In Need Of A Vent

nikegirl24

nikegirl24

2
Normally I wouldn't do this on the training forum - but I can't seem to log in to the WL forum since the changes (and my school has claimed it as a chat system) so I just want to vent a bit, and if anyone else is in need of one feel free to let loose their frustrations with something in this thread!!!!!!

I am a teacher from Canada -but teaching at a school in England. English children in my opinion are absolutely crazy! I had this class today that went absolutely mental.......3 boys were taking the ceiling panels and bashing it over each others heads, 2 girls were brushing their hair and braiding it during the lesson, 3 other guys were punching each other and cursing, 2 other girls were talking on their cell phones throughout the entire lesson.....and about 5-10 other kids refused to face the front, and ignored me to chat about their social lives. After trying relently for their attention, I honestly gave up and told them that I can gladly sit here while they waste their educations and I can still get paid by sitting and reading my emails gladly.......I had 2 boys attention out of a class of 25!!!!!!! What is this world of education coming to?????? Is this normal in other countries, because for the classes I have had in Canada children are wanting to learn at grade 10 and 11, not trying to punch each other. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, that is my vent.....I know it has nothing to do with fitness, and I'd gladly take them outside for a run but they'd probably grafiti the whole school, or damage it to bits:p
 
Are you teaching in London by any chance? That sounds quite normal to me
 
You should string some high voltage wires to their chairs and give them a ZAP when you feel they are out of line....;)
 
Is this like really inner city? It's normal in some places. I went to a highschool in Chicago where I was the only white girl in the whole school and kids would literally bring mini boom boxes into class. Of course the high schools in the burbs weren't like that.
 
marko157 said:
CCR`s right it sounds normal to me also:)
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Yeah, I know a guy from Tottenham and his school used to have a lockdown procedure to keep the teachers safe when fights started between the racial groups at the school.

It's standard procedure in UK schools to give reserve teachers hell. One student teacher apparently dropped out of university after teaching my class. I was good of course but a group of kids took on 'alter ego's' for the lesson with the ring leader pretending to be a Scotish kid having trouble blending in. The other kids bullied him to the point where the teacher thought he was suffering a nervous break down. By the time the bell went for lunch they just returned to normal and just said 'nah, we were just mucking about' and the teacher was so upset by it all she quit her studies

When our regular teacher got back she was so pissed off with us!
 
Oh yeah, and during my 7 years of secondary eductation we had 2 teachers and 1 bus driver have breakdowns and have a year or 2 off work to recieve counciling. I think one of them was targeted by kids because she had a funny accent.

The bus driver went nuts, threw all the money he'd taken down the bus and just walked off. The engine was still on and everything

I never understood it really, I just saw school as something to survive, I never intentionaly frustrated teachers
 
[Focus] said:
Brutal.

I recommend a big stick. British people believe in caning, right?
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I'm afraid treachers aren't even allowed to hurt a kids feelings anymore over here. There's a rank of compensation lawyers waiting outside schools to dry the tears of those sweet little darlings after the mean old teacher told them to shut it
 
That's the same way over here. You can't go off on a student let alone touch them or you will never teach again. Pisses me off, bunch of pussy parents can't handle the idea that their little ****head kid could actually do good by a verbal or physical smackdown.
 
CCR said:
I'm afraid treachers aren't even allowed to hurt a kids feelings anymore over here. There's a rank of compensation lawyers waiting outside schools to dry the tears of those sweet little darlings after the mean old teacher told them to shut it
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That's unfortunate. And yeah I agree, to an extent, Mark.

Dylan Moran said:
They passed that law in Ireland. You can't . . . physically educate your child any more. Because I used to bound home from work to strike my children . . . but there are only so many ways you can say to a child, 'please don't turn the light switch on and off . . . again. You have nailed the principle finding of this experiment that when you turn off the light, daddy can't see aaaanything. He stands on your toys trying to find you and kill you, and breaks his foot.' Children know the power they have then, you know?
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Oh, and uhh, I point in the general direction of CCR's avatar and laugh uproariously. :D
 
Here's some rules you must always follow while teaching a class of teenagers:

1) Don't be boring
2) Don't try to act tough
3) Don't point out multiple problems at once
4) Never say something and not do it

Sadly, once you lost control of the class, it's very hard to gain your respect again. In highschool, we lost 4 spanish teachers this way. Why? Well in each case it was the same problem: boring, reading off the slides, pointing out multiple problems, making threats that never come to, and finally she gave up which caused the teacher to lose every ounce of being the authority figure for the students.

