TEFL Colombo

I think that discipline in the classroom is a big thorn in any teacher’s side. I personally find it hard to control younger learners. The level of discipline lies heavily on the following: • Age of the learners • Motivation behind learning english • Do the students really want to be in the class? • The size of the class • Principles and the atmosphere of the school • Respect between teachers and the students All these factors differ from student to student and a teacher might find it hard to meet every student’s needs within the classroom. Some students usually feel that they can take out their frustrations on other students or even the teacher. Most schools have very definite rules on how to handle discipline, but as a teacher these don’t always work out within the classroom. There are many tips for maintaining classroom discipline and management. However, classroom management is a skill that is not only learned but practiced daily. Here are nine tips that I find that can lead to successful classroom management on discipline: 1. It’s Easier to Get Easier: Many teachers make the mistake of starting the school year without a discipline plan. Students quickly realize that they can get away with poor behaviour. Once you set a precedent of allowing a lot of disruptions, it can be very hard to start better classroom management and discipline techniques. So it’s very important to lay ground rules very early in the school year. 2. Fairness is Key Students have a very distinct sense when a teacher treats them differently and not equal. You must act fairly with all students if you want to be respected. If you do not treat all students equitably, you will be labelled as unfair and your students will not be keen to follow your rules. Make sure that if your best student does something wrong; they too get punished for it. 3. Deal with Disruptions with as Little Interruption as Possible When you have disruptions during class time, it is important that you deal with it immediately with as little disruptions towards the other students as possible. When students disrupt you lesson and you loose momentum during this time to deal with the, it is considered unfair to the students who are trying to learn in precious class time. 4. Avoid Confrontations in Front of Students It is better to solve an issue with a student in private, and it’s never a good idea to try and make an example out of a student. Even though other students might get the point, you might have lost any chance of actually teaching that student anything in your class. 5. Stop Disruptions with a Little Humour Sometimes all that it takes to get the class back on track is using a little humour. But teachers should be careful not to confuse humour with sarcasm. What you may think is funny others may find offensive. 6. Keep High Expectations in Your Class Expect that your students will behave and not disrupt your class. Before you start the lesson each day ask you students to raise their hands when they want to speak, and to respect the teacher and other students. 7. Over plan Free time is something teachers should avoid. Students should never be allowed to just sit around and talk when there is still little time left. That’s why teachers should always over plan their lessons. This includes planning extra activities, worksheets or games. 8. Be Consistent One of the worst things a teacher can do is not enforcing rules consistently. A teacher cannot avoid misbehaviour the one day and then be very strict on the smallest thing the next. Moodiness is also not acceptable. Students will not respect the teacher and most importantly you will loose their interest in the class. 9. Make rules understandable A teacher needs to be clear and selective on rules in the classroom. No student can follow a hundred rules. A student should know what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. A teacher should also make it very clear what the consequences are for breaking the rules. References: About.com Unit 5 – Managing Classes