Practical N° 13: Classroom management

Chapter III Managing the Classroom 1- The teacher in the classoom Using the Voice A teacher I remember well from highschool. Her overall performance was okay, but she used to be quite rude and always critizing students from our school and other schools from Santa Rosa, for instance, her general presence in the class reduced significantly. My own analysis: (second chart) I shoud improve audivility by asking more student situated at the back. The rest of the items depicted in the copy are improving considerably class by class. What information would you get over if you wanted to explain how to…? A-    Change a tyre? B-    Use a cash mahine? C-    Fry an egg? 2-     Students talk and teacher talk In class of twienty students, (working as a whole group), and one teacher, how much speaking time will each student have in a fifty-minute kanguage practice class. Make an A and D chart (see page 186) for teacher talking time, and student talking time in an English lesson. 3-     Using Language 1 Rewrite the following statement so that it reflects your opinion. “Students and teachers should not be discouraged from using the students Language 1 in the classroom. 4-     Creating lesson stages Number the following ways of regaining the initiative in anoisy class in order of personal preference and give your opinion and effectiveness.

Alexis Brito; Natalia EVangelista-UNLPam

2-             Talking to students

Giving Instructions

What information would you have to get over if you wanted to explain how to?

Based on the theory on page 46, there are two rules to give young learners instructions. They must be as simple as possible, and they must be logical. Furthermore, teachers should ask themselves a series of questions such as: what is the important information that I am trying to convey? What information do they need first? What should come next? And of course, checking whether students understood the proposition or not.

·        Change a tyre?

·        Use a cash machine?

·        Fry an egg?

Instructions for children to use an ATM

1-     Insert your Card.

2-     After a few seconds, insert your private PIN (make sure no one is watching).

3-     Select Withdraw.

4-     Select the account.

5-     Select the amount of money you would like to withdraw.

6-     Select EXIT Print receipt.

7-     Take your card.

8-     Take your money.

9-      Then put everything into your wallet/purse.

3- Student Talk and Teacher Talk

a-     In a class of twenty students (working as a whole group) and one teacher, how much speaking time will each student have in a fifty-minute language practice class?

Supposing that the teacher speaks for about twenty-five minutes in total (including taking the register etc.), the maximum time any one student may talk would be one minute and fifteen seconds.

b-     Make an A & D chart (see page 186) fir teacher talking time (TTT) and student talking time (STT) in an English lesson.

Specific Talking Time	Advantage	Disadvantage
Teacher Talking Time (TTT)	·        It is a good language model ·        Good Ts are good “Rough-Tuners”- so their language is useful for the student’s acquisition ·        SS like listening to the T. ·        T can focus the attention and energy of the whole group.	·        SS need speaking practice, not the teacher! ·        It can be boring if it goes too long. ·        It means students are only listening- which cuts out the learning potential that speaking. Reading and writing offer.
Student Talking Time (STT)	·        SS need practice! ·        STT can provide rehearsal ·        STT gives T and SS good information about how well the students are doing.	·        It can be very chaotic- especially in groups, etc. ·        It may be less efficient than TTT for getting across specific information. ·        It is easy for individual SS to dominate

4- Using the Language 1

Rewrite the following statement so that it reflects your own opinion.

“Students and teachers should be discouraged from using the student’s mother tongue (L1) in the classroom”

Using L1 is not the problem. The problem is when and how to use it. Before answering this question, it should be born in mind that L1 use must be considered “as a means to an end”. The target language must be used where possible and L1 when necessary.  Here are some examples of appropriate use of L1 in EFL classes.

§  Beginners
The mother tongue can be probably more beneficial to beginners. As they progress in their learning the target language will take the lead.

§  L1 can be time-saving.
Instead of going through a long explanations in the target language, it is sometimes easier and more efficient to give a translation of a vocabulary item or an explanation of a grammar point. Imagine a teacher  who wants to teach the word “car” to French students and start by phrasing the explanation as follows “a car is a road vehicle with an engine, four wheels, and seats for a small number of people” while a simple translation of the word ( or perhaps the use of visual aids) would be enough.

§  Comparison
A comparison of English and the mother tongue can be a very enriching experience. In fact, discovering the similarities and differences of both languages can enhance the TL acquisition. This comparison can be done at different levels:

§  Vocabulary
– Exploring the nuances of vocabulary items in both languages
– Building bilingual (or even multilingual) semantic maps

§  Grammar
– A comparison between L1 grammar and TL grammar yields interesting results.
– This comparison will highlight the differences between the two languages. Teachers and learners may build on these differences to avoid negative transfer ( L1 transfer which may be a source of errors.)
– The comparison also shows the similarities which will undoubtedly boost the internalization of the TL grammar.

