I, teacher

[winston red]

I am going to start teaching english (in a non-english speaking country) tomorrow and I'm a bit nervous about it. It's not that I don't know the language well but I'm in doubt when it comes to my ability to handle entire classes of 11 to 14 year olds that have been so far described to me as "little bastards".

Being quiet and almost pathologically shy, I've allways found it very hard to relate to people. I gave up any earning to partake in a group long time ago so I have as much experience imposing as I have following rules. I allways prefer physical violence over verbal intimidation when it comes to conflict. I can hardly control my emotions in social situations and I choke in a spectacular manner when speaking in public.
I also tend to be very superficial when it comes to things I don't care that much about, so I probably won't do a thorough job either.

From your experience with teachers or as teachers, do you think that someone with my social anxiety can cut it in this job (it's only 10 hours per week)? Can you please give me some, any advice.
Yeah, I know, this thread is a bit egocentric but I really can't see what else to do about this teaching crap.

 

[leiphos]

If you're working with the same group of people the whole time, I can imagine that you'll get more comfortable with them. Also, a lot of the anxiety issue with teaching seems to be how much you choose to put yourself on a stage, so to speak. I guess with a language class, you kind of have to. But it's the difference between sitting at a desk like the students, having them do 50% of the talking/discussion, and standing at the front of a lecture-hall, speaking into the silence and pointing at a blackboard. It depends on how you present yourself, methinks.

 

[winston red]

My relations with people seem to actually get worst over time... The second part is out of the question as most of my students don't even know the numerals in english, despite "studying" it for 3 to 7 years.
It's nice to make them write a half page essay for an hour while I sit around doing nothing doe

 

[leiphos]

In that case, you should tell them that you can't do it. If that's not an option, then the only answer I, or anyone else, can give you is: Just Do It.

BE A MAN

 

[badandwicked]

I'm getting the impression that you don't really want to be doing 'this teaching crap', or is it just me misinterpreting the tone of your posts?

It would help me to understand your situation if you could explain a bit more about your circumstances and how you ended teaching abroad, if youre ok with that.

 

[Cyc]

It sounds like you chose the most ill-suited profession for your personality profile.

From what you've told us, I'm left wondering why you would make such a poor decision. You could have spared the kids, and yourself much grief by doing something more suitable.

 

[Damien]

In that case, you should tell them that you can't do it. If that's not an option, then the only answer I, or anyone else, can give you is: Just Do It.

BE A MAN

+/thread

 

[RedLeader]

From your experience with teachers or as teachers, do you think that someone with my social anxiety can cut it in this job (it's only 10 hours per week)?

I've TAed before, as a person with bad social anxiety. And I occasionally give guest lectures at colleges. And yes, you have to "just do it." The social anxiety element goes away as you get to know the people. You get used to it. You adapt - it's almost like being around family. However, the beginning can be rough. What I would encourage is 1) wearing dress clothes for confidence and 2) engaging in classroom conversation as much as you can (to divert attention from you). Though given that you're teaching English abroad, 2) could be tricky.

But man, your attitude "I always prefer physical violence over verbal intimidation when it comes to conflict" and referring to the kids as "little bastards" is a whole different problem. You got to cut that out; they deserve a more gentle and caring leader. You NEED to learn to control your anger in ways that are not unproductive. Teaching is a profession that requires a lot of control; both of yourself and of others. Smart and well-managed control. If you cannot cut that out, then get out of the profession.

Those teaching overseas programs rarely lock you into contracts. Which country is this?

 

[Heuristic]

I am going to start teaching english (in a non-english speaking country) tomorrow and I'm a bit nervous about it. It's not that I don't know the language well but I'm in doubt when it comes to my ability to handle entire classes of 11 to 14 year olds that have been so far described to me as "little bastards".

Being quiet and almost pathologically shy, I've allways found it very hard to relate to people. I gave up any earning to partake in a group long time ago so I have as much experience imposing as I have following rules. I allways prefer physical violence over verbal intimidation when it comes to conflict. I can hardly control my emotions in social situations and I choke in a spectacular manner when speaking in public.
I also tend to be very superficial when it comes to things I don't care that much about, so I probably won't do a thorough job either.

From your experience with teachers or as teachers, do you think that someone with my social anxiety can cut it in this job (it's only 10 hours per week)? Can you please give me some, any advice.
Yeah, I know, this thread is a bit egocentric but I really can't see what else to do about this teaching crap.

I think this is all great.

You have an outstanding opportunity here to work on your social anxiety. Start reading about some cognitive-behavioral techniques relating to social anxiety, and then start applying them. The first few classes will be a little nerve-wracking. That's okay. The best actors get nervous before going on stage; some of the best pilots in history got airsick; professional athletes can be superstitious to the point of wearing biohazardous socks until the season is over or they're seized by the CDC.

