Teach English in Zhangcun Zhen - Weihai Shi

Introduction Classroom management is the skill of organizing and managing the class, having a friendly manner and maintaining discipline. (Definition from Unit 5 of the course). It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that he/she exercises proper control within the class but they should also strive to ensures that there is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere suitable for learning. The best learning environment for any category of learners is a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Classroom management is an art that the teacher should learn and later adopt a style that best suits them. In response to the above question, there are quite a number of factors that need to be put into consideration when managing a class and they are as follows: A teacher should always maintain good eye contact and use gestures that are internationally recognized or those that have been previously explained to the students. They too should have a voice that is loud and clear enough for the students to understand the message that is being conveyed. Maintaining good eye contact gives the teacher a sense of confidence and also avoids unnecessary disciplinary issues. it is also important because it helps the teacher establish rapport with the students which will be helpful in ensuring a relaxed learning environment. Another aspect to consider is grouping. Grouping of students can be a difficult task for the teachers and it depends on a number of factors such as the class size and furniture. Groupings can either be as a whole class, individual, in pairs or large groups. As a teacher, basing on the factors mentioned above should decide on which group best suits the class or activity and should choose a setting that enables him/her achieve the objectives set out for the lesson. Another aspect of classroom management is the arrangement of the classroom. The position of the teacher and students is of great importance and largely depends on factors such as space available, furniture, age of students. The arrangement of the class should ensure that a teacher still maintains control of the class and also creates a conducive environment for the students to be able to learn. It should allow effective teacher-student and student-student interaction but still maintain a high level of discipline. Students are also sensitive to the position of the teacher. A teacher's position can either be domineering or relaxing. A teacher should know what position to assume based on what activity is being carried out. while writing on the board, a teacher should try as much as possible to reduce the amount of time spent with his/her back to the class by adopting a number of suitable techniques that encourage more interaction between the teacher and students and among students. A teacher should endeavor to make each student comfortable and should give all equal attention. He/she should strike a balance between the weak and strong students and not just focus on one group. There should also be a balance between teacher talking time and student talking time. This however, largely depends on the activity and level of students in the classroom. Some activities will necessitate longer teacher talking time such as, presenting grammar while others will necessitate longer student talking time such as during the activate stage like role play. However, all in all, teacher talking time should be minimized as much as possible to encourage more student talking time. The aim of the English lesson is to expose the students to the language and allow them to practice. When giving instructions, the teacher should ensure that they are simple and clear enough for the students to understand. He/she should consistently use the same language for the same instructions to avoid confusion. He/she can also use visual aids to promote understanding of the instructions by the students and should check to ensure that all students have understood the instructions well before commencing the exercise. Establishing rapport between students is another important aspect of classroom management. It is very vital for the success of any class. It creates a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere between the teacher and the students and also among the students. It builds a level of trust between the students and the teacher which makes it easier for them to learn. Students tend to associate more with those that they can trust. This I believe also helps to curb on disciplinary issues. Students also have a key role to play in setting the atmosphere of the class but it can be further enhanced by the attitude and the approach of the teacher. Maintaining discipline in class is a major but challenging factor in classroom management. There are a variety of students from various backgrounds with different characters, attitudes and upbringing. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that he/she takes all that into account and maintains a set standard in the classroom that has to be adhered to by all students. As a general rule of thumb a teacher has to strike a balance between exercising proper control and ensuring a relaxed and friendly environment for learning. A teacher cannot have control over all the issues that influence discipline but he/she should do their best to ensure that the problems do not occur. However, in the event that disciplinary issues arise, he/she should do their best using acceptable methods to address them in an effective manner that will make the students understand their mistakes but still encourage them to learn. Where there is need, the teacher can consult other more experienced teachers for advice. In an attempt to maintain discipline, the teacher should strictly abide by the school rules. In conclusion, classroom management, though challenging is a very essential part of the learning process and will either have a positive or negative impact on the learning ability of the students. It is important to note that both students and teachers have a role to play in this