Some of my students have complained about me

[Caribou1]

I worked in EFL teaching several years ago and I've started again a couple of weeks ago.
Back then I did it for just under 3 years, got generally very good feedback and only 3 'complaints' in 3 years, so hopefully I wasn't that awful.
Anyway I have a class of 12 students, mostly in their 20s, but we have 2 who are 18.
It can be hard as 4 of them have very limited English whereas the others are intermediate, so sometimes it can be a balancing act. I sometimes give the 4 some catch up work or if not they join in.
Anyway, they're never exactly bubbling with joy, but tonight I heard 2 or 3 complaining about me to our coordinator.
I've always found that students never come and talk to you if they have a problem, it will always be to someone else.
Anyway I heard them saying it was too easy, which I can understand as I try to cater for the low level learners too. I do think it needs to be two separate groups.
Then they stated that they want more games in the lesson, and that they're sick of answering questions.
Admittedly, I didn't think people in their 20s would be too concerned with games, but I will incorporate some.
They said they aren't benefitting from it and it's boring.
I admit I was hurt to overhear it but I shouldn't take it personally. I have 2 who said they enjoy it at least.
The students who complain are usually 20 minutes late too which is rude, but they keep doing it.
In the lesson today, we looked at the 4 skills, and I always try to generate discussions.
We looked at writing a letter or an email, formal vs informal, had a discussion about transport, did some listening and reading exercises then a sentence finishing game.
We have previously used YouTube videos and quizzes.
Would be grateful for any advice. Sometimes discussion is difficult as only one word answers are given back, which isn't their fault.
I feel a bit rubbish after hearing that, especially as I've only been there a few weeks, it's not a great start.

I understand completely how you feel having been in EFL for 20+ years with probably about half of that spent in the Middle East.
Punctuality is a major problem and there really is no excuse for their lateness....its just 'a cultural thing'. Another issue is the lack of accountability... Unfortunately in some cultures / nationalities there is this idea that if its meant to happen it will.....and if not someone else will pick up the pieces/do the work for them or they can just pay for the result they want.
I used to love teaching my Middle Eastern guys...a lot of the time it's getting that relationship right....depending on your age its the whole mix of daughter, mother, sister, fabulous species of womanhood who they then want to impress.
Sorry if you've already mentioned this but what coursebook are you using and is it appropriate? Could you incorporate some work on intercultural communication and teamworking? Look at transferable skills and see how they can be incorporated into what you're doing.
Good luck.....it is frustrating but often great fun.

True.
As for the poster who thinks the Saudi students are after refugee status and a McJob stolen from Darren down the road, give us a break.
The Saudis will be here sponsored by their govt as part of their degrees/post-grad courses and will be paying handsomely.
No, that doesn't make it OK if they are disrespectful to the teacher, but it does mean that it almost certainly would not be the student who gets told off for complaining about their class/teacher.

It’s a question of respect or rather, their lack of respect for you.

in every class I’ve attended as an adult learner, the policy was that there was no expectation that the teacher would revisit work missed by the student arriving late. Of course, reasonable tutors cut us some slack in the case of genuine difficulty but persistent lateness and disappearing to take calls during class - just no.

PAFMO
I didn’t say they were after refugee status and a job at McD did I? I have worked with many who have worked hard to be granted refugee status (not those after it anymore) and then they’ve gone on to mess about in college getting nowhere. I think they have unrealistic expectations about the value of these courses and it’s when they work and start to integrate outside their own community that their English improves and they adjust to the life they can build. Of course those that come already highly qualified in their own countries have a much clearer pathway.

^^ this

Are all part or full-time carers uneducated fools who've not done anything, been anywhere or had a proper life before besides changing diapers and cleaning poo? That's like saying all SAHM are overweight id*ots who stay at home with the kids because nobody would want them.

The other annoying thing some of them do is leave the room for 15 minutes to 'take a call'. Every lesson.

How on Earth are you supposed to teach a class with students rolling in 20 mins late and go over what they've missed plus have students leaving for phone calls for 15 mins?!

I think it would be worth raising with your line manager - out of concern that if students are missing so much of class plus the entire class is being disturbed at least twice every lesson (latecomers and phone call takers) - that the students may not meet the class targets. My suggestion would be that as this is quite serious that firstly you would like to speak to them and if it continues you would like the sponsors of the offenders to be contacted and told. Or go straight to sponsors.

I studied languages at uni and when the year above me was in their language school abroad they weren't taking it seriously. The language school contacted our uni department and the students got a very strongly worded email outlining the consequences of not passing this course plus the behaviours expected of them. There were dramatic behavioural changes after that.

If they're paying privately then I think you together with the head of the language school need to have a discussion with them about requirements of the class including attendance to whole class. If they're missing an hour every three lessons they will have a problem - and there aren't refunds available in this case.

@Charlieiscool
No, you didn't say they were. You asked if they were. Though you assumed they were on benefits.
"Are they refugees thinking they can piss around and then suddenly be high earners? Does attending affect their benefits? They should either go out and work or else properly apply themselves to study."

@Charlieiscool Saudis in the UK studying English are unlikely to be refugees and chances are they have a heck of a lot more $$$ than you. Most will likely be spoilt little brats living in Kensigton and paying 2000 quid for a room with friends... When they're off school you'll find driving the posh card daddy sent over and shopping.

For a start, any adult student who consistently arrives late should be refused entry to the class.. They are disrupting the lesson and distracting you and the other students.

I

It’s not this simple unfortunately. Schools are dealing with agents who take their business elsewhere. Teachers have to abide by the school’s policies and most teachers are on 0 hour contracts, it’s not a very good industry for boat rocking.

