Thread: Please help!!! At my wits end!

Hi there. I just wanted to tell you not to lose hope. I have subbed at a variety of schools with a variety of students. Sometimes, some schools will just be a different story as far as how to handle the students. I felt the same feeling you have many times. It is even more difficult when you are placed in a school with a majority of student being foreign. If you cannot speak their language, they will think that you cannot relate to them. They will say naughty things in their language because they think you don't know what they are saying. You can see how quickly they will no longer see you as a source of learning, but a source of fun, laughs, and games. Not only is it difficult with the kids, but as you said, the administration will see you as incapable if you don't have everything it takes to handle the position by yourself. Parents are nearly always protective of their children, and they don't want to believe anything bad about their child. It sounds to me like either you must try to learn their language fairly quickly, or you must obtain a position that suits you and your background better. There is sadly not much use, using your time and energy on people/kids that do not appreciate your efforts. There must be cooperation from the parents and administration in order for something to work especially when there are serious behavioral problems. I believe that respect, honor, a sense of responsibility starts at home. Therefore, there should only be a few kids with behavioral problems per class, but unfortunately we see that it is 3/4 of a class sometimes. This is a reflection of their upbringing in my opinion. I hope I do not offend anyone with my opinion. It is only just that.

Thanks. I know my number one problem is not speaking the language. Mainly from the fact that I cannot discipline in the students first language, and I feel there is a lack of respect towards me from the parents and administration since I do not speak the language. Anyways though I have to stick it out for this year. Any ideas how? I am looking to move back to the states next year and get a real teaching job there, but I need this school for a reference so I don't want to mess it up too bad. Any suggestions on how to make the year better. I am putting so much time and energy into teaching, and I am starting to just pray that the students will behave. I had one good day last week, then it all went downhill again. Any ideas on how to stick it out?

When I student taught eighth graders I had many classroom managements problems, especially with students not paying attention, talking to their friends, goofing off, and being disrespectful towards me. I realized part of the problem was me: my lesson plans, although well-planned and organized, weren't interesting or engaging to the students. I basically stood in front of the room and expected studetns to listen to me for the entire hour, and fill out worksheets and read aloud from their books. I soon discovered that my students enjoyed art projects (such as collages, posters, basically anything in which they can create something with their hands). Give them a hands-on assignment and circulate around the room. If students have something to do (besides listening) behavioral problems should begin to decrease. Of course, my largest class was 30 students; I've never taught a class of 45 students. Hopefully this helps. Good luck!

With all do respect to Lena, you don't know what your talking about.

As a teacher in Hong Kong, I teach a classes from 35-45 students and it's all how you present yourself. Be strong with them. If they see that you get frustrated and upset, they will feel that they are in control. The trick is to come in and show you are the boss. Next class, lay down the rules on a part of the board that you won't erase. Encourage them to tell you what the rules are and the children that respond will participate in controlling the children that are still misbehaiving. Secondly, have the children participate in every activity. The worst thing you can do is stand there and lecture. Try to create lessons that are activity based.

If there is a need to discipline a student. Remove the student from the class and show it as an example to the others. Be careful not to be harsh or the student will misbehaive just because he/she won't like you.

Don't worry about the principal or the parents. The principal will always be there to help you unless you do something stupid ie. hitting a child, etc. The parents will understand as well. I know, I work with some of the most spoiled, undisciplined children in the world. Don't believe me, ask anyone whose worked in Hong Kong.

I still love it here and wouldn't trade it. DONT GIVE UP. I hope you see this.

