My confidence is shot to pieces, want to leave teaching for good

[Caribou1]

I'll talk about a lesson I did today.
3 hour lesson,
Introduction- ice breaker quiz, matching questions with answers.
Topic is houses and rooms in the house. Discussion about where people live, what type of house, terraced, detached etc.
Do you prefer houses or apartments?
Introduction to different rooms in the house, furniture, useful vocab.
Quizzes on YouTube, matching games.
I tell them the answer and they think of the question.
Listening exercise, listening to an estate agent conversation.
Activity- writing their own 'for sale' advert.
Looked at some grammar with matching exercises and an Interactive quiz. Speaking opportunities.
They are a low level class so their speech is more limited/lacking confidence.
They're all adults.
Is my lesson really that boring/rubbish?
Some just sit on their phones, some do always come on time and participate in everything which I appreciate.
2 didn't even turn up today.
One of them insisted he was moving up to the next level despite having poor attendance and only half marks in tests. I tried to explain to him but he hasn't returned to my class.

I feel like I shouldn't be in this profession. I've posted before, I really don't know what a good teacher is. I'm kind with them, ask them about their lives and so on.

I was expecting adults to be a lot easier than children which was naive.
Sometimes they use their phones for dictionaries or to take pictures of the whiteboard.
There's a male teacher who teaches an advanced class who all his students love, but he seems to be able to turn the lesson into a chat, never see him doing a lot of prep but he just seems very popular.
I will definitely try to observe someone

Can you get them to do something more active. They could go around the room and find answers to questions from 3 different people. They could each do a presentation on a different topic to the rest of the class?

I did 3 years working in China - amazing in an international school I loved it

Then worked for 2 main Players at university campus's

Absolutely awful
Interested only in making money 💰
Never cared about attendance and this was "fudged"

Then when the university got them they're wondered why they were so poor?

Answer - "attendance was terrible and the students spent half their times "touring" the Uk" and the providers never wanted to "upset sponsors"

I left the first one thinking another might be better it was worse and reported them both to the UKVI

I agree it's rude for them to be on their phones (though people definitely do this in work meetings too!), but OP may be quite constrained here about what she can reasonably do if they're quietly on their phones rather than distracting her or others. That's one of the things that's tricky about teaching adults if they're there as paying customers. You can't treat them like school children, and they tend to be quite sensitive to any suggestion that you are. That's some of why the dynamic of teaching adults is hard, a lot of people, including ones who sign up and pay for lessons, feel uncomfortable with being taught and hate the power dynamic of it. A lot of people I taught were retired from senior positions and they really bristled against anything where they felt they were being told what to do, which is hard when your job is, on some level, to tell them what to do!

We used to host students and once, a Saudi student arrived at our house with her dad. He didn’t say hello to me…..I showed them the room and he clearly wasn’t happy and kept marching in and out of my house while speaking angrily on the phone to someone. Then they left without saying goodbye. To be fair to the girl, she did look a bit embarrassed. Luckily for him, I was quite meek then!

Many of our language students were spoilt brats.

It's been many years since I've taught tefl but although your lesson sounds great, are houses and furniture things they are interested in?

Maybe ask their hobbies. Use social media trends and influencers. Actors, travelling, technology - iPhones, businesspeople, rich and famous, artists. Whatever.

So when I used to teach tefl in a different country if it was housewives in their 40s plus, they lived cooking and travelling and knowing about england and history and films and normal life in the UK.

My businessmen students liked news, current affairs type stuff.

My younger students much more pop culture etc.

I remember when I learned languages I wanted to learn doing stuff I was interested in.

Maybe do a lesson where you learn about them. Their hobbies. Their favourite social.media platform. Their favourite films. Their jobs. Their marital status etc.

I do understand what you're going through.... we all did as newbies and even the most experienced teachers have classes they don't feel they can win over.
So a few things....Saudis and cooking....generally speaking this won't be something they'll be into... culturally this is left to the female members of the family/maids. If it was a BBQ however that's (in the words of my Gulf students) not cooking.....it BBQ.

