CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
especially Managing that UNRULY class
Every now and then a teacher finds themselves teaching THAT class, the one that everyone dreads. For some reason they seem to be uncontrollable. The teacher can become very dispirited, feeling that it must be his/her fault - after all, they are only children, aren't they? (However, unless all of your classes are like this, the teacher does not need to feel bad about it!)
So, what can you do?
Ask yourself: What is the root cause?
There is often an underlying reason, though it is not always simple to spot. Sometimes the problem is a matter of group dynamics sparked by one or two particular children. So watch carefully, notice and think about these things.
When the children get rowdy:
And watch the teacher (that's you!):
If you can discover the root cause, sometimes a small, simple change may be all you need.
So, what can you do?
Ask yourself: What is the root cause?
There is often an underlying reason, though it is not always simple to spot. Sometimes the problem is a matter of group dynamics sparked by one or two particular children. So watch carefully, notice and think about these things.
When the children get rowdy:
- What (or who) starts it? Is it the same right through the lesson?
- Is it started by a particular activity?
- Is there a particular child who seems to always be in the middle of things?
- Is there one particular child who is louder than the rest?
- Are there times when things are not so bad?
And watch the teacher (that's you!):
- Are you angry / do you get angry?
- How are you reacting when the children are behaving badly?
- Are the children doing something that 'pushes your buttons' (and makes you angry)?
- Do you have an annoying voice (high, screeching, shouting, yelling ...) that makes things worse?
- Have you recently taken over from a different teacher, and how did they react to that teacher?
If you can discover the root cause, sometimes a small, simple change may be all you need.
So let's start with some very important
basic "DON'T" s:
If you do any of these things (regularly), you are losing the battle. Use your teaching skills to engage and motivate the children so that even the naughty ones WANT to listen and behave.
REMEMBER: "Teaching" and "Talking" are not the same thing, despite what some people think who have never had to control a class! There is a lot of skill involved in helping children to learn.
basic "DON'T" s:
- DON'T ever get angry.
- DON'T ever shout.
- DON'T ever touch or manhandle the child/children.
If you do any of these things (regularly), you are losing the battle. Use your teaching skills to engage and motivate the children so that even the naughty ones WANT to listen and behave.
REMEMBER: "Teaching" and "Talking" are not the same thing, despite what some people think who have never had to control a class! There is a lot of skill involved in helping children to learn.
And some very basic "DO" s
Use your skill as a teacher, and:
* 'Secondary behaviours' are all those annoying little things that children will sometimes do when they are basically doing what they are told to but just resisting a bit. [For example: You say, "Come here, please." and they shuffle slowly towards you instead of walking properly.]
And a very important 'DO' - Make some changes -because obviously what you have been doing isn't really working!
Here are some ideas for changes to try.But don't try to do everything on the lists below all at once, and then become discouraged! Choose one or two things that seem manageable to you, and give it a go.
(Here are the notes from above in a downloadable file so you can refer to them.)
Use your skill as a teacher, and:
- Stay calm
- Remain dignified
- Be kind - firm, but gentle
- Be positive
- Be encouraging
- Look for good behaviour to encourage
- Ignore secondary behaviours * (for now)
* 'Secondary behaviours' are all those annoying little things that children will sometimes do when they are basically doing what they are told to but just resisting a bit. [For example: You say, "Come here, please." and they shuffle slowly towards you instead of walking properly.]
And a very important 'DO' - Make some changes -because obviously what you have been doing isn't really working!
Here are some ideas for changes to try.But don't try to do everything on the lists below all at once, and then become discouraged! Choose one or two things that seem manageable to you, and give it a go.
(Here are the notes from above in a downloadable file so you can refer to them.)
dos_and_donts.pdf | |
File Size: | 315 kb |
File Type: |
Things that may be part of the problem - and that you may need to change:
Here are some initial ideas for change - more below:
- Class size (large) - you probably can't change this, but it means you may need to do a lot of group work and use other strategies.
- Room arrangements - even if it's not your own class (form/home) room, there are simple changes you can make for your lessons, and you may even be able to talk to the home room teacher about changing things around.
- You don't know all of the children’s names - below I will give some ideas and strategies to learn them quickly.
- There is a lot of outside noise / ambient noise - you may need to plan your lessons specially so that, for instance, you gather the children in a small group (on a mat, maybe) for when you are giving instructions so you don't have to shout.
- The children have a short attention span - make sure the lesson plan includes lots of variety and don't do any one thing for too long.
- The timetable period is too short, or too long - careful lesson planning is needed, and make sure to arrive on time and stick to a schedule.
