ESL: Discipline and Classroom Management Advice
There are many different reasons why students may misbehave in class. On a recent staff visit to China the teachers said that they felt that Classroom Discipline was the biggest issue they had to cope with. Below is some information and tips that might help you.
The Apathetic Student
Behaviour:
Specific attitudes and actions of this child are that he/she.
o Doesn’t pay attention in class.
o Doesn’t do assignments and, therefore, has poor grades.
o Will not enter into any class discussions, or discussions regarding anything.
o Has a poor sense of self.
o Immature and easily distracted to relatively unimportant matters.
o Has a short attention span.
o Frequently absent, tardy, or both.
o Isolates him/herself socially.
o Generally has a sloppy personal appearance and negative attitude.
o Displays “I don’t care” attitude in everything that he/she does.
o Tends to be slow in physical movements-even in leaving class.
o Doesn’t have a lot of friends.
Effects:
Their behaviour affects teachers, classmates, and parents in the school learning environment and the home family situation. As a teacher it is easy to become frustrated due to a lack of success in trying to motivate the student. Often the student will disrupt others around them and as a teacher you may well spend a lot of time trying to encourage them and may well lose control of the rest of the class. Those around him or her may well end up becoming apathetic as well due to his/her influence.
What Can You Do?
A primary cause of misbehaviour is a lack of self-confidence. They have a feeling of a lack of worth and at times rejection. This student needs to develop a close friendship with an adult or peer. They need to feel like they are important. In addition it would help if they could belong to a group of some kind. Such a membership increases motivation.
o Provide the student with short-term tasks for which goals are clearly seen and clearly achievable.
o Ask for his/her opinions during class and after class. Remember, involvement is a key. Therefore, involve the student in the learning process by creating a sense of ownership.
o Give concrete rewards for any altered behaviour e.g.
o Praise positive behaviour
o At every opportunity, express your concern and your desire for this student to succeed.
The Underachiever
Behaviour:
This is a student who struggles to do well or one who is being passed reluctantly.
o They may be timid and feel bad about themsevles.
o Students who are underachievers are often subject to peer group pressure.
o As they may find things harder to understand they are often bored and will not accept responsibility for their own learning.
o A feeling of “I can’t do this” means that they will often not do the work they are capable of.
o They often will not do homework and may have poor concentration in class.
Effects:
As a teacher you may feel very concerned and frustrated. The underachiever can sense this and feels even worse and so it becomes a continuous cycle.
What Can You Do?
The inability to achieve causes a great deal of insecurity. You need to make the child feel he/she can do things. Give them security by producing work that is at a slightly easier level than the rest of the class and then praise them when they get it right. The student with this attitude won’t aim high because he/she doesn’t want to be disappointed. Changing this attitude takes time.
o Praise and encourage the student’s initiative but don’t push them too much. Call parents. Be aware that most parents come to school expecting resistance.
o Teachers often assign additional work to underachievers. Be aware that sometimes the opposite approach produces better results. If a student won’t do class work, don’t allow him/her to participate. Insist that the student sit idly. Remember, even when kids won’t do assigned work, they still want to participate with the group. Being included is very important to children. Sometimes, kids can learn a very valuable lesson, and arrive at better decisions, if they are forbidden to work for short periods of time. Some underachievers may change their values and actions more quickly if they are sometimes not permitted to work.
o Never use class work as punishment. Such a practice only reinforces the negative feelings the underachiever has for school. Remember, problem students already possess negative attitudes. Therefore, if you’re going to punish, use a form of punishment that is not a part of the classroom learning experience, and you may solve a problem rather than compound one.
o Don’t put the underachiever down or make him/her feel insignificant in any way.
o Be careful about telling a student he/she can’t pass your course or class.
o Talk to this student about his/her strengths and possibilities.
o Your interest alone can give hope-and maybe motivation not to give up.
The Talker
Behaviour:
o The child loves to talk and engages in the practice with one and all constantly.
o They may even talk to him/herself and make irrelevant comments at inappropriate times.
o They may be a poor listener and often does not realize that he/she is talking.
o They may have a short attention span and crave attention.
o He/she lacks interest and is very poorly motivated.
o They are poorly prepared for class and seldom does class work thoroughly or carefully.
