Getting the little kids to listen to you?

Question

I am a brown belt in karate, iam 16 years old. I am often asked to teach the lower belts aged 5-11, they are terrors, they don't listen and they run around screaming, which looks bad on me. The teacher won't let me give them pushups. I have tried bribing them , it doesn't work. They have 5-10 minutes beffore class to act like little hooligans. I hide before class because they are so crazy, my rule is unless they are fighting or going to hurt themselves stay out of the gym! Please help

Please do not diss my teacher, she is truly amazing. She just doesn't want to give me much authority to work with since i am "just a kid". I'll give the freeze tag a try, i bet they would like that

One thing, I will be a brown belt for a long long time, I worked through the belts quickly, but now I have to wait untill I am 18 or 21, whenever they think I am ready.

Answer 1

Well here are some teaching methods that may help you and hang in there! The experience you are getting in leading, teaching, and standing before a group will serve you well down the road; you are just a little green is all.

1. At the beginning of class do what they call a focus drill for 20 to 30 seconds; everyone stands totally still, no blinking, no moving, scratching or itching. This may help calm them down and get them better focused.

2. Give a child a time out just like a parent would for misbehavior during class. A few minutes sitting in the corner will reign in some of them. Explain to all of them that it is not fair for one to disrupt the class for the others or take away from their training time.

3. Tell them there is a time for play and a time for work and you can't be good at karate unless you work. The problem is their concept of time is different than yours and so is their attention span. So don't spend more than 3-4 minutes on things and give them praise when they do well or are improving and encourage them to keep up the good work.

4. Use facial expressions sometimes to convey your message like a frown when a student does something wrong. Students sometimes don't hear what you are saying or ignore it because they hear it at home or at school. Facial expressions and the tone of your voice can help overcome some of this.

5. Tell them if they ALL work well and hard that you will play a game the last few minutes of the class.

You are correct in bribing them does not usually work very well. You have to lead them and at the same time direct them without them knowing it to get them to do what you want them to do. Be smarter and more sophisticated in your approach to teaching them. Make some of the work like a competition. I put students across from each other and on different teams which ever team does their techniques better gets to watch the other side do pushups or situps. If you can't give them pushups or situps give the winning team points and keep track of the points each week. Kids love to win! Try some of these things as well as some of the other suggestions and modify your approach and I think you will have more success than you would otherwise have.

Learning how to teach, much less children takes time and experience and you may never be able to stop all of the misbehavior but with time I think you can cut back on some of it. You might also talk to your instructor and see what approach he wants you to take with them. He may not care and just want paying students-not good, paying students and just wants to provide an indoor playground for them. A lot has to do with the school and their approach, expectations and standard of things. Good luck!

Answer 2

I can't imagine why your instructor won't let you give them push-ups. That's one of the best things for little kids; doesn't hurt them a bit, builds their muscle, but they regard it as a chore and so want to avoid them. Maybe the instructor just wants to have you learn the hard way of how to deal with them? I don't know.

My only suggestion that I can think of if you're not allowed to give them push-ups is to send them off the mat for a training time-out. Having them sit idly by and do nothing while watching their friends train could make them think twice about their behavior. Ideally if the parents are there watching, recruit them to help get the kids to behave and enforce the time-out.

I wouldn't suggest too much bribery. You can use a little bit of reward in conjunction with the punishments, but considering the setting, I would recommend having more punishment than bribery. It's a martial arts class; the kids should be there because they enjoy the class and thus it's THEIR privilege to participate.

Don't hide before class either. That doesn't send too good of a message, and if they're going to act crazy anyway, why not be out there with them to at least make your presence known? Maybe even do some warm-ups yourself that aren't crazy so they can see your example.

Mind you, these are just suggestions. I'm not an instructor, though I've dealt with kids from time to time. Best of luck!

