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Ask for help > Asking for advice!!! I have an enourmosly noisy adult class!!!
Asking for advice!!! I have an enourmosly noisy adult class!!!
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Jessisun
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Asking for advice!!! I have an enourmosly noisy adult class!!!
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Hello!!! I need some advice!!!! I work in an English private academy and one of my adult classes is getting more and more noisy. Although it �s a small class (8 students), lately the class is getting noisier and noiser!!! Sometimes I don �t know how to ask them to keep quiet. I �ve worked with adolescents and kids and I know how to deal with them when the class is getting out of control...but in the case of adults... I have no clue how to do it!!!! I was thinking about having some �punishment � for those who are talkative and don �t speak English in class...but I don �t know how to do it!!!!! Any ideas???? They �ll be more than welcomed!!!! I �m looking forward to reading your ideas!!!! 
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30 May 2014
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lypau
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what about their grades? Is that affecting them? If so you can push them to talk in English by signing a commitment letter or something where they accept to be pushed to use the laguage in class or they will fail the course.
sometimes we are afraid of dealing with adults because of their ages but we are their teachers and we must behave the same way we do with kids. Remind them there are rules in class and they must be followed or there will be a punishment.
Don �t be afraid of scolding them no matter their age it �s a school and as any other kind of school they are there to learn.
Hope it helps you, regards from Mexico
Good luck!  |
30 May 2014
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johnnny
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Hi Jessium.
Greetings from Thailand. I have had many situations like this with adult classes. They tend to get an excitable community spirit going especially if they are from the same company ;-). Personally I prepare an active class with energy, the energy can be diverted into learning power a class without energy is dead and hard to work with.
Your problem seems to be one of engagement and I expect you are writing here for advice because you feel it maybe your fault. You could be right about this. When my classes start to get noisy I always want to get involved with the chatter. I try to get them to tell me what the exciting topic is about and engage with them offering my point of view turning it into a debate. But also you need to have a good long hard look at your materials and topics. Are they interesting? Challenging? Really think... if you were studying using these materials would you be attentive and engaged with the teacher or would you be thinking of gardening or knitting or anything else but the topic?
Try getting the students involved in activities that get them out of their chairs. Milling exercises (find someone who ...... ) or find something in flashcards on the walls (using the point of language being taught) Anything to distract them from their own conversations rather than the material you are presenting.. Have a good think.. Good wishes for the day.
John xx |
31 May 2014
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cunliffe
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Well, I �ve never heard of anything like this! I would use humour to get them to shut up, �My God! I can �t hear myself think! I �m going to have to introduce a talking stone. You cannot speak unless you are holding it! Have you got that guys? That means ONE AT A TIME! � And do it - get a little paperweight or something, just to get them into the swing of it. At the end of the day, they might be adults, but you have to be in charge. |
31 May 2014
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elderberrywine
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I would simply stop teaching.
Sit down and wait until the noise has stopped.
Adults should know why they go to English classes and they should know that no one can expect a teacher to shout above the noise and talking, and they should knowthat no one can learn like that.
If they don �t manage to keep quiet, it �s a sign of them not wanting to learn anything, and forcing adults to learn, punishing them, trying games with them in order to keep them quiet seems off to me.
I would treat them like adults and ask whether anything is wrong with my classes or whether their talking and noise are a matter of self-discipline ...
Sorry to sound so grim.
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31 May 2014
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MarionG
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I �m with elderberrywine! They are adults. They should act accordingly. Kids are in class because they have to, because someone else thinks it is a good idea to learn English. Adults should be mature enough to set their own priorities. I would simply state that it is up to them, if they want to improve their English they will have to listen to me and to each other and use every minute of the class to practice English. Anyone who finds socializing more important is simply asked to leave the room and come back in once they finished their private conversations. I would add that it is my responsibility to teach those interested to learn and that I am not willing to sacrifice their valuable (and probably costly) lesson time on conversations not geared at improving English.
I even do this with my 6th graders (12 year olds!). I simply lean against the whiteboard with my arms crossed whenever they are too loud. It is a signal for them that it is time to decide what they are in class for. I will only resume teaching if they show me they are ready to work. If they don �t settle, I won �t teach but they can �t blame me, it is their call. |
31 May 2014
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Luisita viloria
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Hi,
I �ve been in that situation but with teenagers, and this has worked: "Ok. If you want to talk, alright, so you must do it in English. In order to practice your speaking" And as a miracle: nobody talks again!!! I hope this helps you, let me know if it does.
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31 May 2014
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Peter Hardy
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I am with Elderberry and Marion. I teach only adults nowadays, and have some rowdy classes, too. I call them �children � which helps at times. Just waiting for them to be quiet works, too. I also have sent the odd one packing with the explanation "You don �t want to learn English? Don �t bother coming to my class." That was a strong warning for the others. But my students are refugees in a detention centre and they get two points to attend class. They can earn 50 points a week and buy goodies with these points. It proves adults are children at heart. They want their reward. So apply what works with your adolescent students and kids. If they object, you simply explain they behave like children and thus you �ll treat them as such. But above all, keep smiling :-) Cheers, Peter. |
31 May 2014
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joy2bill
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Silence is the best weapon in a teacher �s arsenal. Just sit down and say nothing. Peer pressure usually brings them into line. Having said that it depends on the situation...if they are all speaking English then go with it. But don �t be afraid to say ok, guys, my turn now. I also reward students with candies. Just give one to the quiet ones without explanation...the others pretty soon get the message. This situation is 100% better than a class that won �t speak at all. Just enjoy it but use their exuberance and harness it into interactive activities. Even the most boring of exercises can be enhanced by putting them into pairs and have them justify their answers to each other. "Why" is the word you want to hear them saying to each other. Go with it. |
31 May 2014
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Jessisun
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Thank you soooo much for your replies!!! I really appreciate them!!! Thanks for your time in answering back!!!!  |
1 Jun 2014
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