Discipline:
Look at the following and discuss reasons and solutions.
a. Students keep talking in their mother tongue
b. Students don’t want to talk
c. Not paying attention
d. Students are bored or unmotivated
e. They are not sure what they have to do
f. One student is taking over
g. Student doesn’t do the homework
h. Your timing is out or sequence
i. Lateness
j. Personality Clash
k. Teacher Language
a. Students keep talking in their mother tongue:
Reasons:
• Easier than speaking English
• They want to talk about something that they can’t in English yet.
• They want to communicate something important, and think its best in their own language.
• They are embarrassed to speak in English
Suggested solutions:
• Ask them to use English only
• Emphasise that their learning will be slower if the don’t use English
• Ignore someone who speaks to you in their language (unless it’s something important)
• Press a squeaky toy every time they speak in L1 (First language).
• Speak to the person after the class. Ask nicely if they would speak in English. Explain they will not develop, and they may be holding back the rest of the class.
• With teenagers, you could set up a points system. One point for every time they speak in their own language. The person with the most points at the end of the week has to do extra homework. With adults, they could bring in cakes.
• Pair work (PW) can be useful for shy students, until they build up confidence.
• You should always speak English in class, and make it the norm.
b. Students don’t want to talk:
Reasons:
• Shyness
• Embarrassed because the person might think everyone is better then him/her
• Cultural background and respect
• Fear of making mistakes
Suggested solutions:
• PW, till they build up confidence
• Pair up a strong and weak student
• Pair up a weak and weak student
• Pair up same gender
• Let students know that making mistakes is a learning process
• Allow students to write down what they want to say first
• Read things out loud
• Provide lots of speaking activities: role-plays
c. Not paying attention:
Reasons:
• Maybe feelings of insecurity
• Tired
• Bored
• Don’t like the topic, subject, etc
• Friends sitting next to each other
Suggested solutions:
• Remain silent until they pay attention
• Clap, switch off the light, turn music off (I often play some easy listening music as they arrive)
• Stare at the culprit
• Stop the lesson, and ask the distracted lesson what he/she is talking about
• Move close to them and touch their desk
• Provide the distracted student a responsibility like; correcting homework, scoring in a game, listening for errors when another student is talking.
• Split up friends
d. Students are bored or unmotivated:
Suggested solutions:
• Get them off their seats. An activity that gets them moving around.
• Provide a hands-on interaction (card matching, game, etc)
• In pairs of groups in a competition
• Choose topics related to their preferences
• Do another needs analysis
e. They are not sure what they have to do:
Suggested solutions:
• Ensure your instructions are clear and graded
• Give a demo
f. One student is taking over
Suggested solutions:
• Gently, deflect some answers from strong students
• Direct questions to quieter students
• Role plays, so that everyone has a role and the opportunity to speak
• Provide a strong student with a non-speaking role: score taking, listening for errors, etc
g. Student doesn’t do the homework:
Reasons:
• No time
• Lazy
• Thinks that class time is enough
• Needs encouragement or “pushing”
Suggested solutions:
• Explain as a group, or speak to the culprit after class the importance of homework. It’s to recycle class work. Without it, the learning process is slowed down.
• Provide short, snappy homework activities: email writing
• Provide less homework for during the week, and more for the weekend
• Make up homework in accordance with the things they like doing. If someone likes reading, then provide reading.
• Look disappointed when they don’t do the homework. Ask them to explain to the class why they didn’t do it.
• Correct the class homework at the beginning of every lesson. If someone hasn’t done it, then they will be sitting doing nothing.
h. Your timing is out of sequence:
Reasons:
• You miscalculated the time for one or more activities
• Some students slower than others
• Some students couldn’t grasp the concept
• You got bogged down on one thing
Suggested solutions:
• When you plan the lesson, decide on what you can miss out if need be
• Have an extra activity up your sleeve in case you finish the plan too fast
• Write a time scale for each stage in your plan
• Select the best students for feedback if you want to move quicker
• Constant monitoring, and guiding the pace throughout the lesson
• If a task/activity is taking too long, finish it and move on
i. Lateness:
Suggested solutions:
• Make sure you start the class on the dot
• Make sure the first few minutes of the class is interesting and important
• You could use the points system here again; extra homework
j. Personality Clash
Suggested solutions:
• Split the students
• Beware when competing
k. Teacher Language:
Suggested solutions:
• Keep language brief
• Don’t overwhelm them with language, when you can say it with a KISS
• Watch out for TTT Teacher Talking Time
• It’s best to avoid shouting, as it can signal that you have lost control and can’t manage the group properly.
