Job Discussion Forums

[mhard1]

Hey guys thanks for looking at my post. I am hoping to get some advice from you guys regarding the aspect of controlling a class.

First I will give you a little background. I have been teaching in an eikawa for about 1 year and a few months now. The kids know me fairly well, and for the most part know what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior from my standards.

That being said, I have one particular class that has 6 boys in it. They are all very energetic and social. They have a particular hard time focusing on my tasks or lecturing. I feel like I can not even get them to calm down long enough to focus on a lesson point.

Do you guys have some advice either in general for controlling and managing this kind of class. Or more specifically some techniques or ideas of activities that will be more appropriate for them then the standard textbook and worksheet style that I have usually been doing.

I know that I have not been too specific with the details so if there are some more details that can help you to give me better advice let me know.

Thanks again.

[Glenski]

Age of students?
Are there others in the class?
How long have they studied with you?
Are parents in the room?
How long is each class?

First thing is, give them something to do that keeps their attention.
Show and tell in the first 10 minutes. If they don't bring something to show, they either sit in the far corner, or they have to do something the others choose from a list: count in English by 3s, recite the alphabet backward, hop on one leg for 30 seconds, name fruits or vegetables starting with each letter of the alphabet, etc.
Or you could provide some picture of an object, and they make up a show and tell story.
Listening for details. Either you speak or provide a recording. Video might be better to keep them focused. Wean them off vids, though.
Make them show a vocabulary list every class, and test them on it, even if it's just on the board. (Good trick is to put the words up, then elicit definitions which you write, and then erase the words, so they have to tell you those based only on the definitions they read.)

Second, let them burn off energy part of the time, or they will explode.
Charades, pictionary, etc.

[steki47]

Turn up the heater.

[mhard1]

Age of students? The students are in 4th grade elementary school
Are there others in the class? No I am the only one in the class
How long have they studied with you? They have studied with me for about a little over a year, but not as the same group. Previously the class was divided differently. As the group they are now, they have been together about 2 months now.
Are parents in the room? No, they are usually nowhere around
How long is each class? Classes go for about 50 minutes.

I will try some of the ideas you have next week and let you know how they go. Any other ideas you can give me or anyone else is much appreciated. Thank you.

[seklarwia]

[Glenski]

[G Cthulhu]

[Inflames]

[dove]

Does G. Cthulthu scour these posts looking for any opportunity to put down Americans?

[mhard1]

It is only the 6 boys in the class.

We usually do the book work for about 20-25 minutes, and then play a game that has some sort of English theme to it. I try to include activities that are related to the material and get the kids moving, but as of yet I have not tried the songs or dances.

I have to admit I am relatively new to teaching, so I am definitely taking notes in regards to the activities you are listing. Thank you and keep them coming.

[Bread]

[seklarwia]

[PO1]

I had similar problems with 2 classes in particular when I was teaching last year. In one class, I found something they liked (drawing and cutting out pictures) and just showed them pictures of what I wanted them to draw. I would then just repeat the word over and over again and point at their picture. If they were drawing houses, I would say "house" and point. Then they would say "house." That way they were entertained and not going crazy while still making connections to the words in English. They were so rowdy, I couldn't do a regular lesson with them. But that seemed to calm them done a peg at least. Then I could do flash cards, writing practice, etc. beforehand if they knew they would get to do the drawing and pasting later. Too bad I only figured that out the last month I was there. The other 11 months with them were pretty rough.

Also once I started learning Japanese, I found out they were saying nasty things about me so that's when I had the manager step in and reprimand them. That worked as well. If the parents and staff are supportive about discipline, that helps a lot. But in some cases, the parents may take offense that you think their child is a problem and may think you are the problem. It's quite the balancing act.

[wayne432]

Either switch your lesson style or talk to your manager and see if you can get the class split up.

How about a high intensity activity for warm up. Then once they're tired from moving about, you can hit them with the focal point of the lesson. If they regain their energy, go for another energy draining activity.

I've actually seen classes where kids would do laps around the room before class (and sometimes during the middle) to calm down because they had too much energy.

[Glenski]