QUESTION: At times, my young learners are either too restless or too lethargic to pay attention to instructions and/or concentrate on the task at hand. Any ideas on how to deal with such situations?

ANSWER:  It might be that the children are in need of some 'down time'.  They do often come to afternoon classes very tired or quite wound up.    In either case, it may be that they need to relax, both physically and mentally.

You can lead the children in a self-massage to help them to relax, and to restart.  (EFL pupils in China taught a colleague of ours a quiet time 'massage', which they perform periodically in class.)  The instructions for this massage procedure are numbered below: 

  1. Rub cheeks.
  2. Stroke top of eyebrows.
  3. Rub temples gently.
  4. With four (2 and 2) fingers, rub two veins at base of skull.
  5. Lay head on crossed arms.

- a moment of silence - 

Here we present it to you with a chant in English, so that children will have a chance to practice speaking, as they relax into a quiet time break.

A Time to Relax

a chant to accompany self-massage

1. I rub my cheeks,  

2. relax my eyes,                    

3. rub my temples,                          

4. relax my mind.                  

5. It’s quiet time.  Shhhhhhhh.      

 

RATIONALE: Educational psychologists encourage teachers to allow for quiet time breaks during each class meeting.  These breaks help  to combat fatigue and  allow children quiet moments to reflect, which is when actual learning takes place.  Our teaching becomes more effective when we allow for reflection time and a chance for learners to sort out the input from the participatory activities which precede these breaks.

espa