Busy Schedules and Little Monkeys
My first two Kid's English "Club" classes were yesterday. I know I have to stick it out, but this is going to wear on me a little bit. It will be a challenge working with the little monkeys. The first through third graders weren't that bad, but the 4th-6th grade set was a bit harder. The girls were so quiet I couldn't hear half of them even if I was right next to them, and the boys were loud and rambunctious and spoke almost anything but English. I thought I'd work with them on the numbers and the ABCs... but they already knew them. Lesson plan: Out the window.
It also didn't help that my prep time yesterday was taken over by things I suddenly had to do before class - things like make and cut out name tags. Making about 80 name tags and cutting them by hand with a razor and ruler takes just a little time, y'know? I wish I knew why they didn't tell me about this earlier, when I had a little more time.
I then get to my evening English conversation class on time, and find the community center dark and locked up. Despite the fact that we submitted the reservation form last month, it got lost somewhere, somehow. I called the office, and they made a few calls, and the caretaker showed up. I guess most of the students arrived before I did, saw everything closed up, and went home. I wound up having two students - a middle schooler and a high schooler. I had an activity planned, but wanted to save it for when I had a full class... and so I had to tap dance for an hour or so. Tap dancing is pretty hard when your brain has already been shot up by rowdy little monkeys.
I really hope every Monday isn't like this, but I fear that it will be. At least, the tired feeling I have by the end of the day. I worked from 8:30 until 9:00 at night, and didn't get home until almost 9:30. One break from noon to one, and a dinner break from 6:15 to 7:15. My coworker and fellow JET told me that I should have talked to her before agreeing to four kid's classes per week; that alternating weeks would have been better. Yeah, I suppose so.
Well, I'll just have to buckle down and get used to herding cats, or entertaining monkeys, or whatever euphamism you want to use. I'm sure once I get used to the kids (and they get used to me) and I have a better idea of what's going on, it'll get easier.
On other fronts, it's really cooled down this week. When I wake up in the morning, there's condensation on the inside of my windows. I'm sitting here at work with goosebumps since they have a few windows open. By afternoon it'll be hot, and it'll be nice to have the breeze, but for now both the extra-bitter coffee we have in the office and the cold wind blowing papers off my desk are keeping me wide awake.
Shiver. Burr.
It also didn't help that my prep time yesterday was taken over by things I suddenly had to do before class - things like make and cut out name tags. Making about 80 name tags and cutting them by hand with a razor and ruler takes just a little time, y'know? I wish I knew why they didn't tell me about this earlier, when I had a little more time.
I then get to my evening English conversation class on time, and find the community center dark and locked up. Despite the fact that we submitted the reservation form last month, it got lost somewhere, somehow. I called the office, and they made a few calls, and the caretaker showed up. I guess most of the students arrived before I did, saw everything closed up, and went home. I wound up having two students - a middle schooler and a high schooler. I had an activity planned, but wanted to save it for when I had a full class... and so I had to tap dance for an hour or so. Tap dancing is pretty hard when your brain has already been shot up by rowdy little monkeys.
I really hope every Monday isn't like this, but I fear that it will be. At least, the tired feeling I have by the end of the day. I worked from 8:30 until 9:00 at night, and didn't get home until almost 9:30. One break from noon to one, and a dinner break from 6:15 to 7:15. My coworker and fellow JET told me that I should have talked to her before agreeing to four kid's classes per week; that alternating weeks would have been better. Yeah, I suppose so.
Well, I'll just have to buckle down and get used to herding cats, or entertaining monkeys, or whatever euphamism you want to use. I'm sure once I get used to the kids (and they get used to me) and I have a better idea of what's going on, it'll get easier.
On other fronts, it's really cooled down this week. When I wake up in the morning, there's condensation on the inside of my windows. I'm sitting here at work with goosebumps since they have a few windows open. By afternoon it'll be hot, and it'll be nice to have the breeze, but for now both the extra-bitter coffee we have in the office and the cold wind blowing papers off my desk are keeping me wide awake.
Shiver. Burr.
posted by Dehn at 10:05
3 Comments:
Razors and rulers? Don't they have Avery labels in Japan, Jerry-san? Come on now ...
Ah... teaching
1) Always have a lesson plan plus a few idea handy if your plan doesn't work. Also, a plan that works for one group may not work for another.
2) Think of sticking to the rule of 10's. Kids have about a 7-10 minute attention span. A 40 minute lesson should have approximately 4 segments.
3) If you are losing their attention switch to another activity. It just gets worse if they are bored. Boredom can also mean they are not understanding you.
4) Try and use all three learning modalities- visual, aural, and kinesthetic.
5) Try music and rhythmic activities. My ELL kids do great with music activities because they are taught in small chunks. All the kids have to learn the song slowly and it give them a chance to pick up on the language. Tones are also helpful because speaking is tonal.
(I have ideas for songs and chants if you need them)
In the future- have the kids make their own name tags. Use index cards, markers/crayons, and Scotch tape (or pins if you can trust the kids).
Best of luck. I'd love to chat if you need it. Give us a call.
L.
Hey, L. (Took me a minute to figure out who you were. Heh.)
I'm slowly getting things together. This week and next week will be a good test to see if I'm getting it together. Backup activities are essential; I've learned that the hard way. More than once I've been caught short (okay, so maybe that means I didn't learn my lesson yet). Luckily, if I really get caught in a bind, I can just go with whatever. This is more of an entertainment hour for the kids; I don't have to worry about goals or syllabi or that. I just need to make sure that "Let's having fun learning English!" is being met in some way.
Thanks for the advice on attention spans and boredom/lack of understanding. I'll have to watch out for that.
I'll also have to work on the song and dance (chant) thing. It feels so... silly at this point. I just need to bite the bullet and get damn goofy. [sigh] If you could email me your song and chant ideas, I promise I'll be nice to you at some point in the future. Honest!
I wish I could have had the kids make their own name tags, but in this case the Japanese "this is how we do stuff" blindsided me. If I didn't speak Japanese, I could feign ignorance and not damage relations quite so much. Since they know I know, I can't get away with nearly as much. Oh, well.
Again, thanks. Give my regards to that guy over there.
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