Classroom management

To help you fulfil the teacher roles that we talked about earlier, you need to think about classroom management. For teaching adults, aspects of classroom management that you need to think about include your presentation skills, giving instructions, using visual aids effectively, arranging your students, arranging your classroom, and possibly, keeping discipline (although we will talk more about this when we do the session on young learners). TASK 1: Firstly, lets think about what the teacher can and cant control about the classroom. Your trainer will now give you instructions on how to do a task Do not write in the table below until you are asked to!!! Teacher cant control

Teacher can control

After the task: What examples of good classroom management did you see in that task? In what ways was the teacher controlling what you were doing? Why? Notes here:

TASK 2: Were going to do a quiz. A quiz is an effective way to get students talking together, maybe reading something, and collaborating as a group. It is very student centred, with the teacher acting only as a helper, walking round and monitoring (not standing at the front) and there for feedback, but the students doing most of the talking. One thing to watch out for/make a rule, is that they must discuss in English. Work with a partner and answer the questions below, referring to the notes pages when needed.
1. Which three of the following are essential for delivering effective instructions? a. Always ask "Do you understand?" when you have given your instructions. b. Avoid using jargon or complicated vocabulary. c. Generally, keep the amount of instruction to a minimum. d. It is better to drip feed instructions on a need-to-know basis. 2. Which two of the following are true? Select one or more: a. Having a good memory is essential to being a good teacher. b. Be consistent and unambiguous with your instructions and gestures. c. You will be a better teacher if you are an extrovert.

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d. It is important to develop a teaching style that is true to who you are. 3. Which of the following is NOT true about using visual aids. a. On the board, use light colours to write in capitals and highlight using dark colours. b. Your board writing should set an example of correct writing. c. You should try and keep eye-contact with your students as much as possible. d. Don't overly rely on the board, include a variety of visual aids. e. Realia can add life to your presentation and OHPs mean you can present facing your students. 4. Match the situation or statement with the most appropriate format for an activity. In the box write an I (individual), P (pairs) or a G (group).
You are looking for less student interaction and more opportunity for a student to show their own abilities. Good for when you want students to be able to work at their own pace. Can be a little harder to monitor. You want to maximise the student-to-student interaction. You have to be careful to select groups so weaker ones participate. This is good for student-to-student interaction and for mixed abilities to work together.

5. Which seating arrangement would be good for a class debate? (write one letter) 6. Which arrangement would be effective for getting your students to ask each other questions and collect information, like in a Find someone who activity? 7. Which seating arrangement is most favoured by TEFL teachers?

8. Which two statemements will help you with discipline in the classroom?
a. Have a well-prepared lesson plan. b. You could start off being strict and then become more relaxed as the students get to know you. c. You should lose your temper in a consistent way. d. Don't use humour unless you have to.

Now, find out if your answers are right!

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Your presentation skills You dont need to be an extrovert to be a good EFL teacher. A good teacher is a facilitator and knows when to be firm and when to take a back seat. Generally, your teaching style will depend on what kind of person you are. Its important to be as true as you can to the type of person you are otherwise you can come over as being quite false. Here are a few things to bear in mind when you are teaching, to help your presentation. Eye contact make eye contact. It helps to keep attention and can help you get a feel for the students' understanding. Also, a lack of eye contact can demonstrate a lack of confidence. Dont over-compensate though and forever stare into the eyes of your students as this could be misconstrued! Use gesture and facial expression rocking your hand or screwing up your face to show nearly, but not quite, or cupping your hand to your ear to show you want the students to listen are good examples. However, be consistent with your gestures, and dont be ambiguous since you could easily leave the students guessing as to what you are on about. Voice projection speak clearly. Also, try to include some expression and intonation, though dont exaggerate as students might imitate you. Also, be careful not to speak too quickly or use language that is way beyond the students level. Movement this is good as is it draws attention, but too much can be a distraction. Dont talk too much if you are doing all the talking then there is less STT. Also, at lower levels be careful of too much instruction or explanation as this could confuse students. Generally, you should grade the language you use in the classroom to suit the level of the students. Build rapport the more you can do this, the more forthcoming the students will be and the more receptive they will be. You can use warmers in the classroom or personalise activities, but above all remember the students names right from the outset, even if you have to write down a seating plan and learn it before the lesson. If you use their names in the lesson, this will help you to remember their names. Giving Instructions When you are setting up an activity, keep the TTT down to a minimum. The more instructions you give, the more likely the students are to misunderstand what you want them to do. The best way to give instructions is to give an example of what you want. You also need to make sure you are not using any jargon or complex language. Also, make sure you are not giving them all the instructions at once. The greater the distance between you telling them what they are about to do and them actually doing it, the less likely they will remember what they are supposed to be doing. Finally, always check that the students have understood. Dont ask 'Do you understand?' since they will answer yes, even if they havent. Ask questions that test them: for example, 'Hands up Bs', 'Are we sitting in pairs or groups?', 'Who goes first?' or even 'What are we doing now?' This is common sense, but when you first start teaching you can so easily spend ages explaining an activity, going over the instructions again and again. Put the instructions in your lesson plan when you first start out; it will give you confidence and your activities are more likely to run smoothly. Using visual aids The board is your main visual aid and, as often as not, your only one!

