8 first lesson problems and solutions for young learner classes

Joanna Wiseman
Two young girls sat at a school desk reading a book

The first class with a new group of young learners can be a nerve-wracking experience for teachers, old and new. Many of us spend the night before thinking about how to make a positive start to the year, with a mixture of nerves, excitement, and a desire to get started. However, sometimes things don’t always go as expected, and it is important to set a few ground rules in those early lessons to ensure a positive classroom experience for all throughout the academic year.

Let’s look at a few common problems that can come up and how best to deal with them at the start of the school year.

First lesson problems and solutions for young learner classes
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1. Students are not ready to start the class

How the first few minutes of the class are spent can greatly influence how the lesson goes. Students can be slow to get out their equipment and this can cause a lot of time wasting. To discourage this, start lessons with atimed challenge.

  • Tell students what you want them to do when they come into class, e.g., sit down, take out their books and pencil cases, and sit quietly, ready for the lesson to start.
  • Time how long it takes for everyone to do this and make a note. Each day, do the same.
  • Challenge students to do thisfasterevery day. You could provide a goal and offer a prize at the end of the trimester if they reach it, e.g., be ready in less than a minute every day.

2. Students speak first language (L1) in class

One of the most common classroom management issues primary teachers face is getting them to speak English. However, young learners may need to speak their mother tongue occasionally, and a complete ban on L1 is often not the best solution. But how can we encourage students touse English wherever possible?

  • Tell students they have toask permissionto speak in L1 if they really need to.
  • 3-word rule — Tell students that they can use a maximum ofthree wordsin L1 if they don’t know them in English.
  • WriteENGLISHon the board in large letters. Each time someone speaks in L1, erase a letter. Tell students that each letter represents time (e.g., 1 minute) to play a game or do another fun activity at the end of the lesson. If the whole word remains, they can choose a game.

3. Students don’t get on with each other

It is only natural that students will want to sit with their friends, but it is important that students learn to work with different people. Most students will react reasonably if asked to work with someone new, but occasionally conflicts can arise. To help avoid uncomfortable situations doteam building activities, such as those below, at the beginning of the school year, and do them again throughout the year whenever you feel that they would be beneficial.

  • Give students an icebreaker activity, such asFind a Friend bingoto help students find out more about each other.
  • Help students learn more about each other by finding out aboutwhat they have in common.
  • Balloon race. Have two or more teams with an equal number of students stand in lines. Give each team a balloon, which they have to pass to the next student without using their hands. The first team to pass the balloon to the end of the line wins.
  • Team letter/word building. Call out a letter of the alphabet and have pairs of students form it with their bodies, lying on the floor. When students can do this easily, call out short words, e.g.cat,and have the pairs join up (e.g. three pairs = group of six) and form the letters to make the word.

4. Students don’t know what to do

When the instructions are given in English, there will inevitably be a few students who don’t understand what they have to do. It is essential to giveclear, concise instructionsand tomodel the activitybefore you ask students to start. To check students know what to do and clarify any problems:

  • Have one or more studentsdemonstrateusing an example.
  • Have one studentexplainthe task in L1.
  • Monitorthe task closely in the first few minutes and check individual students are on the right track.

5. A student refuses to participate/do the task

This is a frequent problem that can have many different causes. In the first few lessons, this may be shyness, but it is important to identify the cause early on to devise an effective strategy. A few other causes might include:

  • Lack of language required to respond or do the task. Provide differentiation tasks or scaffolding to help students with a lower level complete the task or have them respond in a non-oral way.
  • Low self-confidence in their ability to speak English. Again, differentiation and scaffolding can help here. Have students work in small groups or pairs first, before being asked to speak in front of the whole class.
  • Lack of interest or engagement in the topic.If students aren’t interested, they won’t have anything to say. Adapt the topic or task, or move on.
  • External issues e.g., a bad day, a fight with a friend, physical problems (tiredness/hunger/thirst). Talk to the student privately to find out if they are experiencing any problems. Allow them to “pass” on a task if necessary, and give them something less challenging.

It is importantnot to forcestudents to do something they don’t want to do, as this will cause a negative atmosphere and can affect the whole class. At the end of the day, if a student skips one or two tasks, it won’t affect their achievement in the long run.

6. Students ask for repeated restroom/water breaks

It only takes one student to ask to go to the restroom before the whole class suddenly needs to go. This can cause disruption and stop the flow of the lesson. To avoid this, make sure you have rules in place concerning restroom breaks.

  • Make sure students know to go to the restroombefore the lesson.
  • Have students bring in their ownwater bottles. You can provide a space for them to keep their bottles (label them with student names) in the classroom and have students fill them daily at the drinking fountain or faucet.
  • Find out if anyone has anyspecial requirementsthat may require going to the restroom.
  • Provide “brain breaks” at strategic points in the lesson when students become restless.

