Whole Class Management Ideas.
Before you can involve your students in cooperative learning activities or other active engagement lessons, you'll need to establish clear procedures for classroom management. Feel free to tweak the strategies below to make them work for you!
Establish Procedures - Good classroom management is essential to effective cooperative learning. You'll need to have a clearly defined set of procedures so that the kids know your expectations. Don't even try to implement the "fun" teambuilders and classbuilders described in the next section unless you have a good grasp of classroom management. Think through every aspect of the day, to include use of restrooms, lining up for lunch, morning routines, dismissal procedures, etc. Ask a veteran teacher for ideas on managing these day-to-day routines effectively.
Create Classroom Rules - Involve your class in discussing the importance of rules and creating a set of class rules. Refer to the PDF file entitled Creating Classroom Rules for some ideas about how to do this in a cooperative classroom.
Use the Stoplight Management System or another effective whole-class management strategy - If you teach elementary school, you might want to look at the Stoplight Management System description on my website. I have used this management system with great success for about 10 years.
Implement a Quiet Signal - You'll need to have a fool-proof Quiet Signal. You can have a hand signal, a bell, a clicker, or even a rainstick! You need something that can get the students' attention in 3 to 5 seconds.
Work Zone Strategy - This simple technique gives students a visual to show your noise level expectations for specific activities. Use a large sheet of red, yellow, and green construction paper to simulate each color of a stop light. Write the words on each color as shown in the illustration. (Red - No Talking, Yellow - Whisper Voices, Green - Inside Voices). Introduce the Work Zone posters and discuss your expectations for different types of activities. Brainstorm situations that might be appropriate for each color. When you post one of the signs, say something like, "Our Work Zone color right now is yellow. You may use whisper voices to discuss how we use math in every day life." If students don't respect the Work Zone limits, have them pull a tag on your Stoplight board or use your existing management system. The colors just provide a visual reminder of your expectations. Assign a student to change it when you verbally signal a chance in acceptable noise levels.
Erase-a-Letter Strategy - If you feel your class is too noisy during cooperative learning activities, there are ways to teach them to control their noise level. Just use the Erase-a-Letter technique. Before you start a CL activity, write the word STOP on the board. Teach them how to whisper and how whispering sounds different from regular voices. After that, erase a letter from the word STOP on the board every time you hear anything above a whisper. When they lose all their letters, put an end to the CL activity and immediately move into individual seatwork. Let them know that if they want to do the CL activities they will have to work more quietly. About an hour later (or the next day if you don't have the kids all day), try another CL activity. If you reinforce this consistently, you'll find you can really manage the noise level.
Raffle Ticket Reward System - Sometimes students get into bad habits like blurting out comments or getting out of their seats without permission. They need something tangible to remind them to follow the classroom procedures. I have found that using raffle tickets helps tremendously. I give students 2 raffle tickets to start the day. They can't write their names on their tickets until the end of the day. If they break a classroom rule, I take a ticket. If they lose both tickets, the next time they disrupt the class, they have to pull a tag on the Stoplight board (described above). Students can also earn tickets for staying on task or doing excellent work. At the end of the day, I collect all tickets and do a drawing for a small prize, class money, or a treat. Friday is popcorn day - I pop a bag of microwave popcorn and draw out tickets to see who will share the popcorn. I keep the tickets all week and get rid of them Friday afternoon. You might not want to use this all year, but it does help students become aware of the frequency of their disruptive behaviors.
Behavior Reflections Form - This graphic organizer can help students determine the causes and effects of their disruptive behavior. Behavior Reflections Form - This graphic organizer can help students determine the causes and effects of their disruptive behavior.
Read more at http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/classmanage.php
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Showing posts with label Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ideas. Show all posts
Monday, July 16, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Power of Routine PART 2- Classroom Management Tricks that Work with Young Learners
The Power of Routine Part 2: Classroom Management Tricks that Work with Young Learners.
Quiet, please
Reprimanding the students who misbehave is essential but it isn’t motivational. You may say one name a hundred times during the lesson and nothing happens. You do it automatically, the child may not even notice, there is no improvement and there are no consequences.
* I-know-when-to-be-quiet kite works on the basis of the rule Catch Them Being Good. Prepare with your students a colourful kite and write there “I know when to be quiet”. Make a long tail of that kite and decorate it with paper bows, each with a student’s name. During the lesson look for students whose behaviour is exceptional. Instead of just saying “well done” appreciate them by decorating their bow with a sticker or a marker stamp. Make sure students know the moment when they are rewarded. Such a kite helps you to monitor the overall class behaviour, it is also a visual sign for parents how their child behaves during English lessons.
* Wooden clothes pegs might help you to manage your class noise level. Prepare a large circle divided into three parts: green – “I am quiet”, yellow – “Please, be quiet”, red – “You are too loud” and hang it in a visible place in the classroom. Take a black marker and write students’ names on the clothes peg. Start by placing all the pegs on the green area and then during the lesson reprimand the noisy students and place their pegs first on yellow and then, if there is no improvement, on red parts of the circle. Write down all the names of the students whose pegs remain on the red area when the lesson finishes. Think of appropriate consequences if the situation repeats, for example a note to parents or a minus at the end of the notebook.