Effects:
Classmates and the teacher alike are annoyed. Do you remember having a chatterbox in your class at school? Did they become irritating to you after a while. Lessons often become disrupted and starting a class or having a class discussion can be challenging. Other students may be encouraged to join in conversations and the whole class may be disrupted as the teachers attention is focused on one individual.
Actions:
o The continual talking is a way to get attention. This student needs to develop a close association with a peer or adult.
o This student needs to experience some kind of success through talking, but without disrupting the class and the teacher.
o First, react consistently-and never punish irrationally. Don’t punish the talker one day, and ignore him/her the next. Equally important, don’t criticize publicly. You will never solve this problem during class time. A quiet word after class is a must.
o Sit yourself next to this student’s desk during presentations. This will keep him/her from talking. When this student is talking, don’t stop class or say a word. Rather, walk toward his/her desk and this should stop them.
o Develop a set of hand signals to remind the student when he/she is talking. Don’t stop class and reprimand, however.
o Reinforce positive behaviour and contributions in class.
o Try and offer an incentive to encourage attention and preparation.
What Do I Do if Children Continually Ignore My Instructions?
Try to establish a set of simple rules and routines agreed with you by the children at the beginning of the lesson. There might be some clues around the classroom that could help you develop them. If, when you do have some difficulties remind them of those rules and routines, perhaps you could ask one or two of the children what those rules were, that you agreed on.
Avoid arguing with children, sometimes one or two of them make personal comments – once again, you can remind them that it is not appropriate to do this. Don’t react immediately; give yourself a moment to think of an appropriate response that will not fuel the situation. Try to ‘model’ good behaviour – if they can see that you are showing them respect it might be reciprocated.
Try and get them to talk about what interests them – if they are given the opportunity to talk about themselves then they might be more willing to attempt the work you have been given to teach.
In most cases try to avoid using the word ‘please’ when trying to get them to engage with the work. For example, ‘Can you take your pen out and answer the questions, please?’ this can sound like a plea and the question gives them a choice of saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. However, by asking the question in a slightly different way you can persuade them to follow your instructions eg ‘Can you take your pen out and answer the questions, thank you?’ this sets up the expectation that the task will be done.
Tips from a Teacher
Being a teacher has its tough moments. Moments where you must use every ounce of skill, tact, experience and wit to your disposal to make sure that you can deliver the top quality service that you were hired for and, of course, to make sure that your students get the best learning experience possible.
For many teachers (especially those teaching in junior schools) one of the problems that come up in many discussions is the issue of getting the attention of the class to present the material. This is an issue that I experienced myself when I was filling a temporary position at a summer school London. I felt both disarmed and a little frustrated at the time so I understand how hard it can be for a beginner teacher.
I had recently been hired for the position and I had never been in the country before, all those little things conspired to make the challenge of getting and holding my class’s attention into an ordeal. I think a lot of new teachers, or perhaps those who are changing jobs and getting into a new position, might also have similar problems. I also believe that, if you don’t take control of the situation, it can zap your self esteem in a way that will make it harder for you to get back in your game and get the attention of your students. I was lucky to have great colleagues that helped me with kind words and sound advice. From the things that I tried back then, one sticks in my mind as being fun and very effective.
Here’s that great tip that saved me back then. Use it to quickly and effectively get your class attention.
The Magic Deck
You can turn a simple deck of cards into an efficient behavior management tool, it’s fast and easy. You only need a regular playing card or even an index card for every child in your class. You then write each kid’s name on the face of the card. You shuffle them and you’re ready to go. From now on, every input you require will be followed by a draw from the deck which will indicate which student will answer: no more hand-raising and no more silences as you scan the classroom for a hand that will just not rise.
This technique has many benefits. Not only does it eliminate any possible favoritism from the teacher, but also allows you to even forget about such matters, you need to simply rely on your deck at all times. Thus, you won’t always call on the students who always seem to raise their hands nor ignore the quiet or shy kids. The big deal is that since it’s completely random each child will have to pay close attention to your words since anyone can be prompted. The kids will always be wondering who is going next and since they are are not allowed to repeat what someone else said, they will be thinking as hard as they can.
For extra effect don’t place the cards that you just pulled on the bottom of the deck. Slip them into the middle, even near the top, and always shuffle the deck before a draw. That will assure that even the child that just answered can’t sit back and relax knowing that he won’t be called again for quite awhile.
If you have any feedback or anything that really works in your classroom then contact us. You might also like to view more articles on our TEFL blog or view our tefl lesson plans.