- You are a "non-optionist" teacher, or just not confident in speaking English, or not confident in the specific topics you need to teach - hopefully this website and other materials can help you to increase your confidence (gradually).
- The children have poor English skills (or are in a low stream) - and you are the teacher, so it is your responsibility to raise their skill level.
- The children are bored, not engaged, not motivated - it is your job to motivate and engage them. There are some ideas below.
- The children are not trained in how to behave - it's your job to train them. Strategies below.
- There is not enough for the children to actually do, there is no challenge - again, you're the teacher and it's up to you, and there are ideas below.
- There is no reason for the children to behave (from their point of view), there are no rewards or penalties - introduce rewards and penalties, and there are ideas below.
- There is poor classroom organisation - change it (look at the notes below).
Here are some initial ideas for change - more below:
- Use technology - if your classroom does not have a smart board or LCD projector, consider going to the computer lab sometimes.
- Go outside - take the children somewhere else in the school occasionally for a change. Plan carefully and be very specific in your instructions and reward good behaviour!
- Go to the hall – it's a place to sit/stand in a circle for some activities that may engage the children. Again, make sure you have given careful instructions about lining up and moving to the hall.
- Let the children use a microphone - maybe in the hall. This can really help children overcome their 'shyness'. Each child could have a turn at practising target language on the microphone.
- Change the room arrangement - on a temporary basis, or permanent arrangement after talking to the form teacher.
- Take ‘that’ child and (for your lessons, at least) move them – to the front right under the board, or to the back way behind all the others – or give them a special responsibility (not necessarily class monitor)
- Stop doing drills. Really! Find other ways to practise (writing, singing, miming) that are less noisy and encourage the better-behaved quieter children to excel.
- Don’t allow any shouting at all - by anyone, teacher or children. Establish a class penalty for anyone who raises their voice. Instead - sing!
- Don’t react / respond to the things that make you angry - turn away, count to ten ... and ignore secondary behaviours.
- Make sure your classes have lots of variety – children have short attention spans.
problems_and_short_answers.pdf | |
File Size: | 200 kb |
File Type: |
Learn the children’s names.
This is really important, even though sometimes teachers can feel a bit overwhelmed – especially at the beginning of a school year, or in a new school, or when they are given a new unfamiliar class to teach.
If you don’t know their names, you have no chance of controlling the class, really!
Here are some ideas of different ways to approach this quickly and easily:
This is really important, even though sometimes teachers can feel a bit overwhelmed – especially at the beginning of a school year, or in a new school, or when they are given a new unfamiliar class to teach.
If you don’t know their names, you have no chance of controlling the class, really!
Here are some ideas of different ways to approach this quickly and easily:
- Create name-cards for their desks out of a triangle folded piece of card, stick the card to the desk so that the name is clearly visible to the teacher. (This can be a class activity – let the children draw and decorate their own.)
- Establish a routine (make a game out of it) where the children say their own name before answering a question every time.
- Draw yourself a map of the classroom to have in front of you, and refer to it as you call out names – and you will quite quickly learn them anyway.
- Draw names out of a ‘hat’ when you are asking questions.
- Get each (and every!) child to come out the front to make a presentation – talk about their family, or favourite food, or ‘show and tell’ about something they drew. Mark them on what they do – while you are watching them and thinking about their mark you have a better chance of learning some names.
- Do a drama activity where the children use each other’s names in a little conversation.
- Ask the children to stand up and introduce each other, along with telling what their partner’s favourite food/activity (etc.) is, after a partner activity.
- Ask the children to draw a picture of themselves/their friend/themselves with their friend, collect them, put them on the wall and make it a fun activity where you and they can guess who is who.
learn_childrens_names.pdf | |
File Size: | 307 kb |
File Type: |
Something SURPRISING, a CHALLENGE, and a REWARD
These are the three elements that you need in your lessons to motivate the children and ensure they are engaged in learning - and therefore well-behaved!
(You might like to refer back to the presentation on the Games and ACTIVITIES page.)
So here are 3 lists of ideas, suggestions and activities that fit under those three important topics (and, of course, there is considerable overlap between them).
Don't try to do them all at once right away! Choose one or two at a time, and give them a go.
(There is a downloadable file for each below the content.)
(You might like to refer back to the presentation on the Games and ACTIVITIES page.)
So here are 3 lists of ideas, suggestions and activities that fit under those three important topics (and, of course, there is considerable overlap between them).
Don't try to do them all at once right away! Choose one or two at a time, and give them a go.
(There is a downloadable file for each below the content.)
1. SURPRISE!
If you keep on doing what you have always done, you will keep on getting the same results.
If you are having problems with a class, then you need to change some things, and that in itself may come as a surprise to the children and make them sit up and take notice. (Maybe the root cause of their misbehaviour has been simply boredom.)