* Defeat the creature is a technique to make everyone quiet without saying “be quiet” all the time. On the board draw a monster or a strange creature resembling a caterpillar with a head and five body parts. Explain the rules: if the class work quietly, you will secretly erase one body part but if they are rowdy you will add a body part. If all the body parts are erased and only the body is left then the class can choose an activity they would like to do at the beginning of the next lesson.
Choosing students
I teach over 60 students aged 6 to 10. It’s a lot but I know there are teachers who teach many more. All these children want special treatment and appreciation for their efforts and my memory isn’t good enough for all that. Sometimes I need one student to help me distribute a copy of an exercise and they all look at me imploringly. I choose one person and half of them are always disappointed and ask “Can it be me next time?” and I just say “Yes”, and during the next lesson I am not able to remember who it should be. And nothing is worse than broken promises.
These are a few hints that may help you deal with that problem:
* Use counting rhymes such as
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Bubblegum, bubblegum,
In a dish,
How many pieces,
Do you wish?
Mickey mouse built a house.
How many bricks did he use?
The child who you point when saying “use” or “wish” in the two last rhymes says a number. Then count in any direction or count every second person. This eliminates a situation when students try to calculate to be chosen.
* Prepare one set of popsicle sticks or wooden spatulas (used by doctors to examine the throat) for every class you teach. Write students’ names on them and place them in a plastic cup or a jar. Whenever you need one person just take a popsicle stick out of the cup. To make it fair set apart the popsicle sticks of children who have already been chosen. It gives everyone a chance to be picked by the teacher.
* Who will clean the board? Who will distribute photocopied exercises? Who will sit next to the teacher in the circle? Picking one student means hurting five others. Class jobs chart eliminates such dilemmas. Think of all the jobs that are important for you during the lesson such as:
- Circle Buddy (two students who sit next to the teacher in the circle)
- Team Leader (two or three students who will be the leaders of the teams in a game)
- Paper Passer (distributes the photocopies)
- Board Eraser (cleans the board)
- Assistant (does the job of someone who is absent)
- On Holiday (has no job)
It’s best to have as many jobs as there are students in the class. One job such as a Circle Buddy should be always done by two students. Prepare a big poster with little paper pockets for each job. Then cut out the outlines of people (you can find them on the Internet) and on each one write a student’s name. Place student’s templates in the job chart’s pockets and rotate them every week.
* Picking somebody from the reward board works both as a motivator for better behaviour and as a help in choosing students. Prepare a big sign “Reward board” and hang it always in the same part of the board. When you notice a student working well write their name there. You might add the same student’s name a few times during one lesson. Later when you need a student for a special task just pick one name from that list.
Homework checking
Checking homework is time consuming no matter if you read at home 25 essays or just have a quick look at students’ workbooks during the lesson. Nevertheless, I believe in assigning homework and even more in checking it.
* If I give homework it must be done. If they forget to do it they should show it to me during the next lesson. Simple? But not in practice. How to remember who hasn’t done it previously? Write notes and then lose them? To avoid problems with homework checking try this: Each student has their own name written on the popsicle stick (a different set than for choosing students, can be marked with a different colour) and there are three plastic cups labelled: Homework, I’ve done homework and I haven’t done homework. At the beginning all the names are in the “homework” cup, then students at the beginning of the lesson place their popsicle stick in the proper cup depending whether or not they have done their homework. Those who are absent are left in the “homework” cup. Start the next lesson with the outstanding homework and then proceed with the new homework checking. If someone hasn’t done the same homework twice write a short note for parents or information in their notebooks “Please do your homework!”.
* Squeezing between the desks to have a look at the workbooks is complicated and you lose eye contact with the whole class. Sit at the teacher’s desk and ask students to come to you, stand in a line and wait with their notebooks or workbooks. Call them row by row as it eliminates long queues. Plan what the rest should do at that time. They might open the book and read or look at a picture story, they might revise words in pairs by naming pictures which hang on the board, they might listen to a story or a song from the previous lesson.
Secret worker, secret walker, secret singer
To make sure everyone cares and does their best I choose a secret worker – one person for a week. I never tell my class who it is. I only say I will observe this student all the time and if s/he works well s/he will get a ‘certificate of secret worker’ at the end of the week. You can find great ready-made certificates such as award ribbons at http://www.123certificates.com/ or www.senteacher.org/wk/certificates.php.
I also use other secret helpers such as ‘secret singer’ – when we sing a song I pick one person and observe him/ her singing. I am also responsible for taking my students downstairs after the end of lessons. It’s extremely hard for me to manage them walking in pairs, quietly without jumping or pushing. So every time I do that I say that I choose a secret walker and will watch that person going downstairs. They never know who it is so they all try to walk slowly and quietly. At the end I reveal the secret walker who scores a plus for his/her team if s/he walked calmly.
Rewards
* Place an empty jar in a visible place in the classroom and have a bag full of glass marbles ready. When you see your students work hard place a marble in the jar. A full jar means a special prize for the whole class. My third graders are collecting marbles and when their jar is full we will make a film or a photo story with Lego bricks. They just can’t wait to do it!
* Instead of marbles you may fill up the jar with sweets. When it’s full you can eat them all together.