Just to add...listen to @veiledsentiments .... she is pretty much a Middle East expert and used to give really useful advice to newbies to the region in terms of classroom management and how to cope with a number of situations that cropped up.

You will have to get sneaky - its highly unlikely your immediate bosses will back you up in actually shutting late students out, or refusing to explain what they missed.

However if you ensure the fun is at the start of the lesson, and that they will look really stupid in front of the others for having to ask what they missed.. that might be sufficiently aversive that they start arriving on time.

For those unaware of what teaching EFL is like in some places - some of these students will be FULLY expecting to pass a course without doing any work at all, some of them will expect to actually learn something without doing anything. They absolutely will not expect to be reprimanded by a tutor, they haven't experienced it from anyone (or if they have, that person was fired by their Father soon after!) ever before!

It doesn't really matter where they are from, thats the type of students some schools are marketing their courses at - I spent two years listening to a good friend let off steam about such pupils in another part of the world entirely. It is potentially absolutely infuriating and for very little money.

I agree with everything you’ve said @WiddlinDiddlin, with exception to the part about punctuality. The two schools I worked at in the U.K. had lateness policies that were printed out and put on the doors of classrooms. I always adhered to them, in one school it was no entry after 15 mins (I was senior teacher there) and in the other it was no entry after 10 mins. I didn’t allow entry after either time and this never caused me any hassle with management. The management also don’t like getting complaints from students who arrive on time and have their lessons interrupted by late comers. The rest of your post was, in my experience, very accurate.

Yes if the school itself has a lateness policy - sure, if they don't... and my friends employer didn't (because I think literally all their extremely wealthy students would simply not attend at all) so she was unable to implement her own.

Starting point has to be to find out EXACTLY what the school will back you up on, for real (and not just the stuff they say and then throw you under the bus over later on, the stuff they really mean and have in writing!).

I don't envy you teaching EFL. I studied German along with other immigrants to a German speaking country and there were a fair few of us who were not happy to be in the class or in the country, and that can easily come out in frustration about language classes, where the main aspect of your not fitting in to the country is tackled head on. In fact I remember coming on here and expressing my frustration about the class and the teacher's efforts to make it fun and entertaining to get us to open up about ourselves. My husband had just been made redundant in the UK and could only find a job abroad. I'd had to leave my home country and my job and was facing an uncertain future, I dragged my two toddlers across town at 7 in the morning for that course (because the local council sponsored ppl (not me) to go on it, it had to be early so as not to have locals accusing foreigners of having a cushy life) and put them in the language school creche they hated, every morning, left them crying with a lady who didn't speak their language. By the time I got to the class I really didn't want to have fun, I wanted to work, you know? People have a lot of baggage in these situations.

I've got them again today. Luckily as of next week they will be split into 2 different classes based on level. I've got some games planned and more explanation of what the class is about. I still feel like I'm rubbish at the job and that they don't like me.

You will probably feel completely different in a week or so’s time OP. EFL teaching is a really difficult job, but on the happy side, so much of the time it’s very rewarding. You can always ask for an observation from your DOS if you want feedback on your lessons, I found this really helpful in my early days.

You're not rubbish, it takes time to feel comfortable! You've been validated by the DOS if your class is being split into different levels! Most of your problem was right there. It's almost impossible to control even just one student (let alone more) who should be in a lower level as they won't understand things so they use that time to piss off rattle the teacher and the other students with all their free time.

Honestly, don't ask to be observed now. Get comfortable with your class, you don't need the added stress of an observation imho! Get to know them first (and go over the rules on the first day)!

Kahoot is always good.

Kahoot was removed from a course I study because there were complaints it was too stressful. While I wasn’t one of the complainers, I was quite pleased when it was dropped as I didn’t like the ranking at all. It’s quite brutal in a small class, and to this day the Kahoot music puts me on edge Give me a gentle vocab quiz or something instead to warm up. OTOH Kahoot was very motivating as I studied like crazy to avoid embarrassing myself in it, so perhaps on balance it’s a good choice.

Re the op, as a former TEFL teacher of a couple of years and a language dabbler veteran of dozens of language classes, the thread has surprised me as to how common mixed level courses are. They sound absolutely crap for students. I don’t want to be held back by people who don’t understand the basics once I get beyond beginners and nor do I want to spend half my class bewildered by things above my level. I wonder if this explains some of the disengagement- knowing they are about to sit down to an hour or so of stuff that is mostly too easy or too hard. As a student, the best classes for me have been where we are all at a very similar level - we have the same questions, we have roughly the same vocab and you’re motivated to keep up when you see your peers making progress. I think I’d be looking for a job where students sit a test and are put into appropriate courses.

Ah, we only use Kahoot a couple of times a year - and always create our own quizzes so they follow what we have taught that year.

We have 7 levels now - ESOL though and not EFL - and have over 400 students.

Some students have very spiky profiles but are generally in the right level class which helps.

Mixed level classes are, as I said before, tough to teach and it depends on the students how you manage it. Higher level with lower can work but some higher level students aren't keen on this.

Observation doesn’t mean a full observation with an in-depth plan, it can be a quick drop in to have a look. I found these helpful, especially when things were hard, which they were in the early days. They made a huge amount of difference to me and I learned an awful lot from them, so don’t assume they’re always bad things. They aren’t.

I 100% know they're not always a bad thing (nor have I said that) but she's got more pressing matters. If this class is ending as it is (it's being split) she would benefit more from being observed in the next class and the first few days (for sb who's getting started) are not the best imho. They're for getting to know the ss, so having a stranger in the room means they'll likely be super quiet so it won't be under normal conditions.
There's no such thing as a free observation imho. If she's being observed she needs a better lesson plan and a better everything to feel at ease. She's already so stressed why add to that now?