|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Message board > :)
:)
|
|
|
|
rhama1
|
|
My heart really goes out to you and I can only imagine at how despondent you must feel.
Thankfully this is a site with very experienced and compassionate members who I hope will give you guidance and support.
For myself, i am very new to this but having had much experience with children (under 5) find it unimaginable that you have so few resources with which to work and stimulate their learning.
Your school boss seem to be expecting a great deal from you, yet don �t seem to be offering you any constructive advice!!
I will be watching this space to see the response of other members.
Good Luck
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
|
lshorton99
|
When I started teaching small children I felt completely lost an unable to manage. I had two games - pictionary and hangman and no clue as to how to teach them. Luckily I started a job four years ago at a fantastic company which provides training and an expert in YLs demonstrated a range of activities to keep students motivated, happy and learning. Now YLs are my favourite classes!
I �ll share what I can, based on your limited resources and see if it helps.
I �m assuming you have flashcards?
Here are some flashcard games that require no preparation.
�What is it?�- very simple. you show the kids each flashcard eliciting/telling them the vocabulary. Then make a big play of shuffling the cards and getting the kids to shout �Stop! � You ask �What is it? � and they have to guess. The student who guesses correctly wins the card. You can vary the question - �What can youo see �. �Do you like �
Variations on Slam - Running slam. You stick the cards on the wall and they have to run and touch whichever card you say. You can also do this as a writing race, where they have to write what you say or put the cards on the ground and the kids hit them. I do a variation of this when teaching clothes vocabulary where the students have to put the clothes on physically.
For classroom instructions I do it at the beginning of every class - stand up, sit down, point to, touch, open, close etc then get the students to be teacher and give the commands. Later in the year we do this as simon says.
Every new question we learn �How old are you? � etc, I work into a simple song so we continue to add questions - this song always comes after the instructions as routine is very important.
I don �t use stars or points although I do play a lot of competetive games. I try to encourage them to enjoy learning for learning �s sake - not for winning a point!
Make up your own songs to well-known tunes. I use �Do you like fish � to the tune of �Do you love me �. If you make them up yourself it �s easier for you to sing and teach them.
I �m assuming you don �t have an interactive whiteboard or the internet - if you do www.spellingcity.com is really good.
I hope some of these suggestions help. I think your boss might need to rethink their management technique, however. He/She should be responsible for making sure you have whatever support you need! don �t worry about their opinion and focus on your students - they always let you know if you �re doing it wrong!
Good luck, try not to let it get you down. I have teenage classes that regularly make men suicidal!
Lindsey
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
|
dturner
|
I would tell him to go suck an egg, but perhaps a bit impractical. Are you teaching in Japan?
Sometimes, there is no flexibility of mind. White is white and black is black. Sometimes it makes me angry, but I just try to laugh it off. Two year olds are like babies, and I don �t see how he thinks they will show great progression. I think music --singing, chanting and repetition for preschoolers might be the best. March around while singing. Hold hands in a circle like in "ring around the rosies" and then all fall down. Try and do as many physical games as possible -- use chants and music to help you get these kids focused while doing some movement. Use a stuffed animal (numigarumi) to toss around while saying the new words or expressions. How do you test a 2-3 year old? I suggest you go to �early childhood educational � sites. There are many groups and organizations to help you on the web. There, you should find some songs and maybe even some suggestions for activities, chants, and songs. Could you find some children �s songs to download? There are "learning" type songs, and then there are songs simply for pleasure. Some famous Canadian singers that have catered to children are: Fred Penner, Charlotte Diamond, Raffi, Sharon, Lois and Bram. I �m sure there are more but my kids are no longer kids. These are the ones I remember from the children �s childhoods. Sore, ja. Ganbatte kudasai, ne.
dt
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
|
dturner
|
|
If you have access to computers, and/or projectors, try this site. I use them for my "literacy" class. starfall.com It is a site for little ones. Lots of fun activities. Lindsey above, has some very good suggestions -- of course flashcards are the base for teaching nouns. I also like the suggestion making up simple questions and answers to �tunes �. it is easier to remember a tune than simply a sentence. again. You can do it!!!!!
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
|
|
|
aliciapc
|
|
Hello, hope you �re feeling a little better after such good advice the teachers here have been giving you! I was wondering about the same thing jecika said : giving you an evaluation via email ? Doesn �t he EVER get to see you in person ? Also, did your boss actually see you teaching ? Or was it hearsay ? If he saw you, is he even a teacher ? Does he know the effort and hard work our job involves ?
If he/she complains, does he bear in mind the fact that you have NO resources whatsoever?
And if there are 160-170 sts and you see only 8 each time you have a class, I wonder how many hours a week they have lessons (or minutes!) Surely not enough ...
I know this is full of questions but they are not to be answered, they are supposed to make you feel better about your work and your efforts . I think when a boss complains he/she has to give REASONS for those complaints, and even better than that, after the reasons : GUIDANCE on how to improve if he/she cares about that particular teacher.
My experience with sts is mostly teenagers but I did work with kids some time ago and I know how demanding it is.
Don �t feel sad, you �ve been given resources here that you can make good use of !
There are very experienced teachers here you can always turn to for help.
Keep up the good work !
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
|
|
|
Spagman63
|
|
Have you tried puppets? Children that age love them and they can be made out of old socks. You can also make them out of paper and a pop-sickle stick for the handle. Japan is full of cheap resources. Check out the 100 Yen stores. They should have some things you can use. GL
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
|
|
|
dturner
|
GL, good idea re puppets too. They could become part of your bag of tricks.
Chants are simply repeating of a phrase or word or even a sentence. If you say it over and over, you will remember it. Think of all the sport chants you here, "Go Canada Go" is one I �m hearing everyday with the Olympics here. Do you know any children �s rhymes? Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. This rhyme could be considered a chant I think. Stress is put on certain words or syllables. Jack...Jill...up hill, get pail wa....ter. I �ve tried to stress the words that I think need stressing. Stressing the words helps the chant move along. Any children �s song, saying, rhyme, nursery rhyme would work.
I think all the suggestions that everyone has given are outstanding. Don �t stress on this one. Things will look better soon. Ki o tsukete, kudasai, ne.
|
15 Feb 2010
|
|
1
2
Next >
|
) they often come up with their own ideas how they would like to pronounce words and I am always open to their suggestions 
