The Five Golden Rules of Good Classroom Management
Are you an ESL teacher with classroom management problems? I hope not, but if you are reading this, it might be the case. Have you got a handful of troublemakers who wear you out? Or has the whole class taken over and you find it hard to teach anything?
This article proposes 6 golden rules for good classroom management to help you create your plan or strategy with your young students learning English.
Why the classroom management problem in the first place?
Firstly let's look at reasons why the children might be misbehaving. Are they bored? Does learning English not engage them? Are they fed up with sitting at their desks? Do some of them have behaviour problems such as ADD and disrupt the class for others? Maybe the children find English hard and do not think they can learn it so they hide their lack of confidence behind an excuse of misbehaviour. Maybe the naughty child just thinks that the teacher does not like him or her. Or maybe the children are not motivated to be good because they are never praised when they are well behaved.
One thing is for sure; you must be the boss, because, like a young puppy that will try to become pack leader, if you are not in charge then the children will be. And that's the last thing you want! Some newly qualified ESL teachers go out into the classrooms today like so many sacrificial lambs! They want to be nice, fun and friendly, but they fail to establish class management rules and boundaries from day one and the children stampede right over them. This can be a bit of a shock!
There are many techniques and strategies for good classroom management and ultimately you have to develop your own personal style that fits with your philosophy in life and that is also effective. In addition you must comply with the rules of the establishment you work in. If your school or institution has rules that you do not agree with and you cannot change them then look for another job! The school should be your ally not your foe.
The Only REAL Classroom Management Solution
Rather than a plan, strategy or technique, the vital key to good classroom management comes from the ESL teacher's attitude and decision to earn the love and respect of your students. Think about it, if students like you and respect you they will naturally behave well and pay attention because they want to please you. So how can an ESL teacher make this happen?
Good Classroom Management Rule 1
Be a mentor not a friend and earn the children's trust by being
firm, fair and consistent.
firm, fair and consistent.
Save yourself the humiliation of trying to be the students' best buddy, they will probably laugh at you behind your back. Rather be their mentor, a model for them to copy, not only in terms of learning English but also in terms of how you expect them to behave. You are someone they can trust and come to for help. Err on the side of being strict, especially at first. It is harder to become strict if you have been casual and lenient.
The children will trust you if you are consistent, clear in establishing the rules from day one and consistent in applying them. Refuse to go on teaching until your rules are applied. If you are inconsistent, if you yell at the children or lose your cool, suddenly punish a child unexpectedly, put them down, be sarcastic or embarrass them, they will know that they cannot trust you.
Good Classroom Management Rule 2
Show your EFL / ESL pupils that you care about them.
At the same time as being firm and fair in class find opportunities to talk to your ESL students informally outside of class time – for example sharing a walk over to the canteen or down a corridor. When you get the chance ask the children how they are, what sports they like, who their favourite band is at the moment and so on. The children will feel special because you have taken some of your time to speak to them. If the children feel that you know them, you know what they like, what they can't wait to do when they get home and so on, they will truly feel that you care about them. Now tell me, seriously, how much more likely are they to behave when class time comes round? In fact they could even feel embarrassed for playing you up!
Another way to communicate that you care is to look at your pupils, make eye contact and smile at them. If you have some ESL pupils you do not like in your class put yourself in their shoes and do whatever it takes to replace your negative feelings with feelings of compassion for that student.
Good Classroom Management Rule 3
Get closer to your EFL / ESL pupils.
Never spend a full class up at the board or at the front, behind your barrier of a desk. Instead, perhaps during an ESL writing task, take some time to sit in next to different students and ask them how they are, ask them if they have anything in particular they would like to ask you that they have not understood, or just tell them that they are doing well and put a couple of ticks on their work.
Good Classroom Management Rule 4
Praise and encourage good behaviour.
Children respond far better to praise than criticism, which only makes them shrivel up inside and feel worthless. Never ever, ever use destructive criticism. Far too many human beings have a lack of self-love, as it is, without propagating it further in the classroom. There is so much good that you can do as an ESL teacher by increasing your pupils' self-esteem through praise and encouragement.
If you listen to a rather shocking number of parents, they spend their whole time telling their children to stop doing this or stop doing that, and the whole dialogue is negative. Be conscious and make sure you do not fall into that trap. Focus on the positive in order to draw more attention to it and apply the universal law of "you attract what you focus on".
