Yellow Card

So the other day me and Slav were talking about keeping discipline in a class. This isn't something I've actually had a lot of experience with. When I first came to China I thought I would be something of a hard ass as a teacher. I'd seen for myself in high school how a class could literally devour a teacher who couldn't keep control. But in China all the students are so nice and well behaved I never really got in the habit of cracking down hard on behavior I didn't like, talking Chinese being the best example. I didn't exactly allow it but I could tell when I substituted for one of Dave's or Ken's classes how much less Chinese was being spoken since they were much stricter about it. This semester though with my Uyghur classes there's not only a language deficit but somewhat of an academic deficit as well. There are just too many students talking in Uyghur and Chinese, and way too many people trying to whisper to each other when I'm talking or taking role or something.

Slav jokingly suggested that I pull out a yellow and red card like a soccer referee and after thinking about it seriously for a while I think that is exactly what I'll do. I already got a whistle and I can find some red and yellow paper. I think this will help a lot since it draws a lot of attention to the infraction, while, I think, not putting to much pressure on the students since it's done in a somewhat humorous way. I think the punishment for getting a yellow card will be extra homework while a red card will be that I read your homework to the whole class. I think this will help keep some more order especially in my more unruly classes.