Experiences of a teacher of English

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.  University Hospital of Puerta de Hierro in Madrid is developing a program to treat kids with this disorder. It implements online playing chess. In this way those hospital experts will train kids’ memory, focusing aptitude, thinking, perception and even self-esteem. This was taken from Spanish ABC newspaper. / Photo from: benefits-of-chess-for-kids2 www gykapp com

Two weeks ago I started private English classes with a kid aged 10. He’s pretty playful, and might have an ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder), maybe not that serious.  Anyway I have started to listen to him, in order to help and aid him with his problems.  Well, he’s felt so great because an adult could be listening to him. In the way he said bye last day I could notice he will jump through hoops to participate in our classes. It’s a relief it seems so. / Photo from: adhd_child_learning-112412 www health harvard edu. Obviously the kid on the pic above isn’t my student

When planning a class we teachers should consider the class-group we have to teach, taking into account both low-achievers and high-achievers, and the average students.  When teaching English or French or any other language we should think that a few students can reach less than the average students, and high-achievers can reach further, and for whom we have to avoid they would get bored.  Sometimes we will sit a good student next to a low-achiever.  Or we will have to sit a peaceful student next to a hyperactive student, also with attention deficit typically.  And at tutoring sessions, with individuals, we can help each student as he is, as the way he is. / Photo from: teacher_students www bridgeboffin com

Students in the classroom need a quiet atmosphere for working. Their teacher too. Also that atmosphere or environment should be relaxing.  I know a retired teacher of the first years of education that used to talk lowly to their very young students, who need to move around, stand up, they’re swift to move, as I said…  Those students did not move from their chairs at all.  So we teachers need to create that atmosphere.  For example, not to start an activity or a presentation until everybody is attentive and at disposal for that quiet work.  What I do with kids is to keep silent, stare and gaze at each of them or at someone who is chattering with his neighbor till he gets aware of the fault and stops talking.  And I address each student without raising my voice too much.  When I want to say something special or important, I also speak low and slow, playing with eye-contact and face expressions. / Photo from: nsp4kids c...

If we teachers of languages, like English for example, have students with Attention Deficit and Hyperactive Disorder, we do know those few students will get distracted and unfocused.  What to do? To shout at them like a military sergeant?  Something we can do is having him sit down with a more high-achiever student, who works at a more relaxing and quiet way.  Getting distracted will keep on being getting distracted. We can ameliorate their attitude, very little by little.  And something of a paramount importance: we teachers should win them over with lot of patience and love of benevolence. In the end the student lets be educated by who is coherent and hard-working, and more importantly, that student knows the teacher loves him with that love of benevolence.  Sometime we’ll shout in a sane way, and it may be necessary. / Photo from: Online-Student-Collaboration www webanywhere co uk

We teachers ought to know that there exists a disorder in a few students that is called Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.  We cannot dodge it: it does exist. And the first people who should know and be aware the child has this disorder are teachers and their families, often by means of the teacher, who observes that the kid does not stop ever and has problems of focusing in the class-period and in listening to the teacher and to his classmates.  This disorder has its own treatment, through pills and some advice and techniques by a pediatrician.  Today I only want to state that in a classroom where you can have a kid or kids with this disorder you could partially solve the problem by sitting them down next to an easy and quiet student, who can monitor the activities from the textbook for example. / Photo from: Marx Brothers (A Day at the Races) www doctormacro com. the picture is just an illustration

There are, we have in our classes, kids with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.  The first premise is to reckon that this disease exists, and the kids that have it are often punished and scolded because the teacher or his Mom or his Dad think the kid isn’t doing things right, or just he doesn’t pay attention.  Students that have success is because they had an angel-teacher that helped them go on, and struggled in their favor and betted for them.  Steve Jobs, Tom Cruise, Michael Phelps and others had or have this disorder. / Photo from: specialdescope org

This is a problem we teachers must know that it exists. This is the first premise.  Also we should have some idea about these special kids, whose number is rather high sometimes.  Something we can do is to sit this student next to a more tranquil and relaxed student.  Some expert says it isn't a good thing to give them pills against anxiety. These medicines get them kind of drowzier but at the same time they wish to do many things and so they feel worse.  The best thing nonetheless and evidently is to consult a good specialist. 

Some students, a few perhaps, have Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.  Have that student with that disease sit next to a more tranquil student. Praise him when he does a rather long activity.  Consult the psychologist of the school, if any. Some people say that these students ought not to take anxiolytic pills: these ones make him become drowsier and so he becomes more anxious because his body demands action while he feels worse.  You can peek at label list in my blog for further information about this disease. / Photo from: patio_de_los_leones_alhambra_granada www sevillaonline es

What to do with low-achievers in classes where there are high-achievers and average students?  Something you can do when implementing activities from their course books is molding the exercises (teaching how to do the activities) by circulating across the rows of desks. / Photo from: original  www leicestershirevillages com

Teacher A said to teacher B, “A kid with ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder) may feel bad in classes.  He needs the intervention of a specialist, plus from the teacher praising his small steps and progress. Affection and love of benevolence are pretty important here. He ought not to feel put aside or the like.  There’s a label on the right column of this blog about this disease.” / Photo from: news blogs aea267 k12 ia us. students in meaningful classes

Teacher B said to teacher A, “Nowadays it’s more difficult for kids to focus because there are more devices that distract them. Focus and effort now are more difficult.  So what now?  The teacher should be a bit kind of an actor or actress, who keeps their students’ attention more than ever before. However, the thing depends on the way that teacher is.  In my case, for example with kids aged 10 through 12 for example, I try to be an actor in some way. I use intonation, silence, tension, games, gestures, surprise, mimicry, eye-contact, addressing the students by their names, I change the activity not to do things boring or flat.  I count on the whiteboard as a good ally. I use realia if I can. I plan classes but not extra-material: PowerPoint™, smartboard (we don’t have any)... Like I said [sic], the main allies are gestures, voice and the whiteboard.” / Photo from: blog deskidea com. mimioteach.  cómo convertir tu pizarra en una pizarra d...