You can solve this by either fixing your lesson plans to match student's interest, or you can simply "give up" and call it even. Remember, don't point out problems and never make threats.... it never works and it will cause you to lose control of the class. Students care, but they get bored, and there's always one "bad" apple that tries to break the boredom by doing something. Each bell is a little different with different students. You just have to find what group of class respond well to what type of lesson and how that lesson is brought on. You can't teach the same way for each class... you're dealing with developing minds. Try to make the lesson fun and for this problem class, perhaps they need a more physical approach... perhaps try giving lessons where students interact within a group setting or maybe allow the children to talk about the subject and express their opinions. Doing these things can bring about control for you, as well as carry out your lesson plans for the day.
 
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So if they're removing ceiling tiles and whatnot, why don't you call their parents, write them detention, and have them written up for destruction of private property and have their parents fined?

Or is that not allowed in England?

Why don't you take away their cell phones and give them to the office or hang on to them until the end of school?

Or why not just give sudden pop quizzes that will lower their grades profusely so that they're failing? I realize setting up a student for failure is against what you want to do as a teacher, but it can be used as a scare tactic.

If there's nothing you can do, change schools.
 
IMO threatening them with lower grades will not make an ounce of difference.

As for calling their parents i honestly believe thats where the behaviour comes from.

Our government will never be able to chase up the fines there too busy crapping on the motorists(speed cameras ,clamping etc) its more profitable.

Detention will not work as the pupils will just not turn up.

As for destruction of private property they`ll get slapped with an asbo and wear it like a medal.

The answer .........national service..from the age of 16 to kids that have been unruly at school maybe based on some form of points system lol..i sound like an old fart but i believe it will work.:)

Also there is a huge drink culture among young teens we need to look into this alot more with massive fines for outlets that sell to underage kids.

Or even higher the min age to 21
 
I'm actually teaching in a school that is in Kent - south of London. After hearing about the school that has the lock down procedure, I'm actually quite happy to be here:p There are no gangs, or a huge mix of race as the majority of the kids (90%) are caucasian.

I can't believe that is normal for Britain though! It is such an eye opener from where I come from. I mean, after this experience I know I will never take what I have for granted.

As for disciplining these issues - it doesn't work. If I tell admin about anything that happens it gets reported, but the kid ends up back in my lesson the next week. Calling parents doesn't work either, as a lot of the time the parents are worse off than the kids. It's quite ridiculous actually. In Canada most kids would get an automatic suspension for most of the stuff I've seen here - and that is why you would never see it happen.

Thanks for the suggestions as well - I am in a difficult position as I don't teach GCSE, but an extra English course to increase students reading and writing skills. I have 17 classes, and over 300 students that I see once a week.

I agree with varying the lessons but with this set up that can be quite difficult. I try at least to do 2 or 3 different ones a week - but even getting 20 minutes of attention is hard work. There were 2 teachers that had this job and bailed before I took over in October......so it can bring lots of stressful days!
 
The teaching environment you guys are in is just plain crazy. I go through around 400 kids a week with up to 80 something kids in a single class. Those suggestions have worked for me...sorry to hear that they wouldn't do jack for English schools.

Is there no further rammification for a kid that doesn't go to detention? Here they get suspended if they don't go to detention. Too many suspensions=either eventual expulsion or suspensions with no chance to make up work.
 
nikegirl24 said:
I'm actually teaching in a school that is in Kent - south of London.
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Which town? Or can you give a general area?

Medway and Dartford are totally scummy and you need to get out fast if you're there.

My school was actually in Bromley which just comes under Kent and although we didn't have much violence the behaviour towards sustitute teachers was terrible
 
No apparently if a kid skips a detention - which I have tried to give numerous times (and finally gave up), you are supposed to chase up that kid from the classroom they are in just before lunch or just before the end of school (when you happen to have a free block in the classes before), and basically drag them to dentention.

I have absolutely no frees before lunch or before the end of school - and there is no way I would leave my classes unattended for the last 5 minutes because they would all take off, which a lot of them try to do anyways.

I really just blame the system here - either that or there are a lot more messed up people :)

The Canadian system puts a lot more responsibility on the student especially in highschool and there is less pressure for teachers - basically we don't have to hound students to do their work or baby them the way they seem to be in Britain. If they don't do work, it is their choice, their problem, and eventually they will end up getting kicked out of school and paying for it themselves. Same thing goes for ridiculous behavior.

Teachers should never be blamed they way they are here for the crap that these kids do. I think it is the reason for the behavior problems, the disrespect, etc, along with a lot of bad parenting.
 
hahaha I am in Medway - the school is called Hundred of Hoo School. It's not as bad as Temple which was claimed as the worst school in all of England:p

I've done well though - roughed it out for 6 months, and I'll be done in 3 weeks.

Can't wait to leave though! So yeah, I am 'getting out' soon:p
 
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