Consultant Advice Penny Ur

Classroom discipline A guiding principle in classroom discipline is that prevention is better than cure. Once discipline problems have arisen, its difficult to deal with them: it is far easier to prevent them from developing in the first place. So most of these tips have to do with creating a classroom climate where students cooperate and behave as you would wish. Learn their names Learning students names can be difficult if it is a big class - but with most classes you can do it, even if it takes a little time. Knowing their names not only conveys the message that you care about them as individuals, but also enables you to respond to them personally if they attract attention, whether positively or negatively. Its worth devoting some lesson time during the first few sessio ns to name-learning. The solution of having students write their names on cards and display them on their clothes or on their tables is good for a very large class; but I find that with small or medium classes it actually stops me making the effort to learn the names myself, and prefer to try to manage without. Keep the lesson moving The more fully occupied the students are in purposeful learning activity; the more likely they are to cooperate and work well. This means careful planning in advance, so that they know that there is a full programme of things that need to be achieved during the lesson period, and that one leads to another with smooth transitions. A pause while you consider what to do next is likely to produce problems: not only because students get bored, but also because of the uneasy feeling that there is no clear purpose or direction, or that the teacher is uncertain and lacking confidence. So keep a reserve quick activity up your sleeve to fill in possible gaps. Make the lesson interesting There is another set of tips in this series on making lessons interesting: but this point needs to be mentioned here, because activating students in doing things that interest them is an excellent way of maintaining full attention and keeping students focused on the task. Some teachers have charismatic and authoritative personalities, and can maintain a disciplined atmosphere even when a procedure is not particularly interesting. But for those of us without this talent or kind of personality, keeping students motivated by using game-like or challenging tasks is the best way to prevent discipline problems from arising.

Make sure instructions are clear One reason why students become inattentive and start disturbing the class is because they arent sure what they are expected to do. This is particularly true of instructions for group and pair work (see below). So dont explain partially or too briefly, hoping that the task will become clear as they start doing it; make sure they understand exactly what they are expected to do before they start. Very often this may mean explaining in the students mother tongue (if they have a shared L1 which you know), because complex instructions in English may take too long and may not be understood. A dry run or quick rehearsal of the kind of thing they are expected to do can also help. (See the Tips on Explanations). Draw attention to good, disciplined work Our attention is naturally drawn to deviant behaviour: students who chat or play with cell phones when they should be working on a learning task; students who refuse to do what they are asked; students who come late or leave early and so on. But it is important also to draw attention to good, productive and cooperative work during the lesson, so that students are aware that you have noticed and appreciate their effort. One place to do this is in a rounding off session at the end of the lesson (see tips on lesson beginnings and endings). Listen and decide There is a well-known saying The classroom is not a democracy. Its true. It is you, the teacher, who is ultimately responsible for keeping order, planning lessons, and making sure there are optimal learning opportunities. On the other hand, students need to know that you are sensitive to their needs and wishes. So its important to have feedback sessions, or periodic discussions as to how the course is going, to hear what they have to say. Consider seriously what they have to say and base your decisions on a combination of their feedback and your own professional judgement. The knowledge that you are sensitive to students opinions but take full responsibility for running the lessons is a substantial factor in creating an orderly and congenial classroom climate. Avoid group work With classes you find difficult to control you dont need to feel guilty about avoiding work in small groups (3-6 students), in spite of the fact that methodologists are continually urging us to use it! If the process of getting the students into, and out of, group formation takes a long time, when no learning is taking place, and/or if the group task actually results in little or no use of English, then it is better to stay with teacher-led or individual work. A useful compromise is pair work. This usually involves little or no movement or reorganization of class furniture students simply turn to face each other and is much more easily controlled and halted. It also achieves the main goals of conventional group work: students have increased opportunities to speak in English, and can help each other learn.

Catch problems as they start Its all too easy to deliberately ignore small, not too obvious discipline problems as they start: two students, for example, who begin chatting quietly at the back of the class. You may hope that such students will eventually stop talking on their own and return to the current task. But in most cases, they wont: on the contrary, they provide an example for other students who see that they can get away with it, and so imitate them. In most cases its best to react quickly. Sometimes this can be done silently: by stopping and waiting, making eye contact with the inattentive students; by moving to stand near them; or by gesture. Sometimes you actually need to say something: a quick request, polite but assertive. In any case dont ignore! Avoid confrontations Teenage students in challenging classes can sometimes try to draw you into confrontations: complaining that youve given too much homework, for example, or refusing to do what youve asked them, expecting you to argue with them and try to convince them. Whatever you do, dont get drawn into argument during the lesson over how to solve the problem. If you can, insist immediately on what youve decided. If not, then there are two options. One is giving in: this is an honourable option if you think they may be right, provided that a) you do it immediately, giving your reasons; and b) you dont do it too often. The second option is postponement. (See the next tip!). Postpone solutions If the students are trying to argue with you about your requirements whether about class work, homework or behaviour in class then, in order to avoid wasting class time, tell them you will talk about it in the next lesson; meanwhile they should continue working on whatever you have planned next. Very often the lapse of time in itself will solve the problem: the students calm down and are more ready to listen, and you have time to think about how you should solve the problem. So if you come to the next lesson with a reasoned argument why your requirements should be complied with, or with a fair compromise, these are likely to be accepted. Alternatively, use the next lesson to hold a brief discussion with the class about the problem and agree with them about the solution: again, distancing from the original confrontation will help you reach agreement with them.