* At the beginning of the week write the word SURPRISE on the board if you see kids misbehave during the class, walk to the board and without a word erase the first letter. If their behaviour improves add the letter again. If the class has the whole word at the end of the week they get a surprise at the first lesson in the new week, for example we play a game. Similarly, write the letter B on the board and when they work well or are quiet add letters to make BRAVO. If they get the whole word on one lesson or in one week they can choose a game to play.
* Hang a one-meter long piece of string in the class. On one side of the string attach a picture of a hedgehog with a clothes peg. On the other side attach a blown-up red balloon and a picture of an apple. Inside the balloon place a surprise – a piece of paper with the class favourite activity. Lesson after lesson, if the students behave and work well, the hedgehog moves closer to the apple. When it finally reaches it, pop the balloon to see what prize is waiting for us.
* To appreciate students’ efforts to speak English during the lesson, prepare a picture of an apple tree full of apples. If you notice a student trying to ask you or a friend about something in English write their name on one of the apples. The moment the tree is full of apples with names organise an English party in the class with cake and quizzes. Don’t forget to praise the children whose names appear most often on the tree. You might even send a note to the parents appreciating their child’s efforts.
* If you notice a praiseworthy behaviour, write that student’s name on a small piece of paper and place it a box. At the end of the week pick one slip of paper from that box. The name of the chosen student will hang on the special place of board for the whole week.
Classroom management doesn’t have to be boring, it might be entertaining, motivating and enjoyable. But it requires time so be prepared that you won’t change everything in one lesson. You won’t also be able to improve your students’ behaviour if you fail to be consistent. However, if you devote some of your time, energy and patience to establishing routines miracles will happen!
Read more at http://promo.oupe.es/oxfordprimarymagazine/2012/05/01/the-power-of-routine-part-2-classroom-management-tricks-that-work-with-young-learners/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Quiet, please
Reprimanding the students who misbehave is essential but it isn’t motivational. You may say one name a hundred times during the lesson and nothing happens. You do it automatically, the child may not even notice, there is no improvement and there are no consequences.
* I-know-when-to-be-quiet kite works on the basis of the rule Catch Them Being Good. Prepare with your students a colourful kite and write there “I know when to be quiet”. Make a long tail of that kite and decorate it with paper bows, each with a student’s name. During the lesson look for students whose behaviour is exceptional. Instead of just saying “well done” appreciate them by decorating their bow with a sticker or a marker stamp. Make sure students know the moment when they are rewarded. Such a kite helps you to monitor the overall class behaviour, it is also a visual sign for parents how their child behaves during English lessons.
* Wooden clothes pegs might help you to manage your class noise level. Prepare a large circle divided into three parts: green – “I am quiet”, yellow – “Please, be quiet”, red – “You are too loud” and hang it in a visible place in the classroom. Take a black marker and write students’ names on the clothes peg. Start by placing all the pegs on the green area and then during the lesson reprimand the noisy students and place their pegs first on yellow and then, if there is no improvement, on red parts of the circle. Write down all the names of the students whose pegs remain on the red area when the lesson finishes. Think of appropriate consequences if the situation repeats, for example a note to parents or a minus at the end of the notebook.
* Defeat the creature is a technique to make everyone quiet without saying “be quiet” all the time. On the board draw a monster or a strange creature resembling a caterpillar with a head and five body parts. Explain the rules: if the class work quietly, you will secretly erase one body part but if they are rowdy you will add a body part. If all the body parts are erased and only the body is left then the class can choose an activity they would like to do at the beginning of the next lesson.
Choosing students
I teach over 60 students aged 6 to 10. It’s a lot but I know there are teachers who teach many more. All these children want special treatment and appreciation for their efforts and my memory isn’t good enough for all that. Sometimes I need one student to help me distribute a copy of an exercise and they all look at me imploringly. I choose one person and half of them are always disappointed and ask “Can it be me next time?” and I just say “Yes”, and during the next lesson I am not able to remember who it should be. And nothing is worse than broken promises.
These are a few hints that may help you deal with that problem:
* Use counting rhymes such as
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Bubblegum, bubblegum,
In a dish,
How many pieces,
Do you wish?
Mickey mouse built a house.
How many bricks did he use?
The child who you point when saying “use” or “wish” in the two last rhymes says a number. Then count in any direction or count every second person. This eliminates a situation when students try to calculate to be chosen.
* Prepare one set of popsicle sticks or wooden spatulas (used by doctors to examine the throat) for every class you teach. Write students’ names on them and place them in a plastic cup or a jar. Whenever you need one person just take a popsicle stick out of the cup. To make it fair set apart the popsicle sticks of children who have already been chosen. It gives everyone a chance to be picked by the teacher.
* Who will clean the board? Who will distribute photocopied exercises? Who will sit next to the teacher in the circle? Picking one student means hurting five others. Class jobs chart eliminates such dilemmas. Think of all the jobs that are important for you during the lesson such as:
- Circle Buddy (two students who sit next to the teacher in the circle)
- Team Leader (two or three students who will be the leaders of the teams in a game)
- Paper Passer (distributes the photocopies)
- Board Eraser (cleans the board)
- Assistant (does the job of someone who is absent)
- On Holiday (has no job)
It’s best to have as many jobs as there are students in the class. One job such as a Circle Buddy should be always done by two students. Prepare a big poster with little paper pockets for each job. Then cut out the outlines of people (you can find them on the Internet) and on each one write a student’s name. Place student’s templates in the job chart’s pockets and rotate them every week.
