teaching a chatty K class

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Home : 2004 : September : 28

teaching a chatty K class
By carolyn

I am teaching six kindergarten classes a week. I teach elementary Spanish. I more or less gave them a little "slack" the first two months of school as they tried to settle into structure. Today, I stood in front of the
group and explained to them that in school there are set rules to follow--not just for my class or their teacher's, but for the entire year and the years to come. I started out today by having them repeat after me: "I will raise my hand to speak. I will sit properly in my seat. I will pay attention to the teacher when she is speaking."
Sometimes, we have to skip the education part

and work on procedures and rules. It sounds as if yours haven't quite "caught on" to what you want them to do, but I think that they could, if you pressed the issue.

I have seen a number of primary teachers try various techniques to get kids attention when they aren't listening. This is a "One, two, three, eyes on me." Another one is to clap in a pattern. Clap, clap--clap, clap, clap. The children are supposed to imitate you. Once you have their attention, you can explain what you need to to them.

Kindergarten kids need a lot of explaining and a lot of practice with rules and procedures. Go very slowly, and painstakingly explain to them again and again what they need to do for you.