Hello Amy.
Sounds like my first teaching experience with kids in China. Yes, quite scary. Ever since then I decided to make sure things like these don't happen to other teachers.
When you did the miming that was a good thing because one way kids learn is by copying what we as adults do. Use a lot of miming actions and build that into a routine. It will go a long way to help with your classroom management.
For kids like you mentioned, flashcards are only exciting when playing games with them. If you only use them to show and tell new vocabulary that is bound to get boring after five minutes max. Flashcards are mostly good if well used for actively engaging kids in Games like Fly-swatting, Slap and Say, Chinese Whispers and more. Engage by having games that require the kids to touch and say, listen and touch, usually with a reward system in place.
There is a website I have been working on that might just solve your problems. Check out this
Free Sample Lesson on Farm Animals to see how these materials might be of help. Do forget to first read the PDF lesson guide. If you have projectors in class there are Powerpoints and Interactive Games to use.