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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > hard...
hard...
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mmanu
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hard...
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hello everyone I don � t know the age or social category of your students... but MY students are hard, rude and ungrateful, especially at the moment and I sometimes even regret having chosen my job as I spend lots of time preparing my lessons ang get no positive return I need motivation but seem to have lost it... :-( |
30 Mar 2010
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flo84
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Yes Mmanu , we have a difficult job but I often tell myself that I remember very easily when my students are bad behaved or ungrateful and I often forget the good times when the lesson was very pleasant and when I am happy to see how some students improved. So my advice is whenever there is something good happening , write it down somewhere and when you feel demotivated, as you seem to be tonight, take it back and read it.
Hope these words will help you feel better 
Flo
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30 Mar 2010
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AnnaW
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Dear colleague,
Please don �t worry too much: you �re not alone!
I totally share your state of mind lately, and I feel sad, almost depressed when I see how lazy, ungrateful, selfish and impolite most of our pupils can be. (I �m in a college/ scondary school by the way)
It �s being particularly difficult for me to cope with such behaviours these days, as I �m pregnant and the mum of a 30 months-old-little fairy. ...you can imagine how tired I am in the evening, lol!
But I also try to remember that these kids are not totally responsible for what they are: their social and family background is not always simple, as you know, some of them are experiencing hard stuff at home, which .
And I also try to remember what it was to be a teenager; how difficult it sometimes was.
Of course, such thoughts don �t really make my job easier every day, but at least it helps me not being too hard on my judgement, and to face (at least a little) more objectively the reality of our teenagers � state of mind ;-)
Your colleagues can be a great support too, so I hope you can share easily and in a friendly atmosphere with the other teachers.
Hey, my friend, as difficult as it may be some day, don �t forget that you always help at least 1 kid improve and grow up, so keep the faith, at least for this teen ...! I �m sure some of your pupils enjoy your English lessons, try to focus on these ones when you get depressed.
I hope my words helped you a little feeling better, and remember: most of us, teachers, feel the same, so you �re not isolated =)
Big hugs from Lorraine!
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30 Mar 2010
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Mariethe House
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Hiya Manu! I have just come back from a class meeting .... very discouraging on one hand because of the absence of work from the kids and therefore the total disenchantment of the teachers! However I have been teaching for nearly 40 years now with a lot of tears and quite a few smiles!! And what is most gratifying is that every now and then I meet kids whom i used to teach, some really tough ones and they hug me with a big smile saying: I am doing this and that and I am happy ! SO, Manu, don �t give up because they havegiven up!! trust yourself, trust them and keep on your good work! In the class meeting tonight I answered one of my colleagues, a young music teacher , who said: " I don �t know where they are going!"
I turned to the kids representatives and said: "you don �t know whereyou are going, we don �t know either but as responsible adults we have to give you tools for your future... We don �t know, you don �t know which tools you will need but you must have a choice and we will give them to you , no matter how hard you try to refuse them!! "
So if at nearly 60 I keep on fighting for the kids, you must do dear Manu! Of course it is a difficult job and it is even more so because you don �t see the results straight away! It is rarely gratifying in the short run but in the long run , believe me , it is!!
So cheer up! And try to be in contact with your needs and have them respect them! We try to think we have to motivate them all the time but sometimes THEY have to motivate US!
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30 Mar 2010
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zoemorosini
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Nicely put, Mariethe. Lovely words. Made me feel better, and I �m actually having a pretty good year -3 months to go!
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30 Mar 2010
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Pelletrine
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Hey Manu,
yeah, it can be very hard, and actually, I DO agree, sometimes our student �s laziness and rude manners are very demotivating! After a hard day, I try to do something different: see friends who make me laugh, help an old (and  grateful ) neighbor, well, actually, something to please myself, get me in a good mood again. Then, when I feel better, all the good moments, and, my motivation comes back, sometimes only little by little though.
But, even if it feels demotivating sometimes, especially because the rude ones, the lazy ones, the noisy, not caring ones take up most of our time and energy, really, they are also the ones that mostly need our time and energy. Furthermore, every time you get, just the smallest positive signal from those difficult pupils... well, it is so rewarding.
Yes, definitely a good thing to write these small treasures down on a peace of paper, as Flo suggested you.
Even when our students don �t want us, don �t want our help nor teaching.... they actually need it.... and will, often, only recognize it years later.... when their difficult teen years are over. And with a closer look onto our classes: I �m sure you �ll see that in every class: there are students that like, and can use our teaching, right away.... we are just less aware of that.... because these students take so much less up of our time and energy.  Take care... and keep up the good work :o) |
30 Mar 2010
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Cartuxa
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Cheer up, my dears! You �re not alone, you know, and the fact is that we must go on, no matter how hard the way is... Even if they just don �t care about what we try to teach them now, we must lead them so that they can find and follow our footprints the day they decide to wake up... I �m glad I found you all here, it �s so good to know we �re not alone and that there are so many shoulders around to lean our head on... Take care! |
30 Mar 2010
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manuelanunes3
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Hi
I know we sometimes feel bad about our students and what they do and what they don �t do. Two weeks ago a portuguese teacher commited suicide and left a note saying he did that because of his students and their behaviour... and nobody did a thing!
I am in a school that doesn �t have this type of problems but things like this are happening all over the country.
I also know that we shouldn �t give up, and perhaps better days will not come...take a rest. Tomorrow is another day.
Best wishes
Manuela |
30 Mar 2010
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Catalina Sorina
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So it looks like this is a general problem... It makes me feel better to see that I �m not the only one! I joined Eslprintables almost as soon as I started teaching... so less than two years ago. I am young and quite "close" in age to my students, but the differences between my generation and theirs are huge in terms of school behaviour (we wouldn �t dare even to answer back to a teacher...) I don �t know, I try to think that someday all these will be over (naive me). I teach in two schools, one is very stressed and stressful and stressing and all the other grammatical possibilities of the word. In the other one we are a team of young teachers (including the headteacher) and we really support each other - so I try to enjoy as much as possible my good school, and to put on a shell as thick as possible in my hard school. |
30 Mar 2010
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gloriali
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Thanks God I�ve found some answers to my questions. I�ve been worried about my students, (7th grade) no motivation, with family problems, but I can see I�m not alone, here in Chile we try to do our classes in English but it is so difficult, sometimes I can hardly speak after a class. Thanks for being there and just listen to our thoughts and complaints.
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30 Mar 2010
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patty39
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Dear Manu,
I �m from a country where we can find poorness of soul, mind and material things. Until now, I had no idea that other countries have problems about students � behaviour. I thought that only here, in my country, we have this kind of problem. And I teach only in Language Schools!
But I can tell you something: My family was from Italy, Spain and Portugal. I was educated strictly, my parents � concern was that I had to grow up as an honest and straight citizen, that my duty was to respect the olders, including teachers, follow the law, respect the others, don �t lie, etc. And today I feel like I �m an exception among people. So, I think we �re finding today is a totally uneducated generation. And we just have to do our best. If you save one soul among one hundred, your effort will be worth.
What I try to do is give them a little bit of psicology techniques. I don �t scream, I don �t hardly try to get their attention. I try to bring them to reality, to the responsability and consequences of their actions. Try to show them the consequences of their choices. And relax. If you do your best, everything is going to happen as it should be.
Have a superb and incrediblely great week!
hugs from Brazil!
Patricia |
30 Mar 2010
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