So, hey, you'll get nervous in class at first. No big deal. Your students either won't notice, or you'll just appear mildly distracted, or in thought. Your awareness of your anxiety is many, many, many times greater than that of anyone else.

Take it easy on yourself. Focus on whether you're getting the material across. Your social anxiety is annoying, I know, but it's not going to kill you, or harm you. The more you focus on the job at hand, and the less you focus on your anxiety, the more diminished your anxiety will be.

Finally, you can adjust your attitude here. Knowing English is a pretty important skill in this world. You're going to be teaching it. That's awesome. Those "little bastards" are just highly impressionable kids. Some may be annoying; some will be great. But you'll have the ability to make their lives a little better, by your teaching and simply by example in the classroom. Part of getting them to behave better, if there are any problems, is SHOWING them how to behave better. Remember that.

Your attitude is in your control. Exercise that control accordingly.

 

[RedLeader]

^This is great advice.

To add, remember that often students also get nervous. Especially on the first day of school. They don't know you either, and they're probably quite intimidated by the idea of learning a new language. So don't let a fear of feeling like you're the only one nervous cause your anxiety to snowball, as you are almost surely not alone.

 

[winston red]

I'm getting the impression that you don't really want to be doing 'this teaching crap', or is it just me misinterpreting the tone of your posts?

It would help me to understand your situation if you could explain a bit more about your circumstances and how you ended teaching abroad, if youre ok with that.

I just couldn't get a decent job anywhere else. Figured it won't kill me to try teaching, but it really was a last resort for getting some money. I hate the idea behind this job, and it would take a lot of space to explain why.

I'm not teaching abroad. Why do so many people assume that everybody is american or british and so forth !?

Social anxiety didn't prove to be such a drawback so far. The worst part is that they tend to blame it on me when they can't understand simple concepts of english. Concepts that the idiots should of known for years. As I've allready said, they study the languege for some time now, and they've had me as a teacher for only one week.

 

[badandwicked]

I'm not teaching abroad. Why do so many people assume that everybody is american or british and so forth !?

You specified in your OP that you were teaching in a non english speaking country. The fact that you specified led me to believe that this was relevant to your situation, and I wrongly assumed that this was because you were an english speaker

So hows it going?

You don't sound as though you're in an ideal situation in terms of how much your personality is suited to this job, but this could be a golden opportunity to tackle the issues you identified in your OP. Ten hours a week may be manageable enough that you can overcome the challenges you encounter without getting too stressed. I guess it's up to you & what you can handle. Even if you only do it for 6 months, you don't have to enjoy it and it will have tough times, but you could get so much out of it depending how much you put in.

 

[ebola?]

Being quiet and almost pathologically shy, I've allways found it very hard to relate to people.

When I began teaching, I WAS INDEED pathologically shy (as in psychiatrically diagnosed with social anxiety disorder). Leading discussion sections at uni was actually near-ideal exposure-therapy. I'm still nervous before every class, but not nearly so as I was at first.

I also had access to clonazapam as an adjunct to such exposure therapy. This worked well, but this also depended on my not falling into using it as a crutch. After a couple weeks, I just taught sober.

ebola

 

[winston red]

You specified in your OP that you were teaching in a non english speaking country. The fact that you specified led me to believe that this was relevant to your situation, and I wrongly assumed that this was because you were an english speaker

I should of been clearer on that.

When I began teaching, I WAS INDEED pathologically shy (as in psychiatrically diagnosed with social anxiety disorder). Leading discussion sections at uni was actually near-ideal exposure-therapy. I'm still nervous before every class, but not nearly so as I was at first.

I've been diagnosed with social anxiety a while back, but I really haven't been to a specialist since then.
Lately - in the last year or so - I've noticed that the nervousness almost disappeared, but I can't concentrate when in social situation and screw things up often. E.g. I make mistakes when it comes to english grammar during class.

"Dealing with my issues" was actually one of the reasons I took this job, but it seems that the microuniverse of a classroom is somewhat different then the world outside. I've underestimated the importance of preparing the lesson in advance and appearing allknowing in front of the kids. I'm gonna make a little lesson plan during breaks from now on - I don't think my paycheck can drive me to anything more.

 

[Heuristic]

The worst part is that they tend to blame it on me when they can't understand simple concepts of english. Concepts that the idiots should of known for years. As I've allready said, they study the languege for some time now, and they've had me as a teacher for only one week.

Listen, they're kids. They don't like feeling as though they can't or don't understand something. You should expect some of them to experience and show frustration, much like the frustration you're showing here.