Teacher B said to teacher A, “Anxiety is something we should take into account as teachers.  Now I’m referring to kids’ tests. Some sane tension is good in life to survive, or some people can feel anxious when they’ve got to take a flight.  In our case - school - some sane anxiety can be good to improve the way students face their tests. It makes them work and learn and strive– who has not prepared a coming exam, with some anxiety and being tired before the end of the academic year?  However some kid can feel sort of choked before exams. Usually this latter case occurs when the students procrastinate their duty of studying and practicing before exams.  Finally we can have some case that is special: I’m now referring to pathological cases where a chosen specialist has to intervene; some schools have at least one psychologist for special cases of treatment.  Just let me say something else: I don’t appreciate or recognize anything specia...

One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “Some days ago a colleague of ours told me that there were some ten students in one of his classes with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.  So they were too many students with that disorder in order to have normal, regular classes. After some weeks within the academic year he wrote their parents so their sons would take some medicine before the classes.  Evidently he told them to take the boys to a specialist before giving the kids the pills. That teacher told me the classes were so stressing. As a curious thing the pills weren’t anxiolytics but the opposite: some medicine that should make them do many activities in the class.” / Photo from: fauklner info. C liffs of Moher in Co. Clare Ireland. top visitor's place.   

  One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “Last year one of my students had Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. I would say that all of us teachers should know that this disorder just exists among our students. Between 5 and 8 per cent of our students have or may have this disorder. I remember that one teacher taught him private classes, apart from the regular scheduled ones in a class-group. The teacher told me that he assigned short, small and challenging goals to the kid, taken from the boy's course books.” / Photo from: rv-103 com. RV 103 towed web pic    

Hi Charlie Sheen and everybody else, As a matter of fact something else could be said about this kid I referred to on post # 919. The point here is helping the kid realize he can actually work and do specific things in the classroom. This kid had problems at studies – even a possible Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (I stopped seeing him in class rather soon). What things did this kid aged 9 do in the classroom? The first premise is that all the class as long as it was, was only in English. So I had to rely a lot on the whiteboard, realia, gestures... to make me be understood by him. I remember one activity we used to do was TPR: Total Physical Response, assisted by my physical examples. For instance I told him, ‘Okay, Luis (invented name), now take this chair and put it at that corner’, and also I had to carry out the instruction before he understood. So as to finish, I would tell you, in the short period I taught him, he acquired some English, p...

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “I knew a student, a few years ago, that was and felt insecure: his competence at English usage was low and he used to get absent-minded frequently. He then was 9 years. This was happening at the beginning of a short course of English. Thus I tried to accept any of his correct responses, small ones they could be though, and I think he began to feel more secure: I suppose he realized he could do things in the class. He was 9, as I said. I think we arrived in time to reinforce his self-confidence and acquire learning strategies.” / Photo from: nawe co uk. heavy books   

One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “Commonly a kid 10 years old studies and works well, and he or she wishes to learn new things. If this child has problems at his or her school subjects a red light turns on: something is going wrong. Here I’m talking about situations in general. Each person obviously is unique and different. There may be a problem, which has to be treated. This person needs help. This student needs someone who helps him. A private teacher (or tutoring sessions) can help him. Of course the psychologist of the school should enter this case and find out whether if there’s something that produces this dropping of interest, etc. It’s important to treat this person as soon as possible, so at the first symptoms. Often the origin of the situation is simple to correct. ” / Photo from: acegames us. Mickey Fixing Clock   

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “With your young children, 6 to 9 years approximately, shift and change the activities every 5 or 10 minutes, maximum 15. Otherwise they will get anxious and it’ll be harder to keep peace and calm in the classroom. Have them stand up from time to time, or have a jumpier student to stand up and move with an aim, like instructions, ‘Stand up and and touch the frame of a window’. Combine crosswords, playing with plasticine, repetition as a chorus, games, puzzles, putting the words of a sentence into the correct order. Combine the four skills of language: listening, saying something, reading something from the chalkboard, copying that in their notebooks. Don’t think those classes are a mess: both you and they’re learning to behave inside a classroom and with the typical discipline of a classroom – with things like raising someone’s hand to say something.” / Photo from: catspictures net. KidCat   

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “I see you’re worried about those few students of yours that have shown those learning problems this academic year. However you hope you will help them better next year with a deeper knowledge of A ttention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder . You’ve tried your best this year with those kids. Anyway, you believe nothing is lost. Great. If it's useful, and to start with something specific, here I offer you a link to a thorough article in Spanish about this issue. It surely will shed some light to you. Here you are:   http://www.unav.es/nuestrotiempo/temas/suspensos-con-diagnostico / Photo from: learnjapaneseguide com. top-osaka     osaka is the third largest city in Japan, after Tokyo and Yokohama