The successful English
class is often a noisy and active place (Mario Herrera)
Teaching children is not at
all easy. In fact, some EC teachers frequently deal with constant struggles to
handle students well so that learning can take place. For teachers who are
having problems with classroom management, there are ways of taking back
control and maintain order in your classroom again. There are methods to cope
with a few troublemakers and approaches to dealing with an entire class which
is out of control. First you need to assess why you're having classroom
management issues.
Let's take a look at why EC
students can behave uncontrollably. Does the teacher appear strict and
unfriendly? Are the children bored? Are they tired of sitting in their chair?
Do some of the children have behavioral issues such as ADD or ADHD or a minor
form of autism? Some children might find learning English difficult so they end
up misbehaving rather than admitting they do not understand. Perhaps they have
not been praised enough and feel the teacher doesn't like them.
The most effective way to
gain control of the EC classroom is to be the boss. If you don't step up and
take control the students most certainly will. There's a line between being
friendly and kind and letting the children take control of the classroom. You
really can be both the friendly helper and the boss. Ideally, you must take
control of the class from the very first day you teach them. Unfortunately,
many teachers don't realize this right away and are shocked that they've lost
control of the class.
When I joined a workshop
for EC teachers presented by David Kaye in LBPP LIA Yogya a year ago, there were
some techniques that EC teachers can apply in the very first day of teaching EC
class. Here are some useful techniques David suggested:
·
Set rules and create a contract with the students. Every rule set
must be agreed by both the teacher and the students and must be written on a
form of poster and displayed in the classroom. Involving students in setting
the rules can make the students more aware of the rules and consequently more
consistent in abiding by the rules.
·
Use a disciplinary system. There many ways to do it. One of the
very effective ways is by visualizing reward and punishment board. You can
choose the leader of the class in each session to watch over his/her
classmates’ behaviors and take note of the misbehave students.
·
Use attention getter signals. To get students’ attention you can
use attention-getter signal either using tools or your body language. You can
use a whistle or simply move your arms up and down to attract students’
attention.
But the most important key
to EC classroom management is of course your attitude toward the students.
Students who respect and love their teacher will tend to behave well in the
classroom. Here's how to make that happen.
Ø
Be a role-model for a good behavior
Do you want to be friends
with your students? Be their fun and cool mentor. Teach by example not only how
to speak English but how to behave in general. In class you should behave as a
role-model for ideal classroom behavior. The students will at least have the
example to follow. If you cannot control your temper, why should they?
Ø
Be fair and consistent
Earn trust by being fair,
consistent and firm. Establish rules from the very first day and do not bend.
Lean more toward being overly strict in the beginning as it is harder to become
strict if you've started out being lenient. If rules change on a day to day
basis the students don't know what to expect and cannot trust you.
Ø
Be composed and trustworthy
There are teachers out there
who put their students down in a futile effort to feel important. When people
put others down they are trying to elevate their own self-esteem. This
systematically backfires as putting others down truly undermines ones sense of
self-worth. This could lead to an even worse behavior. Never belittle your
students. Avoid losing control and yelling. Never call a student names, put
them down, use sarcasm or embarrass them. They will never trust this kind of behavior.
Ø
Show them you care
Take the time to ask
questions about their lives. If you can talk with them, informally, outside of
the classroom, such as walking from one class to another, you'll find an
opportunity to get to know them. Your students will feel special if you take
the time out to find out about them and who they are. It will be much harder
for someone you've had a conversation with, on a personal level, to act up in
the classroom.
Eye contact will help let
your students know you are paying attention to them. Think about how they may
be feeling. They might not want to take this class but have to. Put yourself in
their shoes and try to come up with positive ways to see your students.
Ø
Move around
Come out from behind your
desk! Take the time during a writing assignment to walk through the desks and
stop for a moment or two at each student's desk. This is a good time to hand
out praise and to ask your students how they are doing. Ask them if they have
any questions about the work they are doing.
Ø
Praise and encourage
Generously hand out praise
and encouragement! Imagine how much good you can do in a person's life by
giving them encouragement and praise. You can change a student's whole way of
thinking about themselves and in turn, this changes how they view the world.
Think about how people are
always telling kids what NOT to do. Some parents' entire dialogue with their
children is negative. Don't fall into this trap. Remember, what you give out,
you get back. Children who are given negatives often give negatives back.
Children who are given positives will likely give back positives!
Reward good behavior. Ask for
children who behave well to be your helper and thank them for their good
behavior in front of the class. Having a student of the week will reinforce
good behavior.
Ø
Vary your lesson plans
Vary the way you carry out
lesson plans. Don't always use the same technique. If you use varied
activities, games and teaching methods, that appeal to different learning
styles, chances are you'll reach each one of them in time!
By using these tips, you'll
keep order of your class, your students will respect and trust you, you'll have
an impact on their self-esteem and you'll teach them much more than just how to
speak English. So, teaching EC is not at all a piece of cake but if you do it
with all your heart it will eventually taste sweet.
Written By MS. DN Santi
Tags:
Sharing programs