Hi everybody

I have been working teaching adults and sometimes teenagers in private and group classes. I remember not teaching children except one day some years ago when I replaced a friend who asked for permission at that school. Recently a new opportunity to get a job has come up that is to teach children from primary and secondary school. I would like to say yes but the warning is that teachers must have good management group. Could you give me some tips on how to teach children so as to avoid them coming out of control? Or I´d better say NO since teaching children demand more experience? Thanks in advance

Hi Mercader,

 

Teaching children can be really testing, especially if you come from an adult-oriented teaching background. My basic advice to anyone thinking about it is� Don �t! 

Serious, managing little ones can take a larger part of your class than actual teaching. I am like you, have been with adults for most of my professional life and made the move into children classes a few years ago. Here are a few tips:

 

> Sorry to say this: in my experience, it�s best no to place your expectations too high up, or you may be disappointed. Sometimes just managing them is an achievement, let alone teaching them! 

> Instead, you should test the water with them, at least during the first few lessons, see how they react to the various inputs, and take it from there. 

> You�ll make mistakes. Learn from them.

> Be ready for time wasted, be flexible and change your lesson plan when needed, sometimes you�ll have to forget about it altogether.

> Change activity every 10 minutes max, at ages 3-7 they just can �t keep concentration/interest longer than that.

> Change your Operating System; what works with adults might not (will not) work with little ones

> Most kids need to be "doing" something, not just sitting and listening, so prepare your lessons in a way that they include plenty of phyisical activity (dance, sing, act, move around, etc) and tasks (cut out, color & stick, draw on worksheets and on whiteboard, etc)

> And remember all teachers � golden rule: "Never smile before Christmas"  

But don�t get me wrong: it�s challenging but it pays. At the end of the school year, when they hug you and wish you a good summer, all the trouble of the previous months falls into oblivion!

I�m sure every teacher has his/her little tricks and you�ll be getting a lot more feedback, hopefully from real experts. I �ve got a long, boring training handout with a lot more of these suggestions that I could email you if you want 

 

Regards, 

Antonio �s suggestions are really good ones, I �ll add a couple more: at the start establish some rules or dos and don �ts (in case of really small ones they may be in the form of a poster/pictures. If they misbehave, you can point to the rules as reference. In our school we also have a system of stickers which reward kids for good behavior and participation. In my country the maximum grade is 6 the minimum 1. When the kid enters the class, I give them automatic 3 points (these are drawn on the line on the board, I have a class of max. 11). If they don �t have homework I deduct 1 point. If they do something really well (participate in a task, write something etc.)  I award them a point. If they misbehave, I take their points away (point by point, not all at once). They know the system, they know and see its dynamic nature, and can figure where their final grade comes from. Once they collect 60 points (from the grade stickers), they can exchange them for a small prize (like a notebook, fancy pen etc.). The system works with most students, hope you may find it helpful 

 

best, joanna 

HI,

 

That is also a very good idea, I haven �t tried it yet but will do asap! 

 

Also, I usually have a bunch of small inexpensive items (stickers, plastic pieces, rubbers, pencils, glitter, cards� you can get them from the pound shop equivalent in your country) and reward them when they perform exceptionally well.

 

When they misbehave, I have a yellow card and a red card in my pocket and use them: yellow card = first warning; red card = out of the room (or face to the corner, or sit on the "thinking chair" for 2 minutes). Some of my colleagues prefer baseball and they use the "3 strikes, you �re out" system. That is, they give disruptive kids 2 warning before taking a discipline action.

 

Regards 

@Antonio, joanna Thank you for sharing your ideas! But Antonio? I �m so surprised! Is it indeed STILL allowed to send a student �out of the room� or make them �face to the corner� in Spain? Aren�t you fully responsible for them during your lesson?

 

@ mercader As you say, teaching children demands experience, but you can get it ONLY by teaching children. If you haven�t ever done it before, IMO, the best way would be to start with one or a couple of classes of the primary level, and then year by year lead them up. Be aware that you will make mistakes (every teacher does), but, if there are not 8 lessons per day, you�ll have time to analyze them, learn from them, prepare (additional) teaching materials (and yourself!) for the following lessons. Good luck! 

Hi Kohai,

 

It sounds weird, doesn �t it? Yes, in my school I �m allowed to put students out of the classroom, but only in dire straits and in those cases there �s always a staff member they have to report to , that is, they don �t wander the premises unattended  -and it �s only for a couple of minutes, after they calm down they �re back in class.

 

Mercader,

Kohai is also right that the best way to learn is by doing, so don �t be afraid and try your best! 

 

Regards