7. Students don’t have the required materials

  • Provide parents witha list of materialsstudents need on the first day.
  • Ifspecial materialsare required in a lesson, give students a note to take home or post a message on the school platformseveral days before.
  • Don’t blame the student—whether they have a good reason or not for turning up to class empty-handed, making a child feel guilty will not help. Write a note for parents explaining why bringing materials to class is important.

8. Students are not listening/talking

If you have a boisterous class, it can be challenging to get their attention. Set up asignalthat you will use when you want them to pay attention to you. When they hear or see the signal, students should stop what they are doing and look at you. Some common signals are:

  • Raising your hand. When students see you raise your hand, they should raise their hands and stop talking. Wait until everyone is sitting in silence with their hands raised. This works well with older children and teenagers.
  • Call and responseattention-getters. These are short phrases that prompt students to respond in a certain way, e.g.

Teacher: 1 2 3, eyes on me.

Students: 1 2 3, eyes on you.

Introduce a new attention-getter every few weeks to keep it fun. You can even have your students think up their own phrases to use.

  • Countdowns. Tell students what you want them to do and count backwards from ten to zero, e.g.

When I get to zero, I need you all to be quiet and look at me. 10, 9, 8 …

Keep your voice low and speak calmly. This will encourage students to stop talking and bring down excitement levels.

  • A short song or clapping rhythm. With younger children, it is effective to use music or songs for transitions between lesson stages so they know what to do at each stage. For primary-aged children, clap out a rhythm and have them repeat it. Start with a simple rhythm, then gradually make it longer, faster, or more complex.

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    What are the origins of exam-day stress?

    There’s no doubt about it – exams are scary. But why exactly is this? What is it about an exam scenario that stresses us out and how can we make it feel okay?

    To answer these questions, we’re going to have to take a trip back in time and look at how our ancestors evolved their abstract thinking skills. At the same time, we’ll look at how mindfulness can actively help shift the way we think about exams.

    About 70,000 years ago, or thereabouts, a critical development happened in how the human brain processed experiences.

    Over a relatively short time (in evolutionary terms), scientists believe we stopped simply experiencing primal urges (safety/hunger/tiredness etc.) and responding to them.

    Instead, we started to be able to imagine, analyze and believe in things that didn’t exist. This meant not only could our brains respond to the threat of a real predator in front of us, but also to the perceived or imagined threat of a predator. This shift had really interesting consequences for our future relationship to threat.

    Developing imaginations also meant we started to believe in the same things as our peer groups. As a result, if a member of the tribe stopped behaving in a way that supported the tribe’s survival, other members might start to doubt their usefulness as a member of the community.

    At this time, social isolation meant no share of the food and no protection against predators. Inclusion was directly linked to survival. Essentially the physiological consequences of not meeting societal expectations were the same as coming face-to-face with a lion: fight or flight.

    Why is fight or flight mode a problem for exam performance?

    Fast forward to the present day and the context of English language exams. Exams are a type of societal expectation: a standard of language proficiency which a student is required to meet to prove their usefulness in a community who speaks that language.

    Thinking about it this way, it’s no wonder we can experience stress and panic at the thought of an exam or in the exam room itself. In evolutionary terms, an exam = a lion or the possibility of social exclusion!

    Fight or flight mode is designed to help us overcome or escape danger as quickly as possible.

    When fight or flight is activated, our brain shuts down the bodily functions it doesn’t need to survive. This includes digestion, language creation, creative and strategic thinking, writing, and deeper breathing.

    Unfortunately, some of these are key to performing well in a language exam!

    that, especially in an exam course context, “extremely high stress levels[…] can affect your cognition, negatively impacting your memory and ability to complete a task. Over time, chronically high stress levels can also impair your ability to form new memories, so high stress levels all semester long could impact your final exam performance later.”

    This means that high stress levels in the exam make it hard to perform at one’s best, and stress in anticipation of the exam can mean that the content is not learned properly in the first place.

    What can teachers do to help?

    Ultimately, we want to make the exam scenario seem safe. When our mind and body do not perceive danger, they will allow the ‘rest and digest’ functions to become active and allow our performance to flow.

    There will of course be some nerves. But the key is to help the student stay in that sweet spot of clear thinking before the stress takes over and turns into panic.

    Here are three ways we can help:

    1. Practice mindful breathing

    Practice some simple mindful breathing with your students. Mindfulness refers to the awareness that we find by focusing consciously on the present moment, objectively, with compassion and without judgment.

