So, I’ve really been battling this week. Yes, they are children but they are SO disrespectful and ungrateful that my depression level is totally hitting the roof. Today I had a class with one of the most disrespectful groups. They were on their cell phones, speaking Hungarian and pretty much doing everything else BUT listenting or speaking English. I had suggested an assignment to which one student responded (in Hungarian, of course) that he wasn’t going to do it. So, after realizing that listening to me just wasn’t an option, I assigned a writing task. Of course, this was a source of even MORE complaints: “Ez rossz” (This is bad), said one of the students. At this point, I’m SO done. Now into my third year of constant battling with the students to get them motivated, I’m ready to close the book on this chapter of my life.
So, I told the students to write down 5 words for each letter (A – I) and I would check them. I assigned this as I need an indiviudal task for the students to work on while still getting a feel for what they knew. Of course, they STILL couldn’t be quiet after me asking for silence repeatedly. NO respect from them! I asked the students to inform me when they had completed the assignment by raising their hand (of which I demonstrated and they are familiar with). Did they do it? Of course not!
After checking to see the assignment was complete and accurate, I handed the student 2 stickers (on which was stated phrases such as “You did it”, “Brilliant”, “Excellent”). When one of the students received her stickers she asked, “Csak kettő (just two)?”
This happens on a constant basis. I could simply just STOP awarding stickers and STOP attempting to motivate them. What good would that do? To me or them? When is enough simply enough?
Life Travels With Timbo 