* Picking somebody from the reward board works both as a motivator for better behaviour and as a help in choosing students. Prepare a big sign “Reward board” and hang it always in the same part of the board. When you notice a student working well write their name there. You might add the same student’s name a few times during one lesson. Later when you need a student for a special task just pick one name from that list.
Homework checking
Checking homework is time consuming no matter if you read at home 25 essays or just have a quick look at students’ workbooks during the lesson. Nevertheless, I believe in assigning homework and even more in checking it.
* If I give homework it must be done. If they forget to do it they should show it to me during the next lesson. Simple? But not in practice. How to remember who hasn’t done it previously? Write notes and then lose them? To avoid problems with homework checking try this: Each student has their own name written on the popsicle stick (a different set than for choosing students, can be marked with a different colour) and there are three plastic cups labelled: Homework, I’ve done homework and I haven’t done homework. At the beginning all the names are in the “homework” cup, then students at the beginning of the lesson place their popsicle stick in the proper cup depending whether or not they have done their homework. Those who are absent are left in the “homework” cup. Start the next lesson with the outstanding homework and then proceed with the new homework checking. If someone hasn’t done the same homework twice write a short note for parents or information in their notebooks “Please do your homework!”.
* Squeezing between the desks to have a look at the workbooks is complicated and you lose eye contact with the whole class. Sit at the teacher’s desk and ask students to come to you, stand in a line and wait with their notebooks or workbooks. Call them row by row as it eliminates long queues. Plan what the rest should do at that time. They might open the book and read or look at a picture story, they might revise words in pairs by naming pictures which hang on the board, they might listen to a story or a song from the previous lesson.
Secret worker, secret walker, secret singer
To make sure everyone cares and does their best I choose a secret worker – one person for a week. I never tell my class who it is. I only say I will observe this student all the time and if s/he works well s/he will get a ‘certificate of secret worker’ at the end of the week. You can find great ready-made certificates such as award ribbons at http://www.123certificates.com/ or www.senteacher.org/wk/certificates.php.
I also use other secret helpers such as ‘secret singer’ – when we sing a song I pick one person and observe him/ her singing. I am also responsible for taking my students downstairs after the end of lessons. It’s extremely hard for me to manage them walking in pairs, quietly without jumping or pushing. So every time I do that I say that I choose a secret walker and will watch that person going downstairs. They never know who it is so they all try to walk slowly and quietly. At the end I reveal the secret walker who scores a plus for his/her team if s/he walked calmly.
Rewards
* Place an empty jar in a visible place in the classroom and have a bag full of glass marbles ready. When you see your students work hard place a marble in the jar. A full jar means a special prize for the whole class. My third graders are collecting marbles and when their jar is full we will make a film or a photo story with Lego bricks. They just can’t wait to do it!
* Instead of marbles you may fill up the jar with sweets. When it’s full you can eat them all together.
* At the beginning of the week write the word SURPRISE on the board if you see kids misbehave during the class, walk to the board and without a word erase the first letter. If their behaviour improves add the letter again. If the class has the whole word at the end of the week they get a surprise at the first lesson in the new week, for example we play a game. Similarly, write the letter B on the board and when they work well or are quiet add letters to make BRAVO. If they get the whole word on one lesson or in one week they can choose a game to play.
* Hang a one-meter long piece of string in the class. On one side of the string attach a picture of a hedgehog with a clothes peg. On the other side attach a blown-up red balloon and a picture of an apple. Inside the balloon place a surprise – a piece of paper with the class favourite activity. Lesson after lesson, if the students behave and work well, the hedgehog moves closer to the apple. When it finally reaches it, pop the balloon to see what prize is waiting for us.
* To appreciate students’ efforts to speak English during the lesson, prepare a picture of an apple tree full of apples. If you notice a student trying to ask you or a friend about something in English write their name on one of the apples. The moment the tree is full of apples with names organise an English party in the class with cake and quizzes. Don’t forget to praise the children whose names appear most often on the tree. You might even send a note to the parents appreciating their child’s efforts.
* If you notice a praiseworthy behaviour, write that student’s name on a small piece of paper and place it a box. At the end of the week pick one slip of paper from that box. The name of the chosen student will hang on the special place of board for the whole week.
Classroom management doesn’t have to be boring, it might be entertaining, motivating and enjoyable. But it requires time so be prepared that you won’t change everything in one lesson. You won’t also be able to improve your students’ behaviour if you fail to be consistent. However, if you devote some of your time, energy and patience to establishing routines miracles will happen!
Read more at http://promo.oupe.es/oxfordprimarymagazine/2012/05/01/the-power-of-routine-part-2-classroom-management-tricks-that-work-with-young-learners/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Friday, July 13, 2012
The Power of Routine PART 1- Classroom Management Tricks that Work with Young Learners
The Power of Routine PART 1: Classroom Management Tricks that Work with Young Learners.