So some of these ideas / suggestions / activities may be familiar to you (maybe you tried them and didn’t feel they were worthwhile) or they may be new to you. Perhaps a combination of several would work best. Just keep in mind that you are looking for CHANGE and SURPRISE. (There are 9 points in this list.)
1. Never start to teach a lesson before you have the children’s attention.
Develop some control strategies, especially ways to call the class to order (without needing to shout) when they are doing an activity or they are just restless. (See this page about getting attention)
You could try:
Remember that you need to ‘be yourself’, and choose the option that suits your personality, or create one of your own.
2. Make sure there are lots of things for the children to do with their hands.
They need activity, they need something to do with their hands or else they will find something naughty to do.
If nothing else, make sure they are told what they should be doing with their hands For example:
Always demonstrate, and wait until they are all doing it, keep an eye on them to make sure no one changes until you want them to, and then make sure you change the instruction frequently to keep them paying attention (so that it’s a bit like a game).
[I see a lot of teachers get the children to ‘stand up!’, ‘sit down’ ... well, now add some variety!!]
3. Children have short attention spans.
So the talking time with the class should be short, and then let them participate (and I don’t mean just ‘drilling’). In a Phonics lesson, for example, rather than continuing with whole class question-and-answer style activities you could:
4. Don’t always use the blackboard (or white board).
When you are ‘presenting’ your lesson material, surprise them by making use of other media. (It doesn’t have to mean a lot of extra work, mostly some good planning.)
and in every case make sure that the children know what to do with their hands, and when possible give them something (picture, realia) in their hands or to share with a partner.
Also Surprise them with these ideas:
- In a speaking and listening lesson the slips could have pictures that represent vocab items, to avoid forcing children to read during this lesson.
5. Surprise them by changing your drilling style.
Sing, don't shout! Why? Well, briefly:
Use Rhythm and movement
This can make all the difference to drilling, and to any other part of the lesson – make it fun instead of drudgery, and cement it better in their minds. (Science tells us “When children sing and move to music, their developing brains are entirely engaged and stimulated”.)
6. Surprise them by letting them discover the grammar rules.
Especially when teaching grammar, teachers commonly feel the need to ‘explain’ everything.
It is much more profitable (according to educational theories) and actually fun for the children to discover the rules themselves. They retain the learning better when they find it themselves – after all this is how we all learned the grammar of own first language. The teacher can structure an activity where the children find the pattern and repeat it. For example:
7. Surprise them by moving everything around
Change the sitting arrangements; get them away from their desks. (Even if it is not your home room, and even if it is only temporary.)
For example, get them to sit in a circle on their chairs. (If there is not enough space, think about outside, or the hall.) There are a lot of good circle activities and games that can be used to practise vocabulary, grammar, and other aspects of language learning.
With new seating arrangements, you can establish some NEW routines for listening and answering. Warn them that there will be some changes.
IMPORTANT NOTE: For a class that is not well-behaved, moving them to an unfamiliar location (without casualties along the way) can be challenging. Be prepared to spend time concentrating on acceptable behaviour along the way.
8. Don’t Drill.
Yes, really! In Malaysian primary school classrooms drilling seems to be the backbone of learning.
(Did you know that this is not normal in western classrooms?)
But - from the students’ point of view:
SURPRISE! What can you do instead?
Surprise them by using circle games. Once you have established some routines these have lots of applications. Get them in a circle on their chairs or on the floor / mat away from their desks. (See above about moving around.)
For a vocabulary-based lesson (especially listening and speaking) play BINGO! Go to http://www.eslactivities.com/bingo.php to create a set of bingo cards with pictures. (See instructions elsewhere on this site.) They will be surprised and delighted and will learn the all of the words on their cards.
When you are using the ‘Communicative Approach’ (as you should be!) the teacher should be speaking 20% of the time and the children 80% of the time. Surprise them by actually doing this! This is actually much less exhausting for the teacher, but requires careful management, especially at first, to develop strategies to give the children support to be able to practise speaking confidently.
9. Speak only English!
And stick to your rules. Don’t give in and explain in BM! Maybe you could start by warning them in BM that this is what you will do, but then use only English and refuse to budge. SURPRISE them. If the children know or expect that eventually you will (in frustration) explain in BM, then they will simply wait for that to happen. You know this is true.
It is mostly the teachers of the difficult/low level classes who tell me that they use BM because they need to or else the children won’t understand. So
And don’t worry about the ‘content’ that they are ‘not learning’ – because they weren’t learning it anyway, honestly, were they? This is a hurdle that you need to get over, and once you do the rest will start to fall into place and you can ‘catch up’ with the content.
