Golden Classroom Rules

[motis]

Lately I've been teaching adults, but when I teach middle school kids, these are the rules in my classroom:


1. WHEN ONE PERSON IS TALKING TO THE CLASS, NOBODY ELSE TALKS.

After pounding this one into their heads by dint of constant repetition in the first couple of sessions, I enforce it by suddenly stopping what I'm doing and waiting expectantly for things to quiet down. It usually works, mostly because if it doesn't, I sit down and tell them to teach themselves. An implied threat to take away the priveleges spelled out below can also be effective in extreme cases. I also point out that passing notes is perfectly OK with me, so there's no reason whatsoever to be talking when I'm talking.


2. NO SPITTING.

Man, am I a stickler about this one. When I lay this law down, I take the time to explain *why* they shouldn't spit on the floor in class. If anybody breaks the rule (there's always one, at least once) he (it's always a boy) has to sweep and mop the entire classroom floor immediately.


3. IF YOU'RE HUNGRY, EAT.

A hungry kid is not going to be able to concentrate on learning English, especially if they're only doing it to make the folks happy. Snack away!


4. IF YOU'RE THIRSTY, DRINK.

See #3 above.


5. IF YOU NEED THE WC, JUST GO TO THE WC. YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASK PERMISSION. TRY TO COME BACK IN A TIMELY FASHION.

Again, see above... and there's no reason to interrupt the class just to ask permission to go void your bowels. Nor is there any reason to make someone wait for permission if they really have to go, unless you're some kind of control freak who gets kicks out of being El Generalissimo Grande Puerco-Jefe del Mundo.


6. IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN THE LESSON, DO SOMETHING ELSE... QUIETLY.

Pass notes with your friends, do homework, read, listen to music on your headphones, or sleep... I couldn't care less what you do, if you're not disturbing anyone who wants to follow the lesson. I don't want to force anybody to learn English, and I don't want to force students who ought to be in a more advanced class to repeat material they already know inside-out and backwards, when they could be doing something more productive with their (very limited) time. In the case of students whose mastery of English is way beyond that of the other students, I try to spend some time talking with them outside of class.

That's pretty much it. I find that, for the most part, my students appreciate all the freedom I give them and return the favor by shutting the hell up quick when I give the signal that they're getting out of hand. Of course, it helps a lot if you make sure that at least some of your classroom time is fun for the kids... playing English-enhancing games, or especially singing songs and talking about what the words mean... these things will help you maintain order, because the kids don't want the fun to stop.

What are your classroom rules?

[Raoul Duke]

NO MOBILE PHONES
For any reason. We hates them, precious, we hates them! I'll grudingly tolerate them if I'm teaching adult professionals, but I can't think of any earthly justification for college students or kids to be using a mobile phone in the classroom. I tell them that if their wife is about to have a baby, by all means tell me and I'll let them answer the phone if it rings.

IF YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING ELSE, DO IT QUIETLY _AND_ INVISBLY
I don't want to know. I find blatantly reading newspapers, comic books, IELTS test prep books, etc., playing games, etc. to be contemptuous of the class and a distraction to other students, and I don't allow it. Please note that I don't teach English- I teach academic Business courses. The odds of their already knowing this material are about as high as those of their having winged monkeys come flying up out of their butts.

WE HAVE BREAKS. USE THEM TO GO TO THE BATHROOM.
I waive this rule for kids under 8 years old, which I never teach anyway. Oh, I let people go to the bathroom, but I discourage it as much as possible. Otherwise I have a constant stream of people wandering in and out for the entire class. This is especially true right AFTER the breaks- they tend to spend the breaks playing and gossiping rather than going to the bathrooms.

I've taught in waaay too many monkey-house environments where I found I had to either run a tight ship....or a sinking ship.

[Lager]

My last school was pretty nasty middle-high school kids. Glad it's over. One rule I came up with was a no-late rule. After 5-10 minutes I would lock the door and not let anyone in. The problem was 5-6 guys would come in after 25 minutes-toss a ball in the corner and then start bragging to their friends in loud voices---ignoring me altogether...Sickening.