Have you ever thought about an ideal class of young learners? Let’s get carried away and imagine what it could be like…
* Students try to speak English during the lesson
* Their desks are clean and neatly organised
* They never get distracted by the surrounding objects or people: they don’t play with toys or stationeries, they don’t talk to their friends
* They pay attention and listen to instructions
* There are no fights or tears when you choose one person to answer the question
* They work quietly
* They remember to go to the toilet before the lesson starts
* They always do their homework and never forget to bring their books
* They are motivated and willing to participate
Teachers working with kindergarten or primary children often express their feeling of dissatisfaction. Although they are well-prepared and full of ideas their lessons fall into pieces. Why? Maybe because teaching children means facing a reality where they tend to behave just the opposite to the list presented above. Unsurprisingly, successful lessons with young learners require getting them into classroom routines first. Only then can you follow with “Hello, what’s your name?” So spend as much time as you need to drill the behaviour patterns to make the dream of an ideal class come true (or almost true).
The first steps of classroom management
Effective classroom management takes time and requires consistence. It’s a process which needs to be well-planned to bring expected, or nearly expected, results. So before you rush into the classroom with your new vision sit down, have a cup of tea/coffee, analyse, reflect and draw conclusions.
1. Think what bothers you – it might be the noise level, the lack of attention, uncooperative behaviour.
2. Picture in your mind what change in behaviour you expect. Visualise in detail how the class should behave or what your lesson and the classroom should look like.
3. Choose one of the methods and decide how to use it in your classroom. Buy necessary gadgets, prepare posters or pictures. Make it work like a system: think of the consequences for breaking the rules and rewards for following them.
4. Explain the rules in the class: make it clear what you expect, show what it means if you stick to or disregard the new rules. Then drill them, rehearse them, play with them.
5. Apply the new routines daily, with every minute of your lesson. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of your valuable teaching time at first. Gradually you will notice the benefits they bring and how automatic they have become.
Classroom management with young learner can and even should be creative, colourful and interesting. The best way to motivate children to change their behaviour is to treat the routine as another fun activity. These are a few ideas how to deal with the most common classroom management problems.
Train Carriages Race
The easiest way to start fresh with classroom routines is to introduce a comprehensive system. A system which has clear rules, explains rewards and consequences and leaves no room for exceptions. It will help you to solve or minimalise all the problems at the same time.
Step one: before the lesson
Prepare a list of labelled laminated images representing the key issues in the classroom, for example:
1. quite
2. clean desk
3. listen to teacher
4. work hard
5. change places / tasks quickly
6. homework
7. helpful and friendly
Step two: during the first lesson
Divide the class into three – four teams according to the rows they sit in. Assign a colour for each team and give them a train carriage in their colour. You can use colouring pages from the Internet such as http://www.coloring-pages-book-for-kids-boys.com/train-coloring-sheet.html. Then ask students to cut it out and write their names on the carriage.
Step three: during every lesson
At the beginning of every lesson attach these laminated pictures to the board. Prepare chalk/markers in the colours representing each team. Whenever you see they work nicely put a plus in their colour next to appropriate picture. Make sure you give points for keeping desks clean, sitting on the carpet without elbowing and quarrels who will sit next to the teacher. If, on the other hand, you spot they are rowdy or break the rules don’t say anything, just walk towards the board with the chalk and wait a second or two. If it doesn’t help add minuses.
Step four: at the end of each lesson
Finish the lesson two minutes earlier and spend this time summing up their behaviour. Count up all the pluses and minuses. And then rearrange the train carriages on the classroom display. The team with most pluses is the first followed by carriages with fewer pluses.
Step five: benefits
The system will only work well if it is tempting enough. That is why I use an extended version. If a team gets five pluses during one lesson I make a decorative hole (with a special punch) in their train carriage. Even if they later lose their first position the special hole is there forever and anyone visiting the classroom can see how they work during the lessons. When the team has two holes on their carriage I write a short note of praise for parents. Collecting five holes means that the whole team can choose a fun activity for the last 15 minutes of the lesson.
Keeping desks clean
Keeping a clean desk in a primary school is a serious issue as children spend half of their day in the same classroom. So when an English lesson starts at quarter to twelve you can’t believe your eyes: open fold out pencil cases with all the precious things lying around in a nice disarrangement, half eaten sandwiches, bottles of juice, projects, pictures, enormous soft toys, collections of Pet Shop toys or Lego Star Wars bricks, books on all subjects. And English books are still in the school bag! The problem is not so much in having all those things on the desk but in children being constantly engaged in touching, playing with or showing them to friends. Start waging a war against cluttered desks and in a split second you will be pleasantly surprised that a few tricks may work like magic.
* The train system is a constant reminder to keep everything clean and organised. Check the desks a few times during the lesson and give pluses or minuses.
* Start a lesson with a clean-up song. It’s best to have something energetic and catchy. A good choice is Indiana Jones theme or 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem “Wavin flag” by K’naan. Play the song and it will be the signal to get organised, take out their English books, put unnecessary things away, place everything in one corner of the desk and close the pencil cases (in the first or second grade I strongly oppose to keeping pencil cases open because they are the temptation children can’t resist!).