(Here is a downloadable file of the above content.)
If you are having problems with a class, then you need to change some things, and that in itself may come as a surprise to the children and make them sit up and take notice. (Maybe the root cause of their misbehaviour has been simply boredom.)
So some of these ideas / suggestions / activities may be familiar to you (maybe you tried them and didn’t feel they were worthwhile) or they may be new to you. Perhaps a combination of several would work best. Just keep in mind that you are looking for CHANGE and SURPRISE. (There are 9 points in this list.)
1. Never start to teach a lesson before you have the children’s attention.
Develop some control strategies, especially ways to call the class to order (without needing to shout) when they are doing an activity or they are just restless. (See this page about getting attention)
You could try:
- A call and response, which they soon enjoy, and which actually practises their English. E.g. you say “1, 2, 3” and they respond with “4, 5, 6” – and then they must be quiet. Or you say “bippity” and they say “bop!” (and then sit down quietly) Or you say “hip! hip!” and they respond with “SShhh!” and are quiet.
- Clapping – you give three claps, they respond with four. Or make it a rhythm.
- Some people like to try counting – but there needs to be something at the end. If you tell them they have 10 seconds, then when you get to 10 the people who are not sitting quietly should have to go stand at the back or something.
- Do something with their hands. Tell them to fold their arms, or put their hands on their desks or laps. Again, there should (from the start) be a penalty for those who don’t.
- Have a reward system for those who immediately respond when you (quietly) ask them to pay attention. Maybe have some little cards/papers, give out 3 to the first people who are ready every time. At the end of the lesson count who has the most and reward them.
- Use groups or teams to maintain control. If it’s hard to reward individuals, work with the groups and let them pull each other into line. Put stars/points on the board for the first group that is ready each time.
Remember that you need to ‘be yourself’, and choose the option that suits your personality, or create one of your own.
2. Make sure there are lots of things for the children to do with their hands.
They need activity, they need something to do with their hands or else they will find something naughty to do.
If nothing else, make sure they are told what they should be doing with their hands For example:
- ‘fold your arms’ (demonstrate),
- ‘put your hands on your desk’ (demonstrate),
- ‘put your hands together like this’,
- ‘put your hands on your knees’,
- ‘hold your book in your hands’ (like this)
Always demonstrate, and wait until they are all doing it, keep an eye on them to make sure no one changes until you want them to, and then make sure you change the instruction frequently to keep them paying attention (so that it’s a bit like a game).
[I see a lot of teachers get the children to ‘stand up!’, ‘sit down’ ... well, now add some variety!!]
3. Children have short attention spans.
So the talking time with the class should be short, and then let them participate (and I don’t mean just ‘drilling’). In a Phonics lesson, for example, rather than continuing with whole class question-and-answer style activities you could:
- Do the same, or a similar, activity in their groups, or with a partner. If, for instance, each group worked on two sounds (from the text book) today, then when you call a word one child in each group could have a turn at placing a missing letter on the board.
- You could make sets of small, paper, flashcards and each child (or, in a large class, each pair) could have a set. When you call out a sound they could choose the right one to hold up.
- One child from each group could come to the front to point/circle/choose/say a sound, and the group could receive points if they get it right so everyone would be more interested. (Shouting out should be punished by loss of points, or being excluded and made to stand at the back.)
4. Don’t always use the blackboard (or white board).
When you are ‘presenting’ your lesson material, surprise them by making use of other media. (It doesn’t have to mean a lot of extra work, mostly some good planning.)
- pictures – small and large
- tell a story / show them a storybook,
- realia (dress up a bit, or get a child dressed up, or bring in something to show them)
- go outside together to discover something
- Use technology – show picture with an LCD, or play a song or movie
- take them to sit on the mat close to you and tell them something quietly
and in every case make sure that the children know what to do with their hands, and when possible give them something (picture, realia) in their hands or to share with a partner.
Also Surprise them with these ideas:
- Use a lottery to choose specific children to have a turn or attempt a task by themselves (even if you know their names well). Give out slips of paper with pictures or numbers or words or symbols which are related to something they have learnt or are learning (e.g. phonics sounds).
- There can be several of each symbol, and the teacher keeps a complete set of cards to ‘pull out of a hat’ and choose.
- In a speaking and listening lesson the slips could have pictures that represent vocab items, to avoid forcing children to read during this lesson.
- Use children’s names – write their names (or get them to write them) on pieces of paper, put them into a container and pull them out with a flourish.
5. Surprise them by changing your drilling style.
Sing, don't shout! Why? Well, briefly:
- When you shout, the essential language stress and intonation is lost. However, it can be hard to make yourself heard in a noisy classroom.