As for other stuff I don't know. My classes went out of contol after a while. Anything directly insulting---being flipped the bird or whatever---meant the kid going out.

Amazing really how brazen they can be with us but how terrified they are of any Chinese teacher...I will want a much higher salary to take that again...Next term I wont have that worry.

[motis]

I definitely know what you mean, LagerLout. I have the advantage of being pretty terrifying myself, so there are very few middle school basketball punks who dare to openly defy me. I try not to get into situations with students that are directly adversarial... but often, the more show-offish students will try to steal teacher's face to enhance their own standing. You really have to nip that kind of thing in the bud, and you have to do it the right way, so the student loses face with his classmates and everyone learns that you are not someone to toy with. Making a display of anger is the wrong approach; when that happens, you've lost face, and the student has won the game.

One day in class, I was walking up and down the aisles checking on some work my students were doing. I felt someone touch me, and caught a student in the act of taping a note to my back. The note said MY MOTHER DOESN'T LOVE ME. I showed it to the class, who laughed, and then I told the student "No, you're wrong! Your mother loves me very much. In fact, she loved me just last night!" The class raised the roof laughing at him while I made googly-eyed kissy-face to egg them on. He went red as a commie flag, got very angry, and started shouting that I should apologize to him. "Sure," I told him. "Just as soon as you apologize to me for taping this note to my back." More laughter. His face got even redder. He clenched and unclenched his jaw and fists and shot daggers left and right from his eyes, which became very moist. Finally he blurted out, in an angry, shouting tone of voice, "I'M SORRY." "I'm sorry too," I told him with a big, relaxed smile. "Now sit down and be quiet, or I'll call your mother and tell her how disrespectful you are to your teacher."

Net result: he lost face, I gained face, the whole class was better behaved, and Laughing Boy himself never, ever acted out in my class again.

Making a Chinese person apologize in front of his peers is not to be underrated as a method of behavior adjustment. It's a very serious loss of face in an environment where face is everything. Conversely, if you find yourself on the wrong end of a dispute (legal or otherwise), you may find a written apology to be a cheap and easy get-out-of-jail-free card. You being a Westerner, it's no sweat off your keister to say you're sorry, and your enemies will feel as though they've triumphed while you walk away whistling a merry scot-free tune.

If you don't overuse it, threatening to call the parents is pretty much the penultimate weapon at your disposal (actually calling them being the ultimate weapon). I've only had to follow through on that threat once, and boy did I see a difference in the way that kid acted afterwards. His parents came to the school for a conference with me, the student, and the headmaster, and there was no question whatsoever of the student maybe having a side of his own to tell. It was just plain his fault, game over, and the folks weren't listening to any crap from him, period.

It helps to be good at being vicious. I am, but I don't enjoy unleashing that particular talent... so I try to head 'em off at the pass before they get out of hand. A stitch in time saves nine, and anyway, it's better to be loved than feared, no matter what Tiberius Caesar may have said.

If you're crafty, the most oft-used weapon in your arsenal will be the problem student's peer group. Get them to police each other, and your teaching life will be wicked serene. If it comes to a confrontation in class, give the other students a good laugh at your adversary's expense.

Of course, the very BEST (and the most difficult) way to keep order once you've established yourself as the Alpha Primate is to make your class so interesting and entertaining that the group quashes its own bad behavior. I typically do this with music: I bring my guitar to class and reward the kids with a song at the end of class if they've been good. If they don't toe my line, I make a point of telling them why they aren't getting a song that day, and then I leave... and the next session with that class finds them on their very best behavior. My students learn pretty quickly to shush the hell out of each other when I start showing signs that there's too much chatter going on. Ten seconds after I put my war face on, you can hear a pin drop. It sure wasn't that way in my first teaching job, when I was relatively clueless about manipulating my students within the context of their own culture.

