Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

I have some students in my 4th and 5th grade classes who sometimes do their own thing and they ignore me while I'm talking. These are students who don't have any interest in learning English and they're either forced to come by the school or their parents.. Has anyone gone through anything like this before? How can I deal with this?? I feel so disrespected as a teacher. Should I just let them be and just focus on those who want to learn?

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

i know this won't help much with your issue but i wanted to say that i'm facing the same one! i teach 4 classes, and they can get a bit rowdy from time to time, but i have 1 that is consistently rude and disruptive. it's a class of 18 - 19 year olds in the same situation as you described - are not necessarily there by choice. outside 18 students, 7 - 8 like to chat and do "their own thing" on any given day (which is turning into everyday). i'm trying various things such as moving them around to different seats, etc. but they're getting to know everyone in the classroom and chatting with everyone now. as much it's just plain rude and disrespectful, more importantly, i feel bad for the other 10 students who do want to learn. it's not fair to them to have that opportunity taken away from them b/c of the ones who don't want to be there. so, i'm looking for solutions to the same problem as patricia. help!!

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

Actually I'm challenging with the same problems, I teach classes with 40+ which are big classes with mixed ability students who are 17 or 18 noisy sluckers.They are not interested to learn english at all and i've met them with no english learning background , i've been trying very hard to keep them motivated but it's in vain.

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

Well, I had the same problem last year with one student. Though she was only eleven, she could call everyone's attention, and wouldn't let me explain the subjects and stuff.
I think the best solution ever i to talk to the person first. I called her apart and told her the importance of learning Englih in today's world, a little bit of the effort that I made to prepare a nice class, and told her she was wasting not only the opportunity of learning English early, but also her mother's money. Then I asked her what she expected from the classes, what I could do for her, if she wanted to talk about sth. She kind of got it, and started trying to participate and doing all her late homework. Of course she hasn't changed overnight, but day after day I learned how to work with her.
Parents sometimes don't know how to make their children do sth important for themselves, and make them hate what they're forced into. It's up to us to change their mind. How to do that? I think each person has his/her own way. Anyway, good luck for you! I hope I helped.

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

this is a good way and ive tried it before. i made the student aware that he/she was wasting the parents money and that the parent wouldnt be pleased.
if also you could make the parent aware of the problems you are facing during your class.

However, those ideas are "destructive" and may not help to motivate the student and may even reverse his/her motivation to learn.

Perhaps you could find out what the trouble students interests are and work on that.

You could also try a reward system. Rewards for good behavior and concentration in class could be rewarded with sweets or other small things the students would like.

may i ask what kind of school you work in?

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

Hi everyone!!

I faced the same dilemma with a group of 60 odd grade 4 & 5 students in Shanghai...

Alot of the kids in the class have had enough experience with a forign teacher to understand what I am trying to explain... but they simply don't want to learn.

I think alot of this attitude comes from my previous teachers... they obviously didn't motivate the students at all and didn't take time to show the kids that English is important and doesn't have to be a drag!

I think motiviation is the key to stopping disruptive students! Alot of kids in my school don't understand that even if they don't want to learn... there are 29 other students in the class that may want too!

I agree with the previous comments.... let the kids know they are wasting their parents money (i wouldnt threaten to call parents etc as this automatically breaks their trust and often parents will make the situation worse by threatening more and more!)

and also try to talk to the problem students and find out their interests or what they want to learn about! I found this very helpful with my younger kids... I was teaching them about rainbows and then one day realised they were all soccer freaks! So even though the topics have changed.. they are talking more and more to me about football etc! We need to make classes as relevant as possible (without veering too much off the track) to keep kids interested and eager to learn new things!

I also refuse to spend my entire lesson concentrating on disciplining problem students.... I concentrate as much as possible on the kids that want to learn.... they will in the end get more out of the classes than those who don't and often there is nothing more i can do than teach to those who want to be taught! You can't force someone to learn if they truly don't want too.. you can only try!

Goodluck with your problem class!

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

I agree with you Jurubeba. It really works. You just have to talk with the student again and again. I try to make it this way. Of course sometimes it looks like I've never talked to them. So I let him/her remember that he/she is special with a special chance to learn. I don't want to be a disciplinarian; the student has to discipline him/herself. And I know that he/she can do this. So learning will be funny and not boring... And we should be problem solvers. At least I tell him/her that I trust/like him/her. Because every student is special to me, I want to prepare them for life because I care about their future.

But of course, I have to talk to them from time to time; again and again and again. But until today I never let their parents know.

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

I teach 13-15 year olds in a public school in Seoul. I have about 40 kids in each class. There are some kids who have no interest at all in learning english. I try to get them involved as much as possible, but giving them special attention isn't possible in a class of 40 with 45 minute periods. So if they keep quiet and don't bother others, then I just let them be. If they're being disruptive, as a lot of them are, I just stop class. I tried being a disciplinarian but that doesn't work as they usually just say something in Korean that I don't understand to get a laugh out of their classmates. So I just started explaining to my class that I'm going to get my full 45 minutes out of them no matter what. If they want to talk, then I'll stop class until everyone is quiet and we can continue. My students get 10 minute breaks between classes that they cherish. So it's pretty effective to just continue class after the bell rings and not let them have their break until I've finished my lesson. Now, when I stop class for a few kids talking, the majority of the class screams at the offenders and we can carry on.

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

I am in the same boat too. Two of my classes are awful...many students turn up for weeks and when they do they are eiter so far behind or have no interest in learning! Many of them are disruptive and simply can not understand that the more they learn the more fun we can have in class.

Sometimes I try to play games with them and it works for apx 5-10 minutes (if I am lucky) after that they start to chat and lose interest. There are a few who want to learn and I feel so bad for them, instead of having a fun teacher who makes English fun they have a teacher who can only get the class to work when they are copying or searching for words in a dictionary. Stranegly enough if I give these activites the sit and do it quietly all lesson.

So my advice would be to try a few of these lessons and then build up to adding some simple vocabulary games in, then a little more talking and so on. THis is my next step,I hope it works for me and that the children can see English can be so much mre fun with a little effort from everyone.

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

Hi!
I'm facing the same problem as you but with younger kids, as I teach 1st,2nd and 3rd grades.
With younger kids there are things that we could do, such as: talk to them alone, tell them that you will talk to their parents(this is something they fear) and I also use a behaviour chart.
In each lesson every student gets a face on the chart( a sad face if they don't behave or a smiling face if they behave and work).By the end of the month the students with more smiling faces get a prize( candies or something small but they enjoy it).
So far my students are getting better behaviours.:)

Good luck!

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

First, they are forced be in the class. Second, they may not fully understand what you are saying. Thirdly, Children are all disorganized.
The better way is to talk to their parents directly or let you SA to help you. Chinese is some different from foreigners that we are more respect strict teacher than teacher who cannot rule their students. and parents will understood you with satisfisation.:)

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

It is their duty to study. I am totally against rewarding anyone for doing their duty.

Re: Some of my students won't listen to me.
 

in fact,i face the same problem,,,what we can do for those ss who do not want to learn..i wonder what i can do for them...they need special attention during the class.and what about active ones...