Don’t Panic! It’s Not the Titanic: Tips for Classroom Management

Merve Oflaz, Turkey

Merve Oflaz has been involved in teaching since 1998 and has experience of working with students at all ages including young learners, teenagers and adults. She is currently an instructor at Dogus University Preparatory School. She is also a teacher trainer, a materials developer and a blogger. She has an M.A. in TEFL and holds the ICELT. She has written articles and given talks at local and international conferences. She has awards for her work in directing children’s plays, creating lesson activities and blogging. Her interests include learning styles, brain dominance, intercultural awareness and parent training. She shares her experiences about teaching on her blog www.merveoflaz.net, Twitter: @oflazmerve, E-mail: merveoflaz@hotmail.com, moflaz@dogus.edu.tr

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Introduction
Know your own ship
Use the “maritime communication phrases”
Arrange the ship design and equipment
More tips
One last tip: Don’t give up
References

Introduction

If you are racking your brain all day or maybe all week thinking of a wonderful lesson or a presentation, you never know what will inspire you when. As a teacher, trainer and blogger, I’ve been inspired by the unforgettable scenes of some films, sweet (and sometimes crazy) melodies, toy shops that I lost myself inside, relaxing scents refreshed my brain and even food (probably cakes and cookies) nurtured my happy thoughts.

This time it was different. A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting with a friend and we were talking about how choosing an appropriate theme for a presentation can affect the audience. He shared one of his slide share presentations (slideshare.net/MuratSalman) on ‘Content Marketing’ and there was a picture showing the ribs of a ship with a question under it: “Are you aware of what information is demanded from you?” Trying to find a catchy theme for my article (this one:)) on ‘Classroom Management’, that became the first flash to make a beginning. Besides, I’ve always loved “ships” and they remind me of the film “Titanic”:)

I believe a ‘ship’ and a ‘class’ have so many things in common. Taking the ship to the next port safely is difficult and stressful. Managing the whole crew and dealing with this and that, the captain’s job is really demanding and also challenging. Considering the teacher as the captain of the class (the ship), s/he should first start by getting ready for the “Maritime Adventure”! Then comes using the “maritime communication phrases” and of course “the design and the equipment of the ship”.

Know your own ship

It is the first and the most important step you should take if you really want your journey to be safe, beneficial and exciting. Knowing your own ‘ship’ (class) will probably take some time, so during this process do not hesitate to get help from your colleagues and cooperate with the parents. ‘Teacher – school – parent’ triangle will definitely make your lives easy.

• Learning styles: Observe your students very well and always look for the details to find out which students are visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. Then, you can plan your lessons accordingly and choose the appropriate activities for your students. ‘Balancing activities including all learning styles helps the learner to concentrate, to be motivated and to show a good performance’ (Oflaz and Turunc, 2012). This will definitely create a better learning atmosphere and make you recognize the weaknesses and strengths of your students.
• Interests: Once you know the interests of your students and get prepared, that will raise their attention and make the learning process fun and exciting. With the help of the activities you cover or the games you play, it is very much easy to learn about the interests of the students.
• Background: It will be totally beneficial to have information about the students’ families, ex schools (especially about the system or curriculum) and language learning history, so you can approach your students with the right strategies.
• Fears: No matter what age your students are at, they might have fears and these fears can block their learning by causing language anxiety. If you can follow the little clues for that and observe their reactions to different situations, you will probably catch many details and even the things they are sensitive about. To reduce the language anxiety and their fears, you should make them feel comfortable away from a threatening atmosphere, so they can be exposed to language naturally and say ‘I can do it’. Using visual support such as charts, tables and mind-maps will ‘make a task less cognitively demanding and give learners a sense of security.’ (Willis & Willis, 2007)

Use the “maritime communication phrases”

Not only the captain but also the crew of a ship has a large scale of nautical terms. Using the right phrases on time is deadly crucial. Think about a moment when a ship is about to crash into yours. To send a warning to the other ships, you would refer to some “maritime communication phrases” such as ‘port’ (for the left side, facing forward) or ‘starboard’ (for the right side, facing forward). Just like these special words used ‘on board’, the teacher should be careful while addressing to the students. Never forget that ‘words’ are powerful!