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You can use the board for: writing vocabulary and grammatical structures drawing pictures and diagrams sticking up pre-drawn pictures and cut-outs etc. games and activities You will use the board a lot, so remember to plan how you will use it in your lesson plan, what you will have and where it will go. It needs to be organised and neat. Also, be careful of drawing on the board - know your limitations. You dont want to spend valuable lesson time on a drawing that takes five minutes and elicits one word. Use a flash card instead! Here are some tips: Try not to write on the board with your back to the students - they can't see what youre up to Engage students as you write on the board (get students to spell words, or speak as you write). Dont write too much on the board as it can be boring. Be careful with colours. Use dark colours for text and lighter colours for highlighting. Write as you would have your students write (No capitals, use contractions if relevant). Flash cards/photos are an effective and easy way to elicit vocabulary or show the meaning of new words. Dont overuse flash cards in the lesson: firstly youll spend all your time preparing them, secondly; vary the visual aids you use. Also, you can get more than one word from a flash card/photo. Hold up a picture of a train and ask: Whats this? (train), but follow up with more questions like: Where do I go to catch a train? (station); What do I need to get on a train? (ticket). So, what other visual aids could you use? Realia - this is just another word for objects, anything from a chair to a milk bottle. Like flash cards, objects can be used to elicit vocabulary or ideas and create a bit of interest. Just dont overdo it and walk into the classroom with a huge sack of objects. OHP (Overhead Projector) or IWB (interactive white board)- this enables you to present while facing your students. One word of advice ... practise using one before you get into the lesson and make sure everything is working! Video - this is an excellent way to engage students and help them practise listening and speaking skills. You may use video like you would a listening lesson or you could even use Mr Bean, where there is no speaking. Organising your activities We have looked at giving instructions, so lets now look at arranging your class and your activities. You want to add variation to your lessons. You dont want the students to always work in pairs or with the same partner, so design activities that shake things up from time to time. How you arrange your class will also depend on the size of your classroom and the number of students you have. Group, pair work or individual? Individual

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This should be used sometimes since it allows you to respond to individual differences in pace of learning, ability etc. It can increase the confidence of the individual and some students relish the opportunity to show how well they can perform by themselves. It can also be less stressful for students since they don't have to perform in front of the whole class. It does, however, restrict possibilities for student-to-student interaction and group rapport. Pair work Pair work increases student talking time and student-to-student interaction, which is why it the preferred set up for a lot of teachers. The teacher can monitor it effectively and it is easier to set up than group work. Pair work is also less stressful for the student than group work and you can even organise it so that stronger students can be paired with weaker ones. Try to make sure that pairs are mixed up from lesson to lesson. Apart from being quite noisy, which is fine if everyone is speaking English, you might find that some pairings don't work. This is something you will be aware of when you get to know the students. Pair work does not have to be two students sitting next to each other. Try open pairs occasionally, where students talk to each other across the classroom. This can be a useful chance for other students to hear and for you to monitor the students' accuracy and fluency. Group work Group work is from groups of three up to the whole class working together. Like pairs, this is great for STT and interaction. You can also introduce a sense of team and competition into the groups. If you have the whole class working together, it can be easier for you to control. You might find, though, that you get dominant students who do all the talking, so be careful how you select your groups. If you are organising groups of three or four, the set up and getting the students settled into the right place can be tricky, so plan it carefully beforehand. Seating arrangements Here are some common classroom arrangements:

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Keeping discipline It is important that you get a balance between exercising control and encouraging a relaxed, friendly atmosphere conducive to learning. If in doubt, start off being relatively strict and let yourself relax gradually. Doing it the other way round will be very difficult indeed. Its also important to understand why a student is causing a problem, so you need to be aware of them rather than seeing the student just as a problem. For instance, the student could be bored, have family problems, peer problems or even be in the wrong class. A lot of discipline problems are actually caused by the teacher. Here are some things to be aware of: Dont appear careless, disorganised or unprepared. Be fair in the attention you give to students. Dont take things personally. If you make a threat, carry it out be consistent. Never lose your temper. Treat the students as you expect to be treated.

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Put time, effort, enthusiasm and interest into your lessons. Set rules and be consistent! You could even brainstorm rules as a class and the consequences for breaking the rules. Once set, be consistent with them. Also, make sure the rules you set in the class are consistent with the school rules. It might be an idea to run your ideas past your director of studies first. If all else fails More often than not, making the students aware that you know whats going on can be enough, but try and do this humorously and with tact. Its important to know what the disciplinary procedures are in the school, so you need to ask your Director of Studies. Dont let the problem go on. It is better to deal with it right away and certainly dont wait until you get angry and lose your temper! You could try re seating the student, though this can often make him/her a martyr. You could try re organising seating as part of an activity. Giving the problem student more responsibility in group work could help. You could also try having a friendly chat. It might just be that the student doesn't feel he/she is getting enough attention from you.

Trainers notes: Task 1: Pair the students and give them an A3 piece of paper each, with a line down the middle, one half has the heading teacher can control and the other side teacher cant control. Give the students a role of writer and ideas person, and give them brainstorming time of 2 minutes. Now mix/add to the groups, and give more brainstorming time. Use a times up signal when period over. Give out post-its with other suggestions, and ask them to place then on the correct side. Again, strict time limit and times up signal. Then ask them to bring the post its to the board, and do as a whole class. Then, feedback on why they put them there. Suggestions could be: Can control Seating Board Cant control Mood Time of day

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Timing Pace Materials Stages Where they sit Who they work with Relationships Level Sometimes seating Tiredness levels Their notebooks

Evidence of good classroom management is: How you pair students timing staging feedback materials roles of students DONT let the participants write in the table on their worksheet. This is to be used at the start of the next session/after a break, to demonstrate a warmer, which is about memory, connecting lessons they will heve to, alone, write up the table, and then compare with the post-it poster they made. Evidence of good practice be prepared for the students to forget things between lessons, its normal! But, give them room, chances to revise. Task 2: This could be done as an answer auction, to make it more fun. Do point out however, that gambling is NOT culturally acceptable in some countries. If so, make it for points/forfeits instead.

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