§  Culture
Language is a vehicle for cultural aspects. If teachers ban the use of the mother tongue, this underlies an ideological conception of L1 culture as being inferior. Alternatively, cultural differences and similarities can be highlighted to help learners accept and tolerate differences while at the same time preserve their cultural uniqueness. This can be done through various activities where L1 plays an important role.

§  Proverbs
Students may be given a set of proverbs in the TL and be asked to find the corresponding ones in their mother tongue if they exist. If not they try to translate the proverbs into their language.

§  Idiomatic Expressions
Again, finding the corresponding idioms or a translation of TL idioms might be very helpful to detect cultural differences or similarities

§  Songs
Translation of lyrics

§  Jokes
Funny EFL activities can be built on jokes. Students may translate and tell or act TL jokes to create a free stress environment and spot TL cultural specificities.

§  Stress
Using L1 gives a sense of security and acknowledges the learners identity, allowing them to minimize the stress they may feel in EFL classrooms. With careful use of L1 learners may become willing to experiment and take risks with English.

§  Needs
Learners needs must be expressed in L1 since the TL is not yet mastered. Learners will never be able to express and communicate their needs with a language they speak poorly.

§  Classroom management
Management of conduct and discipline is sometimes hard to be done in the target language. For instance, if a serious problem emerges in the classroom, will the teacher really insist on an English-only policy when coping with it?

§  Grammar
L1 can be of great help when teaching grammar. Translation exercises for example may be the perfect practice when there is a grammar point that is causing trouble to students.

§  Instructions
According to my experience with EFL classes, I can dare say that so many failures in tests were due to learners’ lack of understanding of instructions. L1 can be used to redress this issue, helping students to understand what is exactly asked from them.

§  Rationale
Students need to understand the rationale behind activities or methods. It is important that they know where they start and what they will able to do. They should understand what lies behind the methods the teacher is using. This can only be done at this level through the students’ native language.

§  Errors
Discussion of some recurring errors. It is true that a lot of errors are caused by L1 transfer. French students, for example, say “I’m agree” instead of “I agree” which is an error due to L1 transfer.  A discussion in L1 of such errors will help students overcome these problems.

Of course, the list may be extended to other areas of foreign language teaching.

Part of the information introduced in this answer was taken from Teaching EFL Classes

http://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/l1-efl-classes/

5- Creating Lesson Stages

From where I stand, I believe that if a teacher shouts at students to be quite, and, if the teacher speaks quietly in the hope students will quieten down to listen are not as effective as the other ones. Furthermore, the former (shouting at students) is a kind of violent strategy (as opposed to louden the voice). The same happens with the one in which the teacher stands in front of the class with arms folded, action should be taken. On the other hand, the others better ranked are wonderful strategies both to avoid distraction and maintain children’s attention properly directed.

6-Different Seating Arragements

What is the best seating arrangement for the following situations?

a-     A team game with a class of forty.

Orderly Rows (clear view) (maintain eye contact)

b-    A class discussion with fifteen students.

Circle (greater feeling of equality) (students see each other)

c-     Pair work in a group of thirty students.

Separate Tables (easier for the teacher to help students out while the rest get on with their own work)

d-    A reading task in a group of ten.

Separate tables (ideal to check whether students are facing difficulties in the task or not)

e-     Students design advertisement in groups.

Separate Tables (collaborative writing)

f-      Students all listen to an audio track.

Orderly Rows (the whole class gets the same messages)

g-     The teacher explains a grammar point.

             Orderly Rows (clear view) (maintain eye contact).

§  7- Different Student Groupings

A-    Make an A&D chart (see page 186) for whole class, group work, pair work and solo work

Class Style	Advantages	Disadvantages
Whole Class	·        Creates a sense of group identity. ·        Suitable for T-as-controller activities. ·        Ideal for showing things.	·        Favours groups over individuals ·        Does not encourage SS to take responsibility for their own learning ·        Is not good for decision making, discussion, etc.
Group Work	·        Increases speaking time for individuals (in contrast to whole-class grouping). ·        Opportunities for lots of different opinions. ·        Encourages learner’s self-reliance through group decision-making.	·        Can be noisy ·        Some students get “lost” in groups ·        Some students end up always fulfilling the same group role. ·        Can be difficult to organize. ·        Some SS prefer whole class grouping.
Pair work	·        Dramatically increases speaking time in contrast to whole-class grouping. ·        Students work/interact independently. ·        Two heads are far better than one! ·        Easy to organize.	·        Can be very noisy ·        SS may veer off the point of activity. ·        SS are not always keen on pair work. ·        It depends who individuals are paired with.
Solo Work	·        Allows SS to work at their own pace. ·        Less stressful than whole group performance. ·        Quiet.	·        Does not necessarily help group solidarity. ·        More work for the teacher.

