Teaching Alone

[Ryanh856]

I have afternoon classes, and I'm always teaching by myself in these situations. It's becoming harder and harder to control my classes, as I don't speak Korean and some of the students are very disrespectful. Any ideas on how I can keep the students in line? My main problem is with the 6th grade. Thanks

[violettheasian]

Someone posted a similar thread yesterday and I started to reply to it but everyone else had beat me to it with excellent advice.

I teach alone full-time and my students' english level is very low so I understand how frustrating this can be.

The replies in the following post are spot-on in how I've been dealing with my kids and hope it helps you as well:

http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,9767.0/topicseen.html

[jinjuyou]

1- it's illegal for us native English teachers to teach alone. That doesn't stop it from happening, but maybe you can use it for some leverage to get some help in the classroom.

2- create a clear set of rules and the punishments for breaking them. Then be very consistent (so don't be overly strict or threaten things that you won't actually do). Also be sure to punish individually for individual disruptions, and the whole class if the whole class is causing a problem. For example, for individuals you could have a 3-strike system. For getting out of line (up to you what constitutes bad behavior), give a student a strike. After 3 strikes they must stay late and copy a paragraph a set amount of times. For certain things (like if I warn a student not to throw things at his friends, but he does it again) I'll have students do pushups there and then on the spot (I'm at a boy's middle school). Sam thing for other disruptions; I'll usually give a warning, then a second. If they continue to talk out of turn/poke their friend/whatever, then they get disciplined (standing at the back of the class, going outside, whatever..depends how serious it is).

For my classes as a whole I have a 3-strike rule where, when I ask them to be quiet, I count down from 5 with my hands. If there's still noise when I reach 0, the class gets a strike. After 3 strikes the class gets to stay late (this makes them self-motivated, and also encourages them to get each other to be quiet). I have yet to have this happen. After a strike I'll immediately start counting down again, and the most strikes a class has ever gotten is two.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

Newbie 1: what am i supposed to do? my coteacher isn't coming to class and i have to teach alone, i don't know how to handle the kids on my own or what to plan?

Veteren 1: Whilst it may be much more difficult at first, developing your own strategies for solo teaching will vastly improve your teaching abilities and make your life less stressful in the long run.

Veteren 2: We're only getting paid to be assistants so don't even go into your classroom unless your CT's present.

Newbie 2: I love it when my co doesn't show. All she does is speak Korean and yell at the kids.

Mid-termer 1: It's illegal for us to teach alone. They said so at orientation.

Mid-termer 2: It's against regulation for regular daytime classes but there's no law against it.

Newbie 3: I'm worried about the liability of teaching alone, I mean what happens if there's a fight or an accident when your in the classroom alone?

Veteren 3: I've been teaching alone for the past three years and no liability issue has ever arisen.

Mid-termer 3: I went and complained to the VP about my C.T. not showing and now she won't even talk to me.

...rinse and repeat...

[jonpurdy]

Newbie 1: what am i supposed to do? my coteacher isn't coming to class and i have to teach alone, i don't know how to handle the kids on my own or what to plan?

Veteren 1: Whilst it may be much more difficult at first, developing your own strategies for solo teaching will vastly improve your teaching abilities and make your life less stressful in the long run.

Veteren 2: We're only getting paid to be assistants so don't even go into your classroom unless your CT's present.

Newbie 2: I love it when my co doesn't show. All she does is speak Korean and yell at the kids.

Mid-termer 1: It's illegal for us to teach alone. They said so at orientation.

Mid-termer 2: It's against regulation for regular daytime classes but there's no law against it.

Newbie 3: I'm worried about the liability of teaching alone, I mean what happens if there's a fight or an accident when your in the classroom alone?

Veteren 3: I've been teaching alone for the past three years and no liability issue has ever arisen.

Mid-termer 3: I went and complained to the VP about my C.T. not showing and now she won't even talk to me.

...rinse and repeat...

LOL'd at this   :D   Very funny because it's absolutely true.

