Without a doubt, teaching children is totally different to teaching adults.  Many teachers are reticent to take the plunge and teach these height challenged students.  However, have no fear – once you have a few tricks up your sleeve, you will be as illusive as a magician…with your students in the palm of your hands.  What’s more…teaching children is rewarding and great fun!  Having your students walking into your classroom in eager anticipation for your lesson is payment in itself.  But how can you transform yourself into this magical teacher?  Well….

1. Hide the carrots Remember how your mother used to trick you by blitzing the carrots in the food blender and putting it into your spaghetti sauce?  Well this clever idea can also be applied to teaching kids.  How interesting is it to kids if you say ‘today we are going to do the present perfect’??!!  Instead, imagine the response to ‘We’re going to play a cool game...are you ready?" (which funnily enough will give your students tons of practice with the present perfect! Not that they know that!).  Which would you prefer to do?!!

2. No learning without fun, no fun without learning Just because an activity is fun doesn’t mean that it’s useful!  You should have learning aims just as you would for adults.

3. Keep it varied Children have short attention spans, therefore for an hour lesson you should be looking at around 10-12 activities (with each activity lasting about 5 minutes), not to mention different learning styles. 

4)  Make it achievable Think of ways to make activities easier so that students can build their confidence with speaking English (with no complicated instructions!).  Challenge them when they are ready to be challenged.

5. Use flashcards and make drilling fun Children respond better to visuals.  Instead of just presenting vocab, why not create a bit of intrigue and gradually reveal a picture.  There are lots of games you can incorporate your flashcards into.  Also make drilling fun by getting students to: say it faster, start in a ball and get bigger each time or start with a whisper and get louder.

6. Have a routine Children need consistency in the classroom or things will get unruly.  Have a system for discipline, keep a check on behaviour and be consistent and fair. 

7. Do a points system In the first lesson put students into groups of around four and get them to decide on a team name.  Ask them to draw four horizontal boxes in which they must write their name in large letters to one side.  Students get a point for good behaviour and get a point deducted for bad behaviour (doing/not doing homework, using/not using English).  If you can, use stickers so students can put their points up themselves (gives a greater feeling of accomplishment).

What are the secret ingredients in your recipe for teaching success?