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Ask for help > Could someone give me some advice?
Could someone give me some advice?
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carinita
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Could someone give me some advice?
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I started teaching this morning at a primary school (I �ll be teaching there for six weeks) I have a group of 19 students (16 boys and 3 girls) They are 11 years old and they are very talkative. What could I do so that they are in silence while I �m presenting vocabulary? While I �m explaining?? They seem to be hard-working but they sometimes get disruptive. Thanks in advance, |
8 Oct 2009
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lomasbello
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You can make a behaviour chart letting them know that the one that follows the rules, does a neat work and pays attention to the teacher will win a prize at the end of the week. That prize could be a reward diploma, a sticker or something you consider could encourage them to pay attention while you are explaining the lesson.
The behaviour chart could be show in the classroom so that they can see their improvement. It really works since they compete each other to have the best performance. |
8 Oct 2009
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weeeam
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hello there
I think and I am sure that this problem face each and every teacher. You as a teacher can make them pay attention to you and stop talking by presenting the words in an attractive way: with the help of cards and by asking from them to be active when presenting the words for example you could write the list of the words on the board and then start erasing one of the word , ask the students to read the words and also the erased word . Continue with this till you erase all of the words and ask them all the time to read the words thst were wtitten and erased. I hope you will solve the problem as soon as possible
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8 Oct 2009
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**********
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Hello, Carinita. That �s a hard subject to respond to in a forum. It would take hours to come up with a comprehensive response. Most times, these children are too curious and eager to participate, that �s why they can be so talkative.
Setting some class rules, would be handy. Systematic reinforcement of posititive behaviour usually works. On the other hand, avoiding comments on minor misbehaviour is also advisable.
I had a quick look at some on-line resources - suggesting books could be frustrating to you, since you won �t be able to get them quickly.
So, I suggest you try this site. It will help you out with some useful hints.
Try them and trust yourself: you �ll be able to handle their energy and use it to everybody �s benefit. Write down what you did anytime you feel that you�ve managed; also write down when your strategies didn �t work so well. You can always go back to your notes and think them over.
Here:
There are more tips here from other members:
I �ll be glad to hear from your improvements.
My best regards,
Idalina Jorge
edit 1: I�ll be editing this post to add more resources, just give me some time, will you?
Julie Tice is an excellent reference: look for her online...
If you go down here:
and type classroom management, you will find more threads on the issue (and that you are not alone, which is no good feeling for a teacher). But I guess this will be enough for today.
Edit 3: Clapping, as Alien boy suggests in the next post, sounds fine. In fact, I have a frien who used a whistle: every now and then: PEEEEEEE! Wouldn´t work for me - my heart would starting beating hard if I did - but it worked just well for her, since she is so energitic and lively and raises her voice to the right limit - no shouting, though; not my style again: I´ve been always careful about my artifact ( ), since I sing on Sundays. I have a set of 19 tips that I made up with a class of trainees, but it´s in Portuguese; however, the first link I provided is comprehensive enough. I had a Professor, soooome years ago, a Psychiatrist,very respected among Portuguese teachers, who used to say: Never show your teeth before Xmas, but I could never put this rule to practice .
By the way, about Grammar, depending on the National Syllabus, obviously, at the stage you mention, I would say no long explanations are needed. By the end of the Unit, we can always generalize, which is very adequate at this stage of development, but do it in a very participated way, such as drawing a table on the board:
to like, Present Simple, Interrogative
you write, either the subject or the verbal form, and ask them: What are we supposed to write here? (sorry, I can´t merge the third column) And build the table with the children, even asking them to come to the board and do it on their own. In time, they will get used to make their own grammar tables.
Children also like oral drills for Grammar: they have been somehow neglected during the last decades, but neuroscience is gradually restauring the (huge) importance of memory. See you around. |
8 Oct 2009
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alien boy
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Hi carinita,
my experiences & study point me towards a few simple ideas, after all, you need something now & not when you �ve finished reading or writing your own thesis on the subject!
1) define a clear boundary of behaviour to your students. Include them in the decision making process as to what that boundary actually is. Just don �t let them decide the boundary for themselves. You �re the teacher & kids usually recognise that authority especially if the teacher behaves confidently.
2) keep any rules & explanations simple! If the kids don �t understand their boundaries & consequences (both positive & negative) then they won �t pay attention or they �ll be disruptive because they are confused.
3) be consistent. If noise is the main problem, why don �t you introduce some specific classroom English in your next lesson. Maybe start with things like �Be quiet please �, �you �re being very good �, �too noisy � (just a few ideas, you know more about their English ability so see what you come up with!)
4) kids love games & ritual so why not introduce a class starting game/ritual? For example, in my music classes we usually start with my saying �Let �s begin �. This is an understood signal that the kids should sit in their desks quietly with all their study gear ready. I have my desks arranged in 4 groups. The group that is ready first get a soft toy (kangaroo & joey) as their team mascot, the second team gets a koala & the third a wombat. The fourth doesn �t get anything! The toys are passed back along each row (& also back & forth across teams) as an award igiven to them for behaviour or knowledge expressed. (Edit: It�s important not to overuse this system or it loses meaning & value to the students. I only award or move these items a few times in each 50 minute class. We also have a few other reward systems in place & a very clear 4 step misbehaviour punishment system). This works wonderfully for my 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders. I now have them racing into their seats, eager & quiet, ready to start class often 5-10 minutes early!
ANyway, that �s just a few quick & hopefully clear ideas.
Do look at the references Idalina has mentioned edit: as they are all useful & excellent - but when you get time!
Regards,
AB
Edit: another thing I do if the students are being talkative & not paying attention is use a rhythmic clap sequence which they have to repeat back to me. This is excellent music practice but may also be good for English lessons if you use a clapping sequence & then progress to a short clap & chant combined - only a quick phrase rather than something lengthy. It�s a tool & not the lesson itself, after all!
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9 Oct 2009
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