- Singing preserves the language stress, and carries the sound better.
- Recent brain research tells us that when children sing and move to music, their developing brains are entirely engaged and stimulated. Both the left and right sides of the brain are activated when we sing.
- Singing is also naturally rhythmical, and rhythm is a vital aspect of children’s development and especially language learning.
- AND it’s more fun!
- whisper it
- say it to your partner
- say it to the ceiling, the floor, the window, your desk (all good vocab practice)
- close your eyes and imagine saying it to parents
- bend over and say it
- put your hands up high and say it
- clap hands with your partner while saying it
- click your fingers, tap your toes ...
Use Rhythm and movement
This can make all the difference to drilling, and to any other part of the lesson – make it fun instead of drudgery, and cement it better in their minds. (Science tells us “When children sing and move to music, their developing brains are entirely engaged and stimulated”.)
6. Surprise them by letting them discover the grammar rules.
Especially when teaching grammar, teachers commonly feel the need to ‘explain’ everything.
It is much more profitable (according to educational theories) and actually fun for the children to discover the rules themselves. They retain the learning better when they find it themselves – after all this is how we all learned the grammar of own first language. The teacher can structure an activity where the children find the pattern and repeat it. For example:
- When teaching singular and plural nouns, children can look at pictures with labels and deduce a pattern, and apply it to other pictures. Practise it orally before introducing the reading/writing/spelling aspect.
7. Surprise them by moving everything around
Change the sitting arrangements; get them away from their desks. (Even if it is not your home room, and even if it is only temporary.)
For example, get them to sit in a circle on their chairs. (If there is not enough space, think about outside, or the hall.) There are a lot of good circle activities and games that can be used to practise vocabulary, grammar, and other aspects of language learning.
With new seating arrangements, you can establish some NEW routines for listening and answering. Warn them that there will be some changes.
- Children are distracted by their chairs, desks and bags. There is a big space at the back of the room. Maybe they could start the lesson by standing in 1 / 2 straight rows at the back until the teacher tells them they can come to their desks.
- While they are standing away from their desks in the space they could follow some instructions for movements that will use up some of their excess energy – they could move their arms, march on the spot, clap, click ...
- Marching – get them to march (quietly!) around the room before they get to their desks, give them something to say as they march (the alphabet, a poem, spelling words, one of the songs or poems out of their text book ... something in English).
- When they get to their desks get them to sit with straight backs, feet on the floor, and arms folded or hands clasped until they are allowed to pick up their books or pencils. (If they can’t or won’t, maybe some or all of them should go back and line-up in the classroom space until they ‘can’.)
IMPORTANT NOTE: For a class that is not well-behaved, moving them to an unfamiliar location (without casualties along the way) can be challenging. Be prepared to spend time concentrating on acceptable behaviour along the way.
- Firstly, get them enthusiastic about the change / move so that it in itself is a reward.
- Be very specific about lining up (for example: two lines, in front of the blackboard, no noise and no pushing.)
- If they do not do as you ask, make them sit back down. Try again.
- You may have to ‘give up’ for now, promise you will try again later when they can behave.
- If there are just one or two children messing it up, you could get them to take paper and pencil with them and they can do some writing while the others engage in a fun activity.
8. Don’t Drill.
Yes, really! In Malaysian primary school classrooms drilling seems to be the backbone of learning.
(Did you know that this is not normal in western classrooms?)
But - from the students’ point of view:
- It is an opportunity for the loud, aggressive children to shout and dominate.
- It is an opportunity for the quiet, bored, disinterested children to sit back and pretend.
SURPRISE! What can you do instead?
- Play classroom games such as Typhoon. (Find instructions elsewhere on this site.) They will be pleasantly surprised, and you will be surprised how eagerly they join in and behave.
- Create a ‘Little Book’, or a pop-up card or book, or a ‘Mouth Puppet’ (See instructions elsewhere on this site.)
- Surprise them by using songs and chants when it is not a ‘language arts’ lesson! Get the children to stand up to sing/chant (maybe go to their positions at the back of the room) and use their hands to clap, click and pat.
- Children could practise some clapping games with a partner. This is very good for them developmentally, and can be used for practising spelling and other drills. (If they don’t have a partner they could do it against the wall or desk.)
Surprise them by using circle games. Once you have established some routines these have lots of applications. Get them in a circle on their chairs or on the floor / mat away from their desks. (See above about moving around.)
- Go around the circle giving one clap each – concentrate and get the space between the claps even.
- Do two claps each, or get faster or slower, or make a pattern – one person one clap, next person two. This is good for concentration and development.
- Spell words (or 'sound out' using phonic awareness) around the circle.
