Teach English in Fangxia Zhen - Laiwu Shi

Large classes can be a challenge. One of the main issue is it will affect a teacher's relationship with the students as individuals. This comes about for a multitude of reasons the first one being it is simply much more difficult to learn all of your students names. The ratio between TTT and STT (Teacher Talk Time and Student Talk Time) is increased giving the teacher less time to hear from individual students which would make getting to know the students better a longer process for the teacher. Teachers will have a more difficult time in making one on one experiences with the students which can affect the teachers ability to establish a rapport with individual students. In larger classe keeping good eye contact with your students become more difficult. Class discipline can become an issue and noise levels can escalate quickly and consequently effective classroom time would be diminished if the teacher does not maintain good control. With larger classes it becomes easier for the quieter and less outgoing students to avoid participation in group activities. Behind the class work such as preparing teaching materials and grading will take longer and use more resources (depending on where you are teaching, this could become a major issue). For example if you plan to use frequent gap fill exercises printed on paper in a poorer section of a foreign country, paper and printing supplies could become a real issue. These challenges can be minimized and reduced in a number of ways. Let's start with learning your students names. First of all in many countries it can be very difficult to learn and correctly pronounce your students names. In this case on the first day of class you might want to ask them to choose from a list of common english names and use an assigned seating arrangement. Once you have mastered all of their names you can then adjust or change the seating as needed. Keeping in mind the total TTT and minimizing it will increase the total STT and give you a better chance to learn more about your individual students. Decreasing your TTT will also free up more time for you to consult with your students one on one allowing you to know them better. Getting to know your students better will help you in establishing a good rapport within you students. Having good rapport with you student can not be underestimated. In a larger class you will need their will full cooperation to help maintain order and control. This is much easier done once you have gained their favor and respect. Another way to establish a good rapport with students is to incorporate fun games and activities. Make sure to plan activities that will include the whole group and make sure to consider the areas cultural ideas and values before selecting any activities. The most important path to good rapport is to treat your students with respect. Don't yell at your students if you get upset. Don't put a student on the spot in front of the whole class. When correcting a student use terms like "I think there is a better answer" or ask them if they can think of a better answer. DO NOT play favorites! Treat all student fairly and equally. Have fun or at least look like you are having fun teaching and above all be energetic. Classroom arrangement becomes much more critical with large groups and more often than not you will find the best solution is neat orderly rows, in fact sometime it is the only viable solution. Behind the class work can be minimized by having student grade each others exams. Materials and resources can be saved by recycling and using both side of a paper before discarding. Get creative in selecting class materials and keep an open mind to new or different ideas. Good luck and enjoy!