If you have any more ideas I'd love to hear them on the forum
Look at the following and discuss reasons and solutions.
a. Students keep talking in their mother tongue
b. Students don’t want to talk
c. Not paying attention
d. Students are bored or unmotivated
e. They are not sure what they have to do
f. One student is taking over
g. Student doesn’t do the homework
h. Your timing is out or sequence
i. Lateness
j. Personality Clash
k. Teacher Language
a. Students keep talking in their mother tongue:
Reasons:
• Easier than speaking English
• They want to talk about something that they can’t in English yet.
• They want to communicate something important, and think its best in their own language.
• They are embarrassed to speak in English
Suggested solutions:
• Ask them to use English only
• Emphasise that their learning will be slower if the don’t use English
• Ignore someone who speaks to you in their language (unless it’s something important)
• Press a squeaky toy every time they speak in L1 (First language).
• Speak to the person after the class. Ask nicely if they would speak in English. Explain they will not develop, and they may be holding back the rest of the class.
• With teenagers, you could set up a points system. One point for every time they speak in their own language. The person with the most points at the end of the week has to do extra homework. With adults, they could bring in cakes.
• Pair work (PW) can be useful for shy students, until they build up confidence.
• You should always speak English in class, and make it the norm.
b. Students don’t want to talk:
Reasons:
• Shyness
• Embarrassed because the person might think everyone is better then him/her
• Cultural background and respect
• Fear of making mistakes
Suggested solutions:
• PW, till they build up confidence
• Pair up a strong and weak student
• Pair up a weak and weak student
• Pair up same gender
• Let students know that making mistakes is a learning process
• Allow students to write down what they want to say first
• Read things out loud
• Provide lots of speaking activities: role-plays
c. Not paying attention:
Reasons:
• Maybe feelings of insecurity
• Tired
• Bored
• Don’t like the topic, subject, etc
• Friends sitting next to each other
Suggested solutions:
• Remain silent until they pay attention
• Clap, switch off the light, turn music off (I often play some easy listening music as they arrive)
• Stare at the culprit
• Stop the lesson, and ask the distracted lesson what he/she is talking about
• Move close to them and touch their desk
• Provide the distracted student a responsibility like; correcting homework, scoring in a game, listening for errors when another student is talking.
• Split up friends
d. Students are bored or unmotivated:
Suggested solutions:
• Get them off their seats. An activity that gets them moving around.
• Provide a hands-on interaction (card matching, game, etc)
• In pairs of groups in a competition
• Choose topics related to their preferences
• Do another needs analysis
e. They are not sure what they have to do:
Suggested solutions:
• Ensure your instructions are clear and graded
• Give a demo
f. One student is taking over
Suggested solutions:
• Gently, deflect some answers from strong students
• Direct questions to quieter students
• Role plays, so that everyone has a role and the opportunity to speak
• Provide a strong student with a non-speaking role: score taking, listening for errors, etc
g. Student doesn’t do the homework:
Reasons:
• No time
• Lazy
• Thinks that class time is enough
• Needs encouragement or “pushing”
Suggested solutions:
• Explain as a group, or speak to the culprit after class the importance of homework. It’s to recycle class work. Without it, the learning process is slowed down.
• Provide short, snappy homework activities: email writing
• Provide less homework for during the week, and more for the weekend
• Make up homework in accordance with the things they like doing. If someone likes reading, then provide reading.
• Look disappointed when they don’t do the homework. Ask them to explain to the class why they didn’t do it.
• Correct the class homework at the beginning of every lesson. If someone hasn’t done it, then they will be sitting doing nothing.
h. Your timing is out of sequence:
Reasons:
• You miscalculated the time for one or more activities
• Some students slower than others
• Some students couldn’t grasp the concept
• You got bogged down on one thing
Suggested solutions:
• When you plan the lesson, decide on what you can miss out if need be
• Have an extra activity up your sleeve in case you finish the plan too fast
• Write a time scale for each stage in your plan
• Select the best students for feedback if you want to move quicker
• Constant monitoring, and guiding the pace throughout the lesson
• If a task/activity is taking too long, finish it and move on
i. Lateness:
Suggested solutions:
• Make sure you start the class on the dot
• Make sure the first few minutes of the class is interesting and important
• You could use the points system here again; extra homework
j. Personality Clash
Suggested solutions:
• Split the students
• Beware when competing
k. Teacher Language:
Suggested solutions:
• Keep language brief
• Don’t overwhelm them with language, when you can say it with a KISS
• Watch out for TTT Teacher Talking Time
• It’s best to avoid shouting, as it can signal that you have lost control and can’t manage the group properly.
If you have any more ideas I'd love to hear them on the forum
