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UNIT 3
This unit focuses on the teacher’s role as a controller and manager. It expounds the necessary skills needed in organizing and managing a class; and in maintaining discipline in the classroom. It also emphasizes the fact that, being an extrovert is not necessarily a requirement for teachers in order to be effective at their work. Rather with the appropriate skills, a language teacher can produce the expected results in his/her classroom. The following are the necessary skills for controlling and managing a class. They can be presented into 3 ways.
Firstly, through eye contact, gesture, and voice. For example, the teacher can use eye contact to show confirmation of an answer, or to show that it is incorrect or hold students’ attention. With gestures such as signaling with the hands for repetition, a shake of the head, a nod or a hand behind the ear, etc. elicit many instructions without the teacher necessarily uttering a word. Then with the voice, the teacher can offer instructions and explanations to students, also using the tone of the voice the teacher can issue a warning, an encouragement, or discourage inappropriate behaviour and/or express an intended instruction.
Secondly, by dividing students into various group types, the teacher can effectively manage the running and the of the class and the outcome of the lessons. Examples of the classroom grouping are, Pairwork, Whole class grouping, Students working on their own, and Groupwork. These classroom groupings are determined according to the agenda for the class or the activity at hand.
Thirdly, classroom arrangement is an important aspect of organizing the classroom for a particular activity. This can be done by creating orderly rows, circles or horseshoes and separate tables. However, all these are dependent on the availability of space and the type of furniture in the classroom, and the nationality, age and personality of the students. This part shines more light on the types of classroom arrangements required for the various situations or lesson activities; and the resulting advantages and disadvantages they present to the functioning of both the teacher and the students in each given situation.
The unit concludes with a focus on the teacher’s position in class, which is dependent on the kind of activity at hand and his/her functioning in a given situation in class. i.e. writing on the board, giving attention to students individually, establishing balance between teacher talk time and student talk time, how to give instruction’s effectively, how to establish and maintain student – student rapport and teacher-student rapport or vice versa; and lastly, how to maintain discipline in the classroom.
From this unit, I have now know that it is inappropriate for a teacher to point at a student when encouraging him/her to answer a question. Also, I now know how to manage classroom space and initiate groupings to suit my lessons and activities, and how that can maximize student talk time and rapport among students.
