Classroom Management

Professional Development and Student Activities Committee

January 3rd, 2022

 Objectives
At the end of this session, attendees should be
able to:

1. Understand what classroom management is

2. Discuss classroom management styles

3. Identify factors that are conducive to a positive

learning environment
 What is classroom management?

The actions taken by the teachers to create and maintain a learning

environment conducive for successful instruction which fosters
students' academic achievement as well as their social, emotional,
and moral growth.
 How do we create and maintain a conducive
learning environment?

Be prepared

Welcome students

Share the objectives of your lesson

Start the class with an activity

Agree the rules with your class, be fair and consistent with them
 Examples of some classroom rules

• Speak in English
• No food or drink in class
• No mobile phones unless allowed
• Respect each other
• Be on time
• Come prepared to learn
Classroom management styles
Classroom management styles
 Classroom management styles video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiIcptKYNh4&list=TLPQMjgxMjIwMjG
Rmum84UfL4Q&index=2
 Classroom management styles

Develop your own teaching style that promotes:

• Responsibility
• Cooperation
• Independence
• Autonomous learning
Teacher Talk Time (TTT)
 Teacher Talk Time

Teacher Talk Time

 Why reduce Teacher Talk Time?

• Dominant teacher

• Controlling teacher

• Preventing learning
 Why reduce Teacher Talk Time?

• Encourage students to participate

• More opportunities for developing the
speaking skill
• More responsibility
• Lessons become more interesting
• More opportunity for corrections
• Only chance to speak English in their day
 How to reduce Teacher Talk Time?
• Re-explain important lesson concepts to each other
• Use visual cues ( facial expressions, drawings, and body language)
• While using a worksheet, have students read out the instructions
• Ask students to help you model the activity (Make sure you choose students who are
comfortable in front of the class.)

• Let them paraphrase ideas and instructions

• Summarize previous lessons at the beginning of class
• Elicit instructions when possible
• Ask follow-up questions
 How to increase STT

• Use elicitation rather than explanation

• Ask guiding/prompt questions

• Get students to give feedback on tasks to each other rather than to the teacher (think–pair-share)
• Use different interaction patterns (pair/group work)
• Tolerate silence (Inexperienced teachers in particular tend to fill silences by unnecessary talking)
• Provide ‘processing time’ between instructions, during explanations, while waiting for a student
to respond, and during monitoring of activities

• Your lesson may be your students’ only chance to speak English in their day, so try to provide as
many opportunities to speak as possible
 How to increase STT

• The teacher should not answer his/her own questions

• Personalization and student to student questioning

• Promote paraphrasing (by using their own words), reporting

and feedback
Giving instructions - good vs poor

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjcI3J65Nao
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJsn7v-Qjak
How to give good instructions
• Get students’ full attention before you start giving instructions (Keep yourself central )

• Give clear and concise instructions

• Be decisive

• Project your voice

• Use gestures and facial expressions

• Demonstrate the activity/task (modelling the first item from an exercise)

• Break down instructions when there are several steps

How to give good instructions

• Write instructions on the board

• Set a time limit

• Always check that students have understood your instructions (ICQs)

• Don’t give out materials before you finish giving instructions

• Don’t give instructions before arranging pairs and groups

• Pause after giving an instruction

 Wordy Instructions

• ‘OK, everybody, would you, Maria, sit down. Now what you have to do is,
when you, you take this sheet of paper that I’m handing out now and keep it
secret, and some of you are ‘A’, it’s written at the top, and some are labelled
‘B’. OK, can you see that? Don’t show your paper to anyone and then you have
to describe what’s on your paper so that your partner can find out what’s
different, and you must agree; when you’re doing something, draw it on your
paper? OK, Do you understand?’
 Concise Instructions

• ‘Sit opposite your partner. Some of you are ‘A’. Some are ‘B’. Don’t
show your paper to anyone. Some things from picture A are
different from picture B. Describe your picture. When you find
something different, draw it. What are you going to do?’
 Checking Instructions

• Ask instruction checking questions (ICQs)

• Ask a student to repeat instructions back

• Volunteer a student to model what you

want them to do
 Examples of Instruction Checking Questions

• Which exercise are you going to do?

