Adult learners not attending my English Class

[holden]

Hello everyone

Can someone give me advice. I have two weeks of winter camp - almost finished.
My problem is that although the kids camp is going great (1,2,3rd grade middle school) the adult learners are a different story.

My question is if no adults are showing up will I be penalised in anyway. In other words I am not teaching for 1 1/2 hours. I have materials prepared etc but I just sit and "wait" (I prepare lessons for kids class etc during this time).

My confidence with regards to teaching the adult class is in the toilet. This is obviously a bad reflection on me. The school has verbally agreed to renew my contract but I'm not sure if they will if they know the adults are not attending.

[Janitor]

Adults are hard ones to get into any class. It is not your fault. You are there, and you are prepared. Most of the time, adults will just say that they are "too busy" and that is fine. Don't blame yourself if you are there and prepared.

[derbear86]

No matter how hard you work to prepare a lesson, it's useless if they don't show up. This should not reflect poorly upon you and you're teaching as you were never really given the chance to teach. I'd suggest asking your teacher about the situation and see what they think but you can't be blamed for their poor attendance. Prepare your materials and lesson plans and take attendance. Keep a record of all of it. You may be asked to provide your school with these items at a later date. That's pretty much all you can do. Bring a book and relax if no one shows.

[fl4mers]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. As the others have mentioned, as long as you are prepared for class, it's not your fault if your students don't turn up. I don't think it reflects badly on you. I have an adult teacher's class at school during term as well, which I had 15 people sign up for, but the numbers in class have varied from 2-7 throughout term. I've never heard anybody complain about me or my teaching skills as a result of this though. Chin up! ^-^

[sheherezaad]

I had taught an adult class before but the school decided to scrap it since only 3 attended,if rarely at that.It does not reflect badly upon you as a majority of the teachers are too bust to attend. :)

[malfsu1]

I hate that they keep trying to make us teach adults in the public schools.  If I wanted to teach adults I would have worked at a hagwon teaching them.  I wouldn't worry about it.  If you are prepared and there then it's on them for not coming.  I personally hated having a "teachers" class and was glad when they stopped coming after the first semester.  They are way too hard to please in my opinion....some don't want to do any actual work while others want like a hard core academic type class.

[Aadi]

I had a teachers' class this semester.  First class:  12 students, wildly varying levels from beginner to conversational.  I worried about what I could possibly teach.  My second class was 4 students, 2 beginner and 2 advanced.  The advanced students wanted idioms and normal conversation with me while the beginners were hopelessly lost.  No one showed for my third class or any class thereafter.  I always went to my classroom at the appointed time with my lesson #3 ready to go and read a book.  There's been no fallout yet but I have no way of knowing what evaluation of my teaching skills, if any, has been made.

[SpaceRook]

I had a teachers' class this semester.  First class:  12 students, wildly varying levels from beginner to conversational.  I worried about what I could possibly teach.  My second class was 4 students, 2 beginner and 2 advanced.  The advanced students wanted idioms and normal conversation with me while the beginners were hopelessly lost.  No one showed for my third class or any class thereafter.  I always went to my classroom at the appointed time with my lesson #3 ready to go and read a book.  There's been no fallout yet but I have no way of knowing what evaluation of my teaching skills, if any, has been made.

Are you me?  I had the same exact situation.  Seems like there was always some teacher's meeting or other crisis that took the teachers away from my class. 

I brought it up with my co-teacher and I told her I was permanently canceling class unless someone showed up.  However, I made it clear that I'd be happy to speak to teachers at lunch or resume class if there was serious interest. 

[Janitor]

That is what I had to do with my teachers class. I haven't taught it in over a year. At first I tried to make it as fun as possible. I used to teach an adult class through my hogwans and taught it for about 3 years so I knew how to handle these ladies. At first we chatted and like usual, we did idioms and practical English along with slang. I would usually have coffee and snacks (or whatever I could scrounge from my office) ready sometimes. Alas, fewer and fewer teachers came. Soon they just started sending the part-time teacher and she was cool but after a while it was just me. So the head teacher just told me to go home and that the class was just a formality. 

[holden]

Thank you guys for the replies. I feel a LOT BETTER.

[cocoinkorea]

Adults are hard ones to get into any class. It is not your fault. You are there, and you are prepared. Most of the time, adults will just say that they are "too busy" and that is fine. Don't blame yourself if you are there and prepared.

This is very true. I had 10 parents sign up for my 2010 Summer Camp and only 3 showed. The principal decided it was not beneficial to hold a 2010 Winter Camp for Parents.

My teachers were the same. Between 2 and 4 would show up on a weekly basis, sometimes none at all, so we just stopped holding the class.