1. Managing the classroom by Jeremy Harmer
How to teach English:
Managing the classroom
by Jeremy Harmer
Presented by Keri and Kaan

2. Managing the classroom
Classroom management
The teacher in the classroom
Using the voice
Talking to students
Giving instructions
Student Talk and teacher talk
Using the L1
Creating Lesson stages
Different seating arrangements & student groupings

3. Classroom Management Classroommanagementonline.com Variables Space
Students : groups vs alone
Classroom Time
Appearance
Voice
Talking to students
Mother tongue role
Difficult situations
Classroommanagementonline.com

4. Teacher in the classroom
Physical Location?
Proximity
Appropriacy
Movement
Awareness
Standing ?
How close ?
Still or walking around ?
The teacher’s primary responsibility is response-ability
(Wilberg, as cited by Harmer, 2007, p. 35)

5. Self Awareness
How our students see us

6. Importance of Attire (Roach, 1997)
“Dress Professionally”
“Relationship of GTA dress with student perceptions of affective/cognitive learning, student misbehaviors, and student ratings of instruction”
GTA training often disregard “Non-verbal” factors.
Attire = attitudes, beliefs, values, socio-economics
True? False?
Perception is everything
Persuasiveness Competence, credibility & professionalism.

7. …in the Classroom. Different setting = different effects
Often no official dress code but strong unofficial preference & effectiveness
Dress Seminars ?
“One of the reasons the teachers are not paid as professionals is that they don’t look like professionals” (Molloy as cited by Lang in Roach, 1997, p. 129)
Respect? Approachability?

8. Teacher Assistant Attire….
Negative Impact ?
Positive Impact?

9. …Conclusion
“In light of study results, elevated TA attire levels create a positive, professional impression on students that is reflected in student attitudes toward the course, the instructor, the content, etc.” (Roach, 1997, p.137)
strange-lands.com

10. Audibility Variety Conservation Audibility Variety Conservation
Voice quality – projection – Volume
Variety
Type of voice Type of lesson
Conservation
Care of voice – breathing – conserve energy
Using the Voice
Audibility
Variety
Conservation

11. Talking to students Manner Empathy Rapport
Teacher – Student  Parent – Child
Rough Tuning
It is the simplification of language which both parents and teachers make in order to increase their chances of being understood.
Adjust language use : Grammatical complexity, vocab use, Tone.
Kind of language; what they wish to say & Manner.

12. Giving Instructions 2 Rules: Simple & logical Check understanding
Mother tongue &
Translation
ilookchina.net

13. Student Talk & Teacher Talk
Student Talk Time (STT)
Teacher Talk Time (TTT)
Not enough ?
Too much ?
TTQ Teacher Talking Quality
Student centered or Teacher centered ?

14. Using the L1 L1 L2 Beginner level Advanced level
Progression from L1 to L2
Beginner level
Advanced level
Giving complicated instructions
Use L1 when other ways of explaining meaning are ineffective
May aid in pronunciation
Help make connections and see differences between L1 & L2
L2 should predominate
Use L1 only when other ways of explaining meaning are ineffective
When is it appropriate to use the L1 in the classroom? It’s pretty obvious that the teacher will need to use the L1 at the beginner level so that the L2 learner can understand what the teacher is saying. The beginner level student will automatically translate into the L1. This is natural. As L2 learning progresses, teaching should use the L2 as much as possible unless other ways of explaining meaning are ineffective and/or take too much of class time. Using the L1 for pronunciation may also be beneficial so that the student can make connections, for example, to make distinctions between the v and b in Spanish. Give example with the words: bueno and verdad. L1 can also be used to make connections or see differences between the L1 & L2, for instance words that are cognates—they look the same in the L1 & L2 and have the same meaning across languages such as most of the words ending in ‘tion’ in English to French or Spanish. At the advanced level, L2 should predominate. The L1 should only be used when other ways of explaining meaning are ineffective or too time consuming.

