Teaching at a gradeschool ... any ideas ?

[Youkai]

(sorry for the big big wall of text, you may skip most of it and just go down all the way )

Hi there guys,
a friend asked me if I could help out as an assistant labguagl teacher at the school his wife works so I gave him vita and let him send it to the school....

Now they hired me as an Substrate Teacher to teach a first grade class for about three weeks.
I am no teacher, I don't have the qualifications or any experience, the only teaching I ever did was doing IT class back in the days because my teacher had no clue about IT at all plus I did teach some kids mat the spoets club to help out my trainer.

Yesterday the Teacher wasn't there for the first time leaving me alone with the kids for one hour and I noticed that they were trying how far they can go and I had no idea how to stop it :/

Today I did some lessons but their teacher was still sitting in the classroom so it was okay (still was a little bit of a mess when everyone stormed to the board because I told them that everyone can write down a math question for everyone to solve)
from tomorrow I will be all alone with them teaching
English, Math, Science, Social Science, IT and Art ...

While I can speak English I am not sure if I can actually teach kids and well art... we always climbed out of the window to play soccer as our teacher was on drugs usually so I never did anything in Art lessons (never likes to draw even as a child)
There was no Social Science back in my time at school only had some stuff they teach in SS as a separate class


Yesterday in English class I tries to make them think up a story while the sentences have to start in alphabetical order but in the end there was not a "story" and the always used stuff like "the ant did" "the bird did" "the caterpillar did" ... :/


But I have to admit those kids are pure suggar and usually behave very well ^^ still I can see a lot of trouble comming to me

-----------------------------

Anyone with teaching experiences here who could give me some good hints ?

Maybe even games or songs that are good for little kids.
I thought of showing them the hokey cokey song/dance as I believe they don't know it and maybe do very easy sudoku in math but thats pretty much everything I came up with for now

(there are 7 kids in the class only, all of them Japanese but they speak rather good english as they learned it since kindergarden)

 

[MeowMeowMeow]

It think the most important thing is to let them like you, try not to be a boring teacher who only gives homework and tells boring stuff. Try to use humor make jokes and try to make the lessons fun. For example tell the kids if they make their homework you will get them candy BUT only the kids that make the homework.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

I don't know much about teaching, but I will give you a tip on behavior: if a kid is acting up and being a "problem child" it's because they're bored and/or want attention. Other people may tell you you shouldn't give them that attention, I say do, but not in front of the rest of the class. 9 times out of 10, the reason kids act out is because they find what you're having them do either far too easy or far too difficult. If they tell you they're bored, put them in charge of helping kids that might not get the material as well. If they say they don't understand what you're teaching, try to make accommodations based on what they say they're having trouble with and what they say (or what you find) makes it easier for them

You should also make it clear throughout the interaction that the kid isn't in trouble, and that you're just new at this and trying to do what's best for everyone

 

[Windaga]

When I first started teaching, the best advice I ever received was,"Establish Goals, both with the kids and with yourself."

It's easier for the kids to relate to you if you both have an easy to understand goal; get them to celebrate with you when you achieve your goal, and they'll take ownership of the situation. On the other hand, failing to achieve a goal might feel sucky, but because everyone is involved, they'll all feel involved and (hopefully) devise better plans of attack collectively. If you can bring the kids together, they'll accept you as the reason for it and bring you unti their fold, too.

It's not ever this black and white, of course, but that's the general idea. When I was working with Third Graders, I would sometimes put the entire class as one group and challenge them to do something faster than me. if they won, I'd have each of them go to the board and write their name and draw something small. Afterwards I'd take a picture of the board. After doing this for a whole 3 months, I'd show it to them in a presentation to show them how much better their handwriting and drawing got. It's a cute way to get everyone involved, thus bringing the collective attitude of the class up.

Also, your name: you have to decide very early on what you want the kids to call you. Once you do, try to insert your name into conversations, math examples, etc. as much as possible. I've found kids are more willing to work with you and let you into their circles the more you relate to them, and calling you by your recognizable name is the first step.

 

[FAST6191]

Are you in Japan? Teaching in Japan is an odd one by most accounts, especially the more rural areas.
Any number of nice horror story type videos but we will start with


"I noticed that they were trying how far they can go and I had no idea how to stop it"
It is the standard protocol for new/substitute teachers. I am not sure what punishments you are allowed to do in your capacity. Making them go sit at a table by themselves and then asking them to rejoin in a few minutes might be a start.