• Instructions: Giving instructions is as important as your objectives on a specific lesson. Your instructions shouldn’t be too polite or complex. Be natural and use mimes and gestures. Do not forget to check the instructions or demo before you make your students start a task or a game, so everything will be more clear for your students.
• Mimes and gestures: The effect of using mimes and gestures is inevitable. ‘Using gestures can add visual support to instructional sequences’ (Thaine, 2012). It does not only help you to explain something, but also sends a wordless message to the people. A soft look in the eye can melt the ice between you and your students while a fierce one can break the hearts.
• Voice tone: Just like learning to play the piano, learning to adjust the voice tone takes time. Wondering why your students have sleepy-looking eyes, you might not be aware that you are constantly using the same tone of voice for the whole lesson. Recording your lesson or getting feedback after a peer observation help a lot, hence you can make a progress to play with your voice tone from time to time. On the other hand, observing colleagues is as beneficial as being observed. ‘The observer may discover that s/he already behaves in a similar way to this teacher or in a different way from her / him. In both cases the observer develops an awareness of a behaviour’ (Tanner & Green, 1998)
• TTT: Reduce TTT (teacher talking time) and make your students participate the tasks actively. Remember that students do not always have a chance to practice the language outside the school. That’s why you should give them opportunities to use English as much as they can and actively involve them in learning. ‘Classroom management should be about ensuring that every child is cognitively challenged and cognitively engaged so that the chances of their getting distracted (or being a distraction) are reduced considerably.’ (Harding da Rosa, 2012)

Arrange the ship design and equipment

An appropriate design and suitable equipment will prepare the atmosphere for better and more effective learning.

• Variety: Provide a variety of desk arrangements such as table groups, horse shoe, V shape, traditional rows, sitting in a circle or a square. Decide what to do for which task and teach your students where / how to move not to lose time or not to cause any commotion.
• Life saving equipment: Have a box / bag and fill it with your life saving equipment. Here are some things you can put in that box / bag: crayons, highlighters, a stapler, post-it, glue, Blue-Tack, scissors, tipp-ex, note cards, markers, chalk, tissues, USB, plasters, DVDs, dice, stickers, rubber stamps, candies, throat lozenges etc. (You may find some of these funny but believe me they can be very useful.)
• Being organized and tidy: Be a good example for your students by being neat and tidy. Teach them how to tidy up and get ready. Creating a filing system for you and your class will save your time and energy.
• Prepared environment: Surround the classroom with posters, flash cards and word cards. Word cards are useful even before the children start reading and writing. When the students see a word many times, they ‘absorb’ it unconsciously and they just read those words by using their memory. ‘Seeing words represented by letters and other symbols on a page leads children to a new understanding that language has forms as well as meaning.’ (Lightbrown & Spada, 2006) Don’t forget to praise the students by displaying their work on the walls or bulletin boards and change all these regularly. You may give responsibilities to students for this. I’m sure it will help you a lot.

More tips

• Get ready to handle “bigger ships” (larger classes).
• Give responsibilities to your students and help them to develop the learner autonomy.
• Don’t lose time with each little discipline issue.
• Be sure about the “ship’s routeing” (lesson plans).
• Keep the entire “crew” (your dear students:)) alive.
• Protect your students from the “pirate ships” (distraction and negativism).
• Check on /monitor the “crew” from time to time.
• Use the time and space cleverly.
• Stay away from arguments (especially during the lesson).
• Be fair and consistent.
• Be patient and stay positive.
• Keep healthy and strong!

One last tip: Don’t give up

Speaking of the ships for the whole article, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack of “Titanic” (believe me or not :)) and thinking about the last scene where Jack and Rose are in the icy water saying good bye to each other. Waving to people as the Titanic sets off, Jack says to Rose: “Promise me you’ll survive. That you won’t give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless.” As a dedicated teacher, you will need this advice through your ‘daunting’ adventure. It is absolutely normal to have times when you (will) feel like you are chasing rainbows. You can also have times when the whole world is (will be) against you. No matter what people say or do, never give up! And don’t panic. All in all, it’s not Titanic! :)

References

Harding da Rosa, J.M. (2012). Managing your classes. English Teaching Professional. Issue 82, September 2012, pp 22

Lightbrown, P. And Spada, N. (2006). How Languages are Learned. Oxford University Press, pp. 8

Oflaz, M. And Turunc T. (2012). The Effect of Learning styles on Group Work Activities. Pocedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. Volume 46, pp. 1333-1338

Salman, M. (2012). The Strategies of Content Marketing Step by Step. [Internet]. Available from: http://www.slideshare.net/MuratSalman/adm-adm-erik-pazarlama-stratejisi-13083489 [Accessed 1st October 2013]

Tanner, R. and Green C. (1998). Tasks for Teacher Education. Longman, pp. 11

Thaine, C. (2012). Teacher Training Essentials: Workshops for professional development. Cambridge University Press, pp.10

Willis, D. And Willis J. (2007). Doing Task-based Teaching. Oxford University Press, pp. 78

Please check the NLP & Coaching for Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the How to be a Teacher Trainer course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teachers as Leaders course at Pilgrims website.