Answer 3

It's normal, My teacher has been teaching karate for at least 40 years and can only keep them quiet for a few minuets before they start doing their own thing again

I doesn't last forever, the older they get the more disiplined they will be in class and learn when to have fun and when to be srious but as long as your dojo has a steady flow of new kids coming in there will always be chaos, you just have to let some small things go on and ignore it, get angry sometimes when things get out of hand and if there are some students that are bad, i mean beyond the general talking wduring training or not paying attention and that consistently do it, warn them very seriusly and if they keep on doing it consider to kick them out completely

Answer 4

Tell their parents to lay some ground rules and find out what they will allow you to do and not do. Children won't listen if they are consistently being hollered at - but if you speak in a tone low enough then they will have to listen. Sit them down, tell them just how it is and be firm in what you say. They need activities to keep them busy so they will stay out of trouble. Most children won't listen unless they are taught to do so. If their parents allow them to be unruly, then if I were you, I believe I would refuse to watch them without rules. Every child needs rules, they feel more secure even if they don't like it. Play games with them, and the girls would probably love to be taught about makeup. I have a 9 yr old granddaughter that lives with me. Now she is an exceptionally good child but she knows when I speak, I mean business. She is getting to the age where she wants to be like a little lady and while she's not allowed to do anything but play makeup, this is something she loves to do. The boy child, depending on what he likes to do, can do computer games, and all of you can do games together. If they are children that run wild then the parents need to take this problem in hand and you need to tell them. I won't take care of a child I can't discipline. There are many ways to do that without spanking but they have to understand the consequences of their actions. The parents need to make them understand these consequences.

Answer 5

Hello,

My name is Ally and I am too a Karate instructor. I teach ages 3-17. For my "Little Dragons" class, aged 3 to 6, I use a variety of techniques to get and keep their attention through the 45 min. class. At the beginning of class I give them the strict talking too that is known throughout the school. Acting out once in my class results in missing the "trick time." Trick time is a tool that we use as a reward for the kids at the end of class, but it can also be used as a deterrent for bad behavior. During trick time I teach the kids some new cool (to them at least) small trick that they can use. Typically this is some gymnastics move that we use the mats for, and they go crazy over it. Also, we give out behavior awards for kids who are notably well behaved during class time at all belt testings. For a while, you will have to be strict, but remember to keep class fun and informative as well. I would also see if your instructor would allow you to give the children laps around the gym area before class, or when they are acting out during class. This also acts as a type of punishment and rids of some excess energy. I hope this all helps, good luck!

Ally

Answer 6

I teach kids at the Y.

First things first... I give them chores, then I separate them and have them do things like sit in shikodachi, stand in crane(one leg stance) and cat stance, hold a pushup position, practice their dachi kata as far as they know it, repeatedly, etc.

These are things that show them who is in charge of the class and keeps them too preoccupied with "how long am I going to have to be here" to act like hooligans.

I let them know from the beginning, they are not in the playground.

Also, I let each one know that even though they are beginners, they are senior to those who arrive after them. They are obligated to act responsibly and set the example.

I also tell them that someone will come along and out-do them and that it is an embarrassing thing for a junior to out-do a senior.

It's all about the way you tell them. If you say it tauntingly, you could discourage them. If you tell them as a "word to the wise" or "all who hath an ear, let him hear", they will get it and strive.

After that, if they begin to act loosely, and you catch it... and incidently, you should always be at close watch... all you have to do is give them the look you gave them when you imparted the words of wisdom and they will remember and fall back inline.

That's how I do it.

Answer 7

You need to make the class more interesting and at their level not yours ( age ). Forget what needs to be taught, get more with what should be. Use your youth and imagination to create games based in what curriculum you desire them to do each day. A little foreplanning goes a long ways. Like a school class has paintings for little kids, and word games for bigger.
You need to gain their attention thru appreciation of the desired study.

Answer 8

i have trained for a long time(not an instructor) and the best method I have seen employed was to find out who the ring leaders are and make them spend practice running or doing up downs while everyone else gets to learn. Do this a couple of times and they'll stop plus it discourages others from acting out

Answer 9

Play games with the kids!Since they are so young,anything that does not involve them running around like wild things and/or breaking something will not hold their attention for long.I used to have the same problem-incorporate what they are learning(or supposed to be learning =P) in class into the games.Like if you play freeze tag,to unfreeze them you have to roundkick the person.We used to do that one.
I used to teach lessons too,thank the good Lord those days are over.

Answer 10

how can u be 16 and be a brown belt you must be in a mcdojo !
You are a kid yourself so kids wont listen to you your instructor is setting a really bad example for everyone since little kids need more attetion than anyone they are at their learning peak (what a dick)
and he is sending you to do the dirty work i would leave