15. Creating lesson stages
Arouse student’s interest
Signal beginning of activity or lesson
Hold and/or regain students’ attention
Signal ending of activity or lesson
Engage/arouse interest by letting them know what they will be doing and discussing outcomes or results. Try to maintain element of surprise because students may become bored if they know the ending to the story, so to speak. It is important to signal when the activity or lesson is beginning. To do this the teacher needs to get the students’ attention. I’ve had teachers who had little bells, used their hands to clap, slammed books against desks and even threw board erasers at students to get their attention, although I don’t advocate this approach. What you do will be up to you depending on what you think is appropriate for your class.
It is also important to signal when an activity is finished. This can be done by summarizing what was done so that the students have a sense of accomplishment and can leave the class with a positive attitude.

16. Different seating arrangements
Different seating arrangements indicate a
number of different approaches.
Orderly rows: Pros—teacher has a clear view of all the students and vice versa. Good for maintaining eye contact. Easy for teacher to circulate around the class. Especially suited to showing videos, giving lectures, showing PowerPoint and other presentations, anything that is directed to the whole class.
Cons: Not student to student interactive. The teacher must make sure students at the back are participating. Keep individual participation random because the predictability of going row by row will become tedious. Keep them on their toes!
Circles and Horseshoes: Suitable for smaller classes. A circle sends a message to the students about equal importance in the class and in participation. Although the teacher is in the dominant position in a horseshoe setting, there is less rigidity than orderly rows. The circle and horseshoe are supposed to lower barriers between everyone seated in these types of arrangements and they tend to be more interactive.
Separate tables: Allows teacher to work with a table of students while the other students at other tables continue working. This arrangement is very useful in mixed ability classes, when students work with computers, collaborative activities. Drawbacks to this seating arrangement may be compatibility between students at each table. It also makes it more difficult when addressing the whole class.

17. More than just seating arrangement
“In classroom settings where students are required or elect to bring several items to class, for example, a backpack, jacket, and handbag, in addition to notebooks and textbooks, defining one’s own territory may become increasingly important as a means of comfortably engaging in active learning” (Burgess & Kaya, 2007, p. 872).
So keep in mind when setting up seating arrangements that crowding and issues of personal space are equally important as how the seats are arranged.

18. Different student groupings
PROS
CONS
Whole Class
Presenting material (lectures)
Drills/practice
Creates sense of belonging
Less individual attention
Inhibition because perceived as more demanding
Group/Pair work
Cooperative and interactive
Increases independence
Increases participation
Teacher can work with a group while other groups work
Compatibility
Dominant vs. subordinate
May encourage disruptiveness

19. Different student groupings
PROS
CONS
Solo
Students work at own pace
Gives students thinking time
Allows individuality ?
Class to Class
Interaction between others
May encourage positive feelings and higher motivation
Can be time consuming
Solo work can also give the student a break from the group-centered nature of language learning. The solo student can also consider own individual needs.
Class to class allows interaction between students who may not otherwise meet. In different-level classes interacting, higher level students may feel positive about helping lower level students and lower level students may gain motivation from seeing someone else achieve a higher level and being able to interact with that person. The book says that class to class is good for surveys, discussions, lectures and presentations.

20. Discussion Questions
Harmer does not mention this in the chapter, but to what degree do you think culture (the teacher’s and the students’) plays a role in how the teacher manages the classroom?
How important is the teacher’s appearance? Clothes? Grooming? Hygiene?

21. References
2 homeless men [Cartoon]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, from, shabby.asp.
Burgess, B., & Kaya, N. (2007). Territoriality: Seat preferences in different types of classroom arrangements. Environment and Behavior, 39(6), Retrieved January 27, 2012, from the Sage Publications database.
Can you help me, Mrs. Martin? [Cartoon]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2012 from, online.com.
Dress code [Cartoon]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2012 from, and-women-in-public-schools.html

22. References Harmer, J. (2007). How to teach English. Essex, UK: Longman
Male holding a book [Clipart]. (2012) Retrieved January 31, from, Clip_Art/ Education/teacher401_ html
Teaching before and after-edited [Cartoon]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2012 from,