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Ask for help > All help is needed :(
All help is needed :(
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Maja O.
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All help is needed :(
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Dear teachers,
I �d like to ask you for help. I �m an English teacher in a primary school and I work with students aged 6-12. I have a great problem with the youngest group. This is the group of 30 students of 5-6 year old. We meet once a week for 35 minutes. The kids are very noisy, they don �t want to pay attention to the things I want them to do, there is no opportunity to have some TPR activities and most of the time I have to spend on calming down the class. Parents don �t work with the kids at home ( they have the CDs at home to practise all the songs and vocabulary) because they say it �s my job to teach kids. But for me it �s impossible. I think that we haven �t got enough time (35 minutes is not much), we meet very rarely and the students need revisions and what is more, class is really naughty. Please, help me. What can I do in this case? Parents say that it �s my problem because I �m a teacher and I should know what to do ? I ran out of ideas. Please, give me some clues and even if possible, some lesson plans, activities etc.
I �ll be very grateful for all your help.
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11 Apr 2013
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Iciar
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Hi Maja:
I am an English teacher as well as a Nursery teacher. Some groups in nursery School are complicated and it is worst if the children only see you once a week and just for 35 minutes, it is not really time enough for them to learn any English at all, so I guess in you school they just want the children to have a first approach to get ready for Primary.
I can tell you one thing that I always do when I go to teach English to a nursery school classroom and I have discipline issues, I ask advice to their teacher on how she/he manages discipline and try to follow the same way with the children.
I think with small children you need a balance and it can be tricky to get: they need to know that you are in charge, but also that you love them even when you discipline them.
You need to get really serious with the kids, not shouting them, but get a way of discipline with rewards, if they do it properly and punishments if they don�t: for example, you can use a traffic light and sticker for rewards. At the beginning of the lesson you put the pictures of the children in the green light, if a child is naughty would move his/her picture to the yellow, and red means punishment (no playgound, for example). It is important that you give stickers to the children who are in the green light at the end of the class, and make a big issue about it.
When I get a difficult group I would rather spend some days getting them
to know the rules, than trying to teach English, because I know that if
they don �t listen they won�t learn anything anyway.
Hope some of these ideas will help you.
Regards.
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11 Apr 2013
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Simonet
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Hi! I �m still learning discipline myself. I agree with Iciar �s suggestions. That is the basis. In addition I suggest to keep them busy for example with drawing. My students are a bit older, but children of any age are generally very creative. As far as I know them, they are happy when they do things. For example, you could introduce a new word �rainbow � and have them draw a rainbow, then associate and repeat the word. Or, you could assign a different letter (to draw) to different students, then attach the words to make the new word (group work). When my students have done a good job, I sometimes draw a little smiley face on their exercise book, and this is very rewarding for them. I don �t write anything if they were naughty, but I tell them they could get a smiley or a good mark next time if only they do a bit more. (But I have to be a bit harsher with teenagers). Briefly, my suggestion is to focus on doing/ making things and associate the language to such activities. Regards |
12 Apr 2013
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Maja O.
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I �d like to say thank you to all of you that tried to help me. Sometimes it �s good to hear that the particular problem doesn �t concern only me, it �s very motivating. I wish you all the best. Regards |
12 Apr 2013
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We have all been through difficult times. Read some of the comments colleagues gave on the different threads and you should find some ideas and comfort there!