[con's fly is open]

Rule numvber one: wo shi alpha. If a student challenges yor authority, break him (always a boy) in half. We always have Bart Simpsons, but they have to know who's boss.

Rule number two: Bart Simpsoms are your most important students. The very same kid who raises heell is the kid who will be a class leader, one way or the other. Allow him to be naughty when it promotes the lesson you are teaching, and you will simultaneious teach a legendary class, and show tt student how to express himself and get away with it.

Rule number three:understand the nature of every student. Chinese teachers lump them into three categories: stupid, good, and naughty. This is simplistic: figure your kids out, and give them the chance to be the kind of person they are. Make it work in your lesson plan; otherwise you are shortchanging your entire class, not to mention behaving like that teacher you hatined as a child.

Rule number four: excellence is practiced here. Being naughty and disruptive is not the worst sin- not learning is, and is unforgivable. Handle unruliness yourself, but react to a refusal to learn ruthlessly. Bring the parents in, and destroy that child. If they don't learn, they m'kay themselves over, and you are making the big bucks to give them a future. Never stand for mediocrity.

Rule number five: get drunk and/or laid on your day off. Tha's Willie's time.

[Steve]

Ah yes, rules.

What I find works is that after decreeing and explaining the rules, I get students in groups to draw pictures for each one. Usually we do:

No phones, No speaking Chinese, Participate in discussions, No horseplay (good word), and Only use the WC during breaks.

So they draw neat little pictures and I post the rules around the room. If there's any problem, I just point at the rules for reference. Most get it. It feels like they've contributed something to the rules, when in fact, it's part of my dictatorship

Speaking of rules, there's one that gets my attention:

1. WHEN ONE PERSON IS TALKING TO THE CLASS, NOBODY ELSE TALKS

.

This is difficult to enforce as I just discovered a major cultural difference here.

If a student enters a 1-1 dialogue with the teacher, the others don't listen because they think it's a private meeting. It's similar to when you're socializing at someone's house and the phone goes off. The host answers it, and rather than be rude and listen in, you carry on a conversation.

So the students think it's rude to listen in on a 'private' conversation you have with one student in a class.

If a student gives a speech, for example, that is interpreted as him giving you a private speech. So they don't listen.

Steve

[Lotus Eater]

I teach at a university and at this stage haven't had the problems that you others have mentioned. My students are amazingly charming and polite (even carrying my bags for me - scarey)

My rules: You're adults, I am not responsible for your learning.

No plagiarisation (OK let's try that one again, and again and again ......)

You WILL ask questions and argue with me.

You WILL tell me when I confuse you or you do not understand my accent.

Mistakes are learning opportunities - if you don't make mistakes - leave, I don't need perfect people who know everything in the class.

Don't come to my classes if you are not prepared to work.

Success rate? By the end of the semester I had some students arguing with me or bringing in questions on stuff they had researched.

I had students complain that I made them think, and they weren't used to it.

I had some students at least note the sources they had used at the end of an assignment - if not properly throughout the paper.

I had students ask me to explain concepts or words I had used (you don't lose face by getting something wrong or asking questions - just by failing to learn - hard concept that one!)

I had other students sit like mice for the whole semester and not even squeak. More of them than the others

And now I have to start all over again.

[motis]

Well, I just have to say, I have a new gig and so far it's great. I'm teaching at a private school. It's all adults, the classroom is air-conditioned, and it's got a whiteboard. Since it's a chain and the main office is in Beijing, my boss is just the *local* boss, and she's quite a nice, reasonable management-type who is just doing her job the best she can, not some chortling lowbrow fool with too much money who is only there to get more.
On top of my teaching duties, which are pretty light so far, they're putting me in charge of hiring, managing, and firing foreign teachers for the branch... and I'm getting 250 per class!

