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So, week seven of being in Tongzi, and the frustration is beginning to seep in.
Some
of the kids are great; they're cued in and switched on and grok why
they need conversational English. Some are just doing it because it's
their class, but the vast majority - let's say 2600 of my 2700 students -
just do not give a shit. At all. And I'm trying - trying damned hard -
to get them engaged in class. I'm asking them questions, picking
students at random to answer, reminding them that, even though they
don't want to be here, they are, in fact, here, and it's my job to teach them.
It's just so damned disheartening when they lie to me, though. I get why
they lie and say they understand when they don't; if they admit they
don't get something, they lose face among their peers and that's
essentially social death for them, but at the same time, I can't help
them if they don't tell me that they need help. So in every class, I
walk up to the kids not writing things down when I ask them to write the
answer to a question, and I ask them if they understand. If they say
they don't, I explain it again, and they say "OK, OK." I tell them that
I will make them stand up and they had better be able to give me the
answer, and I get "OK, OK," again. And sure enough, when I call on
them, they look at me like I've just asked them to decode the Voynich Manuscript.
"C'mon," I say, "What's the answer to the question?"
And they look at me, terror in their eyes, and shake their head.
"You said you understood; what is the answer?" I ask.
"I don't English," they invariably manage to stammer.
"Then next time, don't lie to me," I respond.
I
tell them, every damned day, that I am there to answer questions, that I
have taken a half-dozen languages in school and know how difficult it
is to learn them, and that I will help however I can, and nothing. Not a
damned thing.
It is incredibly frustrating, and what makes it worse is that these kids know that I can't do a damned thing about it. They don't get graded on CE, nor do they have any exams in it, so there's no incentive to do anything but take up a seat.
Gah.
I hear you. I teach a class of 40. They are not all going to pass my class, and I actually have the ONLY say on their final grade. I know they don't understand everything I say, and they are English-only speakers too! I have some of them trained and on my side, so maybe 5 of these students will frequently ask me to repeat things in class, or to wait a couple of seconds for them to finish writing before we move on. As for the rest... you know how they end up.
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked everyone to sign on the dotted line at the start of the school year, they promised that they would never say "I know this is a stupid question, but..." and to simply ASK the question instead. There is no better way for me to help. Even if I pause and ask "How do we feel about this new information? Are we comfortable?" there is an awkward silence (which I am very used to, so it doesn't scare me anymore), one person will nod their head, maybe half the class will nod, the other half joins in, and we move on. What else can you do?
Actually, I've been in a seminar where the presenter would ask a question, have everyone think of an answer and write it down, then roll a die to see who had to answer the question out loud. Knowing that any of the students might have to speak, you can bet that everyone was at least thinking of their answer in case they got called on. This might not work well for your situation, but maybe it will get you thinking.
Got any teaching tricks or games I can steal for my classes?
I took a whole class period in each of my grade five classes teaching them to ask me questions and tell me they don't know a word. "Teach, I don't know, please help me. "Teacher, I have a question. What is...?"
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