Lessons from the Classroom
Part 1
Teaching young learners varies significantly from teaching
adults as I have learned and observed during the YL induction
training. In this assignment I would like to focus on the area of
classroom management, since the way we organise the
classroom environment influences the learning process. While
teaching children, the teachers need to ensure happy, relaxed,
safe and respectful learning environment1.
First of all, I have learned the importance of suitable seating
arrangement which plays a role in promoting students
independence and helps building friendly rapport. As I observed
from one of the colleagues, when the number of the students
was small he seated the students around one table and sat with
them while explaining a new structure. Children aged 9-11
need and want to be physically close to the teacher at times 2
and that seating arrangement enabled the learners to feel
secure and concentrated.
Moreover, the students were
provided with immediate feedback as the teacher was able to
control and support the students work on the tasks. Adults, on
the other hand, would feel intimidated by the teachers close
presence, because they need more independence and trust.
However, irrespective of the age group, seating arrangement in
the classroom should be considered carefully when planning a
lesson and not neglected by the teachers who very often take it
for granted.
Secondly, setting up and following classroom rules help creating
safe and respectful learning environment where young learners
clearly know whats right and wrong. Nevertheless, it is
important to involve the students in the process of creating
1 From Superworld. Teachers Book, Read, C. & Soberon, A. Macmillan Heinemann
ELT)
2 YL and their Learning Styles- developmental differences, handout from the
course
classroom rules, as one of my colleagues did in her first lesson.
She presented a few crucial classroom rules using visuals and
miming and showed understanding for the students dislike of
rules in general. Moreover, the necessity of having and obeying
rules was uttered by the students themselves as the teacher
kept asking questions instead of making statements on her
own. As a result of the discussion, the students created and
signed a classroom contract which worked as a reference point
for good and bad behaviour until the end of the course.
Consequently, other teachers referred the students to the
contract when one of the students phones rang or when a
student didnt raise their hands before giving an answer. The
classroom rules do not have the same power with adults,
though. Adults can discriminate between good and bad
behaviour, their motivation for learning English in a friendly
environment is higher and therefore there is no need to have a
written contract. Whats more, adults may view classroom rules
and contracts as signs of lack of respect and trust.
To sum up, I have learned from the course and observations of
my colleagues the importance of some aspects of successful
classroom management. Suitable seating arrangement and the
need for setting up and obeying clear classroom rules help
enhancing learning in positive environment and help the
students become more independent in their approach to
learning.
Part 2
I have been teaching Pre-Teens for four weeks now and I have
tried to incorporate the knowledge and practice I gained during
the course concerning classroom management.
Firstly, I have noticed how important it is to take seating
arrangement into consideration when planning an activity
involving movement, for example a running dictation. In the
room where I have classes with Pre-Teens the tables are set in a
way that makes it really difficult for the children seating at the
back to run to the board. Unfortunately, I noticed that too late,
when I started to explain the rules and wanted to demonstrate
the activity. There are thirteen children in that group and my
negligence resulted in some of the children being unhappy and
disappointed that they couldnt run to the text. I have drown a
conclusion and next time, for the activity which included going
around the room and reading texts which were stuck to the
walls, I had moved the tables before the class started, so that
the children had easy access to the walls and were able to
move freely around the room.
Secondly, when teaching young learners aged 10-11 it is crucial
to discuss the class rules just at the beginning, which I did
during my first lesson. As my colleague from the YL course did
successfully, I negotiated the rules with my students and they
understood the need for having rules. One of the key rules was
speak English and respect other people and things. I have
been referring the learners to the rules whenever they were
using their L1 or saying what? instead or pardon? when they
did not catch something. By continuous repetition of the rules,
the children were able to establish a routine and at some point
it was them who reacted when they heard L1 or what? from
other learners and felt proud when they were first before the
teacher. Respect was chosen as the key word for the course and
whenever the students disrespected each other or the teacher
they had to either apologize politely or put something valuable
for them in a hat which I brought as a prop. After a few lessons,
I was able to develop in my students a reflex of apologizing
politely whenever I just approached or pointed to the hat.
All in all, I have learned how important classroom management
is especially in the area of seating arrangement and classroom
rules. These are the areas which, when considered carefully,
ensure successful realisation of lesson aims. I am drawing
conclusions from my failures and successes and my personal
goal is to improve constantly so that the children behave
according to the rules and sit in a friendly, safe and practically
arranged classroom.
