Job Discussion Forums

[zander7990]

Hello.

Im having such a hard time with this one class of mine and i need advice. my class consists of 3 kids, age 8-9. a boy and 2 sisters. the boy and a sister are always fooling around. talking and ignoring the lesson. the other sister is trying but spaces out sometimes. i dont know any japanese so thats a disadvantage here. i have split the 2 apart but its not working and they are really testing me, i think. any advice on how to handle the class?? i have been very tempted to thro out a student for a 5 min. time out but havent just out of guilt but i thought by doing that, they would smarten up a bit or they would have to deal with their parents and explain why they were timed out. i have other classes with kids and they all do great and learning and behaving, but this class is horrible. what can i do???

[azarashi sushi]

If they're ignoring the lesson, perhaps it's not very interesting for them. I would not bother with actual "teaching" as such (I don't know what you're doing) but just try and find some fun games and activities which they enjoy doing. Hopefully that should get their attention and and keep them from drifting.

If that doesn't work and they're still bad, they only thing to do is get really tough... I mean screaming, banging on the desk, get really angry, whatever it takes.

[Glenski]

Don't bang on the desk or get angry.

Do you teach them at a formal school situation, or in someone's home? Are the parents there? How much are you getting paid for this headache? What do the parents expect you to teach?

If you can't resolve this soon, stop the lesson somehow, but you SHOULD learn Japanese for this very type of situation.

[azarashi sushi]

3 kids in a class sounds a bit on the small side to be a formal school situation. Sounds like classic eikaiwa.

Anyway, banging is obviously a last resort!

Nevertheless, I still maintain, for truly bad, disrespectful kids... The fear factor works!

[bearcat]

Well first off, its obvious you don't have control of the class. Second and worse is that the kids know it as well and that you essentially do only a flitting attempt at discipline(by this I mean the seperating). Third, your class beyond the discipline/control aspect reflect that the material or manner presented isn't engrossing for the children.

What can you do?

1. Give em one warning and one only. Cut up again and you set em out for part of one activity or longer depending on the severity. If they cut up again after that, set out longer. If they cry due to this, you got control back. Do not get into a 3 strikes deal or such. Kids know they get TWO freebies to misbehave every class in those instances.

2. Set up rewards of something at the end of class: A special game, stickers, special stamps in an attendance book, etc etc. If you go the sticker or seal route make sure the kids like that(otherwise its a waste of time). If so, use it with your punishments. Good kids get more than one sticker or stamp etc. Don't givem zilch as that sends a worse message(thogh some teachers do).

3. You kids sound more physical oriented in their activity interests that elsewise. Try to present material or work on material via games that involve more action and participation. Try to limit the use of games that focus on one person while the others stand around(unless they have to hear or see what the other child is doing, inwhich case thats not a problem).

4. Find out what your kids interests are. Pay attention to their clothing, bags, pencil cases, etc etc for info for that. If someone likes One Piece or Pokimon etc try to utilize those characters in some manner in the activities. (It can be as simple as just using the names instead of the target language to elicit a reaction/response).

5. Learn some Japanese. I know plenty of people and MANY schools dont like this but it -does- help. You dont have to hold conversations but being aware of what the kids say or being able to convey a simple meaning of something makes the children identify with you more as a person and less as a foreign object.

6. Incorporate more realia(real objects or real looking objects) into your lessons. Flashcards can be fine if you are adept at how to utilize them to keep the attention and understanding of the kids, but real items go that much farther.

7. Find out what games or activities they really enjoy and try to find ways to recycle the again into future lessons. This can also go into a reward for good behavior thing.

Etc etc etc etc etc

This is just the tip of the iceburg of ideas you can use. Stay on top of the class with things until you know you got them under control and then you can slip into a cruising mode thereafter. It always better to set up your classes stern in the beginning and then losen the reins a bit as you go than to let the beginning of the year see you was a push over..... takes forever to rein them in once that has been established.

[shmooj]

iceburg ?? geez....

ANyway, if you can send them outside, I would make this my first resort. In the several times I needed to employ this technique in 6 years in Japan, I never ever used it twice on the same kid. It worked a treat. They played up again after that and all I had to do was hint towards the door and they shut up.

I would go for something non-linguistic warm up each class e.g. basketball shots with rolled up paper and a box or something or football with desks as goals. After that, I would sit them separately with quite a space between them. Doing this sets psychological boundaries - fool around first and then sit down individually for study. The two do not mix and you are showing them that physically.

For the first few classes, I would do very simple drill stuff, coming to the board one at a time to write stuff and worksheets. I would not have them work together. They will probably fin d this boring as hell, especially in comparison with the warmup. You can then try them back together and if they fool around, suspend the warmup and/or move back to separate desks.

You must draw up your own rules and stick ruthlessly and consistently to them or they will take you for a ride.... or should that be more rides?

[zander7990]

thanx guys for the tips. i ended up sending the kid out and continued teaching the class for abit. left him outside and told him to sit. after 10 mins, i invited him back into class and there wasnt any problems after that. hope that keeps up tho cause i dont really like sending them out.

[shmooj]