Students undermining me

[Ghostwalker123]

Hi all,

I work in a grammar school and share a class of upper sixth 50/50 with my HOD. This class constantly tell me and my HOD how we are bad teachers. We constantly go through exam questions in class and post weekly home works involving exam practice but the students never do them. They have now decided to rebel and use Savemyexams in lessons to write notes instead of listening to us teach.

When I have them they constantly complain that I teach from bought resources and never make my own resources. When I adapt bought resources they will find it on the internet, buy it and question why mine is different from the bought resource. I recently had a parents evening where I brought this up to one of their parents and that parent commended her daughter for doing that.

They have also made very personal comments in regards to my family business and that they bet it failed when I worked there before coming a teacher (I teach business studies). Also, they constantly remind me that they wished the other candidate who I interviewed with got the job or they had their previous teacher who used to put on Dragons Den for a lesson.

I have gone to my SLT about this and they have just said to set a reflection and they will come to a lesson to talk to them but never do.

I have been teaching for 7 years and have never experienced anything like this in my career from a class or SLT. My mental health is really taking a hit and I honestly have lost so much confidence in my ability to teach them in particular.

I just really need advice on how to move forward. It is the only class this is happening with and my other lower sixth and GCSE all really value me and do the work.

They sound like an entitled bunch of arseholes.

Ask for a meeting with the head. Take your union rep. Ask them what they're doing to support you.

And every time one of them is rude to you, follow whatever process your school uses for miscreants. If that means they join Bob from year 7 in detention, tough.

What a bunch of entitled twats! I would be giving them a serious talking to and warning them that I would be throwing them out of the lesson at the next sniff of this sort of behaviour.

Very entitled students and I assume that there would be some parental support in the background.

I have had similar situations in schools I have worked it. In one school the constant comments were "Miss's lesson were fun" "We did fun stuff with Miss" (In real terms they watched videos and coloured in worksheets)

Another school, we were in the GCSE revision period and for various reasons their teacher had been off quite a lot. One student was ignoring me and was using a Revision Guide. This escalated as she refused to put it away and as a result I removed her.

I did teach in a Grammar and tis was one of the reason I left, the arrogance of some of the students.

I suggest that for one lesson - come in, sit down and do the register and then sit there and do nothing. If someone ask why just tell them to do what they usually do and see the response.

The other strategy is talk talk in a normal level voice and as soon as they start, then stop and only continue once they have stopped.

As you set home work then rather than take it in, then go though it in the lesson. select a random student and ask "What was you answer for this?" If no reply then "Why have you not done your homework?"

If SLT are not supporting then maybe time to think about moving on. as it would appear that this is the school ethos

On the plus side I have had classes that moaned and whinged about me although not to this extent and for various timetabling changes I lost them. A number of students did come and ask if they could have me back as I was now a very good teacher.

if your mental health is suffering then there is no point continuing.

You have done this for 7 years, you know what you are doing.
This group are feeding off each other and egging each other on by the sounds of it. They seem to be behaving as if there is no consequence to what they say. But there is, and currently your mental health and emotional wellbeing is the consequence. You need to do what you can to shift this back to them, by imposing whatever strategies or disciplinary methods you can use. It doesn't help that that one student's parents were supportive or that SLT aren't stepping in.
Look after yourself OP and do what you need to do.

Just tell them that if they behave so rudely in the real world of work and business they are not going to get very far as no employer or customer will want to deal with them. Then just teach your lessons (or don’t), ignore their comments and count the hours you have left with them until they go on study leave! Is that every single student in the class or are there any decent ones?

Just get out. There are other jobs.

Well, they are y13's so they will be gone soon. I would be quite blunt with them.

They are pretty much adults. Let them know that you are the expert into the room, none of them have a degree or teaching qualitifaction and when they do....and only then...they may come back and question your methods and worksheet choices. Until then, they either do what they are told and stop wasting lesson time questioning your choice or they should just not bother coming to your lessons.