How much of their language do you know, and how much of yours do they know? I still think that is one main source of the problem. Maybe the effort for them to try to understand English is too much. I have heard students say things like, I can't understand that teacher because her accent is too thick! So, they stop trying. I like how Shelley suggested that they do hands on projects. Maybe you should look up some basic verbs and conjugations in the Spanish dictionary and relate it to the corresponding English verb. If you don't know how to pronounce the words, write them on the board or overhead projector if you have one, and ask a student to read it. Usually they will listen more if their peers are saying something. Then, you draw an arrow from the Spanish verb to the corresponding English verb and pronounce it for them. Then ask them to pronounce it. If they do not have a class set of Spanish-English dictionaries, see about getting some. Perhaps the school could help? Anyway, find out how to say, "draw a picture" in Spanish. Perhaps ask them to make up sentences in Spanish, write the same sentence in English on a poster, and then draw a picture of something that represents that sentence. Have you done anything like that? If they have trouble duplicating the sentences in English, do it for them at first and have them copy. Young students learn a lot from watching and then repeatng what they see. You could also have them perform a skit after they have learned more verbs, first in Spanish, and then in English. As I said before, you may want to give them the same sentences in English, and rehearse with them in groups, maybe after school... Then, have them perform them for a test grade (or you could do a paper test matching Spanich verbs they've learned to English ones.) Make it correspond to their knowlege of English. If they are a beginning level, make it something easy like, Hello, my name is... I am ...years old. I study English. Okay I had better stop. I am going overboard perhaps. Do you have an English-Spanish dictionary? Try to get a hold of one if you don't. Do you have access to the internet? That may help in the meanwhile. babelfish.altavista.com is one online translator that is kind of good. Okay, I'm really going to stop now. Best of luck, and my prayers are with you for a better year.

Hi both Lena and SHelly thanks. I know some words int heir language. I can say open your books, draw, I can discipline at a basic level, but with disciplining you have to think fast and it is hard for me to do it in thier language. To the person who worked in Hong Kong, this tough teacher attitude, did you develop it in your first year? How was your first year? Was it really hard?

I need to be really tough here. That is what the students are used to. Their teachers are really strict and tough, but my personality is more soft. When I yell like the other teachers the students just laugh. ONe thing that really upsets me is that they will run to the principal. I tell them not to go, but they disobey. I called parents, who were basically yeah the kid is bad for us to. But the problem is I have 45 of them!!! It was a disaster today, and I cried in the teachers lounge.

As a teacher I am really creative. I have students do lots of projects, power points, computer things, today I wanted them to write a fan letter to a celeb of their choice (our unit is people we admire), and they just refuse to work. So what should I do?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi again. I really feel for you. I have had the exact same things happen to me in some schools. It can make a person feel without a purpose, it can make you feel like you have no ability to have any control, it can make you feel like you lack talent, it can make you feel that others look down on you. Basically, it can make you feel downright wretched. I know I had an experience that sent me home with a migraine headache so bad that I just cried and thrashed around in bed until I had to vomit. I know that I tried to lay down the rules, I yelled, I tried going to one student at a time and really looking at them and talking in a firm voice, I tried threats of sending them to the principal, or telling them I would call their parents, or that I would give them a bad grade. I tried telling them that I would reward them for good behavior. Nothing worked in some cases. So, I know what you are going through. Please don't feel that you are alone, or that it is your fault. Although I feel like I have nothing more to offer in the way of suggestions on classroom management, I can say this: Remind yourself everyday that it is not your fault, and that the kids are young, immature, impressionable, etc. In other words, try to maintain your inner peace even when they are making chaos by reminding yourself that this is one stumbling stone in your life, not something that should destroy your inner peace. Try to give yourself some time to meditate, pray, or whatever gives you peace of mind before and after school. I know it's hard. I still struggle myself, but there really are few things in life that are so grave that you should let it destroy your peace. It seems that this is really getting to you. I will write again after I have attended a workshop on classroom management. Meanwhile, do your best to maintain your inner peace while doing your job. If the kids do not listen, and the school does not help you, then it is not your problem. There is only so much a person can do. All my best.

Hey tfl2005,

Hang in there! My thoughts are with you!

I had a similar situation during my first placement (I will be in my first year in 2006). I was in the same city but basically my very first school I ever went into was in another universe. I'm an "Eastie" and they were (soooo) "westies" and it did show.

I had to learn to cool it and go with the flow. PLUS I had all those "first time in a school" expectations of students, based on my own (Decile 10) upbringingin. This school was the opposite of where I had gone to high school (in more ways than one) and it was a Decile 4, so the students were not as well off as we had been at high school.

The class that got me, sounds alot like your class. 9E English. I stayed awake at night trying to figure out what was going on, I tried all sorts of different fun things etc etc.

Then... my associate told me to "go into the next class and be a B***H" I was shocked because, like you, I would never be horrible to my students how she was suggesting. However, I was at my wits end and decided to do as she suggested.

