classroom managment

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT – CM

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The subject assignment consists of doing eight short exercises. To do so, leave the activities’ statements where they are and just answer below them. This assignment must be done in groups of three or four (the corresponding tutor will choose the group members during the tutorials) and the work must fulfil the following conditions:

- Length: between 8 and 10 pages (without including cover, index or appendices –if there are any-).

- Type of font: Arial or Times New Roman.- Size: 11.- Line height: 1.5.- Alignment: Justified.

The assignment has to be done in this Word document. In order to make the correction process easier, please, do not write the answers in bold, and it will then be easier to distinguish between them and the activities’ statements. On the other hand, the assignment must still fulfil the rules of presentation and edition, and follow the rubric for quoting and making bibliographical references as detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the Study Guide. Sending it to the tutor’s e-mail is not permitted. Both members of the group have to send the assignment.

In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can be found in the Study Guide.

The assignment mark is 100% of the final mark, but the participation in the activities performed during the tutorials can improve this mark.

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Assignment:

Do the following exercises and justify or explain your answers where appropriate.

Task 1

Look at Ur’s list of patterns of interaction below. Decide whether each interaction is either

more student-centred or more teacher-centred. Justify your answers.

Group work more student-centred. Students work in small groups on tasks to convey information, or group decision-making.

Closed-ended teacher questioning:

more teacher-centred. The teacher asks the students some questions in order to clarify facts, verify information or to monitor a speaking activity.

Individual work: more student-centred. The teacher gives a task, and students work independently; the teacher walks around monitoring and assisting if it is necessary.

Choral responses: more teacher-centred. The teacher gives a sentence or a word which are repeated by the whole class in choral.

Collaboration: more student-centred. Students try to do their best working together and giving their ideas in pairs or small groups.

Student initiates, teacher answers

: more student-centred. The teacher decides who asks questions among the class related to a specific topic and the teacher responds

Full-class interaction more student-centred. The teacher here just acts as a monitor or helper and students take control of the whole task or activity.

Teacher talk: more teacher-centred. This is done especially with very young students where they receive as much input as possible from the teacher, for instance using total physical response and the silent way method.

Self-access more student-centred. Students work autonomously and choose their own learning tasks.

Open-ended teacher questioning

more student-centred. It is where students can contribute with as many answers as they can give to the teacher.

Task 2

Categorise each of the following errors under one of these headings: grammar;

pronunciation; meaning; appropriacy. Justify your answers.

How you come to school? Grammar Grammar describes how we combine, organise and change words and parts of words to make meaning. We use rules for this description. Grammar rules describe the way that language works; they traditionally describe written language rather than spoken language. This will be the correct way to ask: How do you come to school?

- I go always to France for my holidays.

Grammar Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in English. The correct way to say it would be: I always go to France for my holidays.

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- I don’t like travelling by sheep.

Meaning/Pronunciation

In linguistics, meaning is what the source or sender expresses, communicates, or conveys in their message to the observer or receiver, and what the receiver infers from the current context. [1]. Ambiguity means confusion about what is conveyed, since the current context may lead to different interpretations of meaning. Many words in many languages have multiple definitions. Pragmatics is the study of how context affects meaning. The two primary forms of context important to pragmatics are linguistic context and situation context.1) Nick Sanchez. "Communication Process". New

Jersey Institute of Technology. Retrieved January 14, 2012.

- (Mike speaking to his boss) That’s a load of rubbish, mate.

Appropriacy Appropriacy refers to whether a word is suitable for the context it is being used in. It is an important aspect of language but an extremely complex one, as decisions about how to say things depend on understanding exactly what is right for the context and the culture

- She suggested us to go home.

Grammar Grammar describes how we combine, organise and change words and parts of words to make meaning. We use rules for this description. Grammar rules describe the way that language works; they traditionally describe written language rather than spoken language. This will be the correct way would be: She suggested to us to go home.

Oh, of course! - you’re Peter, aren’t you? (rising intonation on aren’t you).

Pronunciation If you really know the answer, intonation often falls at the end. If you don’t know the answer or are not sure, intonation often rises at the end.

(student in pub) Give me a beer

Appropriacy Appropriacy refers to whether a word is suitable for the context it is being used in.We have to keep in mind that being polite is the most important aspect of any context.

She went to the library to buy a book.

Meaning Language interference-false friend. The lexical item “bookshop or bookstore” should be used to avoid misinterpretations.