* A clean desk fairy might unexpectedly pay a visit and reward the neatly organised desks with a sweet or her own picture (find suitable stickers or images on the Internet) which children stick at the end of their English notebook.
* Sometimes these are not the desks that are the problem but the general mess: school bags in the middle of the class, pieces of paper or tissues on the floor. Think of a place in the classroom which looks messy or disorganised, for example an apple core lying on the floor by the bin. Play the song and say “There is a “mystery spot” which needs to be clean again”. Children start cleaning and whoever finds the mystery spot gets a plus/point for his/her team.
Attention getters
I used to believe my voice is strong enough to make the whole class quiet. During the first lesson I realised that the more I raised my voice the louder they were. Actually it’s not the power of voice that counts (though it is helpful) but the routines which get their attention and make them concentrate.
Use a variety of objects which instantly make everyone quiet such as whistles, wooden castanets, bells, tambourines, rattles, maracas. Most of these can be bought at school supply stores or music shops and are relatively cheap. They are easily heard and you may create the whole system, for example one bell ring means look at me, listen and don’t move, two bell rings: close your books and organise your desks, three bell rings: sit on the carpet.
You may also use chants which are extremely useful and effective as they keep the kids engaged.
Teacher: Hands on top (children raise their hands and put them on their heads)Students: Everybody stopThis chant works like magic because putting hands up means that you can’t hold crayons, pens, pencils, toys etc at the same time.T: If you’re listening clap your handsSs: (clap their hands)T: If you’re listening touch your nose Ss (touch your nose)It’s not a chant but it works in the same stimulus – response way. You can clearly see when children join in with the actions. You can add more actions or repeat the previous ones until you are absolutely sure you have everyone’s attention. That activity works really well as children feel a natural desire to join in when something is happening.T: One, two, three eyes one meSs: One, two eyes on you
T: One, two
Ss: Eyes on you
T: Three, four
Ss: Talk no more
T: Ready to rock
Ss: Ready to roll
T: Hocus Pocus, everybody
Ss: Focus
T: Macaroni and Cheese, everybody
Ss: Freeze
You might try a technique introduced by Harry K. Wong called “Give me Five” where each finger represents a desired type of behaviour starting with the pinky: eyes on speaker, mouth quiet, body still, hands free, listen. Prepare a poster with a hand and pictures illustrating what type of behaviour each finger represents and hang in the classroom. Students might also trace the shape of their hands and decorate the fingers with pictures symbolising each rule. When you want to get students’ attention say Give me Five and go finger by finger saying One – eyes on speaker and so on. After every finger, make a short pause and check if students actually perform the action. When children are more familiar with the technique it’s enough to say Give me five 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 making sure they behave properly.
Read more at http://promo.oupe.es/oxfordprimarymagazine/2012/03/30/the-power-of-routine-part-1-classroom-management-tricks-that-work-with-young-learners/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Have you ever thought about an ideal class of young learners? Let’s get carried away and imagine what it could be like…
* Students try to speak English during the lesson
* Their desks are clean and neatly organised
* They never get distracted by the surrounding objects or people: they don’t play with toys or stationeries, they don’t talk to their friends
* They pay attention and listen to instructions
* There are no fights or tears when you choose one person to answer the question
* They work quietly
* They remember to go to the toilet before the lesson starts
* They always do their homework and never forget to bring their books
* They are motivated and willing to participate
Teachers working with kindergarten or primary children often express their feeling of dissatisfaction. Although they are well-prepared and full of ideas their lessons fall into pieces. Why? Maybe because teaching children means facing a reality where they tend to behave just the opposite to the list presented above. Unsurprisingly, successful lessons with young learners require getting them into classroom routines first. Only then can you follow with “Hello, what’s your name?” So spend as much time as you need to drill the behaviour patterns to make the dream of an ideal class come true (or almost true).
The first steps of classroom management
Effective classroom management takes time and requires consistence. It’s a process which needs to be well-planned to bring expected, or nearly expected, results. So before you rush into the classroom with your new vision sit down, have a cup of tea/coffee, analyse, reflect and draw conclusions.
1. Think what bothers you – it might be the noise level, the lack of attention, uncooperative behaviour.
2. Picture in your mind what change in behaviour you expect. Visualise in detail how the class should behave or what your lesson and the classroom should look like.
3. Choose one of the methods and decide how to use it in your classroom. Buy necessary gadgets, prepare posters or pictures. Make it work like a system: think of the consequences for breaking the rules and rewards for following them.
4. Explain the rules in the class: make it clear what you expect, show what it means if you stick to or disregard the new rules. Then drill them, rehearse them, play with them.
5. Apply the new routines daily, with every minute of your lesson. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of your valuable teaching time at first. Gradually you will notice the benefits they bring and how automatic they have become.
Classroom management with young learner can and even should be creative, colourful and interesting. The best way to motivate children to change their behaviour is to treat the routine as another fun activity. These are a few ideas how to deal with the most common classroom management problems.
Train Carriages Race
The easiest way to start fresh with classroom routines is to introduce a comprehensive system. A system which has clear rules, explains rewards and consequences and leaves no room for exceptions. It will help you to solve or minimalise all the problems at the same time.
