How to deal with your class

04/10/23 Prepared by Mr. Nay Onn 1

HOW TO DEAL WITH YOUR CLASS

ContentI. Introduction

II. General Tips

III. Verbal and gesture reinforcement

IV. Knowing your students

V. Interest



I. IntroductionOne of the most important aspects is to do with, we methodologically called, “classroom management”. What does the term refer to?The term “classroom management” refers to those activities concerning with how to make classroom looks tidy, or interesting, or motivating. The following are the useful guides to this methodology term:


II. General Tips

1. Arrange the Seating to Help

As a good teacher, you should prepare to re-arrange the chairs so that it is both easier and more natural for students to see and talk to each other. For the typical adult class of perhaps between five to fifteen students, the one below would probably be best.


However, for a class of about 30 students, it is probably good to use the conventional arrangement for activities which are centered upon the teacher and allow students to move their body for pair work and group work. Moreover, the seating should suggest that students are encouraged to talk to each other; at the same time, teacher himself should keep enough space for moving around the class during activities.


2. Stand up when you are directing activities

In general, it is a good idea to sit down in a language classroom on only two occasions. First, if students are doing something which, for the moment, does not involve you. Second, if you are having a conversation or discussing with the class.


However, for most activities in language classroom, it is important that students can see you and, in particular, your mouth and your eyes, so this is much easier if you are standing. Besides, standing also means you can see all the students clearly and can use your eyes and hands effectively.


3. Look at studentsIf you are standing with your eyes constantly moving over the class, everyone feels involved, that is your eyes help your students’ concentration.What is more advantageous is that this is the easiest way to check whether your students understand what you have said, or what they have read or heard by using your eyes to look at theirs as any comprehension and confusion will show in their eyes long before they tell you that there is a problem.


4. Don’t ask “Do you understand?”

It is not good for you to do so, it is rare indeed for students, particularly older students, to admit that they don’t understand. To solve this effectively, it is teachers’ job to anticipate difficulty and misunderstanding in order to make it as easy as possible for students to show their difficulty without any embarrassment.


The first thing to do is that teacher should keep eyes contact over students while explaining something as it is possible to see when students do not understand, and even to see the point at which they become lost or confused. If it is necessary to ask, this should be done by asking specific questions about the information or explanation you have just given.


5. Admit your ignoranceIt is true that no teacher know everything. English is a huge subject, and no matter how much you have studied it, or how long you have been teaching it, you will still come across points you have never known before. The solution is straightforward—admits that you do not know, consult the colleague or look the answers up. Make sure that if you say you will tell them in the next lesson, you do actually say something about it—even you cannot find the answer.


6. Use back of your hand to point

If you point in the conventional (normal) way, it can appear aggressive and inhibit (making students feel embarrassed and less confident) students. Using the back of your hand to gesture is less intimidating (making worried and less confident), and conveys an invitation rather than a directive.


7. Don’t commentate

Even though it is essential to involve students in learning process by discussing classroom activities, a teacher keeping up a more or less non-stop commentary on his own activities is too bad as too much introduction would both lead students to confusion and waste students learning time.


In the end, students never know whether what the teachers are saying is important or not. So make sure that any commentary should be helpful to students and should not be used to reassure yourself or simply fill up silence.


8. Keep your language to a minimum when students are doing somethingIf you speak, students will usually listen. If you want to encourage your students to use language, it obviously means that once you have introduced an activity and made clear what is wanted, you must be prepare to keep quiet. For example, just imagine! What happens if you instruct students to do an activity _an exercise_ and you just keep talking while they are concentrating on that exercise?


We have already noted that you can reduce the amount of unnecessary classroom language by using your eyes and hands. These are several important implications:-Do not interrupt students unnecessarily while they are preparing something.-Do not dominate discussion yourself.-Do not tell students what they want to say.-Do not use more language than necessary to direct and control classroom activities.


9. Be explicit (clearly and directly)

It is the teacher’s task to structure the classroom carefully. This means planning the lesson well in advance_ what is to be done and how it is to be conducted_ and it also means doing this in details. Here is the truth! If the teacher has a wooly (not showing clear thing) idea of what is required, the pace of the lesson will drop and students become either bored or confused because they cannot catch up with the explanation full of too-long or too-short comments, and without showing the exact point he wants to say.


Classroom instruction should be simple, precise (exact), and explicit.

In conclusion, the more explicit your instruction or explanation are, the easier it is for students to concentrate on the content or meaning, rather than the organization of the activities.


III. Verbal and Gesture Reinforcement

Verbal Reinforcement:

Words

Correct! Yes! Great!

Right! Uh-huh! Fine! Beautiful!

Good! Very Good! Excellent! Nice! Acceptable!

Nearly!


Sentences• Well done! • That’s good work! • Well thought out!• Keep it up, Tevy! • You should be pleased with that!• You have caught on very quickly! • You are on the right track!• I’m pleased with that! • You’re doing better! • I’d like the way you explain that!• You should be very proud of this! • That’s interesting! • That’s very clever of you, how good!


Gesture Reinforcement

Face

Smiling, Laughing, Whistling

Raising eyebrows, wrinkling the nose

Body

Pointing (with the back of your hands)

Signaling OK, Raising arms, Clapping hands

Shacking the head, Nodding, Thumping up, Shrugging shoulders


Proximity (state of being near)

Standing along side

Walking nearby, Advancing towards

Direct Contact

A pat on the shoulder, Shaking hands

Token

Food and candy, gold star, ticks

Written comments on books, test papers


IV. Knowing your students

Name

Being able to address your students by name is a sign of good teachers. Moreover, it will give advantages to both teachers themselves and students. For teachers, this will avoid all kinds of confusion; it generates a friendly relationship with students, and many other. For students, it produces a more secure atmosphere.


3. Draw a plan of the classroom and write the names of the students. Ask students to sit in the same seats at each lesson, at least for the first few weeks. Keep the plan on your desk during the lessons until you know all the students.

4. If your school asks students to provide photographs of themselves and you can make copy of them, label the photos and learn the names at home.


Backgrounds

Even though it is helpful to know something about your students’ backgrounds, you should not let class activities lead you or students to pry (to find out details about someone’s private life impolitely) into someone background and don’t force students to reveal things, about themselves which they do not wish to reveal.


To make this happen, try one of the following:

1. Ask students to write their names on pieces of folded paper or card which can stand on the front of their desks of every English lesson until you know everyone’s name.

2. Buy cheap labels and ask students to print or write their names on the labels in large letters and wear them.


To avoid making students feel embarrassed by your questions relating to special circumstances such as family tragedy, financial problems, etc, you may check such information or student confidential records if your school keeps this and if are allowed to do so, or you may try to naturally understand through unexpected conversations between students and students, and so on.


Interests

Your students will find their English lessons more stimulating (exciting, interesting) if someone of their English work is concerned with things that interest them, so you will want to find out what these things are.


V. Conclusion

So, you can see, through the lesson, clearly that classroom management is an important part of a good teaching. No meter how good your teaching is, your lesson would be less effective if your classroom management strategies are poor.

How to deal with your class

Education

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