Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

I'm teaching at a kindergarten, have my own class of 18 kids age 4. I'm having lots of discipline problems, they never listen to me or the chinese teacher, They are loud and things have to be said over and over and over.
NOthing seems to work, any suggestinos?

We've tried stars and strikes, 5 stars gets a prize, 5 strikes go the the principal, some went to the principal two times in one day.
tried not have play time.
Tried bribing with candy, and extra play time.
Tried calling parents/sending notes home if they were good or bad
Tried a marble jar.
Tried standing them in the corner.
Tried having them write I will blah blah blah, or I will not blah blah blah.

I'm at my wits end. They are the worst class in the school, other teachers have tried teaching them and have given up.
What can I do?

[golden monkey]

you can do anything you want, but you will never change how they get spoiled at home like little emperors. thats the real problem. punish the parents, not the kids. quit.

[Teacher Lindsay]

Here in China I turned my 6 'Junior' classes (age 12 to 14) around 180 degrees as regards to discipline, by using a water pistol. So much so that the kids have become little policemen.

None of the kids enjoys being squirted but they love seeing someone else cop it. Now, when one of the students misbehaves half of the class yells out to me to make me aware (my Junior classes have 60 students so I don't always see the naughty behaviour).

I have previously posted this idea on the forum and I was ridiculed for it.

Some time back the F.A.O. came to me for a chat about various matters, during the course of which she asked to see my 'water gun'. My immediate thought was "O-oh! I've gone to far", but her only comment was "Good idea.".

Obviously, I'm not overly aggressive with the 'shots'. I try to 'shoot' the students on their cheeks or, when they put their head down on the desk to avoid being 'shot', I 'shoot' them down the back of their shirt. I'm careful to avoid shooting any student in the eye or ear (I don't want to cause any injuries of infections).

Anyway, 'it' has worked for me.

Cheers

[Louis]

Agreed. The water gun is the perfect happy medium between "doing jack shi*t" and "smacking em around."

[nolefan]

when I was dealing with high school and middle school kids, the only thing that seemed to work was to treathen to call their parents.. they were perfect angels after that.


The only way I deal with 4 year olds is bribing... candy works best! sometimes, stickers can be useful...


Another method I used in the past was "the best kid of the week" award...... The best behaved kid all week would get a toy....

[kev7161]

I assume you are teaching English classes to them? I think they are too young. Learning another language is a very structured thing and these are 4 and 5 year olds for pete's sake! I think 5th or 6th grade is probably early enough to start learning the language (and god bless all you kindergarten and early primary teachers out there - - a thankless job). If you can't get help from administration in this, then go to class, smile, and bring a good book to keep you busy.

[Rhino]

My wife teaches Kindergarten and it will be her last year doing so. They are too young and most of the time they get woken up and marched down 5 flights of stairs and up another 5 just to get to her class so needless to say they are somewhat lathargic(dont know how to spell that one). Today her kids plotted to stay silent during a presentation to make her look bad, but what the students did'nt know was that she has 5 other killer presentations recorded on vcd. "Paybacks a mother" and 5 years old or not, those students will face reprecutions. I teach primary students and if my first 2 weeks would have been like my last 2 I would have bailed, the kids are going nuts these days. I dont know what to suggest for discipline, myself, I remove bad students but I know you cant to that with kindergarten kids. I've picked a kid up once to remove him and his feet did'nt touch the ground untill he was in the hall, after that I had thier attention for at least 10 minutes. All and all, most of my kids have been great and I will come back if I dont have to teach at private schools, I just thought I'd share this story considering the topic, so dont get on my case about how great I thought it was when I got here and now I hate it(eh hem...Roger) By the way I used the water pistol as a reward for students who got a chance to shoot me and they actually felt sorry for me! I have'nt used it as punishment yet. Cheers all and have an awsome summer!

[naturegirl321]

[struelle]

I really like it that you're putting in the effort even as your contract nears completion and you have plans lined up in another country. This, I think, shows a lot of dedication!

As for teaching kids, I taught 6 year olds last year in several classes at various schools. How well the class went depended a lot on the Chinese assistant teacher I had with me. I saw all kinds. Some would sit in the back and correct papers while I taught, others would get involved and give out stars and do the occasional translation while others would practically take over the class themselves.

Needless to say, the best assistants were the 2nd type, that is those who did the 'maintenance' part of dealing with kids while I carried the class.

I wouldn't even consider teaching kids without an assistant.

However, what works best is to get together with your Chinese partner in your spare time. You can discuss the difficult issues with a particular class, then work out an action plan to tackle them. Chances are the assistant sees them more than you do, so she can deal with the issues on a long-term basis. Not only that, but you can discuss your lesson plan with the assistant, that way there's more cohesive teamwork and the students see it.

