Classroom Management
How a teacher manages their classroom is an important factor for any level or age group, in order to reduce any difficulties that affect teaching and learning. Teaching younger learners (3 – 7) is very different to teaching older learners, as they are not only developing their English skills, they are developing their social, physical and cognitive abilities too. They are developing in their learning to share, to reason, and to understand. Therefore, justifiably, it can be said that more difficulties are likely to occur in the younger learner classroom, and therefore more classroom management skills are needed.
Rules
Knowing what is right and what is wrong is not obvious to younger learners (and less so the younger they are). Therefore, establishing what is right and wrong and thus the rules of the class is important from the outset. Having strong visuals such as posters for good and bad behaviour will help remind the students what is wanted or not wanted from them, and can be referred to throughout the year when needed (see appendix for examples). In Captain Jack 2 there are couple of flashcards to show good and bad behaviour, and also see the appendix for some teacher-made posters. Being consistent with the rules and discipline is also extremely important, as what is obvious to us is not always obvious to younger learners, and we don’t want to send them mixed or confusing messages. Getting a student to say, “I’m sorry” if they have misbehaved will help highlight what is right and wrong and help to develop social skills too. So we are training them and instilling in them good behaviour.
Behaviour systems
Many teachers use systems in class, so the students can physically see and track their behaviour. Some of the most popular are:
Individual
Traffic lights (see appendix for example)
Have a traffic light display in the classroom (near the board, so that it is convenient to get to and in the students vision). Have a name tag for each child (either made by the child or teacher, depending on ability) that they can put onto the traffic light. The students put their names on the green circle as part of the opening routine. If a child misbehaves, they have to put their name down to the colour below. This behaviour system is personally my preferred behaviour system for VYLs (especially I1s, and I2s), as it is more simplistic than other systems, such as points, yet still visually very effective. Students can relate easily to the colours that green is good, yellow is OK, and red is not good. However, there are limitations with this system, as myself and colleagues have discussed. We can ‘punish’ unwanted behaviour with this system but how can we award good behaviour? The students start on green (rewarded for sitting well at the beginning of the class), but where can they progress to? An adaptation is to draw or put a cut out star above the green light. (If drawn on be warned students may try to rub the star out during activities). When students have participated well in the dancing section or flashcard game section they can move to the star, this helps encourage participation and attention. If students finish with their name on the green circle, the students get a reward, for example a sticker (see Rewards section). If students finish the class on the star, they get two stickers. If students have a really good day, in which they have been really well-behaved and participated, they could even get 3 stickers if their names reach above the star.
Points/stars systems
Have each student’s name in a column along the bottom of the board (so younger students can see and reach, if writing themselves). Teacher writes the name for students if the learners are too young to write their names, or students write their own names or have a name writing monitor/s at the beginning of the class, as part of the classroom routines. Students receive points or stars for good behaviour, e.g. sitting nicely, paying attention, etc. or class participation, e.g. joining in the activities, making an effort, speaking English, etc. They shouldn’t receive the points for correct answers, this is a discipline chart not an ability chart. If students misbehave they lose a point or star.
Caution: minus points (or move down colours in traffic light system) with great care and only if really necessary, for example fighting would be an immediate loss of point (or lowered to red), or if given lots of opportunities and still not responding well. Points can be extremely important to younger learners so losing a point for them is a really big deal. They could cry as a result, get very angry, go into a sullen mood, etc. So we have to take care with this as deleting a point or moving colour could actually cause more behaviour issues. What is recommended instead is to count to five (very slowly and dramatically, pointing to their point or name), giving the student the opportunity to start behaving well again (example come out from under the table and join the class again). Most of the time this does work, and students respond and do it at the last second. Even dramatically but humorously rubbing your forehead, saying, ‘phew!’ can exaggerate the action, so students have had their warning and the atmosphere is positive. To create a positive atmosphere the use of rewarding points and/or praising students who are behaving and participating well is much more effective and can encourage the other students to behave like them.
