Students on the move

Okay, so it's obviously been a million years since the last time I posted. But I figured it would be good to start this back up, since the fall semester has begun at my language school. Today is the end of the first full week of class, and I can say with some certainty that I have had more students moving in and out of my classes this week than any semester ever. In my experience, students who move from class to class generally fall into the following categories:

1. Registered late. This is the easiest group to deal with. They just got here late, so they show up to class halfway through the week. They don't want anything in particular; they're just late.

2. Wants to move up and should. This group was having a bad day when they took the placement test last week. They were tired, culture shocked, hungry, hung over, whatever. They would do much better in a higher class, so they need to be moved.

3. Wants to move up and shouldn't. This group has a pretty high estimation of their language abilities. They know they know more than they appear to. They're smarter than their friend who is in a higher class. They can't understand why you doesn't agree, and will let you know how wrong you are until you either give in or show them their diagnostic test score of 17%.

4. Needs to move down. This student is a fantastic guesser and somehow placed into an advanced class when they're still struggling to master the present tense. You can tell who they are by the deer-in-headlights look they give you when you ask them a question. So you have to have the awkward moving-down conversation with them, using mostly hand gestures: "Here's your test. You don't know present tense (pointing at wrong answers, shaking head). You should move down (pointing down)." And then you wait for them to say, "No, teacher! I understand! I don't move down!"

5. Can't make up their mind. They want more writing practice. Or do they? They're in your class the first day, but then they decide another class at the same time would be better. So then they're gone, until they realize how much homework the other teacher gives. Then they're back, looking sheepish.

Of course, not all moving students fit these stereotypes, and I exaggerate a little bit. But not much. I've quit reprinting my attendance sheet every time a student adds or drops my class until next week when everything is settled, because I've had to recycle at least two trees' worth of outdated attendance sheets in the last four days. We have a meeting this afternoon to discuss all the moving students, so everyone should be in a permanent spot by Monday. At which point I have to have the discussion with the category 3 students about how nobody except them wants them to move up. And then deal with the stink-eye from them for the rest of the semester. Awesome.