Be strict Be fun Like children Have children Be with-it Be creative Be able to think on their toes Have a lot of energy Have good drawing skills Be young Be friendly Be confident Be cooperative Be organised Be authoritarian Have a tidy classroom Insist on no L1 at all times Be like a parent figure Have clear boundaries Use a variety of didactic games

How to get the most out of your very young learner classes…

Be strict Be fun Like children Have children Be with-it Be creative Be able to think on their feet Have a lot of energy Have good drawing skills Be young Be friendly Be confident Be cooperative Be organized Be authoritarian Have a tidy classroom Insist on no L1 at all times Be like a parent figure A good VYL teacher should… Have clear boundaries

Getting the most out of your classes: 3 stages of C/M 70% 25% 5% PLANNING RULES AND DISCIPLINE PROCEDURES REAL TIME: PRESENCE

PROBLEMS: Why do they happen? How can you avoid them?

You want to do a colour dictation with the students, so you get them to get out their coloured pencils, sit them on the floor and then hand out the worksheets. You are about to start the activity, but many of them have already started colouring half the objects on the page. You ask all the students a quick question before they enter the classroom. When the last one comes in, you realise 4 or 5 of the students are still choosing a seat and are wandering around, whilst another two are arguing over whose chair it is. While students are completing a worksheet, they start talking to each other in Spanish. You ask them to stop, but they continue and ignore your request. During a colouring activity, you go around monitoring, asking students questions about their work. Many refuse to answer you in English and look at you blankly. As students come into the class, it takes you over 5 minutes to get them settled as they play with their bags and attempt to hang their coats on the hook.

You are trying to demonstrate an activity, but some students are looking out of the window, another is playing with her classmate’s hair and another has climbed under the table. You are busy teaching the lesson, but despite telling a specific student a number of times that there is no Spanish in class, every five minutes they insist on attempting to tell you they are going to their friend’s birthday party tomorrow. Students are working individually, there are 10 minutes left ‘til the end of the class and 2 have already finished. They start walking around the classroom, distracting the others who are working. You are doing an colour dictation/class cutting/sticking activity in which the students have to follow your instructions. However, some of the students are much faster than others.

How does this teacher solve/preempt these types of problems?

What conclusions can we draw from this seminar? Keeping students engaged throughout. Possible behavioural problems in the planning stages. Making sure they have the language to be in an “English” environment. Planning instructions/demonstrations. Group dynamics. Planning around the space you have: what are they doing and where are they doing it? Setting up routines (Not only in terms of activities, but also a set manner in which the class is conducted every lesson: How do they take out their pencils? How do you move them from the floor to the chairs? How do you get their attention? How do they come in/leave the class? How do they organise their bags/coats? Having all materials prepared and at hand before the lesson starts. Pace Being consistent. Not ignoring bad behaviour. Monitoring. Setting up clear rules and sticking to them: do not let students get away with “rule breaking”. If you make a threat: ALWAYS GO THROUGH WITH IT! Setting up reward systems. Think about...