Have you done a needs analysis with them? This would include why they're learning, how they like to learn, what they need to learn? Have you found out about their interests outside of the classroom? Is there any flexibility in the class to adapt lessons to meet their interests etc? What do you know about their backgrounds? Previous learning experiences? Learner Styles?
Have you looked into cultural expectations of your students? How do you personalise your lessons?

Please don't give up....it just takes time.

Op, I think you'll find that to get some visas to study, they have to enrol in an English language course. I know from my work that some students sign up for the course in order to get the visa. That doesn't always guarantee they are interested in learning.

It isn't you.

Maybe they what to learn properly.
Whenever I learn a new language I start with the alphabet, numbers, mathematics in the language, children books, dictionary, history of the country of where the language originates from etc.
French, German, Spanish, Italian so far not including the mother tongues and associated languages and English.
I don't know how else anyone can learn a language.

The problem is that it's a rolling enrollment so whoever joins each week has to learn whatever the rest of the class is learning, ideally would be able to start the basics with everyone that comes (which i did when I first took the class) but it's not possible

We used to host language students, it was clear many had no interest in being here, and were either sent by parents or for job requirements. Some came from homes with staff, and expected a similar service here. I stopped hosting with that school.

My experience of doing an MBA program in the UK (at a well performing business school) was that some of the non-European students seemed to have little interest in the course and seemed to want to be entertained rather than actively participating. These seemed to be those who were funded and encouraged to attend by their (very well off) parents. Those international students who were slightly older and funding their own fees were much more engaged and disciplined. It may not be you OP...

I remember your previous thread, OP, and I'm very sorry the situation hasn't improved.
For what it's worth, I'm not a teacher of English as a second language. But I was a student with English as a second language, and well, I suppose I still am, even though I don't study it formally anymore. So I can offer the opposite perspective.

Your lessons sound absolutely fine. Yes, learning about rooms and furniture might not be the most exciting, but that's essential vocabulary. The same goes for food. Even for stuck up Saudi males who might not ever cook, presumably they want to know what goes in each dish in a fancy restaurant?

Your school, though, sounds shit. How can there be people barely speaking and speaking a lot in the same class? Without a proper placement test so people within roughly the same level are grouped together, the lessons won't be more than a box checking exercise.

I progressed very quickly through English lessons when I started. By the end of the first semester, once exams were over, I went to renew my matriculation and the people at the language school took a look at my grades and asked me: you seem a bit advanced for your level. Would you like to retake the placement test and see where you fall, to see if you can skip some levels?
And that's how I skipped one year's worth of lessons and was placed at a level where it was challenging enough to keep me motivated. Which was very ethical of the school, because that saved me one year of eye watering fees.

Your previous thread mentioned how short staffed your school is, which means many levels aren't avaliable. I'm sorry, but that's just terrible for the students. It's something worth changing schools over.

As for how you feel about the situation, it does sound like your low self esteem is affecting you a lot (understandably). I just returned last month from Germany, where I had two weeks worth of intensive lessons which were split between two teachers. They were both excellent teachers and I learned a lot - but the lessons of one of the teachers felt about half as long as the other's, for no apparent reason. So I much preferred the first teacher, simply because time went by faster. She also happened to teach the beginning of the week, so it's probably I just had more energy then and it had nothing to do with her teaching.

I'm sorry for rambling so much. Hope it helps you somewhat. If you would like to PM me with more info about your lessons, I'd love to give a more in depth opinion as a student.

But ultimately, I'm guessing disorganised school + students only going as a box ticking exercise, and nothing (or little) to do with your lessons.

You need to take ‘you’ out of this.

There’s a terrible school of thought that says if a lesson is t working, it’s the teachers fault somehow.

Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. And experienced teachers will all confirm this. Timetabling, culture, resources, management all play a huge role before the lesson has even started.

