Hey guyz.. I am new to this whole TESOL thing.. I did the whole class thing and all.. but I am totally new to this.. it is my first job in the TESOL experience. So yea I am teaching Kindergartens ESL,
SO HOW DO I START????
I am so nervous for my first day. Can someone please give me some tips? I BEG OF YOU!!
So.. I start in three weeks, teaching Kindergarten HELP!!!!
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2
Here's a start....
Hey Brando!
Here's a start for you.
Establish from the beginning a routine that you will use the entire course. For example, always begin the class by taking attendance. Children must answer with "yes" or "here" or "present" and they can choose which they like best. When the kids begin to answer before you've said their name, knowing that the list is in a particular order, mix up the names so they have to listen for theirs before shouting out their "yes".
Make a flash card set of the alphabet just a little bigger than playing cards. Mix these cards up and quiz each of the students on their knowledge of the ABCs. Probably many will know how to say most of the ABCs from beginning to end, but few or none will be able to name the letters at random. Every day put them through the ABC quiz, marking down the number of letters that they get correct. This number will grow each day and the kids will beg you to repeat the quiz. Once the brighter ones begin getting all 26 letters right, give a star for that achievement, put it on a quiz poster, where you will put other stars for other goals reached.
Make a behavior poster as well. If kids act up they get a "black mark". If they get five black marks they stand in the corner. If they get ten they stand outside the classroom. Fifteen and they are sent to the principal's office. Or, choose your own creative punishments for bad bahavior. Black marks are always cancelled out by star earnings.
Help them learn to spell words and even write words. Give them simple penmanship exercises that are based on the vocabulary that you want them to learn. Insist that they ask to go to the toilet, or ask for a pencil, or ask the meaning of a word in English.
Finally, prepare your classes well in advance. Check out the games page in this forum, where there are many interesting ideas that sometimes give too many details, but once stripped down to the basics, give you a framework that you then can fill in with the material you have to cover. Kids are very sensitive, so have a soothing tea before class. Don't get angry with them, love them, play with them, do silly things, but when you have to get serious, well, take advantage of being taller than they are, you are the boss, something that makes being silly even sillier and makes the class even more fun. Kids know instantly when you are not ready, when you are searching for things to do, when you are ovecome by their energy.
Well, that's just a start. Read yourself a parenting book or magazine, or some child psychology. At this age it is less ESL and more kindergarten that you will be doing, don't get frustrated by that, enjoy the class and the kids will too and everyone will come out learning something!
peace,
revel.
Here's a start for you.
Establish from the beginning a routine that you will use the entire course. For example, always begin the class by taking attendance. Children must answer with "yes" or "here" or "present" and they can choose which they like best. When the kids begin to answer before you've said their name, knowing that the list is in a particular order, mix up the names so they have to listen for theirs before shouting out their "yes".
Make a flash card set of the alphabet just a little bigger than playing cards. Mix these cards up and quiz each of the students on their knowledge of the ABCs. Probably many will know how to say most of the ABCs from beginning to end, but few or none will be able to name the letters at random. Every day put them through the ABC quiz, marking down the number of letters that they get correct. This number will grow each day and the kids will beg you to repeat the quiz. Once the brighter ones begin getting all 26 letters right, give a star for that achievement, put it on a quiz poster, where you will put other stars for other goals reached.
Make a behavior poster as well. If kids act up they get a "black mark". If they get five black marks they stand in the corner. If they get ten they stand outside the classroom. Fifteen and they are sent to the principal's office. Or, choose your own creative punishments for bad bahavior. Black marks are always cancelled out by star earnings.
Help them learn to spell words and even write words. Give them simple penmanship exercises that are based on the vocabulary that you want them to learn. Insist that they ask to go to the toilet, or ask for a pencil, or ask the meaning of a word in English.
Finally, prepare your classes well in advance. Check out the games page in this forum, where there are many interesting ideas that sometimes give too many details, but once stripped down to the basics, give you a framework that you then can fill in with the material you have to cover. Kids are very sensitive, so have a soothing tea before class. Don't get angry with them, love them, play with them, do silly things, but when you have to get serious, well, take advantage of being taller than they are, you are the boss, something that makes being silly even sillier and makes the class even more fun. Kids know instantly when you are not ready, when you are searching for things to do, when you are ovecome by their energy.
Well, that's just a start. Read yourself a parenting book or magazine, or some child psychology. At this age it is less ESL and more kindergarten that you will be doing, don't get frustrated by that, enjoy the class and the kids will too and everyone will come out learning something!
peace,
revel.
