Teach English in TieshAnping Jiedao - Chongqing

Classroom Management Evamaria OlivaresEffective classroom management for young learners can be a great challenge for first time teachers. During elementary years, children have a tremendous amount of energy and many times they become restless and misbehave if there is not enough stimulation in the class. Due to the fast pace of today?s media many kids suffer from shorter attention spans and lack of interest in school. In order to keep the attention of students many teachers find that if they act as mentors, praise and encourage behavior, and provide interesting and varied teaching styles they will get a hold on classroom management. Young children are always looking for someone they can look up to and trust. In order to establish initial confidence with their students, teachers should act as mentors and set classroom rules in the beginning of the course. The teacher should try to place importance on the school?s rule of conduct as well as the golden rule of respect. It?s always better to be strict at first and then later provide a more relaxed environment when students begin activities. As the course progresses student will begin to gain confidence in the teacher if he or she maintains a fair and consistent behavior the students can follow. Showing students that you care about their well being and getting to know their interests will also help in designing better lesson plans that are in tune with the students? age group and culture. Many times students feel alienated from their instructors if they don?t feel any personal interaction. The teacher can break this barrier by minimizing board work and moving around in the classroom, give individualized attention to each student, and engage in conversation outside the coursework material. Teachers can also help prevent discipline issues by focusing on praising and encouraging good behavior. Much of student problem behavior stems from family issues, lack of self-esteem and boredom in the class. No one likes to be criticized or embarrassed in front of others. In a case where a child is misbehaving it?s better to point out how great another student is behaving and show the class the rewards that good behavior brings. Instead of focusing on the bad the teacher can divert the attention to the good and set an example for the rest of the students. It?s important to act right away and not lose your temper since the point is to keep respect and show patience and kindness to one another. Often times teachers get overwhelmed by the amount of rules they have to follow and material they have to cover in a school curriculum that they often overlook opportunities to engage students in fun activities. Changing the classroom dynamics by grouping students in pairs, small groups and changing seating arrangements will help students feel a sense of belonging and improve interaction with one another. The teacher will have to take into consideration the type of activity they are performing, size of the class and teacher role when setting up classroom arrangements. In either case, the main focus is to increase student talking time and help them retain the language by providing fun activities. Some examples to keep the class fun and varied include flash cards, role-play, songs, surveys and board games. Getting students involved in every aspect of the lesson will help keep student attention and benefit everyone. Gaining the respect of young learners is a challenging task. New teachers will gain confidence in the classroom if they put careful thought in encouraging their students rather than reprimanding them. Setting goals in the beginning of the course will help students see the rewards of learning a new language and in turn increase their participation in class. As Muriel Sparks put it, ? To me, education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul?. The teacher?s aim in a classroom should be to encourage students to discover their potential and build confidence to succeed in new and undiscovered territories.