Job Discussion Forums

[Australiana]

Hi there,

I fall into the category of very new, totally unqualified (except for being a mother-tongue English speaker...!), and just hanging on by the skin of my teeth, in the teaching world.

I've just started working with a privately owned language school who offered me work (they came to me) knowing I'm completely inexperienced and have no background in teaching. I decided to give it a go.. assuming that they would be training me up and providing me with necessary materials. HUH!

I have been thrown headfirst into three Scuole Materne with absolutely no training and not a scrap of a material. My 'boss' (who has NEVER worked with kids of this age...) said, in typical laid-back Italian way, "aah.. all you need are some songs and games, don't worry the kids will love you" and sent me on my way. Choke, cough, splutter...!

Problem is, I have very limited experience with kids in general, let alone at school; how they learn, what their abilities are, what works, what they enjoy and especially regarding another language at this age! And what about discipline? In two of the three schools I'm left on my own without their school teacher. I don't want to become a yelling/screaming type teacher, so try reason with them.. err.. yeah right! That ain't working!

The classes are 1-hr long and made up of around 15 children of mixed ages (3-6y.o). That in itself causes problems as the older kids need more stimulation and get bored easily while the little ones can't participate properly in the stuff more suited for the older kids and wander off or fight! The classes are held in the lunchroom or classroom with tables pushed back and chairs in a circle so we have room to move, but apart from a CD/some animal teddy-bears, some old clothes, a ball and a few books I have no other materials.

I managed to get my hands on some truly great kids songs and find that these are working quite well.. but I need more than just songs to fill an hour. Surely? I have bought some story books and even made up my own Goldilocks.. but the kids just don't seem to like stories being read to them, despite me adding as many movements, voices etc to them as possible. They just won't sit still and seem to tune out and fight or run off to play with their toys if in the classroom.

Simple Simon is great for learning the body parts or simple actions like walking on the spot... but I can only stretch it out for so long. I tried 'dress-ups' this week, having read about it on the net, but sadly it was a huge flop.

I desperately need some advice on HOW kids at this age learn, what works, games that require very few materials (the school won't even allow me to photocopy or print materials and I really don't want to be forced to buy more things myself as the pay is so bad) and that work across the age groups.

I have managed to get through my first week with all of the classes but am really worried about next week and the weeks after. Please, if you have any words of wisdom, ideas, or want to share a similar story, I would be so very appreciative if you would send them my way!

Australiana

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I know how you feel. When I was thrown into kids' classes at EF I didn't have a clue about anything!

All I can say is that discipline goes out the window. If you try that approach you're asking for an aneurism or worse. IMHO, kids of that age aren't going to become fluent speakers anyway...it's more about them becoming accustomed to a native speaker, so don't worry if they don't seem to be learning anything! If you have a good time, so will they.

As far as activities go, my kids in China never tired of hangman--it makes a good warm-up. Just google "kid's esl games" and you're bound to come across tons of stuff you can use. Hell, even a search for "kindergarten games" may prove fruitful. I had my kids do stuff like make menus, play restaurant, color pictures, make posters...lots of TPR, and we had storytime every so often, when the kids would take turns reading short stories (even though there were a few who got out of hand--their attention span is pretty short).

Hope this helps, since I'm not the most-experienced kids' teacher on this board.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I almost forgot, Jeopardy goes a long way, and I found this site with some good stuff on it:

http://www.eslflow.com/games1.html

Good luck!

[Justin Trullinger]

This sort of thing happens all the time. (Happened to me, in Italy, a long time ago. Go figure.) Basically, Australiana, you are in HELL, and nothing I write here is going to help very much. You have been sabotaged, put in an impossible situation. Remember that whatever happens is not your fault. It is VERY difficult to go in, with mixed ages, no materials, and no guidance, and do anything productive whatsoever. Maybe I could do something in your situation. But I've been teaching English to kids for half my adult life.

Do you speak Italian, by the way? That will help a little, especially where keeping order and dealing with medical emergencies are concerned.

I repeat: Nothing is going to make this into a productive classroom situation. And unless I miss my guess, your boss, who gets a good sized check for it, couldn't care less, and has little respect for education. Any advice you get on this board is nothing more than damage control. But here goes.

Hangman sounds good, but if you're dealing with 3 to 6 year olds, count on spending very little time on it. Many won't know the alphabet too well, none in English, and what can they spell anyway?