-
EFLwithlittleones
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:18 pm
EFL with little ones
There's lots you can do across the main skill fields. Too much to put here. To begin with try and centre things round the child because its easier to remember the words. So for example bodyparts can be learnt very quickly along with 'this is my - ' these are my -' and colours and simple adjectives of size and shape. Learn words in real situations. Do this with lots of actions, pictures and words. Move your students from movement to stillness in cycles through routines around about 10 minutes long. That is, desktop activities, action games, music and movement, songs, circletime and so forth in roughly 10-15 min segments. Learn lots of ways to be silly with words and jingles (make them up as you go). I've also learnt that many things you'd assume to prepare in advance like letter or word cards are much better done on the fly in front of the students, even with 5 year olds. The real time, real action of making and showing something will keep them listening and watching whilst learning the sort of clsrm language they will always need like 'I'm cutting', 'I'm sticking', 'pen', 'brush' etc. Then they can make their own letter cards and drawings as part of broader task based activities. Many kindergarten syllabuses leave out a genuine focused attempt at implementing writing development tasks and this is unfortunate. Rising 5s are poised cognitively and physically to become totally absorbed in penmanship. I use learningpage.com for some of my worksheets but usually try to make things work in such a way that students do everything themselves. Raw materials and imagination and careful consideration of child development in this age group will probably serve you best. Honesty and sincerity will also take you miles.
Yes, EFLwith!
Hey there!
And I totally agree with EFL with, get the kid involved in the preparation of materials.
An example. I passed out fotocopies of numbers done in comic print, large, in a table format and had them color the numbers. Then they had to cut out each of the cells of the table. Then they had to cut card that I had prepared in strips with lines where they should cut. Then they had to stick the numbers onto the cards. I have been using this number card game for years. You can play "Go Fish", you can play "War" (which I prefer to call "The biggest/smallest number"), you can play bingo.
To play bingo, the kids should fold a piece of reusable paper (that is, a piece of paper already used on one side, all English Academies abound in such paper) until there are 16 squares. Then they draw the lines that divide the squares. Then they put numbers at random in the squares. Then you pull numbers from the card game that they have prepared and play bingo!
We have even made "Twister" game boards, the kids trace their hands and make feet on a large piece of brown wrapping paper, then you assign colors, mine can read the words so I write them in the feet and hands already drawn, they have to color these in, then you can play twister with a dice, for example, odd number is left, even is right, odd is hand, even is foot. For this game it's helpful to spend a couple of classes learning the "Hokey-Pokey" song ("You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, you put your right hand in and you shake it all about....")
Little ones love to be loved.
peace,
revel.
And I totally agree with EFL with, get the kid involved in the preparation of materials.
An example. I passed out fotocopies of numbers done in comic print, large, in a table format and had them color the numbers. Then they had to cut out each of the cells of the table. Then they had to cut card that I had prepared in strips with lines where they should cut. Then they had to stick the numbers onto the cards. I have been using this number card game for years. You can play "Go Fish", you can play "War" (which I prefer to call "The biggest/smallest number"), you can play bingo.
To play bingo, the kids should fold a piece of reusable paper (that is, a piece of paper already used on one side, all English Academies abound in such paper) until there are 16 squares. Then they draw the lines that divide the squares. Then they put numbers at random in the squares. Then you pull numbers from the card game that they have prepared and play bingo!
We have even made "Twister" game boards, the kids trace their hands and make feet on a large piece of brown wrapping paper, then you assign colors, mine can read the words so I write them in the feet and hands already drawn, they have to color these in, then you can play twister with a dice, for example, odd number is left, even is right, odd is hand, even is foot. For this game it's helpful to spend a couple of classes learning the "Hokey-Pokey" song ("You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, you put your right hand in and you shake it all about....")
Little ones love to be loved.
peace,
revel.
-
EFLwithlittleones
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:18 pm
Teaching kindergarten
If you want to get the children into writing tasks, use coloured feltips. There are a number of reasons why this will work, but I'll let you find out yourself. Another thing which is oh so simple (in conjunction with the pens) but highly effective, is to make up alphabet sheets using arty fonts which you print out yellow on a black and white printer so they come out grey on A4 sheets. The children learn pre-writing skills using these. Believe me if you do this you can set up an entire year of building pre-literary skills and your students will never get bored. Another idea which the children should also get into is to take a story book with no more than 15 pages of pictures and simple text, photocopy it onto sheets of A4 and see if they can sequence the story on the floor of the clsrm (don't forget to take the numbers off). Make a simple worksheet with a rectangular box, big enough to draw a picture in, and three straight dotted guidelines underneath. Get the children to select a picture from the story they like, draw it in the box and copy the text underneath. Let them do it in pairs if you like so they have to share.