Task 3

Look at the following situations and decide if you would correct or not. If so, say when you

would do so. Explain your answer.

1. Students are writing a paragraph about a holiday in ones or twos.

It would be better if this kind of activity is checked using peer-correction where students usually

with a help of a correction code or guidance sheet correct works or discuss possible changes or

corrections.

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2- Students are discussing the question of pollution in small groups.

It is said that in fluency activities is better to ignore student’s mistakes while the activity is in

progress, because the most important aspect is to understand the message.

But we as teachers can write notes about the student’s mistakes and explain them to them

privately.

3- Students are debating on the rights of women in an open class focus.

Not a good idea to correct every single mistake in front of the audience, because the most

important thing is to communicate the main ideas to the whole class.

Cooperative learning groups are one way for learners to receive plenty of understandable input

and output. This is why, organizing debates in our classroom is a vital activity for a number of

reasons, for instance the talk in this group is centered on what is actually happening at the

moment of the speaking while the task is completed, it also allows for more comprehensible

input because the teacher or classmates modify or adapt the message to the listener’s needs,

there is more opportunity for oral practice and for repetition of content information as peers help

each other to negotiate and convey meaning.

4- Students are discussing role-playing a public meeting after reading a text, and are

preparing their side of the argument.

In this situation it is very important to focus on accuracy because they have to be able to

transmit the idea correctly in order to be convincing, another good technique is to use peer

correction.

5- Students are giving the answer to a listening comprehension exercise in class feedback.

We can use the echo correcting which means that the teacher repeats what the student says with

rising intonation showing the student that there is a mistake.

6- Students are checking a grammar exercise in open class.

As this activity focuses on grammar and form, it is really important to correct students on the

spot by asking others to say aloud the correct form and if it does not work we can use the echo

correcting technique.

7- Students are giving the teacher examples of the target structure ‘used to’ and the

teacher is writing these sentences on the board.

We can have this activity as a clarification stage of the grammatical structure, writing down on

the board all the sentences and then eliciting others to correct the mistakes, and unless the

mistakes continue, the teacher gives them an explanation of the correct grammatical structure.

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Task 4

Below is a list of classroom ‘procedures’ (activity types) which will, in theory, allow for

individualisation in the language classroom. To what extent does each cater for

individualised learning? What advantages and what drawbacks can you identify with each

‘procedure’ if you were to use them with your own classes? (Ur, 1996:236) Explain your

answers.

1. Readers. Students choose individual simplified readers, of varied level and topic,

from a school library, and read quietly in class.

When teachers allow students to choose a reading according to their interest it is possible that

students acquire knowledge more independently, thus internalization takes place. One of the

advantages is that students are motivated and engaged into the topic and all the reading

activities will be easier for them. On the other hand, one drawback is if the reader is too high for

their level they will be frustrated or if it is too low they will get bored and the objective of the

reader won’t be accomplished.

2. Response to listening. The teacher plays a recorded text on a topical issue, and

asks the class to note down points they understood.

This activity will encourage individualized learning because each one of them must pay

attention in order to fulfil the activity the teacher is asking. But the more learners listen, the

better they get at listening. As a result, I have to encourage my students to listen as much

English as possible inside and outside of the classroom. This is in accordance with Jeremy

Harmer’s findings, “Listening is good for our students’ pronunciation, too, in that the more they

hear and understand English being spoken, the more they absorb appropriate pitch and

intonation, stress and the sounds of both individual words and those which blend together in

connected speech”.(2007:133)

Advantage: This makes it closer to a real-life communicative situation, but mainly because it

contributes to communicative goals and engages students in problem-solving activity.

Drawback: If the students are not used to these activities, they will be frustrated, so it is a matter

of time and patience. But in case of an unforeseen event such as the computer or speakers would

not work properly, it is recommended to type the audio script and prepare photocopies of it in

order to be ready to change the listening activity for a reading activity and continue with my

objective.

3. Workcards. A pile of workcards prepared by the teacher is put in the centre of the

class, all practising the material the class has recently learned, but each different.

Each student chooses one, completes it and then takes another.

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This is an interesting activity for recycling vocabulary and grammar topics, and it would be

better if it is done at the end of the unit, the month, etc, because in this way we ensure that all

the topics are presented and have been practiced. This activity, although can be done

individually, will work more efficiently in groups.

