Forgive my silly thoughts, but I do sometimes wonder if I would forget how to teach YLs after a year of not having done it. This was exactly how I was feeling before my first summer camp lesson today - a group of 9- to 11-year-olds. By the way, the youngest student I've taught this year (2020-21) was 13.
Some observations:
- GTKY with two rings of students worked well. I had a group of 12, so there were two rings of 6. At any time, only the inner or outer ring would rotate.I introduced myself to the students, which also acted as a model. "My name is Daniel. What's your name?"At the very end, I asked the students to turn towards their partners in the same ring, so that everybody has a chance to talk with (absolutely) each other.
- Chain story to revise vocabulary doesn't work so well in a plenary setting in terms of student engagement, unless the size of the group is small. The compensation was to ask the students to help each other in an attempt to engage those who have already had their turn. This isn't a new observation, but the only time I had success with an adult class of 4 when I used the plenary setting as a model for pairwork practice.
- Lesson planning / Classroom management - one way of alternating between 'stirrers' and 'calmers' is to think about whether the students have been actively moving and whether they would be doing the same or opposite in a subsequent activity.
(At the risk of slight exaggeration, the number of hours I've spent under the sun today more or less exceeded that I did for the whole year in the UK. Anything above 15°C is warm - 20°C is hot - this is my idea of summer temperatures. It was 32°C today in Milan - lovely blue sky though.)