250 Hour TEFL

Classroom ManagementClassroom management is a vital aspect for any teacher; it ensures that teacher and learner both accomplish their lesson objectives effectively. Without any classroom management an unruly class and disjointed lessons will exist. Classroom management is the skill of organizing and managing the class, having a friendly, relaxed manner and maintaining discipline. student grouping, classroom arrangement, body language, and discipline are all aspects of classroom management. Instead of defaulting to whole group teaching, consider splitting the class up into smaller groups or pairs. There are several ways to do this including interest, ability, random choice and student choice, and depending on your desired outcome and particular mix of students, one grouping may work better than another. There is however no limit to the way a teacher can group students and whole class teaching, small groups and pair work all have their place in the classroom. The pros and cons of each according the classroom situation should be assessed. It is typical for classrooms to be set up in rows, or in groups of 3-4 tables. However there are fundamental problems for each. In rows, it has been proven that the further back you go, the more discipline problems there are. The visual, aural and physical stimulation from the teacher is increasingly diminished as you move further back. This allows boredom to set in, and as a result, potential disruption. In groups, the opposite is true. students are now over stimulated by their peers opposite them and struggle to focus on the lesson at hand. A popular alternative is the horseshoe arrangement. In this fashion, essentially every student is in the front row ? The teacher can freely move around the room while talking, and therefore giving "personal? contact with each student. The result: greater attention and fewer discipline problems. Communication is more than words, it is important for teachers to understand the nonverbal messages they are sending and receiving in the classroom. It includes overt behaviors such as facial expressions, eye contact, touching, gesticulation and tone of voice. It can also be less obvious, however, as through dress, posture and spatial distance. The most effective communication occurs when verbal and nonverbal messages are in sync, creating communication synergy. Discipline is essential to sound classroom management. Without discipline a degree of functionality is lost. Discipline extends from behavioral observation to conflict resolution. Managing student conduct can seem scary, especially to newer teachers. However, it is one of the main tasks teachers have in order to maintain an academic classroom environment. Finding a discipline policy that works for you is extremely important. If you allow students to be ill disciplined then you will be setting a precedent that will get worse throughout the year. Therefore, it is very important that you set up a workable system for dealing with ill behavior from the very beginning. Known, simple and proven solutions and methodologies for setting up behavior policies and dealing with discipline issues are readily available on the internet. For teacher and learner to achieve their objectives it is imperative that effective classroom management exist. It also adds to the motivation and intrinsic reward of both student and teacher to achieve and excel further. The above the text is by no means exhaustive, there are many more aspects to classroom management and ways of achieving it. Classroom management should be a constant work in progress as there will always be room for improvement.