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Dear colleagues
Hi

I’ve recently took a new class consisting of twelve 10-12 year old elementary students (uncontrollable boys!) These guys seemed to be very gentle and disciplined in their previous class, taught by a male teacher. But in my class (of course I’m a female) they do whatever they can to turn the class into a battlefield. One is always screaming and shouting, others always asking for more games, and most are on their toes to run home just as the ring bells. However, they are quick-learners, do their homework on-time and have no learning problems.

I’ve tried everything, being friendly, being serious … but … no results. My main concern is for the minority of 3-4 students who are really eager to learn but suffer from the class atmosphere.

Any suggestions?

There is an article and some comments touching on your question on our sister site at:
https://www.englishclub.com/efl/tefl-articles/respect/

Hi Josef
Thank you for the reply. I'm sure it will help.
Regards

I use these on my teacher training courses - you may find them worth looking into, especially Cowley:

Dealing with Disruptive Students Olsen & Cooper (2001) RoutledgeFalmer, ISBN 0749431326

Cracking the Hard Class, BIll Rogers (1997) Paul Chapman Publishing, ISBN 0761969284

Getting the Buggers to Behave, Sue Cowley (2001) Continuum, ISBN 0826465005

Hi Systematic
Many thanks for your reply. But Unfortunately I have no access to the resources you have suggested. I'll be glad if you could share some of the most practical solutions proposed in the books.

Hi, I'm afraid that wouldn't be very easy because every case has to be examined separately. The books are readily available through all reasonably good book stores, even here in Thailand. I know you feel that you have tried everything already, but one of the first the first steps is to identify the reasons why they play up, and to ask the other teachers if they also find this class particularly badly behaved.

hi i am a english teacher in Mexico and here is very frecuent have classes of 40 and 50 students. This is dificult. Nevertheless when the class is out of my control i always use to identify the group of students that make chaos and i talk with them. I recomend you talk with then when the class is over and use them for activities in the class. you should give them some responsabilities like the roll call and so on.
Good luck!!!

Hi Hatakerey
Thank you so much for your suggestion. I think that it will help me a lot.
It seems that one of the main problems of my class is the inconsistency in the students’ age and speed of learning. As you have proposed, by giving responsibilities to the “the group of students that make chaos , which in my case are the older and quicker ones I may have more opportunity to help the slow-learners . I did not talk to the students themselves, but I had a meeting with their mothers, so that they can help me with their suggestions and it was very helpful.
Thanks again, Bye.

Hello,
I think your attitude is vital as well as having good techniques. You need to remain calm and centred inside even though in some cases you have to be angry on the outside. Remember you are the teacher and they are the students.
Here are some videos of a couple techniques you can try:
http://www.screencast.com/t/YTEzNjg0
Take charge and good luck!

Hello Petershell
Thank you so much for the video. It was very useful.

You're welcome Afsaneh.