    It takes us back into the physical reality of the present moment and out of anxious thought cycles, which can make our stress spiral out of control. Practicing regularly ahead of the exam will help build up neural connections in the brain around the areas that help us relax and .

    The following straightforward routine can be used both regularly at the start of class and by the student in the exam itself if they feel panic rising:

    • STOP: Close your eyes. Take a moment to notice the physical sensation of the chair beneath you and the floor underneath your feet. Notice the sounds around you in the room and allow them simply to flow in and out without needing to follow them.
    • BREATHE: Focus your attention gently on your breath going in and out of your nose at the tip of the nostrils. Count ten breaths in and out, seeing if you can notice something new about each one. If you feel panicky, allow the breath out to continue a little longer than the breath in.
    • WATCH: Become aware of your thoughts and allow them to simply come and go, like clouds across the sky. Notice if you are holding on to something from the past or striving towards something in the future. Allow these to simply release and take your attention back to the breath in the present moment. Count another ten breaths. Then open your eyes and come back into the room.

    2. Familiarize your students with the exam scenario

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    This may be as simple as making conditions surrounding regular progress assessments as close to the main exam as possible, so it is less strange on the day. If you have control over the exam day itself, make this as low pressure as possible.

    3. Help students develop a growth mindset

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    All of the above strategies are designed to take away the threat of a lion in the exam room when the day comes.

    Wishing your students all the very best for their exam preparation and good luck!

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    In the run-up to the holidays, it is common to feel like your routine has completely broken down, especially when you’re not giving classes or working at school. The holidays also often bring with them lots of people, family, and excitement. That sometimes means we also experience fluctuating emotions, stress and the feeling that everything should be perfect.

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    3-minute body scan

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    • Notice the contact of your feet with the floor. Notice the sounds around you in the room.
    • Take three deep breaths and notice how they feel.
    • Scan down the body in your mind from the top of your head all the way down to your toes. Observe what you notice about your body with an air of curiosity – look for any tension, discomfort or comfort. Also, notice if there are any expectations you have of that day or moment. See if you can simply notice them and set them aside. This curiosity helps us stay detached from what we notice so we can just observe.
    • Take three more deep breaths, and carry on.

    2-minute notebook

    Writing something down can be a wonderfully mindful exercise. Have a stack of post-its or a little notebook on your desk or bedside table. You could encourage your students to do the same.

    1. Pick a point in your day. It could be at the start of each day, the start of each lesson, or just before bed. Each day, at that time, take a moment to write down three:

    • good things that have happened in your day
    • things that felt challenging
    • things you feel grateful and thankful for.

    2. Review your notes every now and again during the holiday period. This will give you a sense of your shifts of mood and energy that might have occurred.

    Noticing something you feel grateful for has been shown to .

    1-minute cupboard pause

    When things feel over-stimulating, find a quiet space just for a minute. Even if it’s in a cupboard!

    STOP: notice the contact of your feet with the floor.
    BREATHE: take ten deep breaths, breathing in for a count of four and out for a count of six.
    WATCH: watch each breath coming and going from the nose or chest or belly. Observe what your thoughts and feelings are doing. Allow them to sit without needing to respond.

    Then head back into the area you were in.

    I hope these tips help you to navigate the festive season without expectation and with curiosity for what each moment holds along the way.

    Remember that the holiday days you celebrate are really just normal days. It’s simply that expectations have changed, and what’s more, everyone’s expectations will be different.

    Simply taking time to notice this can make a massive difference to the pressure we put on ourselves. Releasing this pressure can even lead to more enjoyment overall – so why don’t you try it and see?

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    While the symptoms of technostress differ, there are a number of common experiences. Perhaps you obsessively check social media, or struggle to focus on everyday tasks. Or maybe you feel demotivated and low in mood. You might find yourself overly focused on getting the latest technology. Or you might be actively avoiding or feeling anxious about using technology.

    Why should we be concerned about technostress?

    People are adaptable, it’s part of our biology, but if change happens too quickly, we experience symptoms of stress. And, in our modern, continuously busy culture, it can be easy to assume something is wrong with us if we feel we can’t cope with technology. It can feel like we’re failing because we’re not focusing or achieving enough. We might also feel stupid for not understanding how a piece of software works.

    In response, we need to find ways to relieve that stress and return to a more restful state.

    Tips to prevent and manage technostress

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    3. Only use with a purpose – Before you start using technology, ask yourself: “What am I using this for?”. Study? Research? Or is it just out of boredom? If you haven’t got a set aim or goal, then you are likely to mindlessly scroll and get pulled into the vast information overload of social media and the web. Try to avoid this by having a set aim/goal when using technology.