Classroom management
A. Exploring beliefs about classroom management
Do you agree or disagree with these statements?
1. You should give instructions for a task BEFORE you give a handout.
2. A teacher talking to the whole class is the best way of interacting as it involves
all learners.
3. You should grade your language as per the level of learners and not talk too
much or too fast.
4. If students don’t answer a question quickly, you should rephrase it immediately.
5. You should always let the strong students answer first when reviewing
answers to a task.
6. Once students get started with a task, you should never interrupt as it might
disturb their work.
7. When learners are working in groups/pairs, you should monitor their work.
Key takeaways from the discussion
B. Giving clear instructions
a. You’ll watch two demonstrations of giving instructions to learners. At the
end of the demonstrations, decide:
1. which of the two was an example of giving good instructions and why.
2. why the other demonstration was not a good example and why.
Make some notes here.
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Classroom management
b. Given below are some long and unclear instructions. Make them short and
clear.
1. Ok, what I want you to do is just to work with a partner and talk together about
what you like doing in your free time.
e.g. Work with a partner. Talk about what you like doing in your free time.
2. If it’s not too much of a trouble, could you please open your book on page 34
please?
3. In exercise 10 you will see that there are two columns A and B. Erm, there are
some phrases in column A and their meanings in column B and what I want you to
do is to match the phrases with their meanings.
c. Based on what you learnt about giving good instructions, complete the
following tips. All the words begin with ‘s’.
1. Wait for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ before giving instructions.
2. Use _ _ _ _ _ sentences.
3. Use _ _ _ _ _ _ language.
4. Speak _ _ _ _ _ _.
5. _ _ _ _ _ instructions – don’t give them all together.
6. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ instructions logically.
7. _ _ _ _ , don’t tell – demonstrate.
8. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ with gesture, eye contact etc.
9. Make _ _ _ _ everyone understands by asking checking questions.
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C. Interaction patterns
What do you think these interaction patterns mean?
Draw pictures to show what the learners and the teacher are doing in each
type of working.
Individual work Open pairs
Closed pairs Group work
Teacher fronted discussion Whole class mingle
D. Instruction Cycle
The following stages complete an instruction cycle for each task. Arrange
these stages in the correct order.
Organise Check Provide
groups/ pairs understandin feedback
g of
instructions
Begin Give clear
the task Monitor instructions
learners
Give a demo Get students’
and distribute attention
the handout
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Classroom management
Some tips:
Board work – write neatly, legibly, and not in all caps. Use colours only for
highlighting, not writing. Have easy-to-read, neat PPT slides.
Rapport - it is important to build rapport with your ss right from the start.
Instructions – be concise, clear, graded and focus on the task. Follow the
instruction cycleand use ICQs to check back.
Monitoring – monitor unobtrusively and meaningfully (when the task requires it)
in the classroom/breakout rooms on Zoom. Always think about what you are
monitoring for.
Student-centred – keep lessons and activities as student-centred as possible.
Grade your language – ensure you speak at a level appropriate for your
learners. This may include avoiding idioms, unusual phrases/phrasal verbs, long,
complex vocabulary or sentences. But don’t talk down to them either!
Nominate – nominate ss by name to contribute/provide answers etc. Avoid
responses in chorus.
Interaction Patterns – vary the interaction patterns so that ss get to work with
different people, and they have a need to communicate meaningfully.
Feedback - include a feedback stage after each lesson stage. This could be
through a pair check and WCFB. Remember to give feedback on the task itself
and clarify answers, and respond to learners and their contributions.
TTT !!– Keep TTT low and STT high. Useful TTT includes giving clear
instructions, doing a demo, giving feedback on a task, eliciting responses,
answering ss’ questions, and correcting errors. It does not include long personal
anecdotes, running commentary, completing ss’ sentences or doing the task for
them.😊
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Appendix:
Language help box
Describing your picture:
• In my picture, there is/are…… Do you have it in your picture?
• I can see……How about your picture? Is it the same?/Is it different?
• Is there a/an…….in your picture?
Asking for clarification:
• Are you talking about…….?
• Do you mean……………?
• Can you say that again?
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Classroom management
Language help box
Describing your picture:
• In my picture, there is/are…… Do you have it in your picture?
• I can see……How about your picture? Is it the same?/Is it different?
• Individual
Is there a/an…….in your picture? Closed pair
work
Asking for clarification:
• Are you talking about…….?
• Do you mean……………?
• Can you say that again? Group work
Open
pair
Whole class Teacher fronted
Classroom management
