I’m really enjoying teaching kids jiu-jitsu classes lately since I got back from Japan! I used to teach regularly with Chris Robbins, but then our teaching staff got shuffled and I no longer had a position. Things got shuffled again and I’m back. 😀
Teaching kids isn’t just about jiu-jitsu, but I knew that because I was thrown into teaching little kids English in Japan with only two weeks of training. I knew I was ill equiped at that time because school teachers in America have to go through 4 years of education and observations and child psychology and all that jazz to even be allowed in the same room with a kid. I didn’t have that. I learned by observation, trial and error and it was REALLY REALLY hard. Lots of tears (on my part), sweat, nightmares, stress, etc. And I still don’t have all the answers, but I’d like to think I understand kids better and how to manage different age groups. I still want to learn more and more!
2011 Berlitz English Beat 1 class
I actually became Kids Coordinator at my English school in 2011. HAH and I had previously hated teaching kids! Then I started leading and teaching other teachers.
So I’ve been teaching kids for a total of 10 years! wow
I enjoy team teaching with other teachers to see how they do things. Wendy, Nigel, Karen at Berlitz, Alberto, Chris, Rick, Damien at Syndicate.
I love the activities/games Alberto sets up. I love how Chris can sternly tell kids to shut up and they love him anyway. I love Damien’s method of discipline for misbehaving kids. Yesterday I visited Evan Dunham’s jiu-jitsu gym to see how he runs class. He didn’t have any really young ones, which are the hardest ones to handle, so he had easy little angels. lol but I still got some great ideas on activities. Through chatting about some issues I’ve encountered, I learned how he handles them.
Like when a kid cries. Evan asks them, “Are you hurt? Or scared? Or injured? If you’re hurt, it’ll stop hurting in a minute. If you’re scared, why are you scared? (he said something else I forget), If you’re injured, we gotta go to the hospital RIGHT NOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!” And most of the time they say “Oh, I’m just hurt!” and smile.
Haha brilliant.
On Wednesday I had the big kids play sumo in the last five minutes of class. That was really entertaining to watch! 😀
The bottom line is, if you’re under 10 years old, everything in life is a game and if it’s not, it’s not cool. If you’re over 10 and something is fun or funny, you try harder and get better faster. The teacher not only has to be good at teaching the technique, they have to be an entertainer. I want to be entertained, and I entertain myself, so maybe that’s why I get along with kids so well. lol Maybe I’m just a big kid…