classroom management – International House Porto

The AMT Experience: B “log” entry 1 by Edite Abrantes

“Make hay while the sun shines”… the sun did shine in charming Greenwich as if to say “Welcome to IHWO AMT Conference” and a warm welcome it was indeed. Meeting up with old friends and making new ones amidst learning novel approaches to teacher development, assessment techniques, navigating the students towards excellence in the IELTS exam, reviewing blended learning approaches and much more, the first day proved to be a professionally enriching experience which deserves to be recorded for future reference.

The day’s work started with an animated and live recorded video message wishing IHWO’s COO, Lucy Horsefield, a speedy recovery from her bout of tonsillitis. Just what the doctor ordered…actually it was what Monica Green, IHWO’s CEO ordered, but who’s concerned with semantics when it’s the thought that counts?! In true IHWO team spirit, Monica stepped in to cover for Lucy and addressed the significance of preparing students for jobs that are yet to be invented and the impactful mission IH schools have in assisting language learners in achieving their goals. After all, with 76 schools spread over 33 countries, why would students go elsewhere to learn a foreign language? Moreover, the array of Teacher Training opportunities, the concern for the younger students’ wellbeing and safety, the focus on providing a meaningful Customer Experience and the involvement in charitable projects such as those proposed by the newly set up International House World Foundation ensure that being part of the IHWO team is more than just a job but a way of “Succeeding Together”!

The underlying theme in the morning sessions was that of being bold in our exam preparation methods so that we can harness the ability modern “screenage” students have for multitasking and using it to develop their competence in the use of a foreign language, while circumventing the pitfalls of merging to need to teach with that of assessing, testing and preparing students for internationally recognised exams such as those of Cambridge University or Trinity College.

In the afternoon, the attention was mainly on sharing teaching practices which promote Teacher Professional Development, be them through informal meetings which result in greater self-reflection regarding strengths and areas to build on, drop-in observations that raise teachers’ awareness to the fact that teaching is a continuous act of learning and improving and the manner in which role-playing can be an effective developmental tool.

Signed off at 23.51.

#IHConfAMT

Guidelines on managing challenging students by Edite Abrantes

We all know that encouragement and good rapport do much more for a positive classroom environment than reprimands and scolding. After all, the aim is to help students enjoy the lessons, feel good about being there and consequently adopt less disruptive behaviour in the classroom.

Unavoidably, though, students misbehave, are mischievous and even troublesome at times. When they do, don’t rush into rebuking and giving extra homework as punishment, count to ten and bear the following pieces of advice in mind:

Take a deep breath and do your best to remain calm.

It’s natural to become frustrated, stressed and angry over irreverent students who simply “ignore” your requests to behave and do their work. However, such feelings affect your rational and inevitably your agitation shows and becomes contagious. So, take a deep breath, or several if you must, try to remain calm and collected and think before responding. Remember, students look up to you, so try to adopt an assertive posture, model an appropriate, exemplary response which clearly indicates that you care about them and their problems. However, where warnings are necessary, state them clearly and quietly so as to avoid disrupting the class.

Treat allstudents respectfully and amicably.

Be consistent in what you let students say and do and be careful not to favor certain students. Avoid labeling students as “good” or “bad.” Instead describe their behavior as “positive,” “acceptable,” “disruptive,” or “unacceptable.” Moreover, give the unruly student a chance to respond politely by explaining not only what he or she is doing wrong, but also what he or she can do to correct it. In addition, seat the student near to you so a glance or a hand on his or her shoulder will let the student know he or she is stepping the line.

Don’t forget to promote the students’ self-worth by praising them often but sincerely. When it’s necessary to speak to a student about his or her behavior, try to do so in private; especially when teaching teenagers who must “show off” to their peers. Publicly lecturing them may trigger exaggerated, face-saving performances which can snow ball into unmanageable situations.

Set the example.

Are you as respectful of your students’ feelings as you want them to be of yours and their peers? Are you as organized and on-task as you tell them to be? Are your classroom rules and consequences clear and easy for students to follow? Be firm and consistent about your rules, and express displeasure with the students’ behavior without criticizing them. Model the behaviour you expect from your students so they can have a reference and an example to follow.

Be an active listener and observer.

Try to understand where the “odd” behavior is coming from. Is the student distressed by a personal situation such as the parents’ divorce, new baby in the family, learning difficulties in other subjects or in a particular area of the syllabus, or some other daunting experience? Speaking to the student’s parents may shed light on the crux of the problem and help you develop a closer rapport with the student through understanding and sympathy. Whenever possible, make the time to speak to challenging students privately and show your concern for them.

Be realistic.

