn't work. The one thing I like about prathom students is that many of them are not really intentionally naughty like the high school kids. If they are naughty, it's obvious they have behavioral issues or learning disabilities like ADHD. My problem is getting the kids not to be distracted by their friends.

I like to give the great students rewards at the end of the class (like stickers). It works really well, especially to get them to listen to me at the end of the class. With high schooler's you might be able to use candy...or a "get out of homework free" card haha. I know it's kind of like bribery...but hey, whatever works. With some of the older kids who are very bad, I just send them out of the classroom. Quite frankly, if they bother the good students and don't do anything, I don't see any point in them being there. And then I also tell the Thai teacher. It's tough, I know. I have had plenty of sore throats...and it takes a heck of a lot of patience being a teacher (especially here in Thailand).

[Murf]

60 kids in the class... M3... You are lucky to come out alive!

Just carry on doing what you are doing, the kids seem happy, the teachers aren't giving you any greif... As said above... Don't rock the boat or you will be the one that gets thrown out.

[chonabot]

Thanks everyone - will definitely try the Music video idea Phuturatica - and advice regards not rocking the boat also heeded.

Looking forward to the next Semester ( kind of )

Edited September 27, 2012 by Scott
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