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Discipline in the ESL Classroom

The first few weeks of teaching English are usually fun and exciting. Students will stand up and clap as you enter their classroom and give you gifts as you leave. Teachers will shake your hands and administrators will take you out to fancy dinners. It will seem that the students and staff are transfixed by every word that leaves your mouth. Your lessons will be called brilliant and you will be asked to give advice to the native Chinese teachers about their lessons. Everyone will watch you and everything you do will be considered interesting and funny.

Enjoy those first few weeks while you can. Eventually, the novelty will wear off and you will just be another warm body standing in front of the class. It may happen gradually but it will happen. Students will begin to fidget and whisper and stare at the ceiling. You will feel that you are losing your edge and you may question your teaching skills. Don’t worry, everyone has these feelings after a few weeks of teaching but it is important to learn how to control your classroom after the initial interest has dissappeared. Here are some tips to help you maintain order in the classroom:

• –If you are teaching primary-middle school, inform your school that you need a member of the Chinese staff to sit in the class with you and keep an eye on the students. It is extremely difficult to maintain control of a classroom if you are the lone teacher with a bunch of students who can’t speak English.
• –Make sure that your students are aware of your rules early on. Don’t wait until the novelty to wear off. Be stern about the rules at the beginning and set the tone for the entire semester. It’s worth it!
• –Clearly spell out the consequences for bad behavior. Consequences could include standing in a corner, losing out on playing a game, writing sentences in a notebook or calling parents. Consult with your school administration about what is appropriate.
• –Be consistent and don’t show favoritism. If your brightest student in class is talking or making a disturbance, he or she should face the same consequences as anyone else.
• –Use positive reinforcement as much as possible. One way to do this is to give out candy to the quietest boy and quietest girl after every class. You can call this the “quiet awards.” If the students get a little noisy during class, you can remind them that you are always watching to see who will win the quiet awards. Another method is to promise the students that you will play a game with them later if they are quiet.
• –Divide the students into groups and have them compete against each other for the title of “Best Behaved.” This is a method that is used by ESL and Chinese teachers alike. You can draw columns on the blackboard and add or take away stars depending on students’ behavior. This encourages students to be quiet for the team’s sake.
• –Make sure your lessons are interactive and understandable. Keeping your students involved in your lesson is key to keeping them quiet. If they are engaged in what you are doing, then they will be less tempted to make trouble. It is important for you to be enthusiastic about your lesson and make every attempt to teach in a way that will be easy to understand. Many ESL teachers have used acting, singing, and dancing to supplement their lessons.

Don’t ever lose your cool. Being angry is ok but it is never appropriate to yell at a student or to physically touch them. Blowing up in anger will only cause your students (and the school) to lose respect for you. Choose your words and your actions carefully.

Finally, remember that every ESL teacher will have good days and bad days just like every student will have good days and bad days. There will be some days when it seems that no matter what effort you make, students will just not pay attention. On these days, just do your best to work through your classes and don’t be too discouraged. Teaching English in China can be difficult but you have the right attitude, you can enjoy yourself no matter what.

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