First Day Expectations
The first day of class can be a nervous situation for all concerned: teachers, students and also for many parents.
What to expect
The phrase ‘expect the unexpected’ naturally comes to mind when thinking about teaching younger learners, and even more so when thinking about the first day of term. This phrase was amusingly highlighted this year in one ofmy colleagues’ classes, with one of her 4-year-old students turning up on the first day, dressed and pretending to be a ninja turtle! Now, this isn’t so typical but many situations can be….
Crying children
VYLS: Crying on the first day (or a little longer) is very common with VYLs especially if it is their first day in an English class, and everything is new to them. With many three- and four-year-old classes here at the academy, the whole group is new to the academy, so there could be a lot of nervous children in the group. Often one child could come crying and it could make other children tearful too.
What to do: first of all try to stay calm (even though it can be difficult) and be ready for this. Setting up the class to make it a more inviting environment is key. Having the projector on with some Super Simple Songs videos on for the first part of the class can help students feel settled, and also give the other students something to look at and sing to, if you do have to spend some time helping a student in or calming them down. Lots of smiles and cuddles and patience, and also being well prepared in your lesson plan (see the first day activities section for ideas, and also ask colleagues and coordinators if you need more guidance too). Introduce the class puppet on the first day, most small children naturally feel a bond with the class puppet during the course, they love to hold it, talk to it and can generally be concerned about it. Often small students will remember the puppet’s name but not the teacher’s. So introducing the puppet on the first day will help gain their interest develop this bond. Also. when a small child is upset they can hold the puppet, and it can be used to comfort that student too.
YLs: Crying is a lot less common with 6 and 7 year olds, but it can happen. Maybe it’s the students first day in the academy or in a new group, etc. If it does happen then again showing lots of patience, care (cuddles and hand on shoulder if they don’t feel comfortable) and smiles is important. Again, a class mascot such as the book’s mini puppets can be used, and also asking one of the other students to help care for them (it can be surprising how caring students can be towards each other).
Both: remember that coordinators are on-hand to help with this situation, and when they can, they can help calm the student down, speak to them in Spanish and come into the class for a little bit.
Children not wanting to enter
Some students (more VYLs) don’t even get to the classroom on the first day, some are so nervous and upset that they make it to the door or the hallway. They may cling to their parents, crying may occur and even on the odd occasion it’s been known for a child to shout and scream. The main thing for you as a teacher is to stay calm and make a good environment for the rest of the students to make them calm, and interested in the class. Again the coordinators will be on hand to deal with these problems, it may be that the coordinator and parent get that child calm and they can enter by themselves, or maybe the coordinator will need to enter with them, or on occasion a child has not been able to enter that day.
Nervous parents
Parents, as well as students and teachers, naturally can feel nervous for their child’s first day of school (or back at school) – it may be that the child is in a new group, or they have a new teacher, etc. This nervousness is especially heightened for parents of VYLs, as for many it is their first day at any type of academy. So there may be a lot of apprehensive parents in the building that reception and the coordinators will be helping. Lots of smiles to parents as well as students can help them feel better but also a smile can make us feel better too. With regards to upset children as mentioned above, it may be the case that a parent will enter the class with the upset child. Usually, this is rare as the coordinators will try to intervene before it gets to this stage, but if it does happen try not to worry, have the Super Simple Songs on the projector at first and if possible, continue with your lesson plan. In my experience parents are very supportive and understandable, and can even be supportive with the activities.
Other
‘Expect the unexpected’ is important, but if you do have any experiences that you’d like to share in this section to help us feel a little more prepared on the first day, then please let us know…