[teachingenglishmadeeasy]

Hi all,

I find myself discussing this very topic with A LOT of teachers here in Korea. Often times, students get a little carried away because they figure that if they can't communicate with you, then it is okay to do something else besides learn. How do you go about maintaining order in the classroom. More importantly, how do you keep the students engaged?

[ICAL_Pete]

There are a couple of interesting articles on this topic in the ICALwiki. They offer useful tips and practical ideas on how to motivate students and keep them in check.

Classroom Discipline

[HUE]

This is from one of my weekly newsletters in December, which has some useful information for this sort of problem.

You can see what the newsletter is all about at Want to know more about the teaching tips newsletter? | Heads Up English | ESL Lessons

I hope it's helpful.

Everyone has had (and will have again) these sorts of classes, and it often has less to do with you as a teacher than just an unlucky chance. Unfortunately, there is not a magical formula or course of action that will work every time. Nor will every suggestion below be applicable to each and every class. Yet difficult classes can be turned around. Try the following suggestions:

• Be comfortable with your position. You are the teacher and in a position of authority.

• Be consistent with rules and expectations. If you favor one student over another, then that limits your authority.

• State your rules and expectations clearly. The first day of class is especially effective for this, but there's nothing wrong with giving your expectations with each activity and assignment. Again, be consistent.

Don't ignore a problem with the hopes that it will simply go away. It won't, and will only get worse.

Be friendly, warm, and positive. Respect works better than fear in controlling the unruly class. It also creates an environment more conducive to learning.

Offer praise, especially when warranted. If you never really focus on students except to discipline, then some to many will cause problems simply to get your attention.

Offer support. A student who isn't completing homework or doing well on tests may have personal issues outside of the class.

If necessary, kick a student out of the class. This could just be a one-time event, if he were being disruptive, for example. It may be for several classes. It may even be for the course. This is especially important if the student is taking valuable class time away from other students who want to learn.

Try to make all students feel important and valued. In other words, you care that they succeed in their studies and you aren't just there to pick up a paycheck.

Realize that intrinsic motivation is usually better than extrinsic motivation. In other words, motivation that comes from the student will almost always trump any rules or rewards that come from you.

Tap into the interests of your students. You can do this with each activity or assignment.

Give your students room to make mistakes, experiment with the language, and (most importantly) to have fun. If you try to control every aspect of the class, more than a few will bristle at the attempt. Some forms of chaos can be a good thing.

If a student must be disciplined, don't humiliate him. Don't lose your cool by shouting at him either.

Don't feel you need to justify or explain your reprimands. If you are fair and consistent, then everyone will already know why you chose your course of action.

These are but a few ideas, of which there are many more. Every classroom can often feel like an intricate dance at best, a tug of war at worst. Only the fewest of the few classes can't be saved, though.

[MelissaC]

Hey!
Everything that Chris listed was spot on!
The biggest thing you have to keep in mind is the age of the student. Chris had mentioned stating your authority in a class by kicking the student out. I agree with that if the student is a child, but I would chooses a different tactic if the student is an adult.

"Tap into the interests of your students. You can do this with each activity or assignment."
A VERY good point if you have adult students. If they constantly get off topic then I've found that getting off topic before them still enables you to keep control of where the class is going. An example of this could be if you have a grammar goal of learning, say, Future Progressive, bring in a small newspaper article that you've scanned ahead of time, give it to the student to read and have them find the future progressive sentences. This way you could be tapping into their interest by bringing in an article discussing something they like AND you're able to keep control of where the class goes.

REMEMBER: Students HATE teachers who stick ONLY to the book, so branch off!

Hope this helps!
Melissa