• Are you going to speak or write?

• Are you going to use present simple or past simple?

• Are you going to work alone or in pairs?

• Do you write full sentences or short notes?

• Do you write full sentences or just the key words?

What is the teacher’s role once he/she has set up an

activity in which students work on their own, in pairs or in

groups?

Monitoring, right?
 Why do we monitor?

▪ To ensure learners have understood the instructions

▪ To ensure learners are on task
▪ To give individual attention
▪ To provide on-the-spot correction
▪ To micro-teach individuals or pairs
▪ To learn about individual and group difficulties and progress
▪ To note down common errors (for delayed feedback)
▪ To keep the activity alive
▪ To assess the success of an activity
▪ To modify the original lesson plan if necessary
 When do we monitor?

Possibly:
▪ during speaking activities
▪ during written practice exercises
▪ when the focus is on accuracy
▪ when the focus is on fluency
 How do we monitor effectively?

It depends on what kind of monitoring your class needs:

Discreet or vanish mode:

▪ You don’t offer help, interfere or correct
▪ You avoid eye contact not to distract students
▪ You don’t ask questions or intervene

Active or participation mode:

▪ You offer spontaneous correction and advice
▪ You encourage students by giving praise
▪ You keep the activity alive
▪ You help them extend their conversations
▪ You take notes of common errors
▪ You feed in language and ideas when necessary
 Monitoring Face to Face vs Virtual

The discreet or vanish monitoring during F2F

classes is fine as it is supported by the research
but can you do this virtually?
 What is Time Management?

Time management refers to managing time effectively so that

the right time is allocated to each activity.
 Why do we need to manage time?

 To save time

 To reduce stress

 To function effectively

 To increase our work output

 To have control on our job responsibilities

 How do we use class time effectively?

 Effective planning

 Setting goals and objectives

 Prioritizing activities as per their importance

 Spending sufficient time on each activity

 Discuss

 Why is it important to set time for each task?

 What do you do if the whole class has finished before the allocated time?

 What do you do if only a few of your students have finished the task before everyone?

 Do you stop the activity and give them feedback?

 Do you ask them to wait silently until everyone finishes?

 What do you do in case you have finished all your stages but you still have time for the
end of your session?
How to make classroom management effective
Learning styles and what should be done about them
Physical Layout of the Classroom
Virtual Layout of the Classroom
Use of Classroom Resources:
 Mutual respect and creating learning conditions

Mutual respect is an indispensable ingredient in the recipe of learning,

(Stronge: 2002; Wilen et al: 2004).

A teacher’s most important job is to create conditions in which learning can

take place, (Jim Scrivener: 1994, learning teaching)

 Your classroom

• Influences learning

• Gives clear messages about how you value learning

• Gives clear messages about how you value your students

 You Support Learning By

• Displaying students’ own work

• Giving student’s space to move around freely

• Careful, friendly layout of tables and chairs

• Providing organised and accessible resources

 Factors that are Conducive to a Positive Learning Environment

• Use of calm positive voice

• Rules and Routines established and consistency of approach

• Welcoming, safe, stimulating and motivating classroom

• Practical and differentiated tasks to meet all needs

 Preventing problem behavior

• Creating a code of conduct

• Interest and enthusiasm

• Professionalism

• Rapport between teachers and students

 Reacting to problem behavior
Whatever the reason for problem behavior, it should not be ignored when it
happens.

• Act immediately

• Focus on the behavior not the student

• Take things forward

• Keep calm

• Use colleagues and the institution if needed

 Review

• What do you think of the ideas we have discussed in

this session?

• What did you like and what would you use in your
classroom?

It has been a great pleasure working with you

Thank You
 References
• Harmer, J. (2007). How to teach English. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

• Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

• Scrivener, J. (2012). Classroom management techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

• Thornbury, S., & Watkins, P. (2007). The CELTA course. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.