Tefl.NET Forums

Hello to all,

This is the situation, twice a week i have an intermediate class of 3 adults for one hour. The problem is two of the adults are good friends, a woman and a man, and they constantly flirt with each other and speak a lot of Spanish in the classroom, this leaves my other student feeling quite isolated and embarrassed, as well as me! What makes the situation worse is these two adults mock the other student in subtle ways and i know the other student feels awkward and notices it.
Also I feel these two adults do not see me as a professional teacher because, as supportive as my boss is, he comes into the class a lot and i feel my lessons do not go that well no matter how much i prepare and enthusiasm i have for the topic, can't do group work because there are only three students and pair work- its always me with the girl who feels awkward and the other two.

I am just struggling to know how to deal with this situation professionally. Because the two students who flirt are the same age as me (24) and they are friends with some people i have met here.

Any advice would be welcome on how to deal with this situation and how to conduct my lessons in the future with such a small, odd number of a class.

I have spoken with my boss about this situation, we have a good professional relationship as it is just me and him teaching at this small academy. He has suggested taking one of the students, the man, out for 15 minutes to practice speaking whilst i do it with the other two but i feel this is not the long-term answer.

Hope to hear from you soon as no matter how much i consider this situation, my lack of experience means i cannot find a solution.

Rachel

I wonder - could you not suggest you mix the groups up when you do group work. You are the teacher after all and even if you feel that these two particular students don't have respect for you, you are the English teacher and you will always have that over them. Fundamentally, the class should be fun for everybody after all.

And even though, your boss' suggestion mightn't be a long-term solution - I'm curious as to what the harm would be in trying it :/ unless you feel that would undermine you more...