B-    What is the best grouping for these activities?  Put W= Whole Group Class, P= Pair Work, G= Group Work, or S= Solo Work in the boxes.

                                                                                                                                 Alexis Brito

Natalia Evangelista

Chapter 14: What if?

A  Students are all at different levels (pages 176-177)

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a)      Mixed abilities classes represent a great challenge for the teachers.

b)      There are some possible solutions in order to deal with a mixed ability class: use different materials /technology, do different tasks with the same material/technology and use the students.

c)      Most classes are heterogeneous.

2

a)      I would use the same material with the whole class but I would give the students different tasks according to their abilities. Students with a low level of English could work with the interview and spot more basic aspects: who the participants are, age, name, profession, etc and students with a high level of English could answer a set of more complex questions.

b)       I would work in groups of three or four and I would try to mix students with a high level of English with those who have a low level of English. I would provide them with a model of how they should write the story: introduction, development and end. I would give them the idea of working with a kind of brainstorming before writing the story itself. In this way, all students would participate in their groups because each of them should contribute with at least one or two ideas. Another option is to give the students a topic (ghosts, haunted houses, monsters, witches, zombies, etc) for each of the groups so it is easier for them to focus in one idea and not in many.

c)      I would work in pairs and again I would try to mix students with a high level of English with those who have a low level of English. First, I would present on the board the new topic (ways of agreeing and disagreeing) and then I would perform a debate showing how they should do it. After that, I would give each pair a card with a topic (related to the vocabulary that we would be working with) and they should talk about it. For example: climate change, deforestation, global warming, in danger species, pollution, etc. It is important to say that one student should be in favour (ways of agreeing) and the other against (ways of disagreeing). Then, they could change their roles.

d)      Again I would work in the same way as I would do with the interview in A. I would use the same material with the whole class but I would give the students different tasks according to their abilities. Students with a low level of English could work with the poem and create a picture dictionary or a glossary with the new words that they do not know. In this way, they would enlarge the amount of vocabulary they can manage and using images or pictures (visual aids) helps them to remember easily. Students with a high level of English could work with a literary orientation analysing comparisons, metaphors, rhyme, repetition, word chain, etc (always adapted to their level).

e)       I would prepare more complex and special activities for them. 

f)       I would work in pairs and I would try to mix students with many mistakes with those who had only some mistakes so they can compare both pieces of writing and I would ask the students to re-write the written work. Of course, I would explain on the board the most repetitive mistakes and I would help the students to correct them.

B  The class is very big (pages 177-178)

1

Small classes	Big classes
-          Close contact with students -          Individual attention and feedback -          More personal -          Quiet atmosphere	-          Assigning roles: helpers -          Group work (three or four people) -          Performing a story -          Using games and songs

2

a)      the teacher’s voice: teachers should ensure that what they say to the whole group can be heard.

b)      the teacher’s place in the class: teachers should ensure that students can see them when they are at the front. They should also monitor the whole class walking around.

c)      the teacher’s board work/overhead projector use: teachers should ensure that what they show or write can be seen.

d)      using the tape recorder: teachers should ensure that what they play to the whole group can be heard. Besides, since it becomes difficult to use individual repetition and control practice in a big group, it may be more appropriate to use students in chorus. The class can be divided into two halves. Each half can then speak a part in the dialogue, ask or answer a question, repeat sentences or words, etc.

C  Students keep using their own language (pages 178-179)

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·         Talk to them about the issues: teachers should talk with the students about the importance of speaking English in class. Students should understand that the overuse of their own language interferes with the learning process and do not allow them to practice English in class.

·         Encourage them to use English appropriately: teachers should explain the students that it is not prohibited to use their own language bust it is important to know when to use it. There is no problem in using their language during a writing activity but is not the same during a speaking activity because if they talk in their own language they are losing the purpose of the activity.

·         Only respond to English use: teachers can decide to use merely English and ignore what students say in their own language. In this way, the students would understand that they should speak English.

·         Create an English environment: teachers should speak English all the time so together with the listening activities and videos students would be exposed to English during the whole class.

·         Keeping reminding them: teachers should walk around the class when students are doing a speaking exercise trying to encourage them to use English and also helping them.

2

I would be happy (or at least not unhappy) for students to use their own language in:

d) Students are checking that they understand the instructions for an activity.

e) Students are doing a group writing task.

