|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > About the use of electronic devices in the classroom
About the use of electronic devices in the classroom
|
carinita
|
About the use of electronic devices in the classroom
|
|
Hi! I �ll write some background information first. I work at secondary level. I started with a new group on Monday. I said that I could confiscate cell phones or netbooks if someone was not paying attention at all to the lesson because of these devices. One of the male students (he must be 14 yr old and re-doing the course), he wears a hoodie, used his netbook to play games and listen to music with his headphones. during the first lesson and today �s lesson He seems to me so unapproachable! He avoids eye contact and if we make eye contact I see nothing in his eyes. So I yesterday I took his netbook gently and placed it on my desk until the lesson finished...today I wasn �t that nice...but I couldn �t grab his computer... What do you advice me to do? On the one hand, I need to build up a good relationship and, on the other hand, I feel that it is necessary to do something right now about misbehavior P.S. School year finishes in November in Argentina
|
2 Sep 2014
|
|
|
|
Doot
|
|
I think I would decide if I wanted electronic devices in my classroom or not and then made it clear to the class that this is what I expect and why? After that enforce it. The problem with allowing electronic devices if they don �t distract from their learning is that now whose interpretation of distract are you going with? Mr. Hoodie isn �t interested so he is okay with being plugged in and whatever else... I tell them to put them away unless I tell them to pull something out and then for the most part I enforce it. If they don �t put it away I call admin down and ask them to remove the student and the distracting electronic devices. They don �t pay me enough to get into that kind of confrontation with a student.
As for building a relationship with the student - I have been teaching for over 25 years and I have never heard a student say that they respected the teacher that was a push-over and allowed whatever in the classrroom. Students want fair teachers who care. Perhaps have a class where you have students brainstorm what their job in this class is and your job and how you both go about doing that job. |
3 Sep 2014
|
|
|
carinita
|
|
G8t! Interesting comment! |
3 Sep 2014
|
|
|
joy2bill
|
|
Our admin people have advised us never to touch any electronic device that belongs to a student in case we get sued. Most of our teachers have a box which they place under the student �s nose for the student to place the device in so that we don �t physically touch anything. It really is a first world problem, isn �t it?
|
4 Sep 2014
|
|
|
niksailor
|
It seems to me that the situation described above is rather common for students of different nationalities. But ... why not look at it from another angle of view? It IS A CHALLENGE if a teacher BEHAVES LIKE A TEACHER and everything in him / her (inluding speech, gestures, psychology etc.) shows that he / she is first of all A TEAHER AND A MENTOR and will never go down to a student �s life, world outlook, to a student �s personality on the whole. In my class (though I am a very young teacher) in case of this I try to be equal with students and show them that I �ve got something to have in common with them. I often say, "What music are you listening to? What games are you playing? World of Warcraft? WOW! You know, when I was at your age, I used to play Mortal Kombat...". I suppose that being friends, a teacher and a student gradually come to ... how to put it ... cross interests, aims and, certainly, mutual understanding. I would add that the fundamental problem of education (in Russia, particularly... I can �t say that about the world problem, of course, �cause I �m ignorant at this point) is that TEACHERS ALWAYS POSE THEMSELVES AS TEACHERS IN THE TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF THIS WORD AND LOOK DOWN UPON STUDENTS AS ... "A LOWER HUMAN CATEGORY", SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY. This attitude has some disadvantages as practice shows ... |
4 Sep 2014
|
|
|
