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There are times when you meet a class for the first time and you immediately become aware of a student with ‘attitude’ … to put it politely.  You can almost hear the theme tune to the Omen films in the background as the student looks on in a sometimes condescending manner, slouched in their seat while using their mobile phone.  You might notice that the other students try to avoid the problem student – this may indicate that the student has an issue with everyone, not just you, and is something which is important to remember.  Here are five tips that might help you deal with ‘demon in the classroom’:

Should a teacher ever break a school’s rules? If so, when?  A few years ago, I faced a situation where if I didn’t break the regulations, I would have been haunted by the consequences.  I worked at a high school for boys in the Middle East as an English teacher.  One of my students had been raped by one of his peers.  After serving a six-month sentence in prison, the rapist was bizarrely returned to the victim’s school. 

I arrived at the two-week teacher training session back in England full of excitement at the prospect of an opportunity to enjoy the comforts of home which I’d missed in the Middle East.  To add to the wonderful experience the college had organised a Welcome Pimm’s event where teachers and course leaders could meet and get acquainted over a relaxing drink.  I picked up my lovely tall glass of Pimm’s with the customary fruit floating in it and got involved in a conversation with two other teachers.

Split level classes can feel like teaching two or more classes at the same time; they certainly tend to demand more energy and monitoring – some might describe it more as patrolling!  Your higher-level students may get bored and can then be disruptive while your lower level students lose motivation and become disengaged.  Here are five tips to help you cope and keep the students engaged:

This didn’t happen to me thankfully, but it happened to a former colleague of mine at my university.  After reading this, you will never make the same mistake!  Some of the lecture halls at the campus were fitted out with the most up-to-date audio equipment where instructors just had to clip a wireless microphone to their clothes and that would ensure that everyone in the auditorium could hear the speaker.

My most embarrassing job interview occurred inevitably for a job I really wanted – teaching for a British university in China with a decent salary, 30 weeks’ holiday, free accommodation and flights home every holiday – perfect!

Every teacher wants to create the appropriate dynamic in the classroom – one way of helping to achieve this is by ensuring you know your students’ names.  Not only does this give the students a morale boost when they hear you calling them by their names, but they'll respect you for making the effort to get to know them.  It also makes it easier for you to write student reports and monitor each student's progress.  Here are five easy ways to help remember who is who in your classroom:

I once had a lovely class of little old Japanese ladies who I used to teach every Wednesday morning at a school on the outskirts of Tokyo.  The ladies were really there to socialize – treating the class like a coffee morning which created a delightful atmosphere.  I was invited to join them for lunch one afternoon and gladly followed them to a traditional Japanese restaurant around the corner from the school. 

When I think of my worst first day of teaching at a new school my only consolation is that it is unlikely that I’ll have a worse experience in the same situation.  A cohort of native English-speaking language teachers and myself had just arrived in a Gulf state at the beginning of the second semester to enhance the English teaching at high schools for boys throughout the country.  On the plane over I’d opened my Lonely Planet guide for the first time and read that my destination city was described as the most boring place on Earth – not a good start.  Then, on the inset day before the students returned, my British colleague had an anaphylactic shock after eating something we’d been promised didn’t contain nuts – he almost died.