D  Students don’t do homework (pages 179-180)

A	B	Homework task
7	5	Students do a fill-in exercise, choosing between going to and will.
2	7	Students interview residents/tourists in the street and bring the results to the next lesson.
9	9	Students learn a list of words by heart to be tested by the teacher in the next lesson.
6	4	Students prepare a presentation which they will give (individually) in the next lesson.
4	8	Students prepare roles for next week’s role-play.
5	3	Students read a text and answer multiple-choice questions.
8	6	Students write six sentences using past continuous.
3	1	Students write a composition about environment.
1	2	Students write a publicity leaflet based on something in the course book.

E  Students are uncooperative (pages 180-182)

1

·         Bad behaviour (bullying, insults, violence, etc) against the teacher or the rest of the students.

·         Arriving late to class.

·         Do not do the homework.

·         Do not bring the materials to class (booklet, course book, notebook, etc).

·         Using cell phones.

·         Constant chattering in class.

·         Not listening to the teacher.

·         Disparagement of what’s going on (a kind of passive resistance).

·         Blunt refusal to do certain activities.

·         Students who are too shy.

·         Sleepy or tired students.

·         Students who are hungry.

2

THE LANGUAGE LEARNING-CONTRACT
TEACHER	LEARNER
As your teacher I will... not allow bullying, insults and violence against the teacher or the rest of the students, arrive on time, prepare my classes, not use the cell phone, correct students’ homework on time and give feedback to them, offer help all time, take into account students’ preferences (likes and dislikes) in order to plan the classes, make the class enjoyable.	As a learner I will... not misbehave, arrive on time, do my homework, bring the materials to class, not use the cell phone, listen to the teacher and participate in class.
As your teacher I expect... not bad behaviour, not arriving late, do your homework, bring the materials to class, not using the cell phone, listening to the teacher and participating in class.	As a learner I expect... the teacher does not allow bad behaviour, the teacher arrives on time, the teacher prepares the classes, the teacher does not use the cell phone, the teacher corrects the homework on time and she/he gives feedback, the teacher helps students, the teacher considers students’ opinions, the teacher makes the class enjoyable.

F  Students don’t want to talk (pages 182-183)

Action

Consequences

·         Use pair work. ·         Allow them to speak in a controlled way at first. For example: dictating a sentence that they have to complete, then practice and finally read it aloud. ·         Use “acting out” and reading aloud. ·         Use role-play. ·         Use recording.

(+) When they are with one, two or three students they are not under so much pressure as when they are in front of the whole class. (-) That they do no not want to work in pairs or groups or that they do not have a good relationship with some of their partners. (+) Psychologically, they are more likely to be able to respond. (-) For some outgoing students the activity could be boring or too easy. (+) It is one way of encouraging quiet students. (-) Some students who do not like dramatising. (+) Students speak more freely when they are playing a role and when they do not have to be themselves. It can be very liberating. (-) Some students do not like the role that they were assigned. (+) The students can record whatever they want to say. (-) They have to work alone at home without the teacher’s giddiness.

G  Students don’t understand the audio track (pages 183-184)

1

Some general problems that students have when listening to audio tracks in class are:

·         the audio track is too fast for the students to follow it

·         the audio track has got too difficult vocabulary for the students to understand

·         the audio track is not very clear or it is not loud enough to hear it

·         students get lost because they cannot listen to the audio track and solve the activity the teacher ask them simultaneously.

There are different methods in order to help students to overcome these difficulties. Teachers can:

·         Preview interview questions: students can be given some questions before listening with the purpose of predicting what will happen then.

·         Use “jigsaw listening”: the teacher divides the class in small groups and each group will have a different part of the audio track. Once the students listen to the audio track, they will have to put all the pieces together.

·         One task only: students will have to solve only one simple task.

·         Play a/the first segment only: instead of playing the whole recording, teachers can just play the first segment and then let’s students predict what is coming next.

·         Play the listening in chunks: break the audio into manageable chunks so that students understand the content of a part of it before moving on to the next one.

·         Use the audio script: there different ways of using the audio script to help students who are having difficulties:

ü  The teacher can cut the script into bits so that the students put them in the right order as they listen.

ü  The can let the students see the first part of the audio script before they listen.

ü  The students can read the audio script before, during and after they listen but it will have some words or phrases blanked out.

·         Use vocabulary prediction: the teacher can give to the students some “key” vocabulary and ask them to predict what the recording will be about. Knowing some of the words, they will probably understand more.

·         Have students listen all the time: encourage students to listen to English all the time when they are outside the classroom. For example: in their car or MP3 players, listen to the news in English on the radio or the Internet. They have to know that the more they listen, the easier it gets.