Step one: before the lesson
Prepare a list of labelled laminated images representing the key issues in the classroom, for example:
1. quite
2. clean desk
3. listen to teacher
4. work hard
5. change places / tasks quickly
6. homework
7. helpful and friendly
Step two: during the first lesson
Divide the class into three – four teams according to the rows they sit in. Assign a colour for each team and give them a train carriage in their colour. You can use colouring pages from the Internet such as http://www.coloring-pages-book-for-kids-boys.com/train-coloring-sheet.html. Then ask students to cut it out and write their names on the carriage.
Step three: during every lesson
At the beginning of every lesson attach these laminated pictures to the board. Prepare chalk/markers in the colours representing each team. Whenever you see they work nicely put a plus in their colour next to appropriate picture. Make sure you give points for keeping desks clean, sitting on the carpet without elbowing and quarrels who will sit next to the teacher. If, on the other hand, you spot they are rowdy or break the rules don’t say anything, just walk towards the board with the chalk and wait a second or two. If it doesn’t help add minuses.
Step four: at the end of each lesson
Finish the lesson two minutes earlier and spend this time summing up their behaviour. Count up all the pluses and minuses. And then rearrange the train carriages on the classroom display. The team with most pluses is the first followed by carriages with fewer pluses.
Step five: benefits
The system will only work well if it is tempting enough. That is why I use an extended version. If a team gets five pluses during one lesson I make a decorative hole (with a special punch) in their train carriage. Even if they later lose their first position the special hole is there forever and anyone visiting the classroom can see how they work during the lessons. When the team has two holes on their carriage I write a short note of praise for parents. Collecting five holes means that the whole team can choose a fun activity for the last 15 minutes of the lesson.
Keeping desks clean
Keeping a clean desk in a primary school is a serious issue as children spend half of their day in the same classroom. So when an English lesson starts at quarter to twelve you can’t believe your eyes: open fold out pencil cases with all the precious things lying around in a nice disarrangement, half eaten sandwiches, bottles of juice, projects, pictures, enormous soft toys, collections of Pet Shop toys or Lego Star Wars bricks, books on all subjects. And English books are still in the school bag! The problem is not so much in having all those things on the desk but in children being constantly engaged in touching, playing with or showing them to friends. Start waging a war against cluttered desks and in a split second you will be pleasantly surprised that a few tricks may work like magic.
* The train system is a constant reminder to keep everything clean and organised. Check the desks a few times during the lesson and give pluses or minuses.
* Start a lesson with a clean-up song. It’s best to have something energetic and catchy. A good choice is Indiana Jones theme or 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem “Wavin flag” by K’naan. Play the song and it will be the signal to get organised, take out their English books, put unnecessary things away, place everything in one corner of the desk and close the pencil cases (in the first or second grade I strongly oppose to keeping pencil cases open because they are the temptation children can’t resist!).
* A clean desk fairy might unexpectedly pay a visit and reward the neatly organised desks with a sweet or her own picture (find suitable stickers or images on the Internet) which children stick at the end of their English notebook.
* Sometimes these are not the desks that are the problem but the general mess: school bags in the middle of the class, pieces of paper or tissues on the floor. Think of a place in the classroom which looks messy or disorganised, for example an apple core lying on the floor by the bin. Play the song and say “There is a “mystery spot” which needs to be clean again”. Children start cleaning and whoever finds the mystery spot gets a plus/point for his/her team.
Attention getters
I used to believe my voice is strong enough to make the whole class quiet. During the first lesson I realised that the more I raised my voice the louder they were. Actually it’s not the power of voice that counts (though it is helpful) but the routines which get their attention and make them concentrate.
Use a variety of objects which instantly make everyone quiet such as whistles, wooden castanets, bells, tambourines, rattles, maracas. Most of these can be bought at school supply stores or music shops and are relatively cheap. They are easily heard and you may create the whole system, for example one bell ring means look at me, listen and don’t move, two bell rings: close your books and organise your desks, three bell rings: sit on the carpet.
You may also use chants which are extremely useful and effective as they keep the kids engaged.
Teacher: Hands on top (children raise their hands and put them on their heads)Students: Everybody stopThis chant works like magic because putting hands up means that you can’t hold crayons, pens, pencils, toys etc at the same time.T: If you’re listening clap your handsSs: (clap their hands)T: If you’re listening touch your nose Ss (touch your nose)It’s not a chant but it works in the same stimulus – response way. You can clearly see when children join in with the actions. You can add more actions or repeat the previous ones until you are absolutely sure you have everyone’s attention. That activity works really well as children feel a natural desire to join in when something is happening.T: One, two, three eyes one meSs: One, two eyes on you
T: One, two
Ss: Eyes on you
T: Three, four
Ss: Talk no more
T: Ready to rock
Ss: Ready to roll
T: Hocus Pocus, everybody
Ss: Focus
T: Macaroni and Cheese, everybody
Ss: Freeze
You might try a technique introduced by Harry K. Wong called “Give me Five” where each finger represents a desired type of behaviour starting with the pinky: eyes on speaker, mouth quiet, body still, hands free, listen. Prepare a poster with a hand and pictures illustrating what type of behaviour each finger represents and hang in the classroom. Students might also trace the shape of their hands and decorate the fingers with pictures symbolising each rule. When you want to get students’ attention say Give me Five and go finger by finger saying One – eyes on speaker and so on. After every finger, make a short pause and check if students actually perform the action. When children are more familiar with the technique it’s enough to say Give me five 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 making sure they behave properly.
