They came in talking the first day and haven't stopped since. I tried separating the close friends, but they all are so tight! I have to keep stopping instruction every few minutes to yell at time - in Spanish and English so they understand. I put 3 of the chattiest ones in the hallway, but the AP saw them and said they needed to be in the room with me. Thanks for undermining me yet again.
I will say that asserting dominance by showing them how dumb they are is a good way to chill them out. Give them a test and don't let them cheat at all; if you catch them cheating, take a point off their test. If you catch them cheating again, they fail the test. After you grade their test and show them that they aren’t doing well, tell them in a disappointed manner, just like a mother who is disappointed in her child, that you don't think there is a future in this class. I think you know what I'm trying to get at here; you have to make them believe that if they don't impress you, they will fail in life. That kind of sensation.
If I have a trying class and they continue to talk after I tell them I'll say, "If you are slow keep talking." It is rather effective. I might then go on and be frank with them that even I need to be redirected occasionally, but if you have to ask someone to do something more than once or twice, you start to wonder if that thing on their shoulders is working right.