[June Bug]

I teach at an elementary school, and one of the homeroom teachers always leaves when I turn up to his class.  His students are nuts and they are better behaved when he is around.  My real issue is that I feel like I'm being taken advantage of, and that's what grates me.  I feel like when it's English time, it's his free pass to go do whatever he wants. 
What should I do?  I've thought about sending him a message on cool messenger, but I'm afraid of the repercussions.  I feel already ostracized here at the school, and I don't want want to be seen as a demanding NET.

[Ectofuego]

Stand up for yourself maam.  It is going to boil down to that kinda advice no matter who you ask on here.  They are not supoosed to leave during normal class hours in public school. 

[drunkenfud]

I teach at an elementary school, and one of the homeroom teachers always leaves when I turn up to his class.  His students are nuts and they are better behaved when he is around.  My real issue is that I feel like I'm being taken advantage of, and that's what grates me.  I feel like when it's English time, it's his free pass to go do whatever he wants. 
What should I do?  I've thought about sending him a message on cool messenger, but I'm afraid of the repercussions.  I feel already ostracized here at the school, and I don't want want to be seen as a demanding NET.

Talk to whichever teacher serves as the English Co-ordinator/Waygookin-Wrangler about the situation.  I would suggest you phrase it as a request for help rather than a demand.  For example, "I don't have much teaching experience and it's really helpful to me to have an experienced teacher in class, everything runs so much better." rather than "Tell Mr Kim to get his lazy behind back in the classroom, I'm not trained to be a zookeeper".

[doneill36]

Its happens with me every class at my small school (Mon and Tues 10 classes total)

At the start it was hard, try and win the kids over so that when u walk into the room they are excited to see you. Start with a game (review) set a high tempo for the class and get them exited.

At the start one of my classes were mental, but I played soccer with them at lunch and related to them on a different note, and now its actually my favourite class

[glb0b]

If you want him to stay, politely ask him to stay in your class. Get the English teacher's help if he doesn't speak English.

If you just want him there but don't need him to participate then tell him so. Tell him it is ok if he sits at the back but you would like his help with class control. He might be nervous about what you want him to do.

I had a homeroom teacher run away from my classes for a while, but I figured out that he was scared I might want him to do something in the class. He used to hang out in the corridor and eventually he would start coming back into the classroom because he realised that I wasn't going to ask for his participation.

[pania762011]

One of my friends had that experience where his co teacher kept leaving then one day he follwed him and found out he was taking smoke breaks when he's suppose to be in class. since then the co teacher has attended every class.

[tmerrill]

Used to have a co worker that said they didn't participate in class because they 'didn't want to interrupt MY CLASS'. I corrected her right there and then that it was OUR CLASS as a WHOLE, and I never had problems with her again.
You just need to state from the get that it's the STUDEN'T CLASS, it's YOUR CLASS, and it's your CO-WORKER'S CLASS. You re-confirm responsibility and they get it loud and clear.

[techteacher]

Afternoon or after school classes? If it is the after school classes, then they dont have to be in the class with you.

[sweetkat]

Here is my advice. I have been having problems with sixth grade the past 2 years.  It seems to happen every year.  Monday i did something different. I isolated the two most disturbing students in the class and asked them to come with me, I led them out in the hall and shut the door on them.  It is amazing the change over the class. One girl cheered, and I had everyone else's attention. Turns out these two are bullies and their presence changes the behaviour of the class.  The rest of the class went smoothly. Though I had to hold the door closed for the remainder of the class.  They spent the time disturbing the class, and then the rest of the time wanting to come back into the class.   On top of that, the students went out of their way to help me keep them out.   i have spoken to the coteacher about him. He is very nice but only his presence changes their behaviour.  I will continue to isolate these two until their behaviour changes.   

Before I isolated them, I decided to try and give them more responsibility. I had them help with teaching the class by using them for examples. It lasted for 2 seconds before they were acting like babies.  I cannot understand how sounding like 'Animal' from the Muppets is in any way considered cool, in any culture. But then I always was the nerdy one in school.