Art wise. I never massively liked to draw either but I don't mind technical drawing and maths related stuff. Maybe see if you have an equivalent, of the history of art might be a nice one.

 

[Youkai]

First, thanks everyone !

@MeowMeowMeow
I was thinking of making them an offer telling rhem "if you work well and don't run aroins or so some other bad stuff I will bot give you homework".
The idea with the candy is not bad but school rules forbid sharing any kind of food with the kids because there is a chance any of the kids have some allergies

@TotalInsanity4
thanks, you are probably right about beeing bored, my kids are all very bright so I was surprised...

@Windaga
no sure how to set any goals but I was thinking of using lots of group work that they have to do do that everyone lesrns something and they need to explain to each other if someone does not get it.
It seems normal that the kids use mister or misses and the first name which I like a lot ^^

@FAST6191
Thanks for answering ^^
yeah I am in Japan but it is a private school that is led by Indian people in Tokyo thre is no need for suits or anything special and they speak very good english.

but I can not have anyone sit away, we do not even have a "room" it is just one big place separated by some closets ^^V

I don't think first graders can do technical drawings and I have no idea about any arts theory at all.... I somehow need to look up as much as possible.

Even in first grade they learn stuff that seems hard to me

 

[MeowMeowMeow]

First, thanks everyone !

@MeowMeowMeow
I was thinking of making them an offer telling rhem "if you work well and don't run aroins or so some other bad stuff I will bot give you homework".
The idea with the candy is not bad but school rules forbid sharing any kind of food with the kids because there is a chance any of the kids have some allergies

@TotalInsanity4
thanks, you are probably right about beeing bored, my kids are all very bright so I was surprised...

@Windaga
no sure how to set any goals but I was thinking of using lots of group work that they have to do do that everyone lesrns something and they need to explain to each other if someone does not get it.
It seems normal that the kids use mister or misses and the first name which I like a lot ^^

@FAST6191
Thanks for answering ^^
yeah I am in Japan but it is a private school that is led by Indian people in Tokyo thre is no need for suits or anything special and they speak very good english.

but I can not have anyone sit away, we do not even have a "room" it is just one big place separated by some closets ^^V

I don't think first graders can do technical drawings and I have no idea about any arts theory at all.... I somehow need to look up as much as possible.

Even in first grade they learn stuff that seems hard to me

Aah I see didnt know it was that strict. Anyway if you promise they wont get homework, they will associate it with something not fun/bad. Maybe promise them some kind of a suprise?

 

[FAST6191]

That not needing suits and the like speaks to more of what I have seen others say about Japan -- even most of the backwaters in Asia will want various certificates where Japan just wants you to have a pulse at lot of the time.

I am not talking about fully dimensioned, multi angle and the like technical drawings. I have taught people that young (5-7 range I assume this is) the basics before too.

Simple one.
Being kids they sometimes like cars.
Ask them to draw and you will get an outline of the car, possibly off a bit as drawing the circumference of something is actually quite hard.
Teach them instead to do the basics of sketch lines (in the case of cars I did the two rectangles slightly offset thing, two more but slightly smaller and you have the bonnet, do some soft curves between it and you start having a far nicer car). Do some tracing/join the dots sort of thing -- ask them to put dots on the vertices of a car picture, take the picture away and get them to fill in the gaps).

" Even in first grade they learn stuff that seems hard to me "
Be sure that it is actually hard and not just a different approach
For instance

Spoiler: see the video first

First seeing that I started down the path of the crazy geometry that I know and even then it was tricky, the reduction technique it covers in the "actual" solution though is far nicer.

 

[Youkai]

So first day alone with the kids...
kind of went well I think but the director came in every 5 minutes telling me I am doing it all wrong in front of the kids :/

but at least after some time she gave up.

 

[Youkai]

Need some more help ...

the class seems nice and they like me but I am not a teacher, I don't know hoe to teach
It is only about a month but still I want the kids to learn as much as possible and have skme fun while doing so ...

I made some stuff for math (easy for me) but that's pretty much it ^^V

I got some kind of poster for consonant blends in english (never learned anything like that in school, why is that even important to learn?) but that's all I have.

