Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chocolacharat]

This is sad.
I have almost 3 years experience in the ESL field, however, I have recently started working at a new preschool. I only teach the students for half hour but I am having trouble keeping them motivated. They are usually not bad, but I was wondering if anyone had any surefire ways to discipline them. Keep in mind they are only 4-7 years old. Also does anyone have any interesting games to teach them? They know basically nothing, and the curriculum at my school says I have to read a book which has one page reading, which they repeat, the next page repeat, the next page sing, etc. I have tried to make it fun for them by using fun voices, associating words with funny actions, but they get bored soo easy. Any help would be appreciated!

Btw the search function wouldnt work =P

[drunkenfud]

TPR and games.

Make them move, keep them moving, and discipline shouldn't be an issue.

Even something as simple as separating them into pairs (or 4's depending on class size), placing flashcards around the room, and playing "run and touch" should motivate them.

Use their energy rather than trying to fight it.

[elynnor]

A couple of things come to mind.

First, little kids need to move their bodies. That's how they learn and process the world at that age. So singing is a good start--can you also have them stand up and do some actions? Are they old enough to act out the stories somehow? Try to think of a way to get them physically involved, because if you don't involve them physically, they will think of things to do on their own, and it won't likely involve you or your boring, repetitious storybook.

Second, the secret to manipulating Korean children (and many other nationalities too, I'm sure) is to make them compete for a small prize. Who can stand and recite the most pages? Ooh, Min-Ji gets a sticker! Who wants a prize? (It could seriously be a bag of feces and they will fight over it if there can only be one winner!) Well, let's see if you can tell me all of the new vocabulary or whatever.

If they're being absolutely beastly, get an inflatable baseball bat or a long balloon or something soft and ask the most unruly/most easily distracted kid to be the "police." If the other kids don't behave, he gets to punish them with the bat. It lets you focus on something other than discipline, and it encourages the kids to police themselves.

Oh, and remember that it's only 30 minutes. As long as everyone comes out alive, it was a successful day. They're young, and there's only so much that can be accomplished in a 30-minute timespan with a bunch of 5-year-olds in a foreign language. Don't put too much pressure on yourself.

[KYC]

I started teaching kindy about 4 weeks ago. I've been teaching them phonics..and introduce a few vocabs. It really helps to distract them with coloring. I always have pictures of the vocabs I've taught and ask them to color ___ green/blue/orange. It keeps them occupied and keeps me sane...at least for 5-10 minutes..which is good enough!

[Fishead soup]

Are you fluent in Korean? If not you should have a Korean coteacher with you.

[Fishead soup]

[chocolacharat]

yes i have been doing exactly this. im not putting a lot of pressure because my classes are going well, but i want to improve. ive been singing and dancing with actions and it helps them to associate the words awith the actions but still there are a select few who cant listen =_=!
i just want EVERYONE to have fun, not the 'good' students.
as for the coteacher, i have three, and they cant speak english. so if i try to introduce something new, no one understands lol. then my authority goes down even more.