Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

I do not know much about their thinking or behavior. Kids under 12 years of age often bewilder me. I know they want attention and fun. I know most are self-centered. But my knowledge of child psychology seems to be lacking. I scarcely remember myself as a kid.

Oh ye wise ones, please enlighten me.

[buddy bradley]

Try and relate to them - talk to them about their computer games that they like, and then get interested. Buy them pizza. Treat them as equals.

It's not exactly brainstorming, but then again, my major was psychology, hence my uselessness and retardology...

[Qinella]

Their goals are often a lot different than an adult's. They typically aren't thinking long-term. It's not easy for them to displace their perspectives. They are easy to deceive.

[tomato]

Hello, Jajdude!

Here are a few random jottings:

�� Children want attention.

Many a harried schoolteacher has witnessed children's classroom misbehavior and inferred that children are borne in Original Sin; therefore, it is our responsibility to beat the Devil out of the children. I beg you not to make that mistake. Children misbehave not out of malice toward the teacher, but from desire for attention.

To combat this, pay as much attention as possible to the students who are behaving. If most of the students milling around when you are trying to start class, say, "I am so glad that Tom is in his seat ready to start class. I am so glad that Bill is in his seat ready to start class."

Throughout the class period, look for every possible way to pay individual attention to the students. If a child brings a hamster to class, give a lesson on spelling the word hamster. When you sing a song, ask a piano student to play that song on a small keyboard. (Betcha you have at least one good piano student in every class!)

In your OP, you said that you "know they want attention." You have learned one important lesson already.

�� Children are rhythmical.

You probably remember walking home from elementary school with a female classmate and hearing your fellow students chanting, "Jajdude and Suzy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." That is a perfect segue to the next set of instructions which I will give you:

1. Take a rhythmic chant, preferably in trochaic tetrametric rhythm (STRONG-weak STRONG-weak STRONG-weak STRONG-weak).

2. Leave spaces where nouns or verbs could be substituted.

Voila! You have the material for a good classroom activity!

My most recent application of this technique was on the lesson on household chores in the Let's Go 4 book. For each student and each chore, I beat the desk and clapped my hands to the rhythm of "Sally has to wash the diiiishes! Sally has to wash the diiiishes!" Then I assumed a melancholy countenance and said, "Poor Sally!"

You can apply this technique to almost any lesson.

�� Children can handle only one variable at a time.

Preschool children know that there are tall and short people. They also know that there are fat and skinny people. However, children of that age do not know that there are tall and fat, tall and skinny, short and fat, and short and skinny people. Even older children find such constructions difficult.

But do ESL textbook authors take this into consideration? Why heck, no! Rather, they bombard the students on every page with different subjects, different predicates, and different verb tenses!

If you can browse through the easiest picture books at an English book store, your time and money will be well spent. Look for books in which only one variable is changed in each sentence. Then take those books to your classroom and see how many ways you can apply them.

I have three copies of I See Colors and I have run all three copies ragged. The first four sentences are:

I see red. I see blue. I see yellow. I see green.

After reading the book, I ask for volunteers to read the book back to me.

After that, I point to each student, saying "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo . . ."
Then I read:

Gary sees red. Gary sees blue. Gary sees yellow. Gary sees green.

When it is time to study another verb tense, I adapt the book again:

I will see red. I will see blue. I will see yellow. I will see green.

Again, I call on volunteers to read the book back to me.
Again, I substitute names of students:

Gary will see red. Gary will see blue. Gary will see yellow. Gary will see green.

Does that seem boring to you? That's because you're not a child!

For a list of pattern picture books, see:

http://eslideas.hypermart.net/picturebooks.html

Pattern songs are also good. When it is time to spell a new word, I use "Old MacDonald Had a Word":



Here is a list of pattern songs:

http://www.pentatonika.com/pattern.html

�� Children are gregarious.

Why do children hate school? Some readers might say, "Because children are lazy."

Then why do children like athletic practice? Some readers might say, "Well, children are physically energetic but mentally lazy."

That still doesn't work. Why do children like Scout meetings, music rehearsals, and various other informal educational settings? Some readers might say, "Because children are gregarious."

Now we agree! In school, children are sternly told to "sit at your desk and do your own work!" Children a million years ago were not so instructed, and Evolution is a slow process.

For further discussion on this, see the following item.

�� Children learn from many sources.

The next time there is a thread about "What is the best textbook?" don't get involved. Our primitive forefathers did not do all their learning from a single two-dimensional surface, and children are primitive.

Make as many manipulative items as you have time and energy for. Make alphabet tiles to practice spelling. Make card games and bingo games to illustrate long vowels, short vowels, parts of speech, or anything else that the curriculum calls for.

I hope you have a computer printer. If you do, any time Google searching and printing pictures will be time well spent.

If there is a mandated textbook in your school, spend just enough time on the textbook to make the director happy. Then spend the rest of the classtime on manipulative items.


�� Children have an undeveloped sense of time.

Qinella is right. Children think only of what is happening now. This limitation is the bane of music teachers and drama teachers, because it is impossible to put children under pressure. If you have to prepare for a program, start early.

�� Children have an undeveloped sense of space.

Just as children don't give a flip about the past and the future, they don't give a flip about the faraway.

You have probably heard Korean children singing this melody:



Try taking something in the lesson and setting it to this melody.

I have tried using the Anglo-American children's melody:



but it didn't go over as well.

Buddy Bradley would probably agree with this section of my post.

A few months ago, I got fired from a job because I couldn't teach adults. Maybe I should have posted a thread entitled "Tell me about the minds of adults."

[xtchr]

Thanks for that post Tomato, I found it helpful.
Xtchr

[matthewwoodford]

Great post tomato. To that I would add that...

- children are highly competitive
- one child can be very stubborn but gives in to peer pressure easily
- children definitely want the teacher's attention and don't like other children getting attention at their perceived expense
- they are curious and want to learn
- they have a short span of attention

An adult can easily manipulate these and other factors tomato mentioned to have a class eating out of their hand. Use competitive activities often in your classroom, tell them something is fun often enough and the whole class will embrace the notion, be sure to give some attention to each student every class and divide your attention equally, believe that anything is interesting if expressed in simple terms, divide the lesson into several short activities and keep the pace high.

[jajdude]

Yeah that was a great post from tomato.

A friend of mine pointed out once: As you get older a day seems shorter. But for a youngster a day is a long time with a lot of things happenening.
You cannot convince a 10 year old that 10 or even 5 mintues is a short time. That's like a half hour to us. We get bored doing nothing or something dull for 30-60 minutes. Kids get bored in 10-15, and have a stronger reaction usually. I guess one key is to try to keep them engaged in something interesting as much as possible. That's not so easy, and takes energy and preparation.