Horrible first day ...

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ESL forum > Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Horrible first day ...

Horrible first day ...

pollyanna_pl

I �m so sorry you had to go through such an unpleasant first day experience. I wish our job was a bit more predictable, something like: we do what we are supposed to do to the best of our ability and things work out as we had planned. Wouldn �t that be bliss? :)
But kids are kids, no matter how hard we try to create the perfect learning environment.

What I have found particularly helpful in such situations is to create a personal relationship with each one of the naughty students separately. You know, just a few words before the lesson, or at the end of the lesson referring to what happened, how it was not helpful to our first lesson together, smiling it all away, but sincerely wanting to understand his/her point of view about what happened (NOT taking sides, of course) and ask how I could help him/her to feel more comfortable in our class... This offer to help usually makes the students involved in the problem feel accepted and appreciated. More often than not, because of their behaviour, they are outcasts in class environments, so a friendly attitude often takes them by surprise and makes them much more cooperative.

I �m not pretending this is a magic cure, it just gives you the chance to be looked at in a more positive light by those students that would otherwise do their best to ruin your lessons. :)

Good luck, I �m sure you will soon remember this first day with a smile :)

21 Dec 2009

izulia

I would suggest that you spent some time on establishing classroom rules, rewards and consequences systems. Those students who behave well should be rewarded. It depends on the age of your students of course.

I wish you all the best, don �t be discouraged.

Have good Christmas! :))

22 Dec 2009

miss_marina...

I �m so sorry you had to face such a terrible first day.

I think you should be really patient with these kids because you are the one who is learning the most out of this situation. Unfortunately, classroom management is not something we can actually learn from books, this is something you have to learn by yourself in the classroom. Besides, it seems evident from what you have told us that you are a very good teacher,so keep going, don �t get depressed and don �t be scared to make mistakes because you can learn from them too.

Good luck, and Keep in touch

22 Dec 2009

SaraMariam

Thank you so much for your advice and encouragements. I �m on my way to work now and hope it will work better today with all the things I took from here. I will tell you how it went :). Thanks a million.

Big huugss

Sara

22 Dec 2009

busraguclu

I HAD A MORE HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE !

(As a 22 year-old teacher trainee , I would be the last person to give advice to you ...

I am just writing it to share my experience with you and others.)

        In my first day as a teacher trainee , I experienced a more horrible situation that I even do not tell it everyone as I feel emberrased about it. I accept the fact that I am an inexperienced teacher actually not a teacher yet, just a teacher candidate...

    After the first day , I learned that all the teachers of the school have trouble with that class 6-a. :=) A class that I cannot forget till the end of my life... I took the advice of experienced teacher and read my lesson books about methodology once again and also thought about it more carefully. I ,then, decided to put some solutions into practice.

     My solutions were :

   -Nominating the most spolied student as an assistant of me giving some responsibilities and I keep him saying "you are my assistant you should be a good model for others." It was my opinion ... It works the other spoiled children started to try to be good models and ask for duities ,however sometimes fails

- gettin the problematic ones to sit apart

   - talking to the spoiled ones and telling them privately that I believe in them they can make wonders in english if they want

   - I admit that I scolded a few one in front of the class also threatened to not to accept them to the lesson till the and of the year.

   - I asked another trainee of the school to come to complain to me about the noise of my class in front of my class :=) and I preteded to be very upset and ashamed. :=) It was my opnion it worked.

      These days I have been taking pleasure from teaching and having a good relationship with the class. I love them but new problems always occur and I like problems as I think they improve me.

                  ABOUT YOU :

I looked over your papers in this website and I really envied you. I can say that you are a wonderful teacher ... You are very productive and skilled. As a trainee I visit a few school and face many old teacher who are fed up with teaching and dont know anything about technology... :=( Looking from this perspective I should admit that you deserve the money you earn !...

   finally , I just wonder about your age because I believe that once the students see that you are young , some of them dont take you seriously. My students talk to me as if I was their friends most of the time, I like it most of the time and dont warn them :=).

       I wish you a happy new year .

23 Dec 2009

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