- Play ‘I like people who’ or ‘what are you doing’. (Find instructions elsewhere on this site.)
- Pass something around – e.g. flash card – and let everyone read it aloud.
For a vocabulary-based lesson (especially listening and speaking) play BINGO! Go to http://www.eslactivities.com/bingo.php to create a set of bingo cards with pictures. (See instructions elsewhere on this site.) They will be surprised and delighted and will learn the all of the words on their cards.
- They can be rewarded with applause, or a prize, or just by becoming the next caller.
- Use something like sunflower seeds as ‘markers’ rather than drawing on their cards. The children then remove their seeds and the game starts again with a new caller.
- If two children win they can call together, take it in turns.
- Mix up the little slips for calling, and let the caller read them out and hold them up one by one.
- Maybe the first time you could use a smaller card – only 4 x 4, also offered on the website.
When you are using the ‘Communicative Approach’ (as you should be!) the teacher should be speaking 20% of the time and the children 80% of the time. Surprise them by actually doing this! This is actually much less exhausting for the teacher, but requires careful management, especially at first, to develop strategies to give the children support to be able to practise speaking confidently.
- Use “Person A - Person B” technique to demonstrate a conversation. Teacher stands to one side and says the “Person A” part, then moves over to face the other way to say the “Person B” side of the conversation. The class then practises the conversation chorally – one side of the room to the other.
- Chain conversations – Teacher practices the question and answer first with a child. (E.g. “My name is Sammy Snail. What’s your name?” and the child says “My name is Andy Ant. Good Morning Sammy Snail.”) Then choose another child – the first child repeats the conversation with the second child. Then choose a third child ...
- Children can also practise the conversation in pairs at the same time, while teacher walks around and observes. Some pairs could be asked to come up the front and demonstrate/act out the conversation.
- Having practiced the conversation the children can dramatize with their masks on and/or with their puppets. When they use the puppets they can put one in each hand and try using voices for both sides of the conversation.
9. Speak only English!
And stick to your rules. Don’t give in and explain in BM! Maybe you could start by warning them in BM that this is what you will do, but then use only English and refuse to budge. SURPRISE them. If the children know or expect that eventually you will (in frustration) explain in BM, then they will simply wait for that to happen. You know this is true.
It is mostly the teachers of the difficult/low level classes who tell me that they use BM because they need to or else the children won’t understand. So
- Simplify your language
- Speak clearly
- Keep repeating slowly and clearly
- Use actions and gestures
- Use pictures
- Use realia
- Keep trying
- Don’t give up
- Reward children who respond correctly
- Be patient
And don’t worry about the ‘content’ that they are ‘not learning’ – because they weren’t learning it anyway, honestly, were they? This is a hurdle that you need to get over, and once you do the rest will start to fall into place and you can ‘catch up’ with the content.
(Here is a downloadable file of the above content.)
surprise.pdf | |
File Size: | 521 kb |
File Type: |
2. CHALLENGE
Obviously there will be lots of overlap between 'Surprise' and 'Challenge', so make sure you read both sections.
Engage and Motivate with a Challenge or Competition
Set a challenge: Think of those ‘superlative’ (‘----est’) adjectives. Challenge children to be or do the
This can be applied to any activity, even drilling, and even a boring worksheet, but not necessarily in the same way ever time. Give them a little surprise by what you ask for! So now you say:
“This time I want to see
(Of course in the Malaysian English language classroom you need to build up to these concepts, and understanding the words.)
For example: You could start by asking (all, or some of) the children to stand in a line displaying their work. Choose three that are neat/colourful/interesting and the others sit, and then from those choose the neatest/most colourful/most interesting.
Spice up the lesson with some competition.
Challenge the children to a Back-to-Front day
For example:
While this may seem a bit ‘silly’, it is making their brains work harder, and making them use higher-order thinking skills and problem solving.
Challenge the children to guess things
The first step in reading a story is generally to look at the picture or cover, and try to guess what the story is about – this is a very valid educational practice. When we guess something, we base our answer on the information we have already received – and some people (detectives, for example) are especially good at noticing things others may miss. Again, this encourages higher-order thinking skills, conversation (especially if done in pairs/groups/teams) – which should be encouraged in English – and it can be a lot of fun.
So, for example:
Set a Spelling Challenge
Spelling is commonly a drilling aloud activity in Malaysian schools, and rarely a written activity (which it is in Western Schools). Some children seem to learn to spell easily, and for others it is more difficult.
(Here is a downloadable file of the above ideas.)
Engage and Motivate with a Challenge or Competition
Set a challenge: Think of those ‘superlative’ (‘----est’) adjectives. Challenge children to be or do the
- most
- fastest
- biggest
- smallest
- funniest
- most colourful
- longest
- cleverest
- quietest
- loudest
- most interesting
- with the least mistakes
- neatest ...
