Classroom Management

What is Classroom Management Classroom management is the way teachers organize what goes on in the classroom. The aim of it is to create an atmosphere that will help interact in English in meaningful ways.

What does Classroom Management Involve? Classroom management involves both decisions and actions. The actions are what is done in the classroom, for example, re-arranging the chairs. The decisions are about whether to do these actions, when to do them, how to do them, who will do them, etc. The essential basic skill for classroom management is therefore to be able to recognize options availabel to the teacher, to make appropriate decisions between these options, and to turn them into effective and efficient actions.

How can we manage a classroom efficiently? Only when the following six conditions are met: The teacher plays appropriate roles. The teacher provides clear instructions. Students are grouped in a way suitable for the learning activities. The teacher asks appropriate questions. There is discipline and harmony in the class. The students ’ errors are treated properly.

What factors may influence classroom management? People: the relationship between the teacher and the students Language: what you expect them to do (understanding and encouraging students) Environment: classroom, the positioning of the desks and the position of the teacher Organization: good lesson plan, clear learning objectives, variety in activities … Tools: textbook, video-recorder, a slide projector …

The role of the teacher Different approaches stipulate different teacher roles. Based on the functions that the teacher performs in different activities during the class, Harmer defines the teacher ’ s roles as controller, assessor, organizer, prompter, participant and resource- provider.

Teacher as Controller The teacher in most approaches is somewhat a controller. Different activities need a different degree of control. For any activity, appropriate degree of control is most important.

Teacher as Assessor As an assessor, the teacher does two things: Correcting mistakes: gental correcting Organizing feedback: focus on students ’ success or progress

Teacher as Organizor An organizor is the most important and difficult role the teacher has to play. The teacher ’ s major work is to design and organize tasks for students to perform in class with task-based language teaching approach. The teacher should go around the classroom and provide help for students while students are doing the task.

Teacher as Prompter When students are not sure how to start an activity, or what to do next, or what to say next, the teacher should give appropriate prompts.

Teacher as Participant Task-based teaching methods encourage the teacher to participate in students ’ activities. The teacher should change his role once he joins the students. He should not dominate or appear to be authoritative.

Teacher as Resource-provider No matter what kind of method the teacher use in foreign language teaching, he/she should be a good and convenient resource for the students. When students are supposed to work on their own, the teacher should withhold his/her readiness to provide resources.

Teacher ’ s New Roles With the implementation of the new English curriculum, teachers are expected to put on new roles: facilitators, guides, researchers (Fu Daochun, 2001)

The role of the teacher The following are things that teachers often do in the language classroom. Decide what role the teacher is playing in each activity. The teacher gives students two minutes to skim a text, and when time is up, he asks students to stop and answer some questions. The teacher writes one of five numbers on a number of cards (the same number as the students). Each student draws one card. Those who have drawn number 1 will form group 1, and those who have drawn number 2 will form group 2. Thus the students are put into five groups in a random way.

The role of the teacher When a student has made a sentence with “ borrow ”, “ I borrowed a paper to write a letter ”, the teacher says, “ Well, we don ’ t say a paper, we say a piece of paper ”. The teacher asks a student a question “ Have you ever bought clothes with problems? ” If the student doesn ’ t seem to be ready, the teacher says “ for example, a shirt without …” and points to the buttons on his own shirt or jacket.

The role of the teacher When students are doing a group-work task, the teacher joins one or two groups for a short period of time. The teacher asks the students to produce conversations (either orally or in writing) by using particular patterns or expressions they have just learned.

Student grouping the most common student grouping: Whole class work （全班集体活动） Pair work （同伴活动） Group work （小组活动） Individual study （个人学习）

Whole class work Whole class work refers to the time when all the students are under the control of the teacher.They are all doing the same activity at the same rhythm and pace. It is often adopted when the teacher is making a presentation, checking exercise answers, or doing accuracy reproduction. When the teacher asks questions, the students speak either together or one by one as indicated by the teacher.

Pair work It could be a competition over a game or co-operation in a task or project between the two students. They could also do certain exercises together or oral practice. When the students are doing pair work, the teacher usually circulates around the classroom, answering questions or providing help when necessary.

Group work Each group has 3,4 or 5 students, depending on the activity. The group size: 4-6 In order to make each group self- organized, a group leader could either be “ democratically ” selected or assigned by the teacher, who can act as organizer or a mini-teacher.

Individual study Individual study is the stage during the class where the students are left to work on their own and at their own speed. Usually they are doing the same task, but the teacher may give them a choice of tasks. Individual study is different from individualized learning. In individualized learnng, the learners are given a measure of freedom to choose how and what they learn at any particular time, thus there is less direct techer supervision and more learner autonomy and responsibility for learning.

Some possible ways to group the students Grouping the students according to seating arrangement; Students select their own group members,(risky) Strong students and weak students are mixed together. Strong students and weak students are grouped separately to do different tasks. Group the students by drawing lots.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Types of Student Grouping According to Harmer (2001), different interaction patterns have both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Whole Class Work It reinforces a sense of belonging among a group of members. It is good for teachers to give instruction and explanation together and it is an ideal way to show materials and do presentations together.

Disadvantages of Whole Class Work Individuality is not favored. Not everyone has the opportunity to express what they want. Some students feel nervous and anxious when they are asked to present in front of class. It favors the transmission of knowledge from teacher to students rather than students discovering things by themselves. It is not a good way to enhance real communication.

Advantages of Pair Work It dramatically increase students ’ speaking time in each class. It allows students to work together rather than under teachers ’ guidance. It allows teachers ’ time to work with the weak pairs while others are working on their own. It can create a more relaxed and friendly context for students to learn. It can promote cooperation between students. It is ralatively quick and easy to organize.

Disadvantages of Pair Work It is often very noisy and teachers are afraid of losing control of the class. Some students may talk in native language or something not related to the topic. It is not very easy for the teacher to monitor every pair. Some students may not like to work with peers, and they think they can only learn from their teachers. So they refuse to participate in the activities. The choice of pair is also a problem. Some students don ’ t like to work with a particular partner while someone may dominate all the time.

Advantages of Group Work Like pair work, it dramatically increases the amount of talk of individual students. There is always a great chance of different opinions and contributions to the work. It also encourage cooperation and negotiation skills among students. It promotes learner autonomy by allowing students to make their own decisions rather than follow the teachers.

Disadvantages of Group Work Like pair work, it is likely to make the classroom very noisy. For students who prefer to work with teachers rather than peers, they may not enjoy the work. Some students may dominate the talk while others may be very passive or even quiet all the time. It is difficult for teachers to organize. It may take a longer time to group students and there may be not enough space for students to move around in classroom. Some groups may finish the task fast while some may be very slow. So the teacher need to prepare the optional activities for the quick group and be ready to help the slower ones all the time.

Advantages of Individual Study It allows student free time, style and pace to study on their own. It is less stressful compared with whole class work. It can develop learner autonomy and from good learning habits. It can create some peaceful and quiet time in class.

Disadvantages of Individual Study It does not help a class to develop a sense of belonging. Students learn by themselves and it does not promote team spirit. It may not be very motivating for students. It does not benefit communication between students. Students can not develop speaking ability in this sense. Teachers need to prepare different tasks for different students.