I need to teach them about the countries of the World (no idea if they just need to get an overview or need to learn every single one of them...) but how can I do that ? there are more than 200 so it is not possible even if I would take the whole year to do it xD

Still need to figure out how to teach english at all... I only learned it starting 5th grade and we were learning 10-20 new words each week and had a test ... but I dontd want to do something like that with first graders and I think they learned english by using it and not by actually "studying".
Really hard to know what they know and not know, I was surprised when they showed me pictures of scarecrows and scorpions asking what they are called in english as this is some "basic" stuff ... and on the other hand they know words I have never heard of before or usually don't use as I use another word with the same meaning

 

[elliwigy]

lmao wow, some school! no offense to you but hiring someone for 3 weeks to teach 1st graders when you have no experience and are clearly not a teacher is a bit off in my book lol. I would take my kid to another school lol

If you're not first you're last!

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Need some more help ...

the class seems nice and they like me but I am not a teacher, I don't know hoe to teach
It is only about a month but still I want the kids to learn as much as possible and have skme fun while doing so ...

I made some stuff for math (easy for me) but that's pretty much it ^^V

I got some kind of poster for consonant blends in english (never learned anything like that in school, why is that even important to learn?) but that's all I have.

I need to teach them about the countries of the World (no idea if they just need to get an overview or need to learn every single one of them...) but how can I do that ? there are more than 200 so it is not possible even if I would take the whole year to do it xD

Still need to figure out how to teach english at all... I only learned it starting 5th grade and we were learning 10-20 new words each week and had a test ... but I dontd want to do something like that with first graders and I think they learned english by using it and not by actually "studying".
Really hard to know what they know and not know, I was surprised when they showed me pictures of scarecrows and scorpions asking what they are called in english as this is some "basic" stuff ... and on the other hand they know words I have never heard of before or usually don't use as I use another word with the same meaning

Is there... like... some sort of curriculum you're supposed to be following that could guide you?

 

[elliwigy]

another reason you shouldnt be teaching lol.. kids will see right through you.. you need to be more confident even if you are out of your league..

it sounds like you need to be a bit more tough.. of course dont beat them or be mean but try to find some activities that interests them and keeps them engaged but at the same time you need to control the energy

First, thanks everyone !

@MeowMeowMeow
I was thinking of making them an offer telling rhem "if you work well and don't run aroins or so some other bad stuff I will bot give you homework".
The idea with the candy is not bad but school rules forbid sharing any kind of food with the kids because there is a chance any of the kids have some allergies

@TotalInsanity4
thanks, you are probably right about beeing bored, my kids are all very bright so I was surprised...

@Windaga
no sure how to set any goals but I was thinking of using lots of group work that they have to do do that everyone lesrns something and they need to explain to each other if someone does not get it.
It seems normal that the kids use mister or misses and the first name which I like a lot ^^

@FAST6191
Thanks for answering ^^
yeah I am in Japan but it is a private school that is led by Indian people in Tokyo thre is no need for suits or anything special and they speak very good english.

but I can not have anyone sit away, we do not even have a "room" it is just one big place separated by some closets ^^V

I don't think first graders can do technical drawings [emoji14] and I have no idea about any arts theory at all.... I somehow need to look up as much as possible.

Even in first grade they learn stuff that seems hard to me

If you're not first you're last!

 

[elliwigy]

they need to get used to having homework.. why not give them homework but make it something fun so they look forward to it instead?

Aah I see didnt know it was that strict. Anyway if you promise they wont get homework, they will associate it with something not fun/bad. Maybe promise them some kind of a suprise?

If you're not first you're last!

 

[elliwigy]

lol why are consenant blends important to learn? thats like saying why is it important to learn English.. In order to learn a language you need to understand it

Need some more help ...

the class seems nice and they like me but I am not a teacher, I don't know hoe to teach
It is only about a month but still I want the kids to learn as much as possible and have skme fun while doing so ...

I made some stuff for math (easy for me) but that's pretty much it ^^V

I got some kind of poster for consonant blends in english (never learned anything like that in school, why is that even important to learn?) but that's all I have.

I need to teach them about the countries of the World (no idea if they just need to get an overview or need to learn every single one of them...) but how can I do that ? there are more than 200 so it is not possible even if I would take the whole year to do it xD

Still need to figure out how to teach english at all... I only learned it starting 5th grade and we were learning 10-20 new words each week and had a test ... but I dontd want to do something like that with first graders and I think they learned english by using it and not by actually "studying".
Really hard to know what they know and not know, I was surprised when they showed me pictures of scarecrows and scorpions asking what they are called in english as this is some "basic" stuff ... and on the other hand they know words I have never heard of before or usually don't use as I use another word with the same meaning

If you're not first you're last!

