Teach English in Wulituo Jiedao - Beijing

Classroom Management There are many things to consider when discussing classroom management. In this article I am going to explain the main things to consider I would suggest that there are four main categories when considering management. These are ? Class arrangement, rapport, teacher involvement, and discipline. I have a lot of experience when it comes to managing a group of people, establishing rapport and discipline problems. So I consider myself a good candidate for discussing classroom management. My Experience comes from running a busy card room. It was important to know as much as possible about my customers and cater to their individual needs. I also had to ensure that the arrangement of players was manoeuvrable and best placed so that I could see everyone and they could see me. It was also my job to reach an amicable agreement between all parties as quickly as possible. I also worked in a prison where discipline was highly important, I had to find the right balance between keeping control of all the prisoners and visitors but at the same time being as fair as possible. This article will be an account of my knowledge on the subject of classroom management based on both my experience and my studies. The most important thing in classroom management is establishing rapport and by extension, mutual respect. In order to do this it is essential to show interest in your students. This involves learning their names and a bit about their interests. Another important part of this is following your own rules. If you tell students they should not talk when you do, you should never interrupt them. Try to involver your students? interests in as many of the activities as possible. Being aware of both what your student needs and what your student wants is essential. There are many different ways to arrange a class and they have different positives and negatives. The size of the class and the activities you wish to use will dictate your decision as to how to arrange it. For pair and group work in manageable class sizes, the horse shoe or semi-circle arrangements are very effective. These models tend to place students in ideal positions for such activities and create a very positive, informal atmosphere. However, with large classes, fifteen plus, there is only one option and that is the orderly rows. This is a more formal design but it does have the teacher perfectly situated so everyone can see them. The way the teacher acts makes a big impact on the management. There are three different aspects of a teacher?s actions that students pay attention to. The first of these is the eyes. Eye contact is very important and actually quite difficult to get right. If we avoid eye contact we give the impression of low confidence. However, staring can make a student very uncomfortable. Eye contact can be used to show that we are communicating with a specific student. As can gestures. Gestures help visualise our meaning and can communicate praise or a need for correction. The Last aspect is our voice. We can use dynamics to hold attention. If students know that when they talk they cannot hear the teacher, they are less likely to do so. Of course we can also simply stop. Silence is an effective way of showing someone that you know they are not listening. This leads on to disruptive behaviour. There are many reasons for disruptive behaviour, sometimes they are out of the teachers? control. students can have personal or family problems that affect their behaviour. Sometimes though, it is the teachers? fault, as teachers it is our job to ensure our lessons are interesting and informative, and it is important to do everything we can to maintain student respect. No matter how bad it gets, never shout. The most important thing with maintaining discipline is to start off very strict and gradually soften your approach. I have found this provides a level of respect that can be easily maintained. Furthermore, ensure you never make a threat you cannot carry out and always be fair. This article has briefly approached the main talking points of classroom management. Giving a basic breakdown of what is required to attain and maintain a decent level of management. This is just a taster, there are many books to consider for further, more detailed reading.