This summer is the first time I am tutoring a class of middle-school students (about 20). I have done individual tutorings before, but was not formally trained as a teacher. So, for the first time, I am learning how to manage a class, and more importantly, where my own boundaries are.
What grates on my nerve most is when a student screams out loud in the middle of the class that he or she does not understand something. The material is not too difficult. Rather, it is brand new and the students are not familiar with it. I explain that it is okay if they don't get it; just watch and follow what I do. But two seconds later, some one is going to scream out load again.
Correct me if I am wrong. Such student expects that he or she going to get it right away, and refuses to do the hard work. Or, the student is just looking for an excuse to be disruptive. Now, this tutoring center allows me to send out students for discipline issues. My question is how to kick out someone and still protect myself from unfair accusations. You know what the student is going to say next, "I don't understand something and you just send me out ...."
One idea is to tell the students to be specific about what they don't understand. If they cannot give me a coherent question, then they have to hold their judgments and follow what I do. For example, 1 and 2 are coherent questions, but 3 is not.
- How do you go from line 5 to line 6?
- Why are you interested in this value?
- What the hell is this? (Yes, I got this before.)
Now, what should I do if someone is trying to argue with me about what is a coherent question? Clearly, a student like that has to go, but I'd like to know how to protect myself also.