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It's very important to have a disciplined and orderly learning environment which will help increase the students' active learning, and their involvement in class. Although, there are no set rules or standards, that we as ESL teachers, have to follow in order to get our classrooms orderly and friendly, but there are certain factors which can definitely help in managing the classroom effectively. Apart from being English language experts, we need to understand that our body language, gestures, eye contact, voice tone, expressions etc. all play a very important role in the classroom. If we don't establish an eye contact with the students, it will be difficult to establish a good rapport with them. Shouting at the class or always speaking a high pitch voice will not have a positive impact on the students and they may lose interest the language point. So putting this non-verbal language into use, that too effectively and positively is very much important. If used correctly, it can enhance the quality of lessons, rapport with the students as well as make the classes much more fun and interesting. Through eye contact, we can make sure that students have understood what they have been told to do. It can be used to maintain the disciple in class, to check that everybody is participating but at the same time we should always take care that it's always better not to use eye contact when the students are in activity stage or working in pairs or groups. Similarly, we can use gestures to convey the meaning of something being taught, e.g. it would be better to explain the meaning of a words 'happy', 'sad', 'confident' or 'shy' if it's explained with mime or gestures. Because they add the value to the spoken word, and sometimes also reduce the need of verbal explanation. Of course, one thing to take care while using gestures is that everybody should be able to understand these gestures; sometimes a single gesture can mean something differently, when we take in cultural context. For example, thumbs-up gesture is generally used in many countries or cultures to let someone convey 'well done' but in Germany, it would mean the number 1. Our voice also plays an effective role in classroom management, same tone or dull voice many create boredom, so we can modulate our voice differently for different stages of the lesson. We should definitely avoid shouting at class as it will only create distance between students and teachers, and they will lose interest in the lesson. Sitting arrangement of students also plays an important part in effective classroom management. There are different types of arrangements e.g. Whole-class grouping, Students working as Individuals, Pair work and Group work... Every arrangement has its pluses and minuses. Factors like class size, space available. Ages of the students, nationality, student personality etc. are major factors which need to be considered while organizing the position of the students in classroom. As a teacher, we will always try to avoid turning our back to the students but during board-work, it's not possible to do that. |But still, we can at least reduce this time to minimum by using overhead projector, using vocabulary cards, inviting students to write on the board, preparing before the class and covering it with something if we do not want students to see this. We should take care to treat and include all students equally in any activity. We should know the names of all students, and not just pick the one we know. We should help weaker students by asking them simple questions which will motivate them. There should be a right balance between teacher talking time and student talking time. It would be better to use basic simple language, below the level being taught. By avoiding TEFL technical language and by using gestures, mimes or pictures we can help reducing the teacher talk time. Using consistent language, e.g. same set of words for the same instruction, using visual clues will make easier for the students to easily understand your instructions. We should also make sure by checking back if the students have understood the instructions. In order to have a class which is fun, enjoyable and successful, it's very important for the teacher to have a good rapport with the students. If the classroom is relaxed, and students are friendly with the teacher they will enjoy the class more and take part in the class more actively. For this purpose, we should know our students very well, e.g. which students get on well with each other or which don't. This will help us in arranging the students in pairs or groups. It's better to have some activities which will help students know each other's opinions or ideas. Finally, we have discipline and problem behavior in the classroom. It's very important to have a right balance between having a relaxed, fun filled and friendly classroom and at the same time exercising control to have a well disciplined class. Some institutes have a stricter attitude towards students. Apart from that age and number of the students in a class, rapport between teacher and student also are important factors which influence the degree of discipline required in a class. We should try to prevent problem behavior in the class by being punctual, well prepared, consistent and fair, but if there is any behavior issue in the class we should act immediately without waiting. But the focus should be the behavior not the student. Shouting will never help in these cases, so it's better to keep to the school's disciplinary code and talk to the problem student after the class. Knowledge and experience of colleagues also helps us to deal with these kinds of behavior problems.