So, it's your first day in primary school? It must be rather nerve wrecking, isn't it? Imagine facing off with 40 of the most ruthless, blood-thirsty, I mean cute and adorable children for the first time. Well, don't worry, as a teacher trainer with experience teaching in a primary school, I am here to prepare you for that first day of facing off the horde, I mean the cute little ones and handling them well.
So let us begin....
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The first thing you need is Jon Snow's sword to strike fear into the hearts of any student who dares cross you. Wait, no swords? No problem, I've got you covered. On a serious note, one of the first things a teacher should initiate is rules and a reward system. Positive reinforcement goes a long way in managing the students.
Rules and Rewards
I know, you have the perfect teacher's voice. I know your voice travels far and wide but, your voice is no match for a group of 40 students. As such, a good way to start off will be to ensure that rules are well established. These rules should be short and should encourage the behavior that you desire to see in the class. Do you want them to be respectful to each other? That can be a rule, or at least a rule that encompasses most positive behavior. In addition, primary school children love gifts and rewards.
While it is possible to reward the child every single time they do something right, you would likely be a very poor teacher by the end of the month. As such, have a scoreboard, something that is easily seen on the board that can help the students see how they are performing. This also encourages them to be at their best behavior as they all have their eyes on the prize. No, I'm not suggesting some mini hunger games in the class but depending on the age group and culture, some of them may not respond well without some form of motivation involved.
Come to think about it, maybe a mini hunger games is not such a bad idea. I mean, it would be cool to micromanage the class from the cool device that they have in the hunger games.
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The Hook
Alright, now that the rules are established, you will need to hook the students with dazzling lights, epic music, excitement and maybe a cute dancing tree. You know, like the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
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That's the part where everyone was fighting an intergalactic monster. There was explosion, action, fun and a cute little dancing tree. What's that now? Sigh... The guy staring over my shoulder says that we don't have the budget for cute dancing trees and fireworks. Yes, we do have a tight budget as such a good way to impress the students on the first day of school is to use an item that students are not able to see or experience in school.
An example is when I brought a tortoise to school as part of a lesson. The students were all so excited and were more than happy to pay attention throughout the whole lesson so they could touch the tortoise at the end of the lesson. It was a great experience for them, not for the tortoise though.
The point is, it is important to bring an item that can be used to hook the students to the lesson. An interesting lesson is important as it keeps the engaged. At the very least, it will help the teacher transition the child into the lesson via some context that the hook provides.
Be Confident
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I know this is obvious but primary school children are adorable. They look up to the teacher, they generally do respect and listen to the teacher. In addition, they are funny, creative and filled with so many ideas that its difficult to not be happy to around them.
Many of the fears that stem from the first day of teaching in a primary school comes from over-thinking and over-planning. That creates stress. I remember my first day in a primary school I overthought and planned for every possible outcome. I even brought a guitar to school. Well, the strings snapped and I had to play twinkle-twinkle little star with only one key. The students however, loved it, they sang out of tune, they danced to the weird version of the song and everyone had fun.
You may come up with the best lesson on the first day, but trust me, as long as you try, the students will think the world of you. That, to me is success.
Hi. That was a great list of tips. Reconditioning with rewards was a popular approaches among primary school teacher, basically using reward system to reinforce positive behavior but the most important thing is not only to let them know in the future, if they do good deeds, they will feel and rewarded with some kind of satisfaction but if they are facing failure, even if they give everything they've got, being persistent and patient will also be rewarding. After all, good attitude is not something we're born with.
That's very true, ultimately, they need to be trained and taught how to behave in a certain manner. As you've mentioned, reconditioning with rewards is important.
haha..nowadays kids are totally not like us used to be. I salute all teachers for their fighting spirit.