Job Discussion Forums

[ravel]

I recently started a contract for 4, 45 minute classes teaching 4 classes of 30 to 40, 6 to 9 years olds. I have managed larger classes, but usually for demo lessons, and normally with other teachers present, though not participating.

The first few classes where reasonable successful, but now that the novelty has worn off the student seem to be paying less attention, and getting louder.

The school just leaves me alone in a class with the kids and wants me to teach them English.

As they have gotten louder and less and less attentive I tried the yelling approach which works for about 5 seconds, today I tried the get quieter, not louder approach, with not real success either.

I tried to get the kids organized for a new game, but was unsuccessful and took the whole period to almost get them organized.

I am interested in hearing what has worked for others who DO NOT speak Japanese and have no Japanese speaking helper in class, games, tricks tips, especially classroom management since them paying attention is a prerequisite to teaching a new game.


Thanks in advance

[fluffyhamster]

I'm not sure what your exact context is, but if it's an eikaiwa, surely there is some existing material (if you're desperate enough to want to sort it through into 'chuck', 'toss' and 'throw' piles a la Stimpy with the groceries LOL). Personally however I'd think about developing your own materials and series of lessons. Here's what I came up with last year for the elementary schools that I taught at:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=646217#646217

You won't need much if any Japanese to run the activities that I mention; a lot can be achieved by suspenseful or well-timed presentation, pregnant silences, gesture, clear acting-modelling of not just "the English" but its FUNCTION (universal ~?), and the activities are dare I say it quite well presented, well thought-out and interesting. You can get away with not having an assistant by miming towards an imaginary one or creating a puppet (with a hand - I'd draw two dots for eyes on the side of my first knuckle, and make the thumb the jaw, or you can do the usual straight fingers to thumb "snake" hand formation - or perhaps from a sock or glove puppet, but whatever you do, try not to become too much like Mr Garrison and his Mr Hat!). I think that methodology takes care of itself, naturally emerges, from as near authentic exemplars as possible of "vital" usage.

[David W]

Don't be scared to grab a few of them by the scruff of the neck and physically force them to do what you want. Of course you don't want to/can't hurt them but you need to show just where the power lies in your classroom.
For example if you're dividing into groups of four for a game, physically put them in groups of four. A kid keeps wandering off, drag him back where he needs to be. You can't be a soft touch and you won't (or you shouldn't) get in trouble for touching the kids here like you would back home.

[uberscheisse]

i find that incentive works. i have a lot of really boisterous and contrary 4-6th graders, and one thing that has been successful has been making teams and giving points.

no matter how old the kids are, they still want to win - and so giving them a task with an outcome - i.e. "first quiet team in a straight line gets an extra point" or "first team to _____ gets their points multiplied by 2".

another thing is keeping the kids in groups and assigning a weekly "team captain" who will regulate. if they have a peer keeping them from screwing around, (and it helps to get the most pain-in-the-butt troublemakers to be team captain) then they will listen more - usually it ends up being a bully alpha male kid who will hold the transgression over the other kids' heads for the rest of the day, once you're gone. "remember when you f-ed up english class? (POW)".

create competition, farm out authority. it works for me in most cases.