This can be applied to any activity, even drilling, and even a boring worksheet, but not necessarily in the same way ever time. Give them a little surprise by what you ask for! So now you say:
“This time I want to see
- who finishes first, or
- who has the neatest writing, or
- who draws a funny picture at the bottom, or
- who can come and say to me ‘Teacher I have done my very best work!’ when they bring me their exercise book ...”
(Of course in the Malaysian English language classroom you need to build up to these concepts, and understanding the words.)
For example: You could start by asking (all, or some of) the children to stand in a line displaying their work. Choose three that are neat/colourful/interesting and the others sit, and then from those choose the neatest/most colourful/most interesting.
- Get 3 children at the board drawing a big ... balloon (or something). Choose the biggest.
- Get three children at the board, ask them to quickly draw a car. Choose the fastest draw-er.
- Ask three children to line up at the back and sing a song. Choose the loudest/highest/lowest/sweetest/fastest/most dramatic ...
Spice up the lesson with some competition.
- Play games – such as “Typhoon”! This gives the students a focus and helps them to remain engaged while learning and practising.
- Playing in teams allows less able children to feel safe, less likely to lose/fail and/or be blamed for losing.
- The randomness of games like Typhoon means that it is possible for any team to win in the end.
- Play BINGO! (See instructions elsewhere on this site.)
- Play Tic Tac Toe on the boards, blackboard Soccer, or make up your own blackboard game – anything where they can work in teams and progress or win points by getting an answer correct.
Challenge the children to a Back-to-Front day
For example:
- Write words and sentences on the board back-to-front and ask them to read them.
- Challenge children to write things back-to-front. (See who can do it the fastest / neatest / biggest ...)
- Hold up flashcards for them to read upside-down (or write some especially back-to-front, or hold them up in front of a mirror.)
- Spell everything back-to-front.
- Say a sentence / question back-to-front and get them to answer in the same way.
While this may seem a bit ‘silly’, it is making their brains work harder, and making them use higher-order thinking skills and problem solving.
Challenge the children to guess things
The first step in reading a story is generally to look at the picture or cover, and try to guess what the story is about – this is a very valid educational practice. When we guess something, we base our answer on the information we have already received – and some people (detectives, for example) are especially good at noticing things others may miss. Again, this encourages higher-order thinking skills, conversation (especially if done in pairs/groups/teams) – which should be encouraged in English – and it can be a lot of fun.
So, for example:
- Bring a box (or bag) into the class – big/small, heavy/light, gift-wrapped/plain etc. Ask the children to guess what is in the box. Ask them why they think so. If you do this more than once, it could become a regular (listening and speaking?) activity, and they will get better at looking for clues. You could trick them by pretending it is really heavy, when it isn’t. They could try to guess why you have the item(s) etc. There could be something in the box or bag for them – which could increase excitement. They could make up a story – and write or tell it – about what it is, or what they think it is.
- Show them a photo. Ask questions about the person/place/things in the picture. It could be real (a friend or relative or a famous person) or complete fiction. Write or tell stories (real or imaginary) about the picture.
Set a Spelling Challenge
Spelling is commonly a drilling aloud activity in Malaysian schools, and rarely a written activity (which it is in Western Schools). Some children seem to learn to spell easily, and for others it is more difficult.
- Dictate words for the children to write down.
- Ask the children to check their words against a paper or list on the board – or they can check each other’s, but remember we don’t want to embarrass them.
- Children get a score, and the next time they try to beat their score.
- You could have a chart on the wall that shows how much better their score is each time.
(Here is a downloadable file of the above ideas.)
challenge.pdf | |
File Size: | 446 kb |
File Type: |
3. REWARD
Although as we get older we should discover that learning can be its own reward, sometimes children need a little more motivation to try harder.
Which is more effective in motivating children – rewards, or punishment?
Children flourish and grow when parents and teachers encourage and reward them. Sometimes it is still necessary to use a negative reinforcement, but as much as possible teachers should endeavour to use positive means. And not just when the child ‘succeeds’ in a task, or gets an answer totally correct. Children should also be rewarded when they try hard (even if they don’t really totally succeed).
Be aware of the “5 Love Languages”
Children (and adults too) respond to different ‘languages of love’. What motivates and encourages one, may not do so (or not to the same extent) for another. So when we attempt to motivate children, we should use a variety of rewards in order to hopefully cover all of the children’s needs. Basically the 5 languages are:
In the context of the primary school classroom:
The teacher’s smile and words of encouragement, and body language (a ‘high five’ or a ‘fist bump’) are the cheapest, easiest, and often most effective rewards. The absence of criticism is a reward for some children who don’t get encouragement elsewhere. Even if their work is not as perfect as we (or they) would like to see, noticing the smallest improvement, or even an attempt to improve, can be like gold to a frustrated child.
