Too much coffee? Or just too genki? 🙂

Scott wrote in to reply to the “Opposite of shy? and how to cure it” post

What can I do with the over hyperactive kids in class?

Well, the first thing is, try not to see the excess energy as a problem.  Ideally our job is to just take that energy and focus it onto the learning.

( Bonus Ninja Tip: the animations and computer games usually do a great job of doing that, so hyperactive kids aren’t usually *that*  much of a problem –  thank goodness for computers! )

But here are a few Ninja Tricks to try if you do find yourself with more than your sanity can handle …

Ninja Trick 1: The Basics

First of all make sure it’s not simply a discipline problem i.e. they are actually aware of how they are supposed to behave.

So try my top Ninja Tips for discipline first, especially “The Agreement”

Ninja Trick 2:  Draining their energy!

Then if it’s just an excess of energy problem, which is always a good problem to have really, there are a few things you can do, and I mostly base them around the Disco Warm Ups e.g. adding in “Do 10 jumps!”, then, half jokingly, 100 jumps or ten push ups then 100 push ups! The crazy kids usually try and do it.

They get to 20.

And that usually tires them out!

Ninja Trick 3:  Physiologically!

Or you can use a few physiological tricks, like the “stop!” part of the “Eat! Drink! Dance!” song.

First do it for 5 seconds.

Then 10.

Then 20 slooowwww counted seconds.

This slows the average kids’ heart rate right down and they just chill out.

It’s like magic!

Ninja Trick 4:  Genki Shhhhhhh

To add balance to a really Genki lesson I also do a ” quiet” version of the warm up in between two Genki parts of the lesson.

I get them to whisper (still Genkily, but in a whisper!) as I do each command r-e-a-l-l-y  s–l–o–w–l–y,

finishing with “g–o–o–d   n–i–g–h–t” where they pretend to sleep.

Do this over 2 or 3 minutes and they will fall asleep!

This is great if you have a particularly complicated bit to do next.

Ninja Trick 5:  The Traditional Way

Or you can do the more traditional trick of using colouring or worksheets in class to calm them down.

However I’d only recommend these as a last resort as although they do work in calming them down, the kids aren’t actually learning anything whilst doing them.

Unless … it’s the amazing imagination worksheets!

I hope that helps,  and also take on board the idea at the top, that really it’s always best to channel the energy.

And then we find it rubs off on us too!

Be genki,

Richard

P.S.  If you’d like me to video any of these ideas then do let me know in the comments,  we might just make it for tomorrow’s Kiev workshop! 🙂