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TOPIC: Teaching Large Classes C-in-Ed ENGLISH Chapter – 2 Lesson - 4

By the end of this lesson, we will be able to identify the challenges of teaching a large class to identify the challenges of teaching a large class to find out the teaching strategies to deal with these challenges. to find out the teaching strategies to deal with these challenges.

The most common feature of a primary classroom in Bangladesh is that there are more or less students sitting in a room. At least 5 students sit on a long bench with another high bench in front of them to keep books on. There is a chair and a table in front of them for the teacher. The most common feature of a primary classroom in Bangladesh is that there are more or less students sitting in a room. At least 5 students sit on a long bench with another high bench in front of them to keep books on. There is a chair and a table in front of them for the teacher.

In such a large class when a teacher goes to teach the students, he faces some challenges.

The Challenges are Challenges Correcting Student's Work Discipline Student's Name Voice Number of Students Class Management Involving Seating Arrangement

Now we have a question: Which of these are the most important, in your opinion?

The reasons for being - challenges and the strategies to deal With these challenges are given below:

a) The teacher will make house rules for the students to follow. They are: ► raise your hand when you want to speak. ► listen to others ► respect others opinion. ► do not interrupt when someone is speaking. ChallengesStrategies a) Discipline: It is difficult to keep discipline in a class having so or more students. For example - it happens sometimes while teacher is talking in front of whole class. Some students talk among themselves at the back and not paying attention to the teachers.

b) The teacher will alter his voice according to the size of the class, the room and the activity. Such as when the teacher is talking to individuals, pairs or groups, she/he reduces her/his voice and the distance between them. Addressing a large class the opposite happens. Some teachers can get a class under control by talking more quietly. Teachers with these difficulties can observe this teacher and use it in their class. The correct use of the voice is an important professional skill for teachers. ChallengesStrategies b)Voice: It is a challenge to keep the voice at the right level if it is a large class or some students cannot hear the teacher.

c)The teacher will arrange group/pair work, set various types of activities like, games, stories, songs etc. and for variety, use various types of teaching aids. On the other hand she/he will., ask the stronger students to help the weaker students or set an extra task for the stronger students. ChallengesStrategies c)Involving the students : A large class has both stronger and weaker students. So to involve them all is a challenge in teaching a large class, as the stronger students finished their works earlier.

d)To overcome this challenge, the teacher should practice at least 6/7 names a day and keep them in mind. in this way she/he will be able to remember all the students’ names in a week or two. Challenges Strategies d) Students’ names : Though it extremely important and a crucial skill to nominate students by name, it is a challenge to keep it in mind due to the large number of students,

e) Teacher can use self correction (the student himself will check his own work) and peer correction (two student will correct each other) here. If the teacher thinks that there are some common errors, he can write the correct answer on the board. Again with the seating arrangement, the teacher can go through the two rows, take their exercise book through the students, check it and pass it to the student. ChallengesStrategies e) Checking students’ work: Sometimes due to a large number of students, fixed seating arrangement and limitation of time, it becomes challenging for a teacher to correct the students work in the classroom.

f) In spite of difficulties we can arrange pair work and group work. Group Work: Ask your students of one bench to sit facing the students behind them. Then divide them into groups and set a task for them to do. Pair Work: It is very easy to arrange pair work even in a large class in Bangladesh. The students will make pair with the students next to him. If a student has not got his partner on that bench he can make pair with the students behind him. ChallengesStrategies f) Seating arrangement We have a fixed seating arrangeme nt in Bangladesh, it can be a challenge to organize group/ pair work T T

g) The teacher will follow the following rules when he is going to set a task. -Get their attention - Give clear instruction - Check instructions - asking the students to tell. - If necessary teacher can check the instruction in Bangla. ChallengesStrategies (g) Classroom management : it is difficult to keep a large class quiet (if it is, noisy for drilling,practicing discussion etc. it is good.’) Specially, when the teacher is giving instructions before going to set a task and students cannot understand him

h) The teacher can use whole class drilling to involve as many students possible. In this way he can reduce unnecessary noise in the classroom. It is useful to use flexible group work/pair work. Though it is difficult for a teacher to do so in a class where the seating arrangement is fixed but the teacher can replace some students who are shouting to add variety in grouping or pairing and can manage the large number of students effectively. ChallengesStrategies (h) Number of Students : It is difficult for a teacher to have a control over a large number of students. It is a challenge for the teacher to reduce noise (not talks in groups or pair work or drills ) in the classroom.