Group
Class points or stars
Some teachers prefer to have class points systems with their students, because it helps build class rapport, and can help students not be so obsessed with their own points. I would say these work better with YLs, and not VYLs, because very little ones may find it more difficult to understand. You can even have class points in combination with individual points. For example with my S1s I have ‘GAME!’ written on the board and under each letter I have a star written, so five stars in total. We use this system to help minimize the Spanish in the classroom. If Spanish is being spoken in the classroom without permission, then the class lose part of the star. The aim is to not lose the five stars, if they lose the five stars they don’t get their game at the end of class. They haven’t lost all stars as of yet. Other class point systems are gaining points for class participation, etc. and when the class has reached a certain amount of points they get a reward such as a class game, video clip, stickers, etc.
Rewards
Having rewards whether it’s for good behaviour, good effort or correct answers is important to help motivate students and build a positive and encouraging atmosphere. Rewards can come in the forms of praise (the best form for correct answers); a smile with exclamation ‘Fantastic, name!’, or even a high five etc, which automatically recognises and rewards the student’s achievement. Or a point, or star (or moving the name up the traffic light) if you use a behavior point system in the class. (Please see the rule section above for more details on the systems). The student/s with the most points at the end of the class can choose the game as a reward. Or student/s above a certain amount of points can get a sticker or stamp, at the end of class. Sticker/stamp rewards are especially motivating and effective with VYLs, and it also shows the parents if their child has behaved well or not that day. Some teachers use class star charts, so if a student gets above a certain amount of points e.g. 5, they get a star at the end of the class. The student/s with the most stars at the end of term could win a prize or sticker perhaps.
Routines
Routines, routines, routines are an essential part of teaching younger learners; actually I would say they are a critical part of the younger learner classroom.
What exactly do we mean by routines? Routines are activities that we do in every class (you may end up developing a few routines with your class that you can leave some out in some lessons or adapt later as the term and students progress). Examples of VYLS routines are: starting the class by singing the ‘hello song’, saying ‘hello’ and ‘what’s your name?’ or ‘how are you?’ to the puppet, putting names on the behaviour chart and allocating jobs, singing the weather song or days of the week song, singing and dancing to a song (Super Simple Song or book song), choosing an envelope (with flashcards in) and reviewing previous unit vocabulary in a game, guessing the magic word for that day. Ending the lesson in the same way, for example by having a tidy up chant, having an end game/activity or video clip as a class reward, counting points, lining up and giving out rewards etc, helps to round the class up and gives a sense of end. YLs can do the same/similar routines, but which are a bit more challenging and age appropriate for them too, for example spelling and writing the date and seasons etc.
Why are routines important? They help young students feel comfortable in the classroom, can help language review and progression, help to achieve learner autonomy (see learner autonomy section below), and they can help manage behaviour too (the set up of point charts, etc). Starting routines should take approximately 15 minutes and ending routines ten, so that means it is only about half the lesson we need to plan for with regards to that lesson’s specific aim. So the routines can help with classroom preparation and teacher energy levels too as well as students’ language development and classroom management. Initially routines can take a lot of energy to set up, especially with VYLS, who may not understand them at first, but persevering and establishing set routines are really worth it in the long run. By the middle of the second term, you should really see the routines working with VYLs, and they will be able to lead some of the activities themselves. YLs need less time to establish routines because their understanding is generally greater, but then by the middle of the second term, you may find that some students become bored with some of the routines, and they may not work as well. So adapting some routines, and adding a new one may be needed with your class. I always find my colleagues a big source for ideas, if this happens, they too may be experiencing similar issues, and you may have a new adaptation for them too. So sharing ideas is important, and don’t forgot you can always ask your coordinator too…
Learner autonomy
Routines also help with autonomous learning. When students are confident with the routines, they can start to lead the activities. So the routines progress from being teacher-led to student-led. This has the obvious language benefits of students using the language themselves, but it also has another advantage for teachers. Teaching younger learners can often be very draining, so having routines in which the students are leading the activities themselves, such as writing the date, drawing the weather, choosing and holding the flashcards, giving out the books etc., help us teachers maintain higher energy levels.
