Kevin, formerly my favorite student, has turned into a shit head. He doesn't do his work, he comes to class and reads model airplane manuels, and he occasionally just skips class altogether.
Today, I confronted him. I asked him what was up.
"I feel that this class is not useful."
We talked some more. I explained that this class is necessary for his degree, that I didn't pick the book but have to follow it, that his English isn't perfect and he should try to use the class as practice. I also tried to explain that there are students in the class that can't keep up with the class now, and if I tried to move faster, it would be a disaster.
Chinese people have this quality of directness that's hard to explain. Especially when speaking with a limited English vocabulary. I've had more than one student refuse to do their homework because, "it's not useful." I don't know what to do when they say that. Because when I convince them that they HAVE to do it, they rarely get 100% correct. This still does not convince them that it is, in fact, useful.
I'm glad my time teaching is running out. I will miss the city. I will miss some of my students. But I will not miss people who I formerly considered my best students tell me to my face that my class is useless.
