[ApplePie]

I teach in a Kindergarten, kids from 2 to 6. They get 1 class per week of half an hour - 40 min, I split them 3 groups, so that I usually teach 8 to 15 at a time.

My biggest problem is in controlling the kids.

They're fine with songs, I sing they mimick... but when I try to do games, it's mayhem. They won't listen to instructions, and they can be pretty stubborn. They're not really bad or rawdy, I do feel I'm the one who's doing wrong. They behave really well with their usual teachers, and that makes me feel kind of guilty.

For instance, just yesterday, we did body parts. Lesson plan was:
-circle song (that they know and like)
-a quick revision of colors,
-"if you're happy" song (also a revision)
-some new vocabulary about body parts
-head and shoulders, knees and toes
-a drawing on the blackboard game

First group (10 kids 5 to 6)
I had placed the blackboard in the class and as they got there, they started drawing and I had a hard time getting their attention to start lesson, and some of them ignored me and did other things the whole time, like getting some toys and books out and erasing the blackboard while I was drawing, because they wanted to draw themselves...
Second group (10 4-5 yr old kids) I hid the black board before starting, and all was fine (apart from 1-2 kids ignoring me) until the blackboard game, that just 3-4 children wanted to do, and they really just wanted to draw and not to follow instructions.
And at a certain point they got all the books in the classroom out and wanted to start reading on their own.
Last group (7 4-5 yr old kids) was good, because they all paid attention to me most of the time, but they did want to read books and not really the activity I had planned, so we did some of the things I had planned and then I kind of took their lead and we read the books learning some words in English.

I'm usually an authoritative person, so much that at first I thought I might scare kids or be too strict yet I feel as if they push me around. Probably this is due to my inexperience, and being a new teacher they're testing, but I don't know how to handle it.

I do have hope in the future because it looks as though each lesson I'm doing a little better, and when it's play time the children do come and ask me for words in English, want to play with me, and so on... (even some of the "bad" kids that don't pay attention or are disruptive during lesson time) - but I wish I had some tips from someone with more experience in language teaching.