Advantage: workcards allow each student to focus on the topic, they might be organised by

levels of difficulty and in this way students might find them challenging. Drawback: Time

consuming before the class; it also could become a group activity.

4. Textbook questions in class. The class has been given a set of questions from the

textbook to answer in writing; each student does them on his or her own.

Students’ autonomy is the aspect that every teacher is looking for; this kind of activity is a good

example to promote it and at the same time it makes students feel that they can work at their

own speed and fell release from teachers’ pressure.

Advantage: some students feel more comfortable working at their own pace. Drawback:

students don’t become aware of their mistakes until the teacher checks their work.

5. Worksheets. The teacher distributes worksheets which all practise the same grammar

point, but containing various sections with different kinds of practice tasks and topics. The

Ss choose which sections they want to do, and do as much as they can in the time allotted.

In this way students work at their own speed with the same topic for everyone.

Advantage: this activity is more suitable for mixed- ability classes, because they can work on

the ones which are just above their level to keep the activity challenging.

Drawback. – Time consuming to prepare everything.

6. Textbook exercises for homework. The teacher gives three sets of comprehension

questions from the textbook, of varying difficulty, on a passage that has been read in class;

each student is asked to select and do one set.

These kind of exercises allow teachers to use the course book to provide for the needs of the

students and our aims as teachers. This follows the advice of Alan Cunningsworth who notes

that “The aims of the course book should correspond as closely as possible to the aims of the

teacher, and both should seek to meet the needs of the learners to the highest degree”. (1995:7)

Advantage: students have the freedom to select what set they want to answer. Drawback:

There’s no enough time for reading at school, and then at home there is the possibility that they

do not re-read to answer correctly.

7. Varied tasks. The teacher has prepared a number of work-cards based on different

language skills and content. There is a cassette recorder in one corner with headsets for

listening tasks, and another corner available for quiet talk. Students select, work on and

exchange cards freely.

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It is a good activity because some students are not really good at speaking and that they need

time to process the information, to interact with their partners. This means allowing students to

make their own decisions and not telling them exactly what to do. As Jeremy Harmer notes,

“Teachers of young learners need to spend time understanding how their students think and

operate. They need to be able to pick up on their students’ current interests so that they can use

them to motivate the children.” (2007:83)

8. Research. The teacher asks the students to form groups of four in order to carry out a

web-quest, based on an environmental issue. Each student is given a specific role and

asked to find out particular aspects of the topic from internet sources, to later share with

the other group members. The group will then arrives at a consensus, formulate a

collective report, and present their findings to the class.

As language is an instrument for communicating with others, which has cognitive and reflective

purposes, therefore the purpose of teaching a language, is to develop different competences for

interactions for what people do with language in real life - this means language as social

practice. Advantage: Good way to promote collaborative work.

Drawback: not everybody participates in the tasks.

Task 5

a)To what extent do you agree with each of Ur’s statements in your materials? What are your

own views on the issue of mixed-ability? Do you think that mixed- ability groups always result

in more successful SLA for learners? Or can the opposite seem to be true? Why? Draw on

your own experience as a teacher or learner in order to prove or disprove each of her

statements, providing concrete examples of classroom experiences/activities. Can you add any

other advantages to her list?

I agree with Ur´s statements regarding “mixed ability” groups. It is true that students in such

groups bring a lot of experiences. As Ur says in the material we read there are many activities

that can be done with this kind of groups. I think that instead of viewing them as an obstacle for

learning, it would be a challenge for us as teachers to bring everybody together in “the lift” as

Jim Rose mentioned in his metaphor regarding mixed ability classes. In relation to our own

experience, many of the groups we work with are mixed classes, even though they could be in

the same level, they come from different backgrounds, there are multiple intelligences we have

to deal with. I believe that a “mixed ability” group could be successful because there is a lot of

group work and students who are high achievers can help those who are having difficulty with

the language.

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b) What other considerations have now come into play regarding this issue, especially

those which have made the phrase ‘mixed-ability’ seem almost old-fashioned or

unnecessary?

