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Unit 5 presents, Classroom Management, an essential skill since all beneficial classrooms require good discipline and rapport between the teacher and students. Three ways a teacher uses his or her body in classroom management are through eye contact, gesture, and voice. First, eye contact is used to : show students they are involved, to check understanding, to indicate who is to speak, to encourage participation, to include students, to show if a student is correct, etc. Second, gesture is used to : highlight the meaning of language points, give instructions, set the pace of lesson etc. Last, the Teachers voice must have good clarity, range, variety and projection. Otherwise students may have difficulty concentrating and understanding instructions. Teachers may wish to group students as a class, individually, in pairs or groups to depending on what the teacher's objectives. Whole class grouping is efficient and gives the possibility for everyone to participate. However, shy students who may not wish to participate in front of the whole class. Individual grouping allows teachers to respond to individual differences in pace of learning, ability etc. However this does not allow the students to practice and learn the language with each other. Pair and greater than 2 grouping allows stronger students to help and support weaker ones and allows students to share ideas and thoughts. However, they can be noisy and students may revert to their native language when talking. Pairs are slightly easier to set up than larger groups. The teachers posture and location in the class indicates to students many things including : what kind of activity is taking place, what the teacher's role will be, and what the students are expected to do. Depending on the point in the lesson the teacher may be in different places. The following table gives the posture of the teacher at each point in the lesson. Language presentation ? the teacher will want the attention of the whole class, standing Giving instructions ? the teacher will want the attention of the whole class, standing Reading activities ? occasional monitoring of progress, sitting Activation stage ? teacher should relax control completely, available if needed, sitting Controlled practice ? occasional monitoring of progress, sitting Checking work in progress ? teacher moves from group to group monitoring progress. How the teacher gives attention to students has a large effect on the teacher-student relations. The ITTT guide suggests the following guidelines : * If necessary, spend longer with students who do not understand. * Don't teach exclusively to only the strong or weak students. * Don't allow individual students to 'hog' yours or the classroom's attention. * Include all students equally. * Encourage less confident students to participate by building their confidence (giving praise or easier questions). Another issue is known as Teacher Talk Time vs Student Talk Time. ITTT suggests reducing Teacher Talk Time for the following reasons : * If the teacher talks less but more meaningfully then the students will pay more attention to and better model the teachers language. * While the teacher is talking students cannot practice the language so if the teacher spends all the time talking students will have very little time to practice ESL teachers must be aware of the English language learners comprehension level when giving instructions in English. In general ESL teachers should adhere to the following guidelines : * Use simple language at a lower level that that being taught. * Use the same set of words for the same instruction (consistency). * Reinforce instructions with visual clues. * Check for understanding through questioning or checking the learner's understanding. Rapport is defined a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well. A good teacher will be able to foster good rapport with the students that makes class enjoyable and successful. In an ideal world classroom discipline would not require any effort. Excellent teachers will also make classroom discipline seem effortless. The ITTT guide suggests the following guidelines for preventing problem behavior : * well prepared * consistent and fair * do not threats that you cannot carry out * show the same respect for your students as you expect from them * make your lessons interesting and varied * be enthusiastic about your teaching * establish rapport with the students The ITTT guide suggests the following guidelines for responding to problem behavior : * Act immediately, don't wait for the problem to worsen. * Change the classroom dynamic, reset the students if necessary. * Keep calm shouting almost never helps. * Keep the problem student behind after class. * Keep to the school's disciplinary code and don't make threats that you cannot enforce. * Use the knowledge of your colleagues.
