Managing the classroon

1. The student talk and teacher talk

1.1. Classes are sometimes criticised because there is too much TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and not enough STT (Student Talking Time)

1.2. For these reasons, a good teacher maximises STT and minimises TTT. Good TTT may have beneficial qualities, however

1.3. The best lessons, therefore, are ones where STT is maximised, but where at appropriate moments during the lesson the teacher is not afraid to summarise what is happening

2. Talking to students

2.1. The way that teachers talk to students - the manner in which they interact with them - is one of the crucial teacher skills, but it does not demand technical expertise.

2.2. the teacher-student relationship is not the same as that between a parent and child, this subconscious ability to rough-tune the language is a skill that teachers and parents have in common.

2.3. Experienced teachers rough-tune the way they speak to students as a matter of course.

3. Giving instructions

3.1. There are two general rules for giving instructions: they must be kept as simple as possible, and they must be logical.

3.2. Por lo tanto, antes de dar instrucciones, los maestros deben hacerse las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cuál es la información importante que estoy tratando de transmitir? ¿Qué deben saber los alumnos si deben completar esta actividad con éxito?

3.3. When an activity has finished and/or another one is about to start, it helps if teachers make this clear through the way they behave and the things they say.

3.4. Where students all share the same mother tongue (which the teacher also understands), a member of the class can be asked to translate the instructions into their mother tongue as a check that they have understood them.

4. Using the LI

4.1. The first thing to remember is that, especially at beginner levels, students are going to translate what is happening into their LI whether teachers want them to or not

4.2. At a more advanced level, we can have students read a text, say, in their LI, but get them to ask and answer questions about it, or summarise it, in English

4.3. However, using the translation process in the ways described above does not mean a return to a traditional Grammar-translation method

5. Different seating arrangements

5.1. Orderly rows: Having the students sit in rows can appear somewhat restrictive, but there are advantages to this arrangement. The teacher has a clear view of all the students and the students can all see the teacher - in whose direction they are facing.

5.2. Circles and horseshoes: In smaller classes, many teachers and students prefer circles or horseshoes. In a horseshoe, the teacher will probably be at the open end of the arrangement since that may well be where the board, overhead projector and/or computer are situated

5.3. Separate tables: Even circles and horseshoes seem rather formal compared to classes where students are seated in small groups at individual tables.

6. Conservation: lust like opera singers, teachers have to take great care of their voices.

7. Classroom management

7.1. We need to consider how we appear to the students, and how we use our most valuable asset - our voice.

7.1.1. If we want to manage classrooms effectively, we have to be able to handle a range of variables

7.2. Successful classroom management involves being able to deal with difficult situations

8. The teacher in the classroom

8.1. Proximity: Teachers need to consider how close they should be to the students they are working with

8.2. Appropriacy: Deciding how close to the students you should be when you work with them is a matter of appropriacy.

8.3. Movement: Some teachers tend to spend most of their class time in one place - at the front of the class, for example, or to the side, or in the middle.

9. Using the voice

9.1. Audibility: Clearly, teachers need to be audible.

9.2. Variety: It is important for teachers to vary the quality of their voices - and the volume they speak at - according to the type of lesson and the type of activity.

10. Creating lesson stages

10.1. Teachers needs to provide variety, then clearly we have to include different stages in our lessons

10.2. Sometimes when teachers speak loudly, the students just speak louder in order not to be bothered by the interruption

11. Different student groupings

11.1. Whole class: There are many occasions when the best type of classroom organisation is a teacher working with the class as a whole group

11.2. Groupwork and pairwork Groupwork and pairwork have been popular in language teaching for many years and have many advantages.

11.3. Solowork: This can have many advantages: it allows students to work at their own speed, allows them thinking time, and allows them to be individuals.

11.4. Class-to-class: One last grouping should be mentioned, and that is when we are able to join two classes so that they can interact with each other.