Make sure you give plenty of praise and encouragement to ESL students who are well behaved. For example, give out tasks to students who are being good, thank them for being well behaved or for doing something quietly. If children are vying to get your attention say; "I'm picking Sarah because she has been so good today".
If a student is being naughty avoid using his or her name. Children love the sound of their own names – it means they are getting attention. If Johnny is talking say, "I'm listening to Sarah now".
Rewarding students is all part of the process. This does not mean taking them out to pizza. I personally am against rewarding ESL students in this way. To me it belittles the teacher to have to resort to such things, not to mention the fact that ESL teachers are usually not properly paid for the work they do without having to spend part of their salary on bribes for the children.
Instead use ideas that confer responsibility or distinction on the pupil such as: verbal or written praise, a positive note to take home to parents, a star on the work, displaying a particular student's work on the wall, being given a seat of honour, being named the student of the day or week, being given a special responsibility such as running an errand for the teacher, doing the role-call, helping the teacher with a class activity, collecting or giving out materials, leading a group activity or tutoring another student.
Good Classroom Management Rule 5
Make your teaching style interesting and varied.
Tap into all the different ESL learning styles so that you reach all students in your class. Just standing there talking at the board is not going to interest many children anyway, but aside from that, you'll miss the children who mainly learn from tactile and kinaesthetic experience. By using a wide variety of ESL classroom games you will by default dabble in auditory, visual, kinaesthetic and tactile skills and thus engage all your pupils at least some of the time.
The other advantage to ESL classroom games is that they engage and motivate the children. It's obvious; if a child is enjoying the learning process then he or she is FAR more likely to pay attention! It important though to choose appropriate games for your class size and classroom configuration.
Summary of the Golden Rules for Good ESL Classroom Management
These six golden rules will ensure that your ESL pupils trust you because they know what your rules are and that you will apply them. Your pupils will like you because you show them you care by taking time to talk to them and by getting close to them physically. They will like you because you make them feel good about themselves and learning English through your encouragement and enthusiasm. Finally they will respect you for your stimulating teaching through the use of ESL games, ESL stories, songs or ESL plays that tap into all learning styles.
Classroom management: classroom discipline
Level: starter/beginner, advanced, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate Type: reference material
Advice and suggestions on getting students to behave well in class and using an appropriate level of discipline.
How do we get students to behave in class? Usually not by telling them to behave, but using behaviour patterns that ensure they behave.
Let me explain. I teach 18 students aged from 11-15 in the one class, some at varying levels of language ability to others. This means there is not only a sociological divide but also a language level divide. So how do I get my students to behave? I use these strategies and they are ones that all teachers need to try at least once in their classroom to see which ones work for them.
First ask yourself some questions:
- Have you set a code of behaviour in the classroom?
This should be set with the students, where possible so they know the consequences of their behaviour should it not be socially acceptable to the rest of the group or to you. I always have this code of behaviour on the board or on the wall on a big sheet of paper. Five or six key points are sufficient, e.g. I will work hard to learn the language. I sometimes just have to point to it to remind students of their decision, and this brings the student back on line... Also the teacher needs to add his/her code of behaviour too, what the teacher will do for the students, e.g. be patient, never yell, I will work hard to help you learn the language...etc.
- Are the students really understanding you or are they missing most of what you are saying?
Very often bad behaviour patterns are because students do not understand what is being taught to them, and they find no purpose for the noise coming from the teacher. There is one way to demotivate students and that is for them to not understand what is really going on. Here is a clue to bad behaviour - 75% of bad behaviour is accredited to academic failure - in other words, they have missed vital clues in the learning process.Make sure your students are having fun. This does not mean games where students are over active. Fast moving games are not necessarily the answer to discipline. In fact they often exacerbate the problem.
- What type of troublemaker are they?
Attention Seekers - do they show off to get the rest of the class laughing?
STRATEGY: Ignore minor behaviours but set a limit on what you call a minor infringement. Be FIRM and CONSISTENT; when behaviour is good, give attention to that behaviour - e.g. good, well done.Power seekers - do they want to put one over you all the time?
STRATEGY: Don't argue or fight with the student; remain fair and firm about the behaviour; as 'the One-Minute Manager' said, catch them out doing something good.Revenge seekers - act defiant, e.g. a student who won't move to another section of the class when you think his or her behaviour is not acceptable.
