How do you stop caring?

Of the five classes I teach, two classes are full of students who are repeating their English class for that particular level. After only two weeks with these classes, I feel defeated. I feel, as I said on Facebook, like I’m pushing an elephant up a hill.

Every time I walk into my class and try to teach, I’m met with a class, half of whom are relatively focused, and the other half who are….the complete opposite. The students who occupy the back row for my Monday & Tuesday class sit in the back of, talking, laughing, eating, and checking their phones. They do everything but their assignment. When I try to engage them in a discussion, they stare blankly. While it’s tempting to attribute it to a language barrier, their English levels are high enough to understand what I’m asking.

I’ve given up trying to stand up in front of them two days a week, attempting to teach them. My new tactic today was to give them their assignment then put them to work while I entered in their homework grades.

This is not a new issue to me. I’ve been teaching for six years and have met up with my fair share of students who had no desire to do anything. But usually, it was a student here or there. In my C-peats, it’s an epidemic. It makes me want to sob, but I know it’s not my fault. This situation was here before I was.

EFL vs ESL

At least when I taught ESL (English as a Second Language), my students attended our Intensive English Program (IEP) with a view to moving on to an American university. In that situation, I had the benefit of high stakes to hold over my students. “Yes, you might pass the TOEFL, but when you get to university, you also need to be able to understand what your professors are saying.”
I don’t have that option with EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. Once they pass the TOEFL, they will move on to a university where their classes will be taught in their native language, but the textbooks will be in English. They don’t need to be able to speak or listen to English in order to be successful in their program.

And so, dear readers, I have given up. I haven’t thrown in the towel or waved my white flag on everything. I have merely given up trying to help the students who have made it clear that they don’t want my help. I have to focus my efforts on those who still want to learn. They do exist in my classes, even among my C-peats; they’re merely in the minority.