TEFL Vian Oklahoma

Teaching kindergarten can be very challenging but at the same time rewarding. Based on my experience I have found teaching kindergarten students to be very fun and enjoyable. I taught efl to twenty-five kindergarten students in mexico in a school where one of my aunts was teaching when I went to visit for a month. I taught there for three weeks and had a homeroom teacher and my own little office. The first time I entered the classroom and saw the students I froze up. They were silent and all eyes were focused on me. I had a lesson planned, but I was unable to execute it because I was extremely nervous. The homeroom teacher jumped in and said a few things to break the tension. She helped me throughout my lesson as I was struggling to get the students' attention. It was after that class that I went back to my office and thought about what went wrong. Right away I was able to make a long list of why the lesson didn't go as planned. I felt the two main reasons were, my energy level was low and my activities were boring. “They have a very limited attention span; unless activities are extremely engaging they can easily get bored, losing interest after ten minutes or so….” (1) To ensure that was the reason why I failed I asked the homeroom teacher to confirm it. Sure enough she said that was the reason but not to worry. That weekend I stayed at home preparing for my next kindergarten lesson. I went online to find ideas and advice for teaching kindergarten students. I knew that I had to come up with more activities and ways to grasp their attention. “Teaching efl in kindergarten is much more than teaching colors and singing songs, it also includes the challenging task of gaining a child's attention.” (2) As I was browsing online I found a great site called Starfall. This site teaches students to read with phonics. I thought that this would be the perfect website to use in my lesson. I found a short story that I would use to motivate my students to learn the english language. The story had great animated pictures and sound to keep the students interested. This was a great find, but I needed more to make an effective lesson. I continued my research and found more and more resources to make my lesson complete. After all my research, I was able to put together a solid lesson plan. I prepared a warm-up activity, a song, a story book, flashcards, and toys. I felt this was enough to engage the students and to keep the class fun and interactive. I practiced my lesson a few times to make sure that everything was going smooth. I felt confident and ready to enter that class and leave a lasting impression. The next morning I went to school prepared and ready to teach my kindergarten class. I entered the room and the kids immediately screamed my name. Right away I felt more comfortable than the first lesson. I greeted the students and showed lots of excitement and energy. I started the class with a warm-up activity, everyone was happy and participating. As the lesson went on I became comfortable with the students and I was able to see their reactions to each activity. They were always smiling and motivated to learn. At the end of the lesson the students grabbed my leg and kept me from leaving. The homeroom teacher smiled as she was pulling the students away. I left the classroom and walked to my office feeling absolutely amazing. 1. The Practice of english Language Teaching. Harmer, J. Longman. 2001 2. http://www.tesl_ejorg/ej39/hl.html