One simple way to reward children:
Make a chart on the wall with a list of their names and maybe 5 spaces (not too many) next to their names. When they finish a piece of work (like writing) you (or they) can put a star / sticker / mark against their name. Maybe when you mark it, if it is good, they could get a second mark.
Temporary Chart for rewards
Even easier is a quick chart on the board. During the course of a lesson children’s names can be written up with stars (or points) next to them – counted up and commented on at the end before being erased.
This, of course, can be varied in creative ways from lesson to lesson.
(The above notes can be downloaded here.)
Children flourish and grow when parents and teachers encourage and reward them. Sometimes it is still necessary to use a negative reinforcement, but as much as possible teachers should endeavour to use positive means. And not just when the child ‘succeeds’ in a task, or gets an answer totally correct. Children should also be rewarded when they try hard (even if they don’t really totally succeed).
Be aware of the “5 Love Languages”
Children (and adults too) respond to different ‘languages of love’. What motivates and encourages one, may not do so (or not to the same extent) for another. So when we attempt to motivate children, we should use a variety of rewards in order to hopefully cover all of the children’s needs. Basically the 5 languages are:
- Physical touch - they like to receive hugs, kisses, and high-fives.
- Words of affirmation – they like others to use words to tell them that they are special and that they do a good job.
- Gifts - they feel good when someone gives them a special present or surprise.
- Acts of service - they like it when others do nice things for them such as helping with chores, helping with school projects, or driving them places.
- Quality time – they like it when others do things with them like play a game, watch television, or go on an outing.
In the context of the primary school classroom:
- Physical touch obviously needs to be used carefully – a touch on the arm or a high-five or fist-bump is probably safest.
- Words of affirmation – these can be used quite freely, encouraging every child whenever possible, but being honest and fair all the same. The teacher could also award children with a small personal ‘certificate’ specifically for good behaviour or work.
- Gifts – the teacher needs to be careful about giving gifts in the classroom as this could quickly escalate into an expensive problem. However, there are suitable inexpensive gifts – stationary items (pencils, erasers), stickers (or post-it notes) or vouchers that can add up to something bigger etc. Sweets can be given only very sparingly as children are really better off without a lot of sugar!
- Acts of Service - This can seem a little difficult in the classroom. One thing you can do is lend the children your own stationary items - scissors, glue, pencil, eraser ... Even if you keep a special supply to lend (not really the ones you personally would use) you can give the impression that you are doing them a favour by lending them your own special one. When you tell children to find the right page or something, and a child seems to be struggling, rather that telling them off for not knowing, help them - it makes them feel special.
- Quality time – this seems like the easiest of all, but when there are a lot of children in the class it can be difficult for a teacher to give quality time to each one who needs it. For many children, it is the teacher’s attention and time that they crave. And many children who misbehave do so because they want the teacher to give them time and it seems to be the only way. If and when possible, quality time with the teacher should be used as a reward for children who do well or try hard.
The teacher’s smile and words of encouragement, and body language (a ‘high five’ or a ‘fist bump’) are the cheapest, easiest, and often most effective rewards. The absence of criticism is a reward for some children who don’t get encouragement elsewhere. Even if their work is not as perfect as we (or they) would like to see, noticing the smallest improvement, or even an attempt to improve, can be like gold to a frustrated child.
One simple way to reward children:
Make a chart on the wall with a list of their names and maybe 5 spaces (not too many) next to their names. When they finish a piece of work (like writing) you (or they) can put a star / sticker / mark against their name. Maybe when you mark it, if it is good, they could get a second mark.
- Note: you want this to be encouraging, not discouraging. So if you see that a student is not getting any marks, find out why. Maybe they have a learning difficulty (I think there is one boy there with a learning problem) you could give them a smaller task – give them a mark if they finish a smaller amount or something. Don’t embarrass them because that won’t help.
- The first chart should fill quickly. It’s good if you can have a reward for those who fill the whole row first – a chance to do something special for a few minutes, a sweet, a pencil ... Then make a new chart. More spots to fill this time.
Temporary Chart for rewards
Even easier is a quick chart on the board. During the course of a lesson children’s names can be written up with stars (or points) next to them – counted up and commented on at the end before being erased.
This, of course, can be varied in creative ways from lesson to lesson.
(The above notes can be downloaded here.)
reward.pdf | |
File Size: | 467 kb |
File Type: |