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It is said: “No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship” A strong teacher-student relationship is one of the most important aspects of a positive education. No matter our background, we are all humans first. When we feel good, accepted and happy, we produce and we give much more; so, once the teacher inspires confidence in the students, the class will be able to learn more effectively. How can the teacher do that? It is by organizing and managing the class, having a friendly, relaxed manner and by maintaining discipline. We call it a classroom management. There are many techniques to be used in a classroom management. I will start with my favorite which is the teacher’s body language; good eye contact with the students when needed during the lesson; gestures to be used, maybe using our hands to communicate in some cases. Finally, our voice, it should be clear, and it should change depending on the topic otherwise it is boring for the students to keep listening to the same tone. When teaming the students, there isn’t a specific rule on how to group them. The teacher needs to take in consideration the space and the number of the students to create a comfortable atmosphere. The teacher needs to also consider the seating, by two, by groups, in circle etc. based on the activities given. Positioning the students, as grouping, the teacher decides on who sits next to whom by taking in consideration the space available, the age of the students, their nationalities and finally their personalities, who gets along with whom. The teacher can change the seating anytime depending on the activities given. Knowing a little bit about the students, their backgrounds and their English level is very important and consequently once the teachers learn more about his students, he can seat them accordingly. The teacher’s position is very sensitive; shall we sit? Shall we stand? Shall we write on the board? Shall we walk among the students? All these questions are answered depending on the activities given in the classroom, depending on the teacher’s role, is it the engage time, the study time, or the activate time? The teacher will move in the classroom accordingly. Every person is important! Learning every student’s name is a must. Including every student in the lesson is a must, some students are weaker than others, so if the teacher feels that he needs to concentrate more on the weak, he should make sure the others are fully occupied with an activity. Who talks and when? The balance between the teacher talking and the student talking depends on the type of lesson and the activity given. When the teacher gives instructions, most of the students don’t understand or they don’t’ listen. To avoid the latest, the teacher should make sure that all students are listening and not working on something else. The language used should be simple, consistent and clear. To make sure the instructions given were understood, simply ask the students to explain them back to you. Finally, maintaining discipline in the classroom. It is important for the teacher to keep a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. How do we do that? By establishing a mutual respect, the teacher must be punctual, well prepared, consistent and fair. The lessons should be interesting and varied. The teacher should be enthusiastic and positive, never let personal feelings take over. All the above bring us back to the rapport between the teacher and the students. Once we establish this positive, friendly relaxed rapport then learning becomes more interesting and the result higher. What is next? Teaching techniques… ????
