Job Discussion Forums

[getbehindthemule]

Maintaining discipline with young learners

There was a topic posted recently, 'Advice on Private Lessons', where some of you that posted seemed to have lots of experience with young learners.

I teach large classes (40-43) at primary level and rarely have problems with keeping them quiet and/or disciplined. When necessary, I can use various tactics (eg. gestures, clapping hands, scoring system for groups, sometimes just stop the lesson and they discipline themselves) that seem to work pretty well without upsetting the lesson.
In my school I do have an assistant in the classroom. I try not to depend on them too much but they are definitely necessary when teaching the lower grades. So, in my day job I rarely have an issue...

It is private lessons with small groups of young learners that I am seeking some advice.

Group example:
2 hour lesson once a week
Side by Side curriculum
5 students (Grade 1 level)
4 of the 5 students are fantastic but I have one little devil that is constantly running around, hiding under the table, taking things, throwing things, etc. He can only maintain focus when I am one-one. I did discuss the issue with the kid’s parents (unsure if that was the way to go or not). This group is making good progress other than that. It’s frustrating, any advice?

This is pretty advanced curriculum for Grade 1 student but, like in mathematics, Chinese students tend to study years in advance of their counterparts.
At first I did try to introduce youtube videos, songs etc. to give them a break from the material but this seems to distract them more. I have found, at their age, the best way was to just focus on the textbook, with as much speaking and listening practice as possible. This is also what most parents want from their FT.

I would appreciate any feedback from your experiences of teaching English to young learners

[Jmbf]

It's sometimes worthwhile to talk with parents and try to find out the background reason why he is acting up. Does he have too many after school activities? Is he tired? Has he had bad learning experiences before?

One thing that sometimes works with difficult students is giving them some 'responsibilities' e.g. make him a group leader, let him help the other students by example, put him in charge of collecting and handing out papers etc etc

Regarding rewards, you have to find out what your students are interested in. Rewards such as reading a short book, giving out stickers, watching a short video etc can be quite motivational if tailored to the students' interests. Also you need to make it clear that the reward will be given only if their work is done.

If that doesn't work you might have to try separating him into his own one-to-one class until he matures a bit.

[JamesD]

Codeine.

Seriously.
I did have one problem (monster) kid in a class of 35 a while back. I got him under semi-control by moving his desk to the back of the room and not allowing him to interact at all. If he made one move to try and get back to the class before his time was up I came down hard. Once he realized he had to behave if he wanted to be part of the group he calmed down (a bit).
Can you give him timeouts? Put him in the corner? Ignore any crying or wailing and continue teaching as if he's not there.

What was the parents' reaction? Did they blow it off? (Oh no! Not MY Johnny. He's an ANGEL!.) He's probably been pampered and does as he pleases. If you step up as a disciplinarian and stick to it he'll come around.

Is it possible for one of the parents to sit in for a lesson? Explain to them that their kid is hindering the learning of the other students and you can't allow it. If he can't participate then he has to leave the group. If this was a school setting I could see the difficulty in kicking him out but this is your rodeo and you should be calling the shots on who's allowed to attend.

[getbehindthemule]

@JamesD

Haha, I enjoyed your response.

This is something for me to think about for sure (perhaps I am too soft). The parents took him out of the class for 30mins a couple of weeks ago because he was behaving so badly. The parents are in the classroom, but hidden, so they know the score! And, yes, pampered and doing what he pleases for sure!!
I don't like to be too hard on the kids though, as I see them being severly disiplined in my day job. But...perhaps I need to reconsider!
I have resorted to ignoring him at times and focusing on the other students, but he's a good kid and I want to help him settle into the class if at all possible. When I talk with him outside of the classroom he is happy, funny and pleasant.

@Jmbf

Cheers, I have been thinking along those lines, and yes if he doesn't improve soon I will consider taking him out of the class for one to one lessons. But this will be time consuming and probably not financially viable?
He's a good kid though despite my ranting, probably overtired as you say. It's tough being a kid over here with no free time to just be a kid!

[Jmbf]

[asiannationmc]

a ham fist' d 阿姨 will do the trick.....spare the Ayi ...spoil the child....

[getbehindthemule]

@Jmbf

The 5 students are paying full rate (which I based on a minimum of 4 students at the beginning). So by taking him out, I am taking away 20% of my earnings. I could then be doubling my time on this project but earning only a small bit more.
Like you, I do enjoy one to one lessons though.

Any yes, I will always try to make the lessons fun and have a laugh with the kids, it's a no-brainer if you have a heart
The trouble is that it only get's worse as they get older and go to middle school etc. I have noticed middle school students dragging their big bags late in the evening looking awfully worn out / depressed!
Is it any wonder that a lot of these kids want to do as little as possible as soon as they enter University

[JamesD]

[Non Sequitur]

You should break the lesson up and have different activities.
Get a ghetto blaster and a CD of suitable songs and break to a song every 20 mins.
Twinning/pairing games and cocktail party type activities are popular, although you need some mingle space for the latter.
Check that teachers in adjacent rooms can stand a bit of noise.
These not dancing bear stuff, but legit ways to build oral confidence.