As you may remember I'll be hosting a SEETA week from 14th till 20th of May with the topic Classroom Management.
Today is Day 1 and the issue discussed is getting students' attention.
If you feel like sharing ideas or leaving a comment, join in now!
*Coming up tomorrow - To praise or to punish?
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteI'll kick off if you don't mind. I have a 'tool box' well not literally it's a colourful clothes basket thingy from Ikea. In it I have lots of 'goodies'.
1. Plastic animals
2. A squeaky dogs' toy
3. A picture frame
4. A pack of cards
5. A magic wand
6. A sheriffs' hat
7. Lots of puppets
8. Lots of story books
9. A fluffy die (or dice)
10. Dressing up clothes
11. Some masks
These'tools' help me to get and keep the childrens' attention. I love using 'props' and think that they really help to focus childrens' attention.
Do you have any props that you use with Young Learners?
Can you guess what I use number two, four and six for?
Hi Leahn,
ReplyDeleteNow you made me wonder!
I can think of some ways of using the hat and the squeaky toy but the cards? Hmm...
How many students are there in your classes?
I do have a little props bag of my own as well :)
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteI teach in two state primary schools. The class size depends but up to as many as 26. One of the schools I work in has much smaller classes of between 13 and 18.
The card thingy is a variety of a trick I learnt from Luke Prodromou at the TESOL convention in Spain this year. His idea was to write the names of the children in each class on a piece of paper and keep them in your pocket. Ever time you ask a question instead of asking children to put their hands up. You simply pull out a name from your pocket.
The card version was shown to me by a fellow teacher Sandra and is more practical if you teach a lot of classes, as you can write the names of four children on each side of the card. Each class is given a colour so when you take a card from the stack you can read the childs' name easily.
Why???? I hear you asking. Well, as Luke said asking children to put their hands up to join in and answer questions is not really very efficient because
a) the same kids always put their hands up
b) the same kids never put their hands up
c) some kids put their hands up even if they don't know the answer
When you stop to think about it he's got a point!
It's particularly useful if you teach large classes.