Can VYL (3, 4 and 5 year olds) lead the routines?
Yes. Of course the support given by the teacher to help the students lead the activities is generally needed more with I1 and I2 than with S1 and S2 for example, and can vary from student to student. However children love to do jobs, so the more we can get the students to do themselves, the better.
How can we assign jobs?
The use of a classroom helper has been an element of the classroom for years, even when we were at school, and is good way of motivating students. However, instead of having one or two helpers doing everything, in classes of maximum of ten students, it is feasible for all the children to have a job to do and feel involved and thus all motivated. Which brings up the issue of how can we assign jobs to make it fair? Very young students may have difficulty remembering vocabulary but they will remember if another child did a job last lesson, or because their reference to time is still developing they may think that it was last lesson, and this can cause problems with the students becoming angry or upset and causing a negative atmosphere. Therefore having a jobs board (see appendix for examples) in which names are rotated each lesson can be a helpful way to control this, and it offers strong visuals for students, so they can physically see what their role is. If a teacher is confident they can control the job board (maybe having a small class etc), they can assign the jobs as a reward, for example paying attention, responding to the instructions ‘touch your head’, or ‘who looks very happy’ etc, thus as motivation to engage in class activities. However this method (and other alternative job assigning methods) does come with a word of warning that the teacher needs to be confident they can remember who did jobs recently and ensure fairness.
The Class Puppet
Having a class puppet in the younger learner classroom is a key element to help provide a positive and secure environment, especially with VYLs (older students at S2 level start to need and relate to the puppets less in general, but some may still respond to them). The students love the puppet, the puppet can be used to comfort them when they are sad, can be used to express themselves if they are feeling shy, it can be used to encourage English as it only understands English, and it can also be used to engage students more in activities, such as story telling and routines. At Active Language most of younger learner course books have a puppet; Captain Jack for I1, and I2 and Pip and Squeak finger puppets for S1 and S2. However Find Out 1, which I3s use, does not have a puppet. If you are a I3 teacher, check with your co-coordinator to see if there is a spare Captain Jack you can use, if not there are other puppets at the academy such as Robby the Rabbit, and The Little Elephant that can be used too.
Setting up the classroom
How we set up the classroom is also another important factor to consider in classroom management. Working with very young children, we have to first make sure the classroom is safe. VYLs especially like to touch things, and they may not understand the consequences of doing things, so leaving a pair of sharp scissors lying around for example, can be hazardous. So, making sure that the sharp objects (that we may use with older students), are stored out of reach, maybe on a higher shelf or in a box, is essential. Having assigned pots for pencils, crayons, rubbers, etc, and an assigned place for them, will really help with encouraging learner autonomy, as student monitors will know where to go to get the needed objects during tasks. Also the classroom you use, whether it is in Plaza Mina, or San Felipe, or La Salle Viña, may not always be perfect for teaching younger learners, with Plaza Mina’s furniture needing to be used by older learners too, and limitations with classroom set up at SFN and LSV. I would advise thinking of how best to use your classroom for the students, what the group’s needs are and try to have them arranged accordingly, perhaps using different spaces for different activities and if possible. For example with VYLs (and some S1s), I always start the class with circle time on the floor (where we do our starting routines), so when the children enter the classroom (after asking to come in at the door) they know to go the designated area (usually by the board), and sit in a circle. They are rewarded for good entering and sitting by the use of the behavior chart. Then when they do their book work they have ‘table time’ and go to the tables. Some students in the past I’ve found too little (I1s and I2s) for the bigger tables in Plaza Mina, so I’ve had the tables around the side of the classroom, to create a bigger space and we’ve done the bookwork on the floor too. Whereas my S2s like to feel older and come in and sit at the tables first to do their opening routines such as the date, and weather song etc, and we use the space at the front of the class for Total Physical Response activities and some games. Please see the Dealing with Difficulties, keeping attention section for advice on transitioning activities in different spaces. If you need any advice on how to set up your classroom please feel free to talk to a coordinator.