THE 7 ROLES

Zapisz swoje dziecko

OF A TEACHER
na kurs Teddy Eddie
Grow as a teacher with EDU BEARS
Ambitna i niebanalna metoda nauczania
- invest your time in unlocking
dostępna już w ponad 150 szkołach w całej potential,
children's language Polsce.
2000 słów w zdaniach.
not in preparing lesson material.
20 000 zadowolonych kursantów.

Check out more:

pdf

edubears.com MORE THAN YOU EXPECT

 THE 7 ROLES
OF A TEACHER

English teachers of pre-school

children face a real challenge
when entering the classroom.
In many respects it is the most
demanding group of students
to teach, although at the same
time teaching such young learners
may give a lot of satisfaction.

In order to become successful

a teacher must take on
a lot of roles.
 THE 7 ROLES
OF A TEACHER

English teachers of pre-school children face a real challenge when entering the classroom. In many respects it is the most demanding group of students
to teach, although at the same time teaching such young learners may give a lot of satisfaction. In order to become successful a teacher must
take on a lot of roles.

ROLE 1
– THE GOOD AUNT / UNCLE
Being a GOOD AUNT / UNCLE is essen�al. Li�le children need to feel safe and they need to feel liked and
accepted. You have to behave as a benign and good natured person to gain their trust. Try to establish good
contact with them. A posi�ve a�tude and a smile are very important. If children get to like you, they will enjoy
coming to classes, will eagerly take part in ac�vi�es and will be much easier to se�le down or persuade to
par�cipate in a lesson.

You also have to be pa�ent and gentle and never lose your temper with children in order not to scare or
discourage them in any way. Being sensi�ve to children’s moods, needs and feelings is a necessary condi�on
for a successful teacher of this age group. You have to make sure that no child feels omi�ed or worse. Some-
�mes it involves bending the rules and praising equally all your students regardless of their achievements.

Remember about safety at all �mes. Do not allow children to run wildly in the classroom or step on objects
like chairs or tables. Pay a�en�on to the arrangement of furniture, to any sharp edges, and to narrow spaces.
It is your responsibility to keep children safe.

Help your students every �me they turn to you or if you can see that they cannot deal with something. It does
not mean you should do something instead of them but show your support, give �ps, encourage and assure
them they can do it.

How to be

A GOOD AUNT / UNCLE:

• Smile at children a lot
• Show your students that you like them and you are
interested in them
• Be pa�ent, do not show annoyance
• Pay a�en�on to your students’ moods and accommodate
your ac�ons and plans to them
• Praise all the children regardless of their achievements
• Make sure no child feels omi�ed or worse

edubears.com

English teachers of pre-school children face a real challenge when entering the classroom. In many respects it is the most demanding group of students
to teach, although at the same time teaching such young learners may give a lot of satisfaction. In order to become successful a teacher must
take on a lot of roles.
ROLE 2
– THE CAPTAIN
A good pre-school teacher must also be like a
CAPTAIN. You are usually in the centre of the class-
room and the centre of a�en�on for your students.
You have to be the leader, who gives clear instruc-
�ons and behaves confidently while organising
tasks. It is a skill which comes with experience or, if
you do not have much, it requires planning and
prepara�on.
If you add a bit of soldier-like training and your
students have to obey some commands it will be
both fun for children and beneficial for the sake of
organising tasks.
How to be
GOOD CAPTAIN:
• Give clear instruc�ons supported with mime and gesture
• Plan how to organise a task
• Speak in a confident, energe�c way
• Demonstrate new tasks in a clear way
• Do not change rules or ways of performing tasks
(it may confuse your students)
• Model ac�ons and language where necessary so that students
can copy you
• Introduce ways of doing ac�vi�es (the posi�on of the students,
typical steps to follow, typical instruc�ons) and prac�se them.
Students should reach the point where they know what to do
when you call the name of the game or task
THE 7 ROLES
OF A TEACHER
ROLE 3
– THE CHAMELEON
Small children are easily distracted and lose interest
easily. This is why it is so important to change tasks
very o�en and react to their moods. You must be like
a CHAMELEON showing adap�ve skills and having
many faces. Put on one face when presen�ng a story
or building an appropriate atmosphere and another
when giving commands to your students which
require energe�c ac�ons. When your students get
out of control, surprise them, change moods and
styles and you will always find a way to get through to
them.
How to be
A CHAMELEON:
• Change styles of presenta�on or how you lead into
a task depending on its character
• Change the mood if you feel the children are growing
�red or disinterested
• Put on different faces to drama�se stories and
other texts or when interac�ng with children or Eddie
to make sure students are involved
edubears.com
 THE 7 ROLES
OF A TEACHER

English teachers of pre-school children face a real challenge when entering the classroom. In many respects it is the most demanding group of students
to teach, although at the same time teaching such young learners may give a lot of satisfaction. In order to become successful a teacher must
take on a lot of roles.

ROLE 4
– THE ELASTIC
Children are highly unpredictable in their behaviour. Because of this fact you cannot always s�ck to your plan.
Planning a lesson is important but you need to be flexible like ELASTIC. When you see something does not
work because either your students are not in the mood for a par�cular task or it needs some adjustment, be
ready to stop it immediately and start something new. Otherwise children will either get bored or start to
misbehave. With small children you must be able to change according to the situa�on. If you are an experi-
enced teacher such changes usually come naturally. If you lack experience, though, make sure you have got
some emergency tasks at hand so you do not panic when you need to change the course of ac�ons.

