First time teaching kids

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ESL forum > Games, activities and teaching ideas > First time teaching kids

First time teaching kids

chiara72

First time teaching kids

Hi
I �m a recently qualified TESOL teacher and my training involved teaching adults each week. However, I �ve just started a job teaching kids in a summer school and I �m struggling. My carefully planned lesson plans just don �t go to plan the way they did with the adults. I �m finding it hard to get the kids to speak at all (other than their mother tongue) and I �m worried they �re bored. There is to be an equal focus on learning english and arts and crafts as their fine motor skills are quite poor.
I �m wondering how to engage them so that I can actually teach them something. We �ve done a couple of songs but some of them just mess about which puts the others off. Help!

7 Jul 2009

nordynour

Dear Chiara72,

I �ve been teaching Grade1 and 2 for more than five years now... It �s very difficult to teach young children a second language but very challenging as well... Try to grab their attention with anything they love... cartoon movies, colours, stories, songs, games,...etc. Also consider yourself a foriegner so if you know their mother tongue don �t use it and don �t accept any word from them except in English... That will encourage them to use the language to ask for things from you... That �s all I could think about now... If you need any help, please don �t hesitate to ask... Good Luck...

7 Jul 2009

najetnada

Dear Chiara

I have been teaching Eng. for 12 years now.Eng. is the third lg here and most students are not motivated. they usually neglect it but we should try to make it interesting for them by using various activities. I advise you most to avoid using Arabic bec they get used to and they usually expect you to translate .they make no effort to understand. Speak only Eng in class,surely they will try to understand. Good luck!

7 Jul 2009

chiara72

Thanks for both of your replies. I don �t speak any arabic at all so that �s not an issue. The problem is getting to them to actually speak english...I �m finding I �m doing practically all the talking which goes against everything I learned in TESOL. The whole class feels chaotic and shambolic, unlike my nice tidy classes with adults. I guess that is part and parcel of working with kids in a way, but still, I �d like a little control back.

7 Jul 2009

libertybelle

How about some song and dances - especially with repetition?
The Hokey Pokey is a fun song and they learn about the body and dance at the same time.
And as Samsunustafa wrote below - this link has lots of ideas under the menu teaching tips.
My kids love the whisper game.

http://useit.vn/

7 Jul 2009

Cartuxa

Hello Chiara! I �ve been teaching kids from 1st grade to 4th for five years and i agree with you, things can easily turn into a mess! To avoid that, I always have some crafts to keep their hands busy and I sing a lot... It �s amazing,In just a few lessons they �re all singing along with me and focused!In our first lessons I always translate what I tell them, or they �ll lose track, but after some time I only have to make some gestures to help them understand.Just be sure to keep them motivated, to let them know they �re able to learn English! As far as I �m concerned it �s the most difficult of being a teacher. Once they are confident, let things flow! You can find many crafts and ideas at www.kizclub.com. They work very well for me! All the best from Portugal!

7 Jul 2009

nordynour

Dear Chiara,

About the chaotic class, it �s always there when the kids lose interest... But if you can keep them interested in what you´ re doing, they will not have time to be chaotic... Keep them motivated and interested and you will not face this problem... Simple short stories can do miracles in such a case... try www.dltk.com short stories... They are very easy and you can find either crafts or ws to go with the stories... I �ve been using them for 2 years now and they proved to be both interesting and efficient... Hope you like them ...Good luck again...

7 Jul 2009

Kohaku

I teach children of all ages from 2-17years old. I find that for my youngest children games and activites go a long way. I just learned a game that my 7-10 year olds love called "food basket". Say there are 6 students for example. I would place 5 chairs out in the middle of the room. One person stands and says " Do you like Strawberries?" If anyone likes strawberries then they have to stand up and try to find an available chair. If nobody gets up then another question is asked. Say someone misses the chair, they have to be the " Person asking questions". Now if that person doesn �t want to ask a question at anytime it mixes the game up for them to say"food basket" everyone has to get up and try to find a seat quickly or they become the person asking questions.
This game and many others are helpful for me at the end of class time. I usually say something to the extent, "1st todays lesson" after "10 or 15minutes food basket". The kids love the anticipation of something after class. They pretty much do whatever you want until that time comes.
Once their is an order in your lessonthe kids will become less fisty. I also found that they do this mainly when they get to know the teacher. My students did this to me for 3months until they understood that I wasn �t going anywhere
Also, if you do crafts I would suggest to do a craft where you can ask questions as you go along. Maybe a poster that they can help build for the theme and then use it as a discussion tool later. Just an idea! I created a diorama with my students once and that kept them interested and in place to ask questions!!!
Enjoy teaching your little ones!! Everyday is diferent from the next. You can win your battlem go in with confidence and they will confuse you even more! Just go with the flow of things and try to stay relaxed

7 Jul 2009

chiara72

Thanks for all your replies. The biggest problem is getting them to listen. I had a great game for them to play today, which they were interested in, but they wouldn �t listen...i tried to demonstrate how to play it, but them just kept talking over me. I realise that much of this is class room management and since I haven �t trained to specifically teach kids, i �m going to struggle with this aspect of the job. It �s almost all boys which i teach which is I �m sure half the problem...the one girl I have is a dream. You can have all the ideas in the world, but if you can �t get them to pay attention, it �s meaningless. Will keep plugging away.

8 Jul 2009