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Managing the Classroom: Some tips to keep in mind By Karolina del Carmen Bermúdez Zúñiga Pre-Service Teacher School of English Faculty of Social Sciences Universidad Latina de Costa Rica Saturday, March 26, 2016 Post 239
If a teacher wants to manage the classroom successfully, he or she has to know how to handle some aspects like how the classroom space is organized, whether the students are working on their own or in groups, and how we organize classroom time. The teachers´ role in the classroom is really important, how they behave, how they look (appearance); therefore, educators have to take into account how close they can be to their students; some of the learners are uncomfortable if the teacher is close, and for other students they feel that if the teacher is not close, that means coldness from his/her part. This is also related to the perception of what is appropriate, in order to work with the students.
Another aspect is the use of the voice. For us teachers our voice is really important in the class; it must be able to be heard from the back of the class and to hear students’ voices as well; hence, it is important for teachers to vary the quality of their voices and the capacity they speak at, according to the type of lesson and the type of activity it is being carried on. On the other hand, the manner that teachers talk to students, the way in which they interact with them, is one of the critical teacher skills needed in the classroom; however, it requires from educators to sympathize with the people they are talking to by creating a good relationship with them. To give instructions to our students it has to be done very simple and clear. Teachers have to be careful to not speak a lot, because the students would not have time to practice their English; learners have to speak in the class, too. About the siting arrangements, it is important to keep the students working in a specific activity and work with their classmates; this also depends on the behavior of the students and what it is better for them. There are some positive aspects to mention; for example, the importance of the tone of voice, which is our main tool. Depending on the tone of voice of the teacher, students can understand instructions clearly without feeling stressed. Additionally, the behavior of the teacher with the students is significant to make them feel comfortable, and the educator has to know how to get close to the students without making them feel uncomfortable. Related to the siting arrangement, in my opinion, some of ideas proposed by Harmer (2007) works, but the students working in groups, do not work as they have to. From my standpoint, that it is not a positive sitting arrangement. To conclude what, I think it is better to use in teenagers’ classes is the use of the horseshoe sitting arrangement, because the students are closer to each
other and can help one another, and the teacher can have access to the whole class. Also I will use the circle siting arrangement to make the students work together without missing the control of the classroom, and it is a really organized method to have the class going on. References Harmer, J. (2007)� Managing the classroom� How to teach English Essex: Pearson