It is also very important to be able to take advantage of spontaneous situa�ons during the lesson. They are
o�en the best opportuni�es for real, meaningful communica�on. Do not smother such situa�ons for the sake
of s�cking to the plan. Use them by reac�ng in English to what students say in between the tasks, ask ques-
�ons, show your interest, praise even for simple words or misused phrases. This will definitely build students’
confidence and crea�vity in using the language.

How to be

ELASTIC:
• If a task does not work, stop it. Think why it did not work and either change the way you introduce it or mo�vate
students before you try it next �me or simply come back to it when students are in a be�er mood for it.
• React and modify your ac�ons according to what your students say or do
• Have some emergency ideas / tasks at hand
• Do not worry if you cannot follow your plan every �me.

edubears.com

English teachers of pre-school children face a real challenge when entering the classroom. In many respects it is the most demanding group of students
to teach, although at the same time teaching such young learners may give a lot of satisfaction. In order to become successful a teacher must
take on a lot of roles.
ROLE 5
– THE ROCK
A pre-school teacher must be solid like a ROCK.
Children need to feel secure in the classroom
environment if you want them to enjoy coming to
lessons. A certain degree of stability is necessary.
Children love constant, repe��ve elements of the
lessons like rou�nes, types of games which are o�en
used and your rewarding them for par�cipa�on in a
lesson. To give children a feeling of security you must
remember to introduce them to the rou�nes.
Students will gradually learn what to do and what to
expect. If you want students to respect your rules,
you must be consistent. If you want to succeed, your
students have to trust you. They will trust you if you
give them clear rules to abide by. They must also feel
you are suppor�ve and that they can count on your
help and encouragement when they perform certain
tasks.
How to be
A ROCK:
• Give your students clear rules to follow and be consistent
• Always abide by the rules you introduce
• Use constant elements during lessons to give your students
a sense of being safe
• Make sure your students feel they can count on you even in a
moment of crisis (when they cannot concentrate or do not
understand the task). Give posi�ve encouragement, do not
threaten with serious consequences
THE 7 ROLES
OF A TEACHER
ROLE 6
– THE CIRCUS CLOWN
A Sense of humour is of great value in an English
classroom, especially when you teach small children.
But just like with other skills and abili�es your
students need to learn what is funny. A bit of clown-
ing in the classroom cannot be underrated. Children
will laugh to tears and at the same �me get involved
when you make fun of yourself by showing how
clumsy you are or by making deliberate, obvious
mistakes. You can also do funny things with Eddie
showing that he falls down, bumps his head or gets
stuck in the sock. Remember your students’ sense of
humour is s�ll very basic and unrefined and in many
cases imita�ve so it is quite easy to induce. It is also of
great importance that you are able to underline
humour in stories, songs and other texts laughing and
showing what is funny. Seeing your students smiling
eyes and engagement will confirm that clowning
around is worth the effort
How to be
A GOOD
CIRCUS CLOWN:
• Change styles of presenta�on or how you lead into
a task depending on its character
• Change the mood if you feel the children are growing
�red or disinterested
• Put on different faces to drama�se stories and
other texts or when interac�ng with children or Eddie
to make sure students are involved
edubears.com
 THE 7 ROLES
OF A TEACHER

English teachers of pre-school children face a real challenge when entering the classroom. In many respects it is the most demanding group of students
to teach, although at the same time teaching such young learners may give a lot of satisfaction. In order to become successful a teacher must
take on a lot of roles.

ROLE 4
– THE ROLE MODEL
Pre-school children learn by imita�ng adults and their peers. That is why your role of a MODEL is so crucial.
Your students will remember and try to imitate your language so pay a�en�on to your pronuncia�on and use
simple but natural sentences. Try to take advantage of classroom situa�ons to elicit natural communica�on.
You will be more than surprised when you hear your students use something you have not drilled but used in
a real situa�on in the classroom. Children will also copy your ac�ons. That is why you need to be a good actor.
Model for your students gestures and facial expressions to help them match the language with its meaning.
Remember that small children are also learning social rules and they will imitate your behaviour. If you want
them to be calm, you must be calm. If you want them to support one another you have to be suppor�ve.

How to be

THE ROLE MODEL:

• Pay a�en�on to your pronuncia�on and do not simplify your speech too much
• Repeatedly use a set of expressions you want children to remember
• Expand the set and use classroom situa�ons for natural communica�on
- one never knows what children have acquired
• Use vivid gestures and facial expressions to express meaning
• Remember to set a posi�ve example as children will copy your behaviour
• When you want students to get involved in ac�ng out a story, do it with involvement yourself
• Model for them concentra�on, ac�ve engagement, how you expect students to react,
how to pretend to be e.g. surprised or how to respond to something funny.

edubears.com
 Visit our webpage
How did you find this E-BOOK? Useful?
Let us know your thoughts

Contact us:
Adam Jańczak
+48 696 693 472
adam.janczak@edubears.pl