Read more at http://promo.oupe.es/oxfordprimarymagazine/2012/03/30/the-power-of-routine-part-1-classroom-management-tricks-that-work-with-young-learners/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Friday, June 22, 2012
Combat Plagiarism
Combat Plagiarism.
I write on the board: "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain." After having students identify the quote, I ask them to paraphrase it.
Volunteers write their versions on the board, which tend to fall into two categories:
* those that keep the same syntax but substitute synonyms, and
* those that keep the original words but change the word order.
The following are extreme examples of the actual results:
* Synonyms: The precipitation on the Iberian Peninsula descends most on the flatlands.
* Syntax: In Spain, it rains on the plains most often.
I encourage students to ask themselves soul-searching questions like these:
* Are the new versions really in my own words?
* Am I still going to use quotation marks even though I haven't quoted directly?
* Why should I bother referencing, since I have changed the wording so as to make it nearly unrecognizable?
* Did I make changes for valid reasons or merely to avoid quotation marks, as in a paper already overloaded with them?
* Have I really improved on the original or merely allowed stilted, flowery language to replace the simplicity of the song lyrics?
Most students ultimately come to see that they must give credit for ideas they did not originate. They also discover that they have distorted the meaning of the original -- in this case, an elocution lesson to change Eliza Doolittle's cockney accent into that of a highborn "lye-dy."
I stress to students that proper documentation, in addition to being "fair play" to the author, is a safeguard for themselves. If a strange thought has been quoted exactly and referenced, the strangeness will be laid properly at the doorstep of the author. If taken out of context, the thought can be checked by the reader. In the event of an error on the author's part, the careful student remains blameless.
I am convinced that paraphrasing -- making changes line by line -- inevitably leads to plagiarism. Paraphrasing has a legitimate place only in rare cases, such as translations of colloquialisms like "Chill out!" or in technical documents that must be digested for a lay audience (as in computer manuals).
My students have three options for documenting:
* direct quoting,
* summarizing (no quotes at all), or
* discussing two sources in the same paragraph (again without quoting).
All of these entries must be referenced to give the authors credit. Some students, believing that quotation marks are necessary only when they appear in the original source, are shocked at the notion of secondary quotes being plagiarism.
In my class, I teach how to plagiarize and then trust that no one will commit plagiarism knowingly. I also help students to avoid lifting whole chunks of text to patch together quotes without comment or analysis (input- output, with no processing), often a result of desperation from time pressures. We work hard on summarizing, outlining, discussing, and careful quoting so that my students have alternatives to paraphrasing or "chunking."
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
I write on the board: "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain." After having students identify the quote, I ask them to paraphrase it.
Volunteers write their versions on the board, which tend to fall into two categories:
* those that keep the same syntax but substitute synonyms, and
* those that keep the original words but change the word order.
The following are extreme examples of the actual results:
* Synonyms: The precipitation on the Iberian Peninsula descends most on the flatlands.
* Syntax: In Spain, it rains on the plains most often.
I encourage students to ask themselves soul-searching questions like these:
* Are the new versions really in my own words?
* Am I still going to use quotation marks even though I haven't quoted directly?
* Why should I bother referencing, since I have changed the wording so as to make it nearly unrecognizable?
* Did I make changes for valid reasons or merely to avoid quotation marks, as in a paper already overloaded with them?
* Have I really improved on the original or merely allowed stilted, flowery language to replace the simplicity of the song lyrics?
Most students ultimately come to see that they must give credit for ideas they did not originate. They also discover that they have distorted the meaning of the original -- in this case, an elocution lesson to change Eliza Doolittle's cockney accent into that of a highborn "lye-dy."
I stress to students that proper documentation, in addition to being "fair play" to the author, is a safeguard for themselves. If a strange thought has been quoted exactly and referenced, the strangeness will be laid properly at the doorstep of the author. If taken out of context, the thought can be checked by the reader. In the event of an error on the author's part, the careful student remains blameless.
I am convinced that paraphrasing -- making changes line by line -- inevitably leads to plagiarism. Paraphrasing has a legitimate place only in rare cases, such as translations of colloquialisms like "Chill out!" or in technical documents that must be digested for a lay audience (as in computer manuals).
My students have three options for documenting:
* direct quoting,
* summarizing (no quotes at all), or
* discussing two sources in the same paragraph (again without quoting).
All of these entries must be referenced to give the authors credit. Some students, believing that quotation marks are necessary only when they appear in the original source, are shocked at the notion of secondary quotes being plagiarism.
In my class, I teach how to plagiarize and then trust that no one will commit plagiarism knowingly. I also help students to avoid lifting whole chunks of text to patch together quotes without comment or analysis (input- output, with no processing), often a result of desperation from time pressures. We work hard on summarizing, outlining, discussing, and careful quoting so that my students have alternatives to paraphrasing or "chunking."
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
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