If you've done all this and there are still problems, then the best advice is just to stick it out.

Steve

[garbotara]

My second grade classes have been great.I got through all the oral exams and they did well.Some classes they were quieter than others.I do not have Chinese helpers in my classes.The first grade class has been rough.There are 31 kids in that class.I may not even finish the oral exams if there is not one in there to help with discipline.I will just take my remaining sick days next week.
The double standards really get me at this school.The Chinese English teachers have 1-2 people keeping them quiet when they test them orally.They can not do the same for the foreign teachers.But then again, they lost over 12 foreign teachers this years alone.
I sympathise with Rhino, the kids are going bezerk.Try to create games that go along with the grammar in the unit. The kids learn something and have fun doing it.

[nolefan]

[naturegirl321]

No, they like the prizes, I asked what they wanted and bought stuff. The girls for the most part are well behaved, the boys are a different story. I think it's because their fathers are the main disciplinarians. And I'm short, female and Chinese looking.

I won't say that I'm an English teacher persay at the school, my title is kindergarten teacher. I'm with the one class all day and teach things like writing, reading, drama, ability, science, art. The kids are in an English environment and this school is differenct than most in the fact that the foreign teacher is there all day. And the chinese teacher speaks english except during chinese class.

The Chiense teacher has the same problem with the kids. We are always trying to find new ways to discipline them. She helps me with my lessons and I help her with hers. We teach together.

They understand and speak English very well. Just don't listen. I talked to some of the parents and they are so spoiled at home.

About the open house. Three parents came and their kids are always good.

I think I know the problem. We used to have two classes. ONe paid less and I only taught them for 30 minutes a day. There were five kids in that poor class. Then the put the two classes toghether. All of those kids who were in the poorer class are the ones who cause the problems. They are loud and get everyone riled up.

Anyways, three of those kids were sick today and it was much, much better. It's just those kids who were in the poorer class. I'm going to buy a water gun and start squirting the kids.

[nolefan]

[Susie]

Try pass the parcel to music with a sweet wrapped under each layer of paper.

Try praising the good kids, never telling the bad ones off.

Try giving stickers to the good ones.

Try forming the kids into a train going around the room singing "The wheels on the train go round and round..."

Try musical chairs.

Try the Hokey Pokey song.

Try a big sheet, put a few different coloured balls on it, kids hold the sheet and lift this side up that side down so that the balls move around!

Try the magic box, with balls inside, take one out, OH! Tell me what it is, tell me what it is...yes, it is a red ball...

[Roger]

I have taught at every conceivable level in China, and frankly, I find kindergarten kids the most enjoyable to teach.
Discipline is not more difficult to maintain than in any other kindergarten in the world. And, in primary school and middle school you definitely have worse behavioral challenges than at kindergartens.
There is, however, one proviso:
Kindergartens are NOT schools. They are more a kind of day-care centre where kids acclimatise to peers of the same age. Teachers typically need a specialised training. Admittedly, I didn't have a special training when I took over my first job, but I learnt very fast.
Another expat teacher brought a pile of materials compiled by a New Zealand kindergarten teacher. I studied it, and then I discovered this was NOT a programme to adopt in China.
It was geared to children who continuously work under the same teacher for half a day at one time, then another half. That teacher must be flexible and practical. She must know how to teach kids how to make things. Language was used to instruct kids, not to teach them vocabulary, maths, geography, calligraphy.
But I derived one important clue: you can do some practical jobs with kids even in a Chinese kindergarten. And, doing such things is doing half of the teaching; the other half is repeating under controlled circumstances.
Unfortunately, Chinese kindergartens are widely perceived by Chineseationists and parents as early school years. Kids whose parents have the means to enrol them at kindies are hoped to get a head start by doing much the same that primary school pupils do, at an earlier stage. This is humbug, of course!
The parents are usually the greatest hurdle to helping their kids achieve a sensible intellectual level. The parents cram their kids into these dead environments, and they even make suggestions as to what you should do with them. They have zero tolerance for any diversion.
But you must think of the kids and their needs. They are still closer to being babies than grown-ups. Their motor control is underdeveloped. Ever noticed how unruly they become when they have to sit still? And, standing they waddle around like ducks. Thus, teaching English the way it is done at school is counterproductive. You would ruin such a kid's future English command if you did it according to his parents'; notions.
The parents should be the first to undergo a reeducation! IT's the parents who suffered enormously under the heavily regimented school life they had to accept as children; now they think they know from their own experience that their pains were for something good. It wasn't. These adults are semiliterate and half-uneducated. And they hated school.
Make kindergarten education enjoyable for kids, and the next primary school generation will be a lot less unruly!