5 Tips on Organizing Your ESL Class Effectively
The classroom management is obviously one of the major skills of the teaching experience any teacher might have in his/her career as it is the path he/she makes for less or more than a year with the same students who are going to learn from him/her; it is then the skill of organizing and managing the class with a friendly and relaxed manner and above all maintaining discipline.
Table of Contents
Factors of Good Classroom Management
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olinga D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Factors of Good Classroom Management
Managing a classroom has its requirements every teacher must go through, from the first eye contact with the students, he/she must find the best way to establish rapport with them as well as taking control perhaps not by scaring them but by showing his/her interest and joy in being their teacher in order to get their confidence and respect that can lead to a disciplined classroom. Some other important points will also be essential to establishing a good rapport with the students such as the Gesture and the Voice used by the teacher in the classroom.
Also Read: 7 Activities for Teaching the Present Progressive for the ESL Classroom
Key-Tips
To manage his/her classroom properly, there are several actions a teacher must take in class; before all things.
1. Classroom Settlement
A classroom arrangement is of a great importance by the way the teacher organizes the position of the students and him/herself as well considering some aspects such as the available space, the age of the learners, their nationalities and personalities; but that should be done firmly and politely for their benefit, cohesion, and discipline for a purpose they can all notice. This action can be divided into four parts according to the situation; Orderly rows are mostly for primary, middle and high school students as it is the standard of public schools in many countries worldwide.
Circles or horseshoes are mostly for kindergarten kids and sometimes training schools because of different activities learners are constantly involved in.
Also, the teacher might adopt some position according to the activities he/she is going to conduct at the moment, the students will then guess what is going to do.
Also Read: How much can I earn teaching English abroad?
2. Grouping
Grouping the students play a big role in the teaching and discipline process as well as there is no real limit about it because pairs, small or larger groups all have their place in the classroom.
3. Materials
When the teacher has to turn his/her back to the students, it is because writing on the board is an important part of the class; however, other materials and tips can replace it and then give the teacher more time to face the students, make them busy with tasks or invite them to write on the board or maybe entertain them with short videos that can help for the elicitation of the lesson.
4. Attention
All the students must be given attention equally in the classroom and one of the great ways to make it possible is to know all their names then encourage their efforts.
Also Read: Lesson Planning: Why You Should Take it Seriously?
5. Additional Factors
There are still actions to consider in managing a classroom like giving students instructions and maintaining discipline which is also very important but not easy. Students behave differently in a class due to their issues from families, countries and so on; culture is one of the barriers the teacher will face when teaching a multilingual class, so maintaining discipline becomes hard except if the school has a strict policy about it.
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Classroom management which can be seen as a rapport between the teacher and students and among the students themselves plays an important part in determining if a class if successful and enjoyable or not; the teacher can stimulate and encourage the students by a good attitude and tips to make the atmosphere relaxed and interesting. But gaining students' attention, confidence and respect remains a challenge of all days the teachers will keep trying to win.
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