[AnGyE]

ok Iam from CR. and I have a very difficult kids from second grades to sixth grades, so they came from a very conflictive coumnity, they had no experience with english teachers in the school so its their first time !
My problem besides that! is that I am beggining with this English Teacher stuffs so I am frustrated because in the school i had no materials to work with I gave to them so photocopies and they throw it or leave it at home... and also their family doesnt support them or enourage them toward english language...
I dont know what to do with them because their are so violeneta and indisciplinated and I have tried some activities but that ends with a complety mess!!
here I see you have excelent material but I cant asked them to paid the photocopies because not aall of them can give me the money... so I cant use my own ...
plus they dont know much or anything of english so I cant use some interesting activities that I found here...
I will glad if you can help me...
angye

[yiannaCH]

Hi Angye,

Sounds realy tuff, my heart goes out to you. What resources do you have available? I mean do you have a school photocopier & laminater? Stuff like that?
One word of advice, don't give them stuff to take home. Make your copies and collect them each time they've been used by the class. At the end of each activity, that way you'll not loss your materials. If you do have a laminater, use it..... if not see if the people who employ you will provide one. I know it's hard but if you don't ask you'll never get....

[mesmark]

It sounds like you've lost them and lost control. My advice would be to keep it very simple. Don't try to teach them anything to start. Look for an activity that gets them excited and catches their attention. Just have fun, get their trust, and then try to get them to speak a little.

You may have to take the class down to the gym and play dodgeball. Once you have the students engaged, try to get them to answer a question before they throw a ball. You'd think they wouldn't do it, but if you tell them that if they don't ask the question, the person on the other team doesn't have to sit out, THEN they will.

Slowly, you can stop that kind of activity as you gain their trust and essentially control. Then you can bring them back to the classroom and regular teaching (with the promise of heading back to the gym, if they're good )

How many students do you have at a time? Are you teaching within a curriculum you have to finish?

[sunhelen]

It sounds like you are having a difficult time. How many students do you have in a class? How many students total?

My advice is to concentrate on discipline and simple games to begin with. Do you have any flashcards or can you make some? Flashcards are good for simple games.

If you don't have a laminator, you can make flashcards by gluing pictures to construction paper or cardboard.

[AnGyE]

yeah I know well in total theres are around 150 sts but inside the groups it may vary some are huge like 35 students and some are few like 18 sts.
actually I am using in this moment the flashcards but just for reviewing pronunciation but as a game I havent try it yet! I will look for some good games here...
thanks a lot

[AnGyE]

well I dont have any resources available neither a photocopies and those stuffs......
I talked with the principal about the problem but the issues is that they are like me without any material and resources,, you know it s a public school so the goverment is the one in charge of provide us monetary resources....so.... none....
ah YIANNACH thanks for the advice about the materials I gave to them I will use this definitely..

[AnGyE]

OK MESMARK
YOU SEE THIS TOO SIMPLE BUT I DONT THINK THE SAME AS YOU...
WELL IN THE SCHOOL THERE ISNT A GYM JUST CLASSROOMS.
THE ACTIVITY YOU TOLD ME SOUNDS GREAT BUT MY QUESTION IS.... HOW THEY ARE GOING TO ANSWER ME IF THEY DONT KNOW ANYTHING??? JUST WORDS THAT I WILL TELL THEM'???? IM CONFUSED HERE....jiji
WELL I DO HAVE A CURRICULUM TO END WITH THEM BUT I AM SO MUCH BEHIND TO DO THAT... THEY ARE JUST WITH THE FIRST CYCLE PROGRAM FOR ALL GRADES FROM SECOND TO SIXTH GRADES... THEY ARE AROUND 150!!!
OK SO I AM GOING TO DO THAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES SPECIALLY WITH 3RD GRADE BECAUSE THEY HATE ENGLISH!!!! THEY EVEN LIKE THE LESSONS AND THEY ARE SO INDISCIPLINATED WITH ALL THE OTHERS TEACHERS.
WITH THE OTHERS THEY ARE WORKING WELL RIGHT KNOW.. I WILL USE THAT WITH THEM
THANKS A LOT

[sunhelen]

Here is a good flashcard game. Throw a set of cards in the air. Call out the words from the cards, and see who can find the right card first. If anyone pushes or fights, they are out of the game. Sometimes I only let them step on the cards because if they try to pick the cards up, their hands get stepped on.

Pictionary can be a good game also. You should start by drawing some vocabulary words on the board to see if they can guess. Then let some of the better behaved students come up to draw the words they know.

Sometimes you can have the students teach each other. Have each student come up. Show them a flashcard and whisper the word to them. Then they have to tell the word to the rest of the class.

[die__lehrerin]

That really sounds like a challenge! I agree with mesmark in the point,that you have to earn their trust and love! But of course they also have to feel that you feel and care for them, that you are not just "another teacher of english"..

Once I started teaching in an absolutely unwilling to learn anything class! That was disaster! Of course, the root of this disaster lies in discipline!

I would recommend to point out several (not many! - otherwise they'll not handle all of them in their own heads) rules for your classes, and if that's possible-hang them on the wall, so that if the student breaks the rule, you reference to the "real" rule,which the student had broken! These rules must help you earn the feeling of confidence they should feel towards you...

And children love laughing! Make them laugh, be a bit (controllably) funny, be a kid(somewhere deep inside), and you'll see that fire in their eyes, which is worth all the efforts and sleepless nights...

Now, concerning activities and games for the lesson...When I had my teaching practice at public school,they also didn't provide us with any kinds of flashcards, or worksheets... And at that time,I didn't really make friends with Internet, so actually,I made my own flashcards...

Some sleepless nights of drawing and painting, some clumsy depictions of active vocabulary (like,"an apple", or "I am eating a sandwich") and wonderful result! First of all -Those smiles, which children have on their faces when they first see your funny pictures, and then -again- they sense that you CARE and make something specially for them... That works really well...

And, also maybe we could organize a special topic,where we would be sharing some ideas for teaching with the cheapest preparation...

Maybe, I re-invented the bycicle, but thats something that helped me a lot, and I hope it will help you too!!

Good Luck!