It is not old-fashion or unnecessary because not every student is the same in terms of language

background, interests, styles and speed of learning, culture, etc. However, the term ‘ability’

implies not just the immediate observable ‘ability to perform’ of the learners, but also their

‘potential learning ability’. Thus the term may be better defined as ‘classes whose members are

particularly, or unusually, heterogeneous’, and which therefore present special problems for

both learners and teacher. (Penny, Ur 2005:302)

There are many advantages, for instance advance students can help lower students. Moreover,

they develop strong relationships with their peers, they foster students’ autonomy, and they

learn how to work at their own pace and in different groups. Some of the drawbacks for

teachers are to find the appropriate teaching ESL/EFL materials and resources, find the right

balance of materials that are both interesting and challenging for the students. This can be

difficult because of the varying abilities of the students and their different backgrounds.

Moreover, weaker students may feel frustrated or intimidated by the materials or their peers.

Task 6

Say whether you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. Justify your

answers.

1. If you give instructions for activities in the mother tongue, you deprive students of

an important opportunity to be exposed to natural L2 use.

Agree. The more learners listen, the better they get at listening. Although it may depend on the

kind of activity, the use of L1 should be limited since some investigations have proved that the

more the teachers use the target language, the more the students increase their use of the target

language as well. (Strong: 1986; Zilm: 1989)

2. Students should be allowed to ask the teacher (in English) if they may say

something or ask something in their own language and all other use of their

mother tongue should be prohibited.

Agree. Ss should be allowed to use their L1 in a very limited manner. Atkinson

mentions three possible reasons why a student should be allowed a limited use of their

L1 in a classroom: The first one refers to “learner preferred strategy”, that is, if Ss are

given the chance to use it all the time it would translate all the time. The second one is a

“humanistic way” to give the opportunity to the Ss to say what they want with getting

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frustrated. And the last one, it is sometime necessary to explain grammar points which

are particularly difficult to understand, and this saves time to the teacher.

3. Teachers could sometimes use mother tongue texts with students, but

comprehension tasks should always require students to produce English.

Don’t agree. We should always try encourage students to use the L2, so we should post

activities in English, therefore texts should be in English; if we follow these stages the

reading is going to be easier and meaningful for my students, then we should tend to

link their previous knowledge with the new one to create the connection with their

schema. For instance, if the reading is about sports the first thing we should ask them is

about their favourite sport, how often they practice it, etc, to engage them into the topic.

Then, we should introduce new vocabulary words with some visual aids. It is said that

in order to have a nice atmosphere in your classroom, we should prepare the scene, to

engage our students into the topic and to avoid just telling them to start reading without

previous activities.

4. If students translate the meaning of new vocabulary they will develop the mistaken

idea that there is a one-to-one correspondence between words in English and in

their own language.

Agree. Everything has to be taught in context to facilitate them meaning because they should

understand many vocabulary words and grammatical structures at the same time. Their previous

knowledge and experiences in general about the topic have an important role. They should be

ready to make predictions based on the title or drawings. They should be able to scan and skim

the text according to what is expected from them.

5. Instructions should always be given in both languages - but in English first.

Don’t agree. We should always give instructions in English, give a model and check if

everybody has understood. I followed the advice that before giving any instruction the first

thing a teacher should do is to start making eye contact with as many students as possible. I

agree with Jim Scrivener who argues that “one important reason why learners may not

successfully follow activity instructions is that they did not actually hear them, perhaps because

they were not fully paying attention when they were given”. (2007:92)

6. Translation should never be used with young learners.

Don’t agree. If it is the only way to save time and it is our last resource to clarify the meaning of

a vocabulary word or a grammar topic it should be done.

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Task 7

Are the following statements true or false? Justify each of your answers.

1. ‘Teacher thinking’ refers not just to the way we think as teachers, but also to what

effect the way we think has on our teaching.

True. It is important to consider not only the object of language but also the process of

interaction and the way in which people interact among others to convey ideas, feelings,

thoughts, purposes and intentions. ‘To a great degree our thinking will define our experience in

how we subjectively feel about things, and objectively – the affect we project, how we perform,

and the effect we have on others’ (Friedman, 2006)

2. Our beliefs as teachers affects our classroom management more than any other

factor in the classroom.

True. We should be aware about our beliefs not only about language and teaching but also

regarding the students. According to the reading, if we as teachers view students in a certain

manner it would certainly influence our way of teaching.

3. Examining our pre-, inter- and post-active decisions as teachers is the best way to

investigate our thinking as teachers.

True. It is essential to be a reflective teacher in order to be better. We should think about what

went right or wrong in our classes and what we should do different if we were to teach a

specific lesson again. How we feel about our techniques, classroom management, etc.