Pull your sense of self out if this and turn your focus on the environment first and keep it simple to get back in control.

I would try and find a female teacher who the students love to observe. Men are interacted with differently and what works for them can, fairly often, fail to work the same for women.

it sounds like quite a few of your students are just there because their parents expect them to be. So their level of engagement may have nothing at all to do with how good your lesson is and will, instead, be based on whether they think of you as having enough status in some way to be worth listening to regardless of your teaching ability.

But even while the frustrations of your school and student pool frustrate you, don’t forget about the students who are engaging - you’ll be making a difference to their lives. A pretty big one.

Teaching is really hard and it’s easy to feel vulnerable. If you are not sure i would consider other options. Lots of possibilities out there

Are you female? And these pupils are Saudi? Well there you go. I don't think there's anything you can do that would make them engage. They are judging you as you are female.
I would make plans to leave. It's not you it's them!

I worked for a big company teaching exactly these classes to exactly these demographics. OP whether you have my old job or not, honestly the problem doesn't lie with you..

It sounds like you're providing a good mix of activities.

Being on their phones is rude. I'd be inclined to say at the start "I'm just putting my phone on silent, please can everyone do the same and put them out of the way", but maybe that's not the done thing in your school.

You could try soliciting their opinion - which will force them to at least engage by saying what they do and don't like. When I teach adults, I usually finish by asking them what the most and least useful activities were (you can use two colours of post-its).

For the mix of ability, do you split the activities sometimes, so that perhaps the first 20 minutes is basics for those who are newer, and a revision/consolidation/vocabulary building activity for the others?

My friend taught English to adults in Italy. They were paid for by their companies most were clearly uninterested. Another friend taught English in China to employees again a mixed bag

Do your best to make it interesting and accept that only some will truly engage

You could try doing some kid style vocab games and see how they react (eg put them in two teams, stick vocabulary picture flash cards on board, you say word, they have to run up and touch correct card to win point). If they enthusiastically engage with this, maybe your lessons have been boring. If they stand around looking awkward, refuse to engage, walk slowly up and half heartedly tap a card, it's them. Some adult classes are just like that. Especially if they don't really want to be there or being taught by a woman is culturally awkward for them. Or perhaps their school system at home doesn't use Tefl style methodology so they find it a bit bizarre? Could be do many things but it's really hard when your lessons fall flat.

This. It is tough, really tough. I would make them interact and move, and interact between them. They are making you sweat, make them sweat. They would have to draw the furniture/ rooms and the other half of the class guesses, with two teams. The same for speaking, I would choose 4 elaborate houses (kindergarten styles with furniture, one victorian age, one penthouse, etc) and then they would have to describe the one they have chosen and the others will have to find out if it was correct. I would ask them to come back with a written description of beautiful celebrity house that they would like. (that is for them going on the internet) You could do a kahoot also for the comprehension. That would help you control their usage of technology. Not every courses. But well. You have the will. They can still be moaners, but for the 30% that will pick up it will be worth it. I would do it once, To make sure it is not you. But truth be told, it is not you. Perfect your courses, be enthusiastic. And hope for a better public.

I think your lessons look entertaining and very useful. It isn't you!

Perhaps include an individual 'test' (make it a little more formal than a shared quiz) at the end of the lesson - one that is on things they will have learned during the lesson? It might put a bit of pressure on. (It will be good rehearsal for tests/exams you run later in the course too.)

Some people like fun... some are more competitive - most like some sign that they have made a step forwards. (+They might have been taking in more than you think?)

Tests have their place :)

You sound like a very good teacher. Don't give up.

I think you're just very unlucky to be with a very rude bunch of individuals.

I think the phone thing would really piss me off more than anything.

I would flip the situation (purely for my own benefit) and use my personality/character to draw them in and get them listening. What ever it takes.

Who cares if it doesn't work. But if you can engage just one person, that would be a positive in this awful situation, and also something to take away for you.