Just take a step back, don't stress yourself about it, its just their age and try and teach to the ones that are actively interested, and don't let the disturbers distract them.

[SBracken]

Newbie 1: what am i supposed to do? my coteacher isn't coming to class and i have to teach alone, i don't know how to handle the kids on my own or what to plan?

Veteren 1: Whilst it may be much more difficult at first, developing your own strategies for solo teaching will vastly improve your teaching abilities and make your life less stressful in the long run.

Veteren 2: We're only getting paid to be assistants so don't even go into your classroom unless your CT's present.

Newbie 2: I love it when my co doesn't show. All she does is speak Korean and yell at the kids.

Mid-termer 1: It's illegal for us to teach alone. They said so at orientation.

Mid-termer 2: It's against regulation for regular daytime classes but there's no law against it.

Newbie 3: I'm worried about the liability of teaching alone, I mean what happens if there's a fight or an accident when your in the classroom alone?

Veteren 3: I've been teaching alone for the past three years and no liability issue has ever arisen.

Mid-termer 3: I went and complained to the VP about my C.T. not showing and now she won't even talk to me.

...rinse and repeat...

Amen 

I'm somewhere between a newbie and a mid-termer here in SK. I have 1-3 middle school and 1-3 high school. my HS CT doesn't come to class and I'm totally fine with that (although at first I thought I was a lamb at the slaughter- I teach a low level country school and these kids care naught for English and are NUTS). reason being is that my MS CT does come to class- at first she just told them to shut up once in awhile, but now she justs sits in the back and texts. I plan all my own lessons and make my own 'curriculum'. Twice now though, my MS has abandoned her cell and tried to co-teach with me. Utter fail and both times she ruined the point of my lesson (giving the students answers instead of letting them figure it out).

That said, if it's individuals- punish individuals. I make them stand up, take their chair, make them come to the front of the class and kneel (I can keep an eye on them in the front, and it seems to humiliate them a bit). When I feel they've suffered enough, or they apologize to me, they can return to their seat as normal. It's important to establish your authority and aura of 'i-will-not-take-crap-from-you' early.
if it's the whole class- punish the whole class. I have a digital stopwatch that I keep on hand, and if the whole class has gotten out of line I make them sit up and shut up for 2 minutes. I pause it when someone talks or puts his/her head down.

if you haven't established your authority yet, you might really need to pick at them- take away games, their free time, if they've 'earned' 5 minutes of silence, then be firm and let them suffer the full 5 minutes (so boring).

[justanotherwaygook]

1- it's illegal for us native English teachers to teach alone. That doesn't stop it from happening, but maybe you can use it for some leverage to get some help in the classroom.

In the spirit of Yu_Bumsuk's post, this is not true (seriously).

What official source has told you this?

[S.Lee]

teaching alone can be better than having a coT that distracts them further....
sorry i had a rough day :-X

most people will say that its "illegal" and to report it to the VP/MOE or else to just politely ask your coT to come to class regularly.

I didnt bother with any of that and now I pretty much teach alone. Its not so bad once you get used to it. though it can be deflating at times.

[Juicealicious]

You haven't mentioned why you are teaching alone - are your co's just not showing up to class or do they have valid reasons to be away?

You are supposed to have a co in every class with you, that's their job. I had a co who didn't show up, so I just spoke to him about it. He came up with some bs that he didn't know what to do in my class. Anyways, long story short, he still didn't come to class so I just sent him a message through that teacher messenger thing and basically said, "It's not my job to tell you how to do yours."

My other co's are fantastic, but I've heard horrid stories. Basically, you just have to talk to them and tell them they HAVE to go, and if they complain that they're bored, explain how difficult it is to manage the class and if that doesn't work, tell them to PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN, WON'T ANYONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?! Meaning, at the end of the day, the students lose out. If they don't understand you, how can you be expected to do your job properly?

Be strong, put your foot down, it is their job, their duty, and their responsibility to be there with you.