4. As teachers we are doomed to repeat teaching behaviour that we ‘learnt’ through our

‘apprenticeship of observation’

False. We have to be very object and take from them what is good for our own practice and to

change or modify what will affect our teaching behaviour.

5. There is always a mismatch between a teachers ‘espoused’ theories and his/her real

classroom behaviour.

False. It is not a rule, it depends on your beliefs and professionalism as a teacher, if you are not

a good teacher it could happen but if you love what you do you always try to do your best in all

your classes and to avoid being an average teacher.

6. Teachers’ beliefs, which are formed early in life, are very difficult to change.

False. It could be difficult but not impossible, but it is necessary to engage them into positive

changes that will help them to develop their best teaching skills.

7. A teacher will usually have a deeply-rooted (possibly unconscious) view about who

his/her learners are, and this view is related to how the teacher believes languages are

learned.

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False. It is said that teacher tend to adapt activities according to our students’ needs and learning

styles not according to our beliefs.

8. Taking into account the affective climate in a classroom is likely to affect a teacher’s

classroom management decisions.

True. An essential principal is to provide our learners a friendly atmosphere and engaged

manner to work towards improving their skills in the target language, such as games or

communicative activities.

Task 8 (To do individually)

Multiple intelligencesTeachers should be aware of diversity existent in their classroom, such as personalities, interests, learning styles, contexts, etc… because not every students must be treated the same way or will respond with the same enthusiasm in each activity, there are always something else to take in count to get better outcomes.

Multiple intelligences is an important topic, because students realize the strengths in learning and at the same time get to know the areas of improvement also gives the teacher the opportunity of knowing the dynamic of the classroom, collect ideas for helping students motivating them to develop different abilities not only the ones they are good at.The teachers recognizing multiple intelligences use varied activities in class and keep students relatively engaged, so the discipline is not an issue of the group. Motivated students work better and learn to respect each other gaining knowledge and learning to be sensitive to each other’s needs.

This topic will be useful in the future to understand students learning styles, interests and to plan effective lessons according to the need of each group. As teacher, we should know our students strengths and weaknesses in order to plan and accomplish goals in class.

Segregation of low-track students

Every student is different has his/her own personal and physical needs, also not every student spends the same amount of time doing activities, those who need teacher individual support are left behind and those students with certain academic achievement are pushed ahead from an average class .I myself am one of those people who were helped properly during my early years so now I can work independently and complete task with little help and instructions.

Teachers after applying the corresponding assessment, has the crucial responsibility to identify low proficiency learners and help them dedicating them more time apart the class or if the school offers this kind of help with qualify personal, the teacher should roll them in the program.Finding a place with a program available to help the students whose achievement is below average is very important for the success of the students.

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Learning more about this topic would help teacher deal with the students who need more attention and help, knowing that in order to help them is needed more than an average class, they need a program to be enrol and special classroom activities, also the help of his/her classmates to push the student forth ward.

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Bibliography

Pulverness, A, Spratt, M, & Williams M. (2005). Teaching Knowledge Test Course Module 3

–Categorizing learners' mistakes

Brown, D. 2000. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Fourth Edition. Pearson Longman

Brown, D. 2001. Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language PedagogySecond Edition. Pearson Longman

Harmer, J. 2007. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Fourth Edition. Pearson Longman

Yule, G. 2004. The Study of Language.Second Edition. Cambridge University Press

Cunningsworth, A. 2005 – Choosing your Coursebook.Macmillan – Heinemann

Scrivener, J. 2007. Learning Teaching. Macmillan

Ur, P. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching – Practice and theory

Cambridge University Press

Ellis, Rod. 2009- Task- based language Learning and Teaching.Oxford University Press

Links:

http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/grammarintro.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(linguistics)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(linguistics)

http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/grammarintro.htm


http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/appropriacy

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/grammar-what.htm

http://www.teach-this.com/ideas/teaching-mixed-ability-classes

Name and surname(s): Reyna Berenice Mancha Navarro,

Verónica Garza Flores,

María Elena Del Collado Cuevas,

Verónica Elizabeth Díaz Herrera

Login: 1589639

1633299

894959

626380

Group:

Date: September 25th, 2014

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http://www.teach-this.com/ideas/teaching-mixed-ability-classes

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/grammar-what.htm

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/appropriacy

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