You have an objective: teach units x,y,z of English to a class. You have a problem: the kids don't understand essential components of units a,b,c, which you expected to have been taught to them previously.

So what's the solution? That's the question you need to be asking. How do you need to adjust your lesson plans to teach those earlier concepts? How do you need to adjust homework assignments? Have you spoken to other teachers, asking for advice?

Figure it out. Implement it. When problems come up, adjust, and re-assess. This isn't going to be a straight line to the finish. Nothing ever is. There will be obstacles that will require course deviations, and you're going to have to deal with those obstacles, and figure out how to keep moving towards the objective.

Understand that every mistake in class is useful. You are learning too. But to learn, you need to look at your past performance objectively, and determine where you can make changes to get a better result.

Anything you're doing that isn't helpful to that task, such as thinking of the students as "idiots" for not knowing units a,b,c, or being angry at the school for not ensuring the students know a,b,c, you need to drop. It's dead weight that will make your job harder. It's a distraction from your real task. And it's an excuse not to figure out and resolve the problem.

For you to teach effectively, you will need to have the respect of your students, and your students will need to know that you respect them. That means NOT getting angry or frustrated when they don't know something. It means saying, "okay, let's spend a little time going over this." It means figuring out a way to combine lessons and concepts.

For the remainder of your time teaching, I think you should practice a simple concept: there is no blame. There are problems, and there are solutions. That's it. Every time you have an impulse to blame, catch yourself fuming about what someone did or didn't do, you need to stop yourself, take a breath, and say "okay, so what is actually the problem here? what's really frustrating me?"

I'm not saying to never hold students accountable. But I'm saying you use the concept of accountability as a means to improve behavior.

 

[ebola?]

I've noticed that the nervousness almost disappeared, but I can't concentrate when in social situation and screw things up often.

Interesting. I've noticed that my concern with my social performances (anxiety about them, constant monitoring of them, etc.) detracts from said performance and plays a key role in social unpleasantries. Part of exposure therapy for social anxiety is learning to 'not give a fuck' in a specific sense: during a social performance, you have to trust that you'll do okay even if it seems daunting.

The usual cognitive technique to train one's self to do this is to:
1. Prior to a situation, imagine what it will be like and how much anxiety and embarrassment it will cause.
2. Make it through said situation.
3. Compare what the situation ACTUALLY felt like to what you anticipated. Somehow, people worry a lot more about how bad things are going to get than how bad things are.

This should reduce anxiety about such situations in the future.

I've underestimated the importance of preparing the lesson in advance and appearing allknowing in front of the kids. I'm gonna make a little lesson plan during breaks from now on - I don't think my paycheck can drive me to anything more.

You mean "overestimated", right? I HATE planning right before class, even though planning for an hour never takes more than an hour. Advanced planning might help assail anxiety...

ebola

 

[aanallein]

There's a lot of good advice in this thread.

There is a lot of frustration as a teacher but it is always best to not plant it on the students or yourself. Learn from it and move on. You also have to realize that sometimes you just won't succeed with a student (or students). Sometimes that's just how it works out. Try your best, don't be too hard on yourself, and have a good time. That's really all you can do.

 

[winston red]

I had learnt - in a way - "not to give a fuck" back when I was 14 from a classmate who, looking back at it, seemed to deal with his insecurity by constantly making jokes and not taking things seriously, including himself. I'm still doing something similar at 22. I'm not "funny" but I tend to be very blunt, not to take people's feelings into account. Partly because I expect a bad reaction from them anyways, partly because I find them to shallow to be worthy of such consideration - witch is very stupid if you think about it.

This has earned me a few "friends" during the years as some find truth in what I bluntly express. Most however, find such a great value in social dissimulation that brand me outright as a fool for not trying to be as hypocritical as they are.
To be fair, I think being polite to nice people is good, I lie and censure myself when I can clearly see a reason behind it but I need to actively rationalize it first (noticed how people do this automatically).
This is somewhat opposite to social anxiety, as most coping mechanisms are.

 

[DamagedLemon]

Oh, you'll be alright. Just ride the ride. I too have social anxiety but I am in a non English speaking foreign country and I was terrified at first, but being here has helped my anxiety a whole lot although I still get nervous before every class.

Get to know your kids, they each have such endearing personalities - even the really annoying bastards. Make lesson plans and do them, and play games like "Simon Says" to engage them and create a rapport with them. Sometimes make jokes or say a word in a language they understand that isn't English - I have found that makes them giggle. If you're not afraid to look silly and make a proper effort to try and teach them they will recognise that and once they start showing signs that they really really like you teaching will become more rewarding than just "this teaching crap". Being greeted and smiled at helps the feelings of anxiety too, so try and be nice!

Good luck.