7 Principles of Effective ESL Classroom Management
Try picturing this: students running around their desks, paper airplanes flying everywhere, and students yelling loudly, giving you a migraine. Does this sound familiar? It's a teacher's worst nightmare - an out-of-control classroom.
Table of Contents
2. Build Rapport With Your Students
5. Give Incentives To Students To Do Their Best
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate VICTOR S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Managing a classroom is part of the job for a teacher, but it can be difficult, especially for new and inexperienced teachers. Even veteran teachers may struggle if they find students who challenge their authority. Poor classroom management will lead to several headache-inducing problems, leading to stress for the teacher and a lackluster education for the students. Therefore, teachers need to know how to manage their classrooms properly to avoid problems and conflict with their students, resulting in better learning environments and less stress.
Here are some helpful classroom management tips to help settle problems or prevent them from happening and create a learning environment conducive to learning and teaching.
1. Lay Down The Rules
Rules are guidelines for students to follow in class. Their purpose is to maintain order in class. On the first day of class, sit your students down and discuss the classroom rules. Students are much more likely to follow rules they helped create and may even help you enforce them. Keep the rules simple and few, between four to six. Make sure the students all understand the rules and that there are no misunderstandings. Give short-term rewards for students who obey the rules, such as erasers, stickers, or some other token.
2. Build Rapport With Your Students
Research indicates that the relationship between teachers and students is crucial for classroom management. Rapport with your students drastically reduces misbehavior in class because they want to please you. Better connections with your students will also cause them to participate more in class. Build rapport with your students by taking an interest in them. Ask them about their hobbies, likes, dislikes, and interests. Please give them a simple greeting before and after class to show that you care. Doing these simple things will help build rapport and minimize disturbances.
3. Be Prepared
Before walking into your classroom, you must be ready for the lesson. Students can tell if their teachers are unprepared. Being unprepared shows the students that you do not care enough about them to teach the lesson. Before going to class, make sure you write up a lesson plan to follow and have the necessary study materials. To make a lesson fun and enjoyable for your students, you must prepare.
4. Offer Your Students Praise
Everyone likes to be praised for a job well done. Students are no different. Earned praise can be a powerful motivator for students. It can help boost their self-confidence and esteem, leading to more active participation in class, inspiring other students to follow their lead. Praising a student for his or her use of a tactic will ensure similar repeats. Praise also helps reinforce the rules and values you want to see. Teachers, however, should not only focus on achievements but also effort.
5. Give Incentives To Students To Do Their Best
People say satisfaction is its reward. However, adding tips to go with that satisfaction is much better. Reward your students with a job well done. Simple items like stickers or pencils make great rewards. Rewarding your students for a good job will make them want to do just as well next time.
6. Keep Your Temper In Check
Imagine this scenario: you slaved away all night making a, in your humble opinion, fantastic and engaging lesson for your students. You are confident your students would love it, only to have the antics of a few students ruin it all. You finally lost your temper and shouted at them and gave them a punishment. Does this scenario sound similar to something you experienced? Losing your temper at your students won't do you any good. Children do not take kindly to teachers who use their position to bully or threaten them. They may act out in class to spite teachers who, in their minds, are bullies. Always keep an even temper in class, even if your students misbehave.
7. Act As An Ideal Model
Children are young and impressionable. Students spend a lot of time with their teachers. As a result, they may emulate any behavior they observe from you. Many studies show that modeling effectively teaches students how to act in different situations. Demonstrate the behavior you want to see in class. For example, don't take out your phone in style. Taking out your phone in class might encourage students to do the same. At the same time, explain to them why certain behaviors are unacceptable in certain situations. They might not know any better.
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In conclusion, classroom management skills have a significant impact on both teachers and students. I hope this article will be of use to you, reader.
Below are links to websites where I got the information for the article above.
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