Sometimes, despite our best intentions and efforts, we find ourselves unable to get across to one of the students in our class. The student may be rude, disruptive, or plain annoying. Remember, it’s human nature and some personalities clash. But instead of feeling guilty about being unable to manage the situation better, take positive steps to minimize disruptions and handle them as best as you can for …

Lesson Plans – by Isabel Fechas

Many things are said about lesson plans, however each level has its own particularities. Students have their own views of what is important in a classroom and lesson. There are many aspects that I consider important when planning a lesson. First of all, I believe that the teacher must decide on what the aim will be and then think about the students’ previous knowledge of the topic (if it applies). Only then should one start thinking about the strategies/activities to be used in that particular lesson. After that, the teacher should have into account the student’s level and age. Depending on their ages, children have different interests and see the world around them in different ways. So, one must consider the relevance of the activities and if they suit the taste of that particular group
of students. Additionally, age is connected with the skills and their level of development. This means that a lesson for a group of five-year-olds would be different than a lesson for a group of three-year-olds. Even if the group we’re planning the lesson for is of the same age, their skills may be at different stages of development, so when thinking about strategies, the teachers must have a few that allow him/her to support students needs during an activity (especially in terms of arts and crafts). I also consider that it is important to introduce words as soon as possible in a classroom. When planning, it is important to think about the literacy level of the students and how to introduce/improve their literacy skills. Preparation time here is very important because materials might need to be adapted whether to upgrade the degree of difficulty of the task or to make it
simpler.

Many things are said about lesson plans, however each level has its own particularities. Students have their own views of what is important in a classroom and lesson. There are many aspects that I consider important when planning a lesson. First of all, I believe that the teacher must decide on what the aim will be and then think about the students’ previous knowledge of the topic (if it applies). Only then should one start thinking about the strategies/activities to be used in that particular lesson. After that, the teacher should have into account the student’s level and age. Depending on their ages, children have different interests and see the world around them in different ways. So, one must consider the relevance of the activities and if they suit the taste of that particular group of students. Additionally, age is connected with the skills and their level of development. This means that a lesson for a group of five-year-olds would be different than a lesson for a group of three-year-olds. Even if the group we’re planning the lesson for is of the same age, their skills may be at different stages of development, so when thinking about strategies, the teachers must have a few that allow him/her to support students needs during an activity (especially in terms of arts and crafts). I also consider that it is important to introduce words as soon as possible in a classroom. When planning, it is important to think about the literacy level of the students and how to introduce/improve their literacy skills. Preparation time here is very important because materials might need to be adapted whether to upgrade the degree of difficulty of the task or to make it simpler.

The Flipped Classroom – or Tilting it by Shawn Severson

Have you ever questioned whether explaining grammar is effective use of class time? Of course you have, this is one of the big points addressed in the communicative approach!

For younger levels, an inductive way of exposing students to grammar is so effective and really compliments grammar knowledge they might see in a table or which has been drilled into them at school. When it comes down to the more complicated and stylistic points of grammar, say, inversion for example, sure you can show students a few examples in a text (any more and that would be extremely artificial!), but then what? And then you have the issue that not only does explanation take a long time, but also setting these into a communicative setting is quite difficult. So, the last recourse is explain and drill.

But what if your explanation, very declarative, straightforward and traditional, were done at home? This is what the flipped classroom aims to do. Give declarative information, material that would normally be lectured at home. Homework, drills, etc. can then be done in class. Flipping learning has been a huge success in science and mathematics because it also allows for students to have access to additional resources because declarative knowledge being explained is linked to online resources. And students can stop, pause and rewind at random.

For language, perhaps this is not so clear and so what I am doing in 2014-15 is trying to at least “tilt” my classroom. Through Moodle, I am proving links to grammar tutorials, then students do the standard course book exercises. The next class we correct those exercises and then do freer types of practice, ironing out points they might not have understood so well. More importantly, we try to integrate this grammar into realistic contexts into the classroom, moving past analyzing language and into using it. For example lessons (these are my first attempts, done simply, in just a few minutes after preparing the materials).

Inversion: http://youtu.be/nyRz1eWSL40

Articles: http://youtu.be/LGO2bvq1naM

For more information on this type of teaching, which won’t replace us as teachers, but merely underline our importance and free up opportunities for communicating and interesting classroom work: http://flippedclassroom.org

Reward System – by Isabel Fechas

Competition is a part of human nature. So, I decided to implement a “reward system” based on that assumption to help students engage in class activities that, so far, has been working for me. This is the way I usually do it, but it can be adapted according to the levels you’re teaching. During the first lessons, explain to students that they’ll be given points and that those points give them the right to earn a reward. Establish a minimum of points to earn a reward. Points can be given to teams/pairs that finish an activity first and get all answers correct, to a student who knows the meaning of new words and explains them to others in class or even to teams or students that get better results in class games. As a reward, several things can be used and you don’t have to spend a lot of money. The easiest things to use are stickers. There are different types of stickers, so choose the ones that best fit you students. Candies also work really well. If you have a special project and want to spend a little bit more, choose something that you know your students will appreciate. Hope this helps you in your classes!