Problem with my Dojo..help me

[Minjin]

Hello to all :) ,

first sorry for my english i hope its okay and you will understand the issue.
Well i have a problem with my dojo. My teacher has the dream to have a big group and this week i will give them lesson alone, cause my teacher is on holiday. Im an assistant and a blue belt in Shaolin Kempo Kung Fu and it was my life to make this martial art. But since i have become an assistant, i feel like i do not want to this sport anymore. Cause every week we have about 100 kids (1 group Monday and 2 groups Friday) and we must always teach them the same every week. My teacher does not prepare often something new, so i must teach them always the same things. Cause they forget it always. I must say im a very patient person, but if i have beginners and a little more advanced people in a group then i think its difficult for the more advanced kids to wait until the other kids get it. And the kids are not disciplined kids, so today i was very overstressed cause many beginners came in to learn something. And then come another problem, the parents. Im a very shy person but today i was not like that, i was really ill and i could not speak that loud so during exercise it became really difficult to speak. So my co assistant told me after the training that they complained by him, that i was not that loud and that they could not understand me. I was so angry then, not because they said something like this, but because i wished they said that to me :mad: . They are always sitting there and eating stuff and control me and always snatching away my teacher (i must open another topic for him) (really they do not look at their kids but at me, that freaked me out). So here my questions.

How much kids must a dojo have to still be a good dojo?
What can i do with the parents?

thank you in forward, im very depressed right now.

[Phearx]

In my opinion if you don't like being an assistant and taking charge in a large class you should explain to your teacher how you feel, and hopefully he can understand where your coming from. And if the dojo is filled with so many kids then maybe the days should be limited or there should be different classes for the kids that catch on faster then the others and gradually as the begginers become better you move them up. With the parents I would suggest a nice calm approach, talk to them find out what the problem is so you can have a better way to solve it.

[Tang-Soo-Architect]

You are at a disadvantage because of your rank and age, but you can overcome this.

You need to do three things.
1 - Discipline the kids. That should be easy to do, give them push ups and sit up when they talk out of place or mess about. Give them praise when they work hard, however don't be soft on them. Show that when you are teaching they should treat you like they treat the normal teacher.

2 - Discipline the parents. They shouldn't be eating in the training hall as far as I'm concerned so tell them to stop if you don't like it. They are also not teaching you are, so if they interupt by talking to the kids tell them FIRMLY BUT POLITELY not to talk.

3 - Discipline yourself. Teaching is not always easy and teaching beginners and children is the hardest of all. You are young and inexperience but you will improve if you work hard.
Think about what you are going to teach next time. If you have someone helping you get them to concentrate on the higher students while you concentrate on the beginners. This way you can split the class - you may find it easier. Talk to your teacher about how you found it and how you could improve - be positive -this is a learing experience for you just like the rest of your training.

Remember even your teacher was a beginner one time, he will understand and be able to give you advice.

[dtf]

I agree with everything everyone said. The main point I think is to break into separate groups the various levels of kids that you are teaching. Use your help (if you have any) to take over one group while you work with the others. Have your help switch off with you when its time for you to see how the first group is doing.

If you have no help have the group practice by themselves until you can get back to them. You certainly need to discipline them if they don't listen. If you have to; send them off the mat if they don't listen. They soon will.

David F.