Teach English in Xinxing Zhen - Tianshui Shi

MANAGING CLASSES Teachers must be able to inspire confidence in the students. You have to know when to be firm and when to leave students alone. Teacher must be flexible and change his/her role according to the activity and situation without being dominant or leaving the students uncertain. Classroom management is the skill of organizing and managing the class in a friendly relaxed manner whilst maintaining discipline. EYE CONTACT, GESTURE and the VOICE: Eye contact can convey messages. Difficult to speak to someone who is always looking elsewhere. Good eye contact in classroom essential to establishing good rapport with students. HOW CAN EYE CONTACT BE USED IN CLASSROOM: ? Show students involved in lesson ? Ensure students understand what they are supposed to do. ? Maintain discipline ETC. Avoid eye contact during non-teacher centred activity. GESTURE: Good use of gestures effective in conveying meaning of language ? to add visual interest ? reduce bneed of verbal explanation etc. VOICE: Voice must have correct clarity, range, projection etc. Voice must change naturally according to circumstances i.e. individual tutoring or many young children. Class follows teacher so can be livened or quietened down by teacher?s volume. USING STUDENTS NAMES: Use students names when organising activity ? indicate who must answer ? get a student?s attention etc. GROUPING STUDENTS: No limit but factors i.e. class size & furniture plays a role. Whole, single or pairs activities each have own place in classroom. WHOLE CLASS GROUPNGS ? PROS & CONS: ? Creates sense of belonging ? Easier organisation ? Can be off putting to shy students etc. STUDENTS WORKING ON OWN - PROS & CONS: ? Allows teacher to respond to individual differences ? Helps students become more self-reliant ? Less stressful for stunts than contributing in front of whole class etc. PAIRWORK ? PROS & CONS: ? Allows students to share ideas & thoughts ? Increases opportunity for student talking time & interaction. ? Can be noisy ? Students may be working with someone they don?t like GROUP WORK ? PROS & CONS: ? Encourage students to cooperate & negotiate ? Can take longer to organize ? Exchange of ideas can slow activities down ? Personal problems less problematic etc. CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENT OF GREAT IMPORTANCE & DEPENDS ON: ? Space available ? Student?s age ? Nationality etc. May be better to put weak student with stringer one. Effective with dealing with pairs who don?t work well together. Teacher can move students for benefit of activity or cohesion. Must be done politely but not without reason. BEFORE VARING THE SEATING CONSIDER: ? How will it affect classroom atmosphere? ? Which arrangement most suitable for students to be able to talk to each other? ? How will size of group affect arrangement? etc. ORDELY ROWS: Teacher has a clear view of all students & teacher can maintain eye contact. Reduces discipline issues. Teacher can move freely between rows. CIRCLES & HORSE SHOE: Used in small classes. Teacher?s position less dominant & makes pair work easier. Classroom becomes more intimate. SEPARATE TABLES: Classroom becomes informal & teacher can work at one table while others continue working. Can create discipline issues & teacher unable to maintain eye contact. TEACHERS POSITION: Students sensitive to teachers position in class & whether teacher is sitting or standing. Can tell them what kind of activity it is ? what teachers role is ? what students are expected to do. Standing teacher able to be seen by all ? move around & control class. Can be tiring & make students feel dominated. If teacher sits has relaxed control of class. Try to monitor work without stopping the flow. Monitor at start & end of activity to check if they have understood & progressed. TEACHERS POSITION & MOVEMENT: Language Presentation: Teacher wants attention of whole class so standing is best. Giving Instructions: Teacher needs attention of all students. Reading activities: No need to dominate. Sitting & occasional monitoring needed. Activation Stage: Teacher must relax control ? be available if needed. Remain at a distance from activity ? seated. Controlled Practice: Occasional monitoring. Checking work in progress: Teachers move from group to group without intruding or stopping work flow. WRITING on BOARD: Cannot avoid turning back but reduce time back is turned by: ? Overhead projector ? Card with vocabulary ? Write in small sections turning to face class from time to time ? Have board work ready before class starts. GIVING INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION: ? Know students names ? Don?t teach solely to strong or weak students ? Don?t allow students to ?keep? attention ? Include all students likewise TEACHER/ STUDENT TALKING TIME: TTT & STT depends on lesson/activity. Teachers speak more when: ? Presenting ? checking etc. ? Proving language input ? Giving instructions ? Establishing rapport TTT Advantages: Teacher to provide student with correct English specifically clear to student?s ability TTT Disadvantages: Students should be listening not talking so time is reduced for students to speak & participate. ? Keep TTT to a minimum but useful. ? Choose language for explanations carefully ? Avoid TEFL jargon ? Don?t over elaborate ? Keep it simple. GIVING INSTRUCTIONS: Be effective - attracting student?s attention - making sure everyone is listening. Use Simple Language: ? Use language lower level than taught. ? Complex language slows students down & prone to misunderstanding? Be Consistent: ? Use same set of words for same instruction i.e. everybody, again, look, listen etc. ? Teach necessary language for following of instructions. Use Visual clues: ? Use realia, mime. ? Write instructions on board or cue cards. ? Give one instruction at time. ? Give demonstration as example. Check instructions: ? Ask to explain back/questions to see if they understand the instructions. ? Monitor to see if following instructions. ESTABLISHING RAPPORT: ? Choose material/activities that involves students talking to each other. ? Use pair work & sharing. ? Elicit from students to get them involved. ? Let student?s correct each other. ? Change pair?s often so students work with variety of people. ? Be positive & show personal interest in students. ? Don?t allow students to dominate group/yourself. MAINTAINING DICIPLINE - Degree of discipline depends on: ? Age of students ? Class size ? Motivation ? School code of conduct, ? Respect between student & teacher etc. ? Teacher must strike correct balance by exercising control & balance. Reasons for problem behaviour: ? Family problems ? Boredom ? Low self esteem ? Peer Pressure ? Class size. ? Lack of respect Preventing Problem Behaviour: ? Be punctual ? Be prepared ? Be consistent & fair ? Don?t make threats cannot carry out ? Make lessons interesting ? Establish rapport with students ? Return homework promptly etc. Responding to problem behaviour: ? Act immediately ? Focus on behaviour not student ? Keep problem student behind to reprimand in private ? Use knowledge of colleagues ? Keep to schools disciplinary code