Creating a Good Classroom Environment
As you know, when teaching any class, the mood
of the students has a great effect on the success of the lesson. This is
especially true when teaching a foreign language because students need to be
motivated to participate in activities. As the teacher, it is up to you to
control the atmosphere.
1.
Students
cannot see the goals.
2.
Students
are not able to realize how much they have achieved thus far.
3.
Students
cannot see the importance of each goal.
It is important that students know how you
expect them to behave. Teach them strategies for successfully learning
English in your class, such as:
-Explain to them your rules for
classroom management
-Utilize 'lively' or 'difficult'
students regularly in exercise preparation (e.g. handing
out materials etc.) to avoid them having a
negative impact on the class.
-Explain that it's okay to make
mistakes!
-Ask students to be supportive and
assist their classmates during group exercises.
-Make them use classroom English (e.g., "I don't understand", "please help
me")
-They must answer direct questions by
themselves
-Have students clap to encourage each
other
-Be active in class. Enthusiasm
breeds enthusiasm!
1) Participation Assessment
Use
a class list and mark every time a student speaks, answers a question or
volunteers (use a highlighter or circle). Tell the students that this will make
up part of their final result (10-15%) so lower level students should try
especially hard .
2) Rewards
Give
small prizes to reward good work or to the winners of the game. Make sure that
you include students of all levels, so everyone has a chance to win. Ask your
AET for stickers, stamps, etc. that are good for
prizes or make your own. Try and give out stickers and other rewards as often
as you can.
3) Incentives
Incentives
give students a reason for doing their work, or completing a task. One good
example is:
“If you finish this worksheet, you won’t have to hand in your homework
tomorrow”.
Ask
students who are better at English to help those who find it difficult. Talk to
the homeroom teacher and get their support because they have a strong effect on
the behaviour of the class. Use any motivational
techniques you think may be helpful. Most importantly remember to respect
the students, treat them as individuals [not children] and in return they will
respect you as well.
Ⅲ.Give your students
English names!
a)
It
is an excellent way to teach pronunciation.
b)
Use
of English first names accustoms students to the fact that English speaking
people use first names in situations where Japanese do not.
c)
It
helps make speaking English in class more natural.
d)
It
is fun and interesting for students.
Some example names:
Boys’ names: Al, Sam, Dan, Jack, Mack, Matt, Frank, Hank, Stan,
Andrew, Jasper, Barry, Larry, Harold, Mark, Art, Carl, Martin, Arnold, Charles,
Ted, Fred, Greg, Ned, Ed, Ken, Glen, Chet, Jeff, Eric, Dennis, Bill, Tim, Nick,
Chris, Rick, Rich, Mick, Phil, Skip, Biff, Sid, Tom, Bob, Don, Rob, Robin,
Colin, Roger, James, Wayne, Dwayne, Shane, David, Nathan
Girls’ names: Ann, Pam, Sally, Kath, Cathy, Nancy, Patty, Janet,
Alice, Tanya, Carol, Karen, Sarah, Sharon, Claire, Jane, Kate, Lane, Grace,
Naomi, Martha, Barbara, Margaret, Scarlet, Charlotte, Beth, Jenny, Kelly,
Betty, Wendy, Helen, Emily, Kim, Jill, Liz, Lynn, Chris, Christina,
IV. Classroom English by category
Before the
Lesson
Good morning, everyone.
Good afternoon, class.
How are you this morning, Mikako ?
Do you have a cold?
What a lovely day! What a rainy day!
Isn’t it warm this morning?
It’s a humid day, isn’t it?
<Role call>
Hiroshi? Yes
/ Here
Is Yukiko absent today? No,
she is coming.
Where is Mikio? He
is absent. He is in the office.
Beginning
the Lesson
Please sit down, everyone.
Let’s begin today’s lesson.
It’s time to begin, stop
talking.
Let’s quickly review the last
lesson.
Try to answer my questions.
Right / Correct / Nearly Right
/ Close / Almost
Let’s start on page 60. Let’s start at line 10.
Turn to page 12.
Look at the blackboard.
Look at your textbooks.
Now open your textbooks to page
33.
Come to the blackboard.
Write this down in your notebooks.
Pass back these sheets.
Reading
Please listen carefully.
Repeat!
Repeat after me.
Kenichi, you read Bill’s part.
Read this out loud.
Keiko, begin reading at line 5.
Okay, stop there, thank you.
Next, Masaki.
What is the English/Japanese word
for . . . ?
How do you say it in English?
Please summarize the first
paragraph.
What is the
paragraph/section/story about?
Let’s do some translation work.
Questions
Any questions?
Do you have any questions?
Now I’m going to ask you some
questions.
Who knows the answer?
Raise your hand.
Try to answer by yourself. Try
again.
A full sentence,
please.
Use a full sentence please.
Make a sentence.
Say it in a loud voice.
Louder, please!
Again, please.
Do you understand?
(I don’t
understand.)
(I don’t
know.)
(Please
say it again.)
(Once
more, please?)
Ending the
Lesson
There will be no homework for
today.
For homework, please do the
exercises on page 9.
Today’s homework is . . .
Please read pages . . . to . .
. for homework.
Tomorrow, we’ll study Lesson 6.
There’s the bell.
That’s all for today.
The lesson is over for today.
We’ve run out of time.
Goodbye, class.
See you on Friday.
Have a good day!
Have a nice weekend!