I don't know the jeopardy link that was posted, but honestly, it sounds too complicated.

Simon says is very good, and can be expanded to deal with any instruction based vocabulary topic that you like.

SOngs are very good. With physical actions. (I like bananas, row your boat, Drive my car, any song you know.Even better if you already have it on tape or CD) If you don't know any physical actions to go with the songs, make them up. This is no time to let yourself feel ridiculous. Just do it! Thumbkin, Mary had a little lamb, and any songs you remember from your childhood. The alphabet song. Make story cards for songs, then add physical actions. Some kids really like to dance. You can use this. Find, or invent, songs to go with simple vocab topics, and teach them through repetition WITH demonstrations, colour cards, letters on the board, whatever. THere are about a hundred variations of head and shoulder, knees and toes out there. Find somebody who knows one, learn it, then teach it. Alphabet songs abound, as do colour songs. Find an experienced teacher of kids, and they will know MILLIONS of relevant songs.

Songs can also be used to restore order. The regular Italian teachers probably already have the kids conditioned to drop everything when they hear certain "be quiet" songs. Find out which ones!

Physical games like Assasin can be good, if your groups aren't too big. Hide and seek, counting in English, can work if you have a safe environment to play it in. Duck duck goose, again if space permits. Red rover, if you know it and trust them not to kill each other. Freeze tag is fun, but I recommend that you play on your hands and knees- it keeps the speed to manageable levels. Musical chairs is a hit, but do not, I repeat DO NOT use real chairs. Play musical spots on the floor. (Make tape circles, or write on a tile floor with a whiteboard marker.) If you use chairs, there will be blood.

Charades rocks. Teach them animals, sports, or whatever vocab appeals, then choose volunteers, who come up, and you whisper, say, "lion" is his ear, and he has to act lionish until the other guess.

If you have a whiteboad and markers, play pictionairy. I usually draw one little bit of a pucture, have them guess, draw a bit more, etc....

Physical modeling can be a fun way to learn the alphabet. Let them, in groups of 2 or 3, try to use their bodies to model the letters you put on the board. The same can be done with shape names. (Use the board to teach them circle, square, and triangle. Then call out the shapes, and have teams form them, lying on the floor.

These are a few quick fixes. How long are your classes, anyway? And how long do you plan to stay at this? If you're going to be around a while, get hold of a good kids textbook. Even if it's only one copy, they come with a lot of songs, games, and ideas. ( I recommend "Animal Crackers" or "playway" for the ages you're looking at.)

Always plan 5 times as many activities as you think you'll need. Some won't work, and running out sucks, especially when you don't have too many "extras" in your bag of tricks just yet.

And have fun.

Justin

[Australiana]

Thanks Jizzo and Justin for responding to my cry for help. Believe me, it's so loud that if you opened your window you may even hear it on the next breeze! It will probably resemble a strangled cat..! That's definitely how I feel.

Justin, I agree with everything you wrote and you put a huge smile on my face. Thank you so much. I have my 'worst' Materna classes tomorrow morning and will be applying a heap of your suggestions.. they are great and I just hope I can carry them off and leave the class with a smile on my face instead of a pained grimace.

You're absolutely right about discipline, I know it's really not going to happen. Hopefully, if I can deliver a fun class that keeps them entertained discipline won't be such an issue.

Yes, thank god, I do speak Italian.. no idea how I could possibly get by otherwise.. I shudder to think. And as for class length, 1-hour each class.. which in my opinion seems to be too long for this age group, but never-the-less.. As for how long will I do this...? The honest answer is that if it wasn't in my nature to not give up, I wouldn't be walking in the door tomorrow morning. I would desperately love to not have to teach another Materna class again, but, I'm a person of my word and I have committed to doing this until I head home for a visit in mid-March.. after that I hope to be rid of this once and for all. If not only for my, but also for the kids', sake. I'm also teaching Elementare, Media and Adult classes (and yes, thankfully have received training and materials for these.. from the second language school that I work for which is 'chalk and cheese' when compared to the horrid one that dumped me in the Materna heap (oh, and you are spot on with your description of him! Infact, so money-hungry that in his language centre's office, lights and heating are kept off at all costs to save money... even in winter)) and even though they each have their own bag of difficulties at least you can communicate comprehensively with them.. materna age group (sans-training) is a nightmare!!!

Thanks very much again, and the best of luck with your teaching.

Australiana