LOOK UPON MY NEGOTIATION SKILLS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR

[Ruth]

Steve, your explanation of the cultural difference on the 1-1 dialogue explains most of the frustration I had last year. When I am talking, the room is silent. When I ask students to stand and give answers, the others chatter among themselves. I saw that as incredibly rude behavior and discussed it many, many times - with limited success. Now I understand why. Doesn't solve how to deal with it, but at least I understand it now.

[burlives]

ruth said:

Steve, your explanation of the cultural difference on the 1-1 dialogue explains most of the frustration I had last year. When I am talking, the room is silent. When I ask students to stand and give answers, the others chatter among themselves. I saw that as incredibly rude behavior and discussed it many, many times - with limited success. Now I understand why. Doesn't solve how to deal with it, but at least I understand it now.

Except that I asked a Chinese teacher and she said that everyone is still supposed to listen.

[Steve]

Except that I asked a Chinese teacher and she said that everyone is still supposed to listen.

Maybe if you explicitly set up a speech by a student who has a lot of face (class monitor, anyone???!!), then the others interpret it as a 'guest lecture' and are supposed to listen.

If you don't formally hand over control to someone else, or you pick someone with little face, they may not listen.

One trick I found that works, if I sit down in the audience with the students, the others listen more to the speech.

Generally though, I find any sort of whole-class elicitation or single-student speaking to pretty much crash and burn. Forcing students to listen doesn't really work either.

My 'solution' to this problem is to do more group and pair work, but that takes time to set up as well. In the initial part of class, straight lecture style is optimal, until rapport builds and I can try more pair and group discussions.

Steve

[Ruth]

The times I am talking about are when they have done a group activity and one person from each group is reporting to the rest of the class. No one listens. Sometimes the chatter is so loud that I can't hear. I stop the speaker, lecture/rant to the class about the fact that I can't hear, and have the speaker continue. Sometimes I do this many times in a class period. My students put on plays in groups of 5 last year. I sat in the audience. The others still chattered, even while the play was going on. Maybe I'm just an ineffective teacher

At the very end of the term I made up yellow penalty cards. They understand this concept from football/soccer. It appears as if I will have the same classes as last year and I think I will institute this right away. Caught talking - penalty card. The losing face will likely be enough, but the penalty will involve using a specific vocab word in a sentence, or a short homework assignment. Whudda ya think?

[burlives]

Steve said:

My 'solution' to this problem is to do more group and pair work, but that takes time to set up as well. In the initial part of class, straight lecture style is optimal, until rapport builds and I can try more pair and group discussions.

Yep, that''s my solution too. Anything that requires an independent decision to cooperate in the learning process -- such as listening to some other speaker or developing an opinion -- fails. These things can however be simulated in group and pairwork. My hope, not altogether borne out by practice, is that after some time of simulation, the real thing may appear spontaneously.

[Lotus Eater]

Each week I had students from groups come to the front of the class, with me up the back, and present their solutions to the situations I had asked them to work on (business specific). All other groups had to ask questions. They were great.

Is it an age thing - these are 3rd and 4th year university studetns?

[wOZfromOZ]

In Shanghai, the China UNI games are on and we wont start till Wed. 9th - Another REDICULOUS decision - gotta make up the Wk 1 M-T-W sometime!!!

G'day!
I just wanted to pass on congrats to MOTIS for a great post above - brings back memories of being hit on the back of the head by a projectile on the football oval by this big burly Aboriginal lad while I was on playground duty a few years ago at a previous work location.

I was the coach ot the U-15 Rugby League team, he was the captain at the time of the throw and, at the time, he wanted to gain face amongst his peers like the lad in Motis' story. ...The bastard got away with it that time too - race thingo - nothing was done cause their wasn't enough proof - even though I gave the admin 2 names of students who saw him throw the ....ROCK ....( It bloodywell hurt - I can tell you!).

poo HAPPENS ......anywhere ...anytime
...like the aboriginal lad who lost his captain's role -

and LOTUS asks,

"Is it an age thing - these are 3rd and 4th year university studetns?"
...spot on - that's been my experience - that's why I love teaching 3rd yr LS.

wOZfromOZ