When training classes go horribly wrong

One of the worst things you can experience as an instructor is to teach a class of people who just don't give a damn.

This happened to me a few weeks ago. These people were coming in late, (sometimes an hour late!), fall asleep on the keyboard, check email and "do their own exercise" instead of the one given, and basically do anything they want.
The urge fell upon me to just scream "Well, if you don't wanna do this class, why don't you just go home now??" *sigh*.

 

So what do yo do with a class that does not care? especially if this is  subject material which you need to *want* to learn - test driven development. Do you just let them go on their business and concentrate on the few that *are* paying attention? Do you just make it "training day" and make everyone conform to the current work needed to be done?

What do you do with the "star" of the class - that knows everything and just discourages everyone from doing it at all, or declares "this is crap!"? How long to you "argue" with them? or do you just let it slide? won't that look like you don't have the tools to face them with real world experience or something?

 

I *love* teaching people, but that class a few weeks ago was one of the worst cases where I just wanted it to end. Badly.

People - if you're sending your employees in for training - make sure they *want* to do it. Or else it's just a day off for them, and the instructor. Gosh, I think I need to take things a little more personally. I guess the stuff is just to near and dear to my heart.

 

What do you think?