CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Week no. 1, Tuesday, 8.00-10.00

Teacher: Raluca Pop PhD. (raluca.petrus@yahoo.com)

Content:
 Establishing classroom rules; the purpose of classroom rules,
 Seating arrangements/ Classroom layout
 Different student groupings
 What if …?
 Varying teacher positions
 The teacher in the classroom / using the voice
 Using mother tongue vs. using the target language

Classroom rules

Appropriate behaviour during learning activities fosters a positive and meaningful

classroom environment. Therefore, the first meeting with the learners should focus on
creating some classroom rules which would lead to establishing some working routines.
Students are going to feel involved and part of the decision-making process if they
establish together with the teacher a set of rules.

Different seating arrangements

Teachers should be aware of the fact that the environment influences the efficiency of
how students learn. Therefore, teachers should pay attention to details such as: light,
acoustics, layout of tables, furniture, displaying charts etc. when they design their lesson
plans and choose from a variety of learning activities. Keep in mind that the whole
classroom is your teaching space.
Setting can be seen in immediate classroom terms, referring to the size, location,
furniture and resources of the room in which the class is located.
Classroom layout:
 orderly rows> perfect for the teacher to explain for e.g. a point of grammar, a
Power Point presentation, but not suitable for group work. This is a teacher-
centred classroom.
 horse-shoe/circle> appropriate for smaller groups (fewer than 20 students.) The
teacher's position is less dominating. There is a feeling of equality, where eye-
contact, sharing feelings and talking is far greater than when sitting in rows.
 nests/separate tables> The teacher walks around checking the students' work and
helping out if it is the case. Group work is easy to arrange. Appropriate for classes
with different levels of abilities.
Classroom layout explanation:
Layout no. 1 – U shape: this allows learners to make eye contact and communicate with
each other.
Layout no. 2 – Tipped U: this can feel more informal, yet still provide desk space.
Layout no. 3 – One large table: This may increase the feeling of cooperating together on
a single task.
Layout no. 4 – Zones: arrange different areas within the classroom(a line of seats up
front, facing the board; a shared open-discussion); during certain stages of a lesson,
students may be able to move from zone to zone, depending on what they need to do.
Layout no. 5 – Full circle: a very democratic arrangement allowing everyone to see
everyone else.
Layout no. 6 – Rectangular: arrange rows of desks and seats around all four edges of
the room.
Layout no. 7 – Curved rows: rather than the typical straight line rows, try curving the
lines a little.
Layout no. 8 – Arrowhead: this permits more eye contact. It also allows more open
space at the front of the room.
Layout no. 9 – Diagonal: this is another way of creating a little more working space at
the front of the class.
Layout no.10 – Reverse: when students have another need for the tables, they can
simply turn their chairs and work with their backs to the teacher.
Layout no.11 – No tables: this frees up a lot of the space in the room. Exploit speaking
activities, games, simulations etc.
Layout no. 12 – Facing: turn desks to face each other
Layout no. 13 – Islands: Learners can work closely together, but can also get up and
visit other groups
Layout no. 14 – Change focus: change the whole focus of the class (change for change’s
sake); sometimes a new view can also change how people think, speak and react.

Different student groupings

Varying the way students work will keep things lively and fresh for them and will make
the experience of learning more enjoyable. The teacher should involve in the teaching
sequence all the students and not let one or two students monopolize the lesson. If the
teacher wants to increase STT (Student Talking Time) then he/she have to get them
work into pairs or groups. However "getting into pairs" is not the answer in every
situation: like all other types of classroom activity, pair and group work have to be
focused, meaningful and well set-up.

Techniques for organizing learners in whole-class work:

1. Mixed nationalities/ language groups: you may decide to deliberately place
students from different language groups next to each other.
2. Language support: you can sit stronger students next to weaker ones in order that
they can help each other. This can work for short periods of time, but may be
unfairly demanding for the stronger student.
3. Differentiated learning: you can group learners according to their language level.
This allows you to offer different tasks or variations on the same task
4. Friendships: you may deliberately place people that you know like each other close
together.
5. Learner-planned seating: ask your students to plan who sits where (group work).

