I am a Teacher: September 2014

attention grabber

Attention grabber

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

There will be a time in your class when you are on top of your lungs

and

no one seem to notice...

You will be wondering why, out of frustration begin to nag or get angrier

until the time is up and you are relief to be out of the classroom...

I learn the hard way to get attention from my pupils.

and Ya, I was the one yelling, screaming and my favourite nagging!

Until...

Picture from Sergii Figurni i stock

Few years back, I learned to keep track of the things that my pupils love...

singing, dancing and a silly teacher!

So I started to sing when they were busy making noise or doing other things,

I made silly faces or tell jokes,

I play music on my radio,

and find song for every activity...

On tour for coaching and mentoring, I found teachers with ideas for getting attention.

I manage to capture this and I hope you do find some inspiration.

There are 4 parts in this video, it consists of greetings, intervention , goodbye and praise.

Well, I made that 'intervention' term, as I saw that the teacher use the grabber to get the pupils back on track throughout the lesson.

I love the improvements she made in her classroom. I wish her the best of luck!

Teaching Aids

My pupils finished early, now what?

Friday, September 19, 2014

We always hope that our classroom activities are enough.

I dreaded when pupils yell "I have finished my work, madam!"

Sometimes I prepared extra work prior to class.

Other times I asked them to be junior teachers, coaching their peers.

or I gave them toys to play,

help me with class management,

silent reading,

group play with the flash cards,

you name it, just about everything under the classroom lights!

Recently, I encountered a teacher having this problem. Her pupils finished work early and became unruly until she straighten them out.

As her coach, I should help her solve this problem so I searched on the internet for some ideas....

and

I think teachers can try this...

1. Keep a pile of old newspapers in the classroom.

When they have finished their work ask them to take a page and...

highlight words that describe their friends.

Later, pupils can draw his or friends and write the words around it.

2. Play a game of snake and ladder.

All you need is a template, downloadable on the internet. Here's a sample

Picture from sparklebox

Laminate it.

Gave the pupils colourful erasable marker pens and ask them to write the words they have learnt in the boxes.

They can use their erasers as markers. (I think teacher must supply a die)

Pupils can spell or act when they landed on the words...(or whatever!)

3. Make a HELLO card

Teachers must have stacks of colourful papers for the pupils disposal. Pupils can make a HELLO card for their love ones wishing them well.

Let them to be creative!

4. Memory Booster

Teacher provides pupils with picture cards. Pupils arrange it face down. Their goal is to get a matching set. At one time, only two cards are allowed to be turned. Pupils need to remember the location of the cards to get the match!

5. Love the colours!

Teachers can print colouring pages from DLTK's. Have abundance of copies print, in different themes. Pupils may choose according to their preference.

So...

All you need is a magic box.

Prepare the box prior to the academic year and review it every now and then.

Suit it with the activities that you want to do.

In this case...

You can stuffed the box with:

i) Old newspapers

ii) Laminated snake and ladder template

iii) Colourful A4 Papers

iv) Picture Flash Cards

v) Colouring pages

vi) Pens, Markers, Coloured Pencils

Give it a try!

classroom language

What to say, How should I say?

Friday, September 05, 2014

For second language teachers to be effective in the classroom, they need to plan their way. Maximizing the time for total exposure of the language in class will benefit the learners especially the ones acquiring it as second or foreign language.

While teachers routinely plan for their lesson, aligning the objectives and the activities, some failed to notice the language that they use in the classroom. No! I am not against the usage of native language or first language (L1) in the classroom but I hope teachers capitalize pupils knowledge of L1 for their excellence in the second language.

How?

When teachers gave instructions, they need to be patient. Use gestures and do not be afraid if no one understands it. Try multiple times. Remember, language learning is not concentrated on achieving the lesson objectives only but it is attributed into number of ways to be successful.

This was what I tried during my teaching days and it work! Over time, your pupils will understand and even mimic you before you even had the chance to finish your sentence.

Okay, back to discussion.

In Malaysia, majority of the English Language teachers in the national schools are non-native speakers. Therefore the language is not natural to us. We acquire it through learning, in institution and enhance it through self-learning. When I say it is not natural, then we have to plan it. Just like we plan our lesson.

What to say?

When to say?

How to say?

Who to say to?

Here are some tips to get you going, consistently, optimistically, and patiently with correct and appropriate classroom language.

1. Understand why you need to use the language you are teaching.

For maximum exposures.
Teaching listening and speaking informally.
You are paid to do so!

2. Categorize the classroom language. For example greetings and farewells, attention grabber, praises and encouragements, classroom organization and instructions for the 4 skills of the language.

Read example of Classroom Language here.

3. Practice with friends or record them for assessment.

4. Experiment it with your class often to see the kind of language that suits them.

Give it a try without resorting to L1 after 1 second of delivery. I did it and I have seen others that try and achieve if not much, little success.

Never give up!