The class was milling around outside like a herd of sheep when I got there the next day (I think some were even baa-ing hee hee ) I asked them to line up in a boys line and a girls line and they managed to (they like to do "mindless" things like that) then I allowed one line at a time to go in, grab their reading book, sit at their desk and read - all without saying a thing or making inappropriate or excessive noises with furnature etc.

Well, they couldn't do it, so it was back outside to line up and try again, and again, and again. 45 minutes later... we FINALLY managed to do it.

We got onto to the work, everyone stated to get excited (somehow handing out slips of paper is a thing to talk about if you're a teenager) I threatened with "do we have to go outside AGAIN?!?!?!?!?" and they immediately settled.

While they were doing the work, I'd asked for silence, one of the girls just couldn't do it and tested me. Testing how well I would stick to the boundaries I ahd just set up. Feeling like an idiot, I put a line on the board and looked at my watch in an emmy-winning performance way. She kept talking and argueing with me, I didn't reply, just put another line on the board. I told her that the lines represented the minutes she was disrupting my class and that was how long we would remain after the bell.

Another girl joined in and I got up to 6 marks before they realized I was just going to continue, by then the rest of the class had started to tell the two to "shut up".

Then the bell rang and everyone packed up and got ready to go. I asked them what they were doing, they told me the bell had gone, I told them to sit down, they had 6 minutes of work to keep doing. We sat there for the longest 6 minutes of my life in ABSOLUTE SILENCE! The same girl tried to argue with methat she had a detention to go to, but I just waved my pen towards the board and she shut up.

I knew then that I had them. Possibly not the way I would have liked to get them, but how I wanted to get them didn't work, this was an extreme way and it just happened to work for this class.

Since then I've gone to other schools and other classes. Each time I've walked in and been introduced as a "student teacher" and seen the gleam in their eye. But the first thing I do in my classes is jump on any "discipline" problem and tell the student "in my class (discipline issue) is not acceptable. Please appologise to the class for interrupting their learning" The class quickly catches on.

Just to further the point of being strong and standing up there and adhering to your rules like bubblegum on the bottom of the desk...

My last school was a decile 1a, the lowest of the low (they couldn't call it decile -1) there were fist fights, gang thingies etc etc going on all the time. I was actually quite scared before I started. I went into that first class and set off the way I wanted it to go, my classes were a dream!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have standards and should stick to them. These standards are CLASSROOM standards and should not be compromised because you don't speak the same language - you're standing in the same class aren't you? :-)

If the standards are not being stuck to then don’t compromise. Turn around an demand that a level of decorum is reached. Not for your sake, but for everyone’s sake. You are there to enhance learning, how can it be enhanced if Jane in the corner insists on interrupting and calling out? She’s jeopardizing not only her learning opportunity but ruining everyone else’s.

Even if you go in tomorrow and say, I have standards lets stick to them from this moment on and make sure they are, it wont be too late.

There is a Maori song on the radio at the moment that goes like this…

Kia Kaha, Kia toa, Kia manawanui. (Be strong, be brave, be steadfast and sure!!!)


Good luck, I’m sure you’ll do fine

After reading some of the other replies, I've had some more thoughts. One person recalled drawing lines on the board to represent the amount of minutes that a particular student had disrupted the class. Then, they had the whole class stay after that many minutes. It is a good method to follow if you can get them to stay. If you try it, just stay by the door and hold it closed. If this gets them to behave for you, then that'll be great. I did have some that pushed me out of the way and forced their way out into the hall, but hopefully yours won't do that. It may seem like you are teaching them manners instead of English, but perhaps that is what they need before they can get to some real learning. Also, someone else talked about the touch teacher attitude. I am also a very soft natured person. I want to beleive that people are good deep down. I hate to have to be a mean person because it disturbs my tranquility and it actually physically ails me. I wish things in schools were like it was for my grandparents when they were in school. It is not, however. It is also not like it was even when I was in school. Anyway, it is easier to develop the tough teacher attitude when you can look composed and calm in the midst of chaos. That is why I said that you must find a way to keep your inner peace. If they see that they cannot disturb your peace, but that you can perhaps keep them after school, maybe they will listen. Try it and see if it helps. Blessings! Though language is a barrier, it doesn't have to overcome you entirely.