Different techniques of creating pairs and groups

 Turn to your partner/left, right/in front or backwards.
 Name lottery: pass out small scraps of paper to half the class. Have each student
write his/her name on the paper. Collect the papers and tell the other half of the
class to choose a partner.
 Numbers circle: Ask students to number off themselves. Write a circle on the
board using the numbers. Draw lines randomly between two numbers. Each
student goes to his partner indicated by the arrows.
 Streaming/differentiation: students should be paired according to their abilities;
we have two choices: to pair weaker and stronger students, to pair students who
have the same level of knowledge (weaker students might lose their motivation
because there is no competition in that group)

What if … ?
Would-be teachers need to become accustomed to different classroom situations. A
series of scenarios are presented below:
a) students are at different levels. What to do with early finishers?
A classroom that is comprised of students who have different language levels and
different abilities represents a challenge for the teacher. In this case the teacher can
tackle the problem from different perspectives. Thus the teacher could use different
resources, engage students in different activities, use the early finishers as resources or
ignore the problem. The teacher should always include in every lesson a plan for early
finishers. These activities should not involve the teacher since he/she is willing to help
the other students. Examples of activities for early finishers: a puzzle, silent reading,
colouring images, riddles and other critical thinking activities.

b) the class is very big?

Classes are comprised of many learners in our country. The keywords that should
characterize a teacher in this case should be: flexibility and creativity. It is quite difficult
for a teacher to make contact with all his/her learners in this learning environment. But
there are some solutions to this problem. Harmer (2007, 178) suggests the use of
worksheets, pairing and grouping students, the use of chorus reaction, the use of group
leaders, and the use humour.

c) students are uncooperative

Learning is not always perceived as an interesting activity. Students might like to chat
and not pay attention to the teacher, might not be willing to cooperate with their peers,
and might refuse to perform certain activities. The teacher should remember in such
situations that learners do not necessarily disregard the teacher. They just don’t want to
pay attention and want a short break. In this case, the teacher should deal with the
behaviour, and not with the students, should try to use different means of
communication (non-verbal ones, paralinguistic cues) and should go forward with the
teaching (changing maybe the activity).

d) what is students always interrupt you?

In such a case it is advisable to set up a consistent strategy for responding to the
student's questions. If the question is obviously inappropriate you should ignore it. If the
questions seem appropriate, praise the student and answer the question. If the question
may or may not be appropriate, answer it in a neutral voice. If the question is obviously
inappropriate, do not give the student any attention. This lack of attention empowers
the teacher since he/she is able likewise to withdraw the conflict. The second step could
refer to building a positive relationship with the student. Likewise, the learner should be
involved in activities that require responsibility, in other words: keep the learner busy.

e) you have problems with your nonverbal language?

A teacher can improve his/her body language or paralinguistic cues in many ways. A lot
of resources (books, audio-video resources) tackle this topic. The first step concerns the
identification of the problem. In this respect, the teacher could ask a colleague to
observe him/her or ask someone else to record one of his/her lessons. Teachers should
become more aware of the signals they send. They should not leave room for any
interpretation or misunderstanding.

Varying teacher positions

Typically, the teacher is to be found standing in the centre stage at the front of the
room. For obvious reasons, the teacher can make eye contact with everyone. There are
many reasons why a teacher should choose a little variation:
 To explore how being in different positions changes the way the class works
 To experiment with working alongside students
 To challenge student assumptions about your role in class
 To see how being in different places changes a teacher’s viewpoint

Different teacher positions:

1. Give instructions from different locations
2. Be part of the group, instead of sitting at the front
3. Variate standing and sitting (give yourself a rest / signal changes of tone and
pace)

Teacher talking time vs. Student talking time

Teacher talking time is crucial for organizing the classroom and for the process of
language acquisition (language input in the target language). Still, it should represent
only 30 % of the talking time within the classroom. In order to increase student talking
time the teacher could design pair work/ group work activities. It is advisable to stop
talking or interrupting students when they are already engaged in the activity and
manage to work alone (it is better not to interrupt students unnecessarily and to avid
dominating discussions).

The teacher in the classroom / using the voice

Teachers should always know their abilities (strong and weak points) and the way they
react in different situations. There are three main ways of showing your students what
you want - your voice, your eyes (eye contact, suggest encouragement) and your
hands (avoid unnecessary language when you could use your hands to point out
something or when you have already established some routines). It is useful to analyse
from time to time one’s verbal and non-verbal behaviour (a solution could be video
recordings). Use pauses to punctuate what you want to say and vary your voice.
Likewise, it is going to be easier for your students to follow you.

Using mother tongue vs. using the target language

At beginner levels students are going to translate into their L1(mother tongue) the
activities they perform during the course. This is a natural process of learning a foreign
language. When teachers and students share the same L1 it would be inappropriate not
to consider L1’s potential value (when giving instructions to beginners, when explaining
or comparing grammar structures etc.). Even if L1 can be used as an enabling tool,
English should predominate in an English lesson.