STRATEGY: Most of all, don't act hurt - students see that as a weakness because they have had a reaction; convince the student that he or she is liked - find the student doing something good and smile at and commend that good behaviour.Withdrawn or depressed - gives up easily and then sits in silence.
STRATEGY: Ignore failures, but counsel regularly. When counselling, always, but always give good news first - e.g. I like what you did here, then counsel with the bad behaviour. Lastly, finish with some good news - how the behaviour can be addressed and then arrive at a solution.
Most of all be FAIR and CONSISTENT.
Now some tips for the Teacher:
-
Change students around
I have my bad behavers sit in the front of the class. This way I can move towards them more easily, maybe touch them lightly on the shoulder if they are getting out of hand and pause near them. Make eye contact as you leave.
- Use soft reprimands - Like the One-Minute Manager
Find time to praise the good work the student does. If the bad behaviour is minor - ignore whereever possible. Don't yell. Remain silent until the group settles down. If you have some students on-side, those who do know what is going on, they will settle the rest of the group down. Let them be the ones to say 'shush'. Sometimes I simply clap hands a couple of times and the group comes back on line. Then I speak softly, not with a loud voice. This has a calming effect on the whole class.
- Encourage even your worst student
When they are behaving well, catch them doing that. 'Well done'. 'Good work'. It is amazing how soon you get them on-side if they think you are finding them out doing good work. Counsel when you can and don’t make it always a bad behavioural thing. I often speak to a student after class and say how well I think they are doing, sometimes in front of their friends, because it motivates the rest of the group too.
- Never ball out a student out in class
Just at a convenient time, as you are passing the student say you want to see that student after class - quietly. It is amazing how the behaviour changes from that moment on. At the meeting, find out the cause of the behaviour. Explain that it is not helping the student to behave in this way, and explain the consequences of the behaviour - there is a written code which all the students agreed to at the beginning of the course - it should be ever present. And there should be a code of behaviour which the school has decided on - that persistent behaviour eventually means expulsion.
- Don't allow yelling at the teacher in class when the student knows something
Miss, Miss Miss or Sir, Sir, Sir...and standing up and coming to the teacher all the time is another disruptive behaviour. It can be VERY noisy if all the students know the answer and they are yelling at you and you don't want a rush of students coming to you to show you their work.
They soon learn the discipline of putting their hand up when a response is needed or that you will look at their work at an appropriate time. This makes for a more productive classroom, and students feel great when they are chosen to answer and you feel better because you don't have a headache from the noise.
- Move around in the proximity of the student when the behaviour is persistent
Not in a disciplinary way, rather in the guise of helping them with the problem they have. Maybe they don't understand. Move towards them, see if you can help them, then when you have calmed the student, walk away with a smile and a well done.
A final message:
- Be INSISTENT
- Be CONSISTENT
- Be PERSISTENT
- But most of all be FAIR
Soon you will get to like your students and enjoy the class with them.
Effective Classroom Management for the ESL Classroom
The Key to a Great Class
I believe that effective classroom management is one of the most often overlooked aspects of ESL teaching. You may be given a great curriculum to work with, and all of the materials that you need to teach English. But how many tools are you given to properly manage your class?Heck, in my first teaching job, I wasn't allowed to punish kids who were acting out! That meant that I couldn't put them in a corner, couldn't properly scold them, couldn't even withhold a reward. I simply had to endure bad behaviour.
I wish I had known then what I know now:
Effective classroom management is the foundation of any good lesson.
Watch Your Language
Working with ESL learners, we have to be very careful of the type of language we use. It's very easy to get frustrated when the kids aren't understanding you. However, this is often because we are using language that is too difficult for them. We are speaking to the students as though they are native English speakers. They are just as frustrated as you!Positive Rewards
I'm a big supporter of using positive reinforcement in the classroom. I remember one time I was getting very frustrated with a student, Riki, who wasn't cleaning up. I kept saying "Riki, clean up. Riki, clean up."After the first few times, I was definitely using my "angry voice". Yet Riki wasn't moving. Suddenly I decided to switch gears and I started praising all of the other kids who were cleaning up. Sure enough, Riki started to clean up.
It's things like this that made me create the Smile System. This has been a very effective classroom management idea. I hope you'll try it out (or something similar).
Time Management
The proper timing of your lessons is another area that ESL teachers need to be aware of. Timing is everything and if you come into your lesson with too much or too little planned, you're going to have a hard time. Proper management of your in-lesson time is essential to maintaining a good class.Love,
Shannon Sensei