 

[elliwigy]

for countries just teach them about USA.. its the greatest country in the world and the only one that really matters :-)

Need some more help ...

the class seems nice and they like me but I am not a teacher, I don't know hoe to teach
It is only about a month but still I want the kids to learn as much as possible and have skme fun while doing so ...

I made some stuff for math (easy for me) but that's pretty much it ^^V

I got some kind of poster for consonant blends in english (never learned anything like that in school, why is that even important to learn?) but that's all I have.

I need to teach them about the countries of the World (no idea if they just need to get an overview or need to learn every single one of them...) but how can I do that ? there are more than 200 so it is not possible even if I would take the whole year to do it xD

Still need to figure out how to teach english at all... I only learned it starting 5th grade and we were learning 10-20 new words each week and had a test ... but I dontd want to do something like that with first graders and I think they learned english by using it and not by actually "studying".
Really hard to know what they know and not know, I was surprised when they showed me pictures of scarecrows and scorpions asking what they are called in english as this is some "basic" stuff ... and on the other hand they know words I have never heard of before or usually don't use as I use another word with the same meaning

If you're not first you're last!

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Yo @elliwigy either keep it positive and down to one post at a time or sod off. He's probably nervous enough as it is without you making fun of him

 

[elliwigy]

im just being honest lol they must be desparate for teachers

Yo @elliwigy either keep it positive and down to one post at a time or sod off. He's probably nervous enough as it is without you making fun of him

If you're not first you're last!

 

[Youkai]

I don't think you would take any kid off a school only because one teacher takes a break and they can not find a proper teacher for such a short while.
That would be much of a hassle plus the school seems really good hardly ever saw such bright kids.

And yeah I never learned about those consonant blends at all so I don't get how it is important ... if I am not mistaken it seems to be only learning the different pronounciacion but you could do it just by using the language instead of specially training for some words.
I never learned it but I don't think I am doing lots of mistakes in this area.

I think with my training I got I can teach math very easy and as an assistant tracher (that is what I applied for) I could be good enough as well for english but yeah I was never trained to be a teacher at all.

It is especially hard when they are supposed to learn stuff I never learned myself ^^V

I want to do the job as good as possible so I am hoping that there are teachers and or native speakers here with good ideas.
I was told "we can not pay you the same as the other teachers as you don't have to prepare anything just use whatever there is" but I still used half of my weekend already preparing stuff for my kids ^^

for countries just teach them about USA.. its the greatest country in the world and the only one that really matters :-)

wtf? no .... just no....


@TotalInsanity4
yes there is a currucurri saying they need to learn consonant blends and punktuation for this month ...
I started english in 5th grade not in 1st so even if they would have done this in school (which they have not) it would probably have been differen from stuff I could use for a first grade ^^V

and well yeah math is no problem just need to find the right difficulty for them ... first they were like "this is sooooo easy" and got bored then next one was like "it is waaaaaay to hard for us we don't understand" xD

 

[elliwigy]

maybe not for 3 weeks haha, i was just messin with ya..

as far as pronunciation yes, they can learn eventually but teaching them the technicalities can help them learn quicker.. it also would help with reading and writing.. its not too hard, theres a lot of blends tho but its basically 2 or 3 consonants in words that make up a consonant sound such as "bl" in "blends" is itself a consonant blend lol

and i just threw the USA comment in there for giggles.. just remember, you too can make america great again!

I don't think you would take any kid off a school only because one teacher takes a break and they can not find a proper teacher for such a short while.
That would be much of a hassle plus the school seems really good hardly ever saw such bright kids.

And yeah I never learned about those consonant blends at all so I don't get how it is important ... if I am not mistaken it seems to be only learning the different pronounciacion but you could do it just by using the language instead of specially training for some words.
I never learned it but I don't think I am doing lots of mistakes in this area.


I think with my training I got I can teach math very easy and as an assistant tracher (that is what I applied for) I could be good enough as well for english but yeah I was never trained to be a teacher at all.


It is especially hard when they are supposed to learn stuff I never learned myself ^^V




wtf? no .... just no....


@TotalInsanity4
yes there is a currucurri saying they need to learn consonant blends and punktuation for this month ...
I started english in 5th grade not in 1st so even if they would have done this in school (which they have not) it would probably have been differen from stuff I could use for a first grade ^^V

and well yeah math is no problem just need to find the right difficulty for them ... first they were like "this is sooooo easy" and got bored then next one was like "it is waaaaaay to hard for us we don't understand" xD

If you're not first you're last!