Classroom Management Series #1: Students using their electronics

Welcome back to the Classroom Management Series!  Last week we addressed the issue of students talking when they are not supposed to.  This week we are going to tackle electronics in the classroom. 

It never fails, many students have the most up to date gadget while I am still trying to figure out my basic Nokia phone.  They have smart phones, personal gaming systems, and mp3 players.  And their toys are more interesting than what is going on in school that day (believe me I know, I can use pinterest on my phone).  

Students are using electronics in the classroom when:

• They are answering and sending text messages and phone calls
• When their phones ring or beep in class
• When students are checking their messages, facebook, etc. on their phones
• Playing with their electronics (phones, iPod, personal gaming system) when instructed not to

Below are solutions divided into two groups thanks to readers and teachers at local workshops!

Preventive Solutions*

• Put all cell phones in a cell jail as they walk into class 
  
• Have students put phones on teacher’s desk as they walk into class
• Students put phones in a shoe organizer that hangs in the front of the room 

  

  The Meta Picture

• Absolutely forbid phones on tests days-they go on the teacher’s desk
• Remind students daily of policy
• Make it a game:
• phones are turned off/silent and put on the corner of the desk
• first student who touches their phone during class has to leave the class last, clean the room, deducted participation points, etc.
• Give participation points that include not using their phones
• Put into place a “can’t see, can’t hear it” policy
• students can have their phone on silent and in their backpack/pocket
• Model the behavior-don’t use your phone in class

Responsive Solutions*

• Ask students to give you their phone and you put it on your desk till end of class
• Ask students to put it in their pocket or backpack

*Some students may need to have their phones on in class for emergency reasons (someone is ill in their family, they have a life threatening disease/illness, etc.).  Ask them to share this with you and allow them to keep their phone on silent or vibrate while in class.

Electronics are extremely distracting.  I know this from experience.  It took me two hours to “check” my email, facebook, and pinterest so I could “focus” on writing this post.  BUT electronics can be beneficial to learning if used properly! 

Methods for implementing electronics into your lesson plan:

• Using the internet on the phones/mp3 players to look up definitions (and show you the result)
• When students have a question, have them look it up on their phones (and show you’re the result)
• Recording videos for presentations
• Write responses to questions for quick assessment
• Take pictures of notes on the board or picture
• Calculate a math problem 

Remember you will probably have to try multiple solutions for each student until you find one that works for you and your class.  Remember to try to find the reason, explain your expectations, and be consistent!  

Next week's question:What do you do when students use profanity?   Please leave your tip in the comment section below.  

Occupations

Helping language learners identify occupations broadens their ability to relate to people they are speaking to AND expands their vocabulary.  Being able to ask about someone’s profession can open up a basic conversation for second language learners. 

Vocabulary

Doctor

Police officer

Cashier

Hair stylist

Nurse

Dentist

Stay at home mom/stay at home dad

Teacher

Truck driver

Fire fighter

Writer

Reporter

Actor/actress

Athlete

Farmer 

Grammar Structure

What do you do?

What is your job?

I am a/an _____________________.

Warm Up

Video/Song

Procedure: listen to the song about jobs and sing along if you want

Video, Song, and Lyrics

Song Lyrics and Example Video

Word Search

Procedure: using a worksheet to introduce the new vocabulary (students do not have to know the meaning just look for the words)

Word Searches

Practice

Concentration

Procedure:

1.  Make cards by drawing an occupation on one card and writing the name of that occupation on another card
2. Have at least 10 sets of cards
3. Mix up all cards and turn face down
4. Students take turns turning over 2 cards at a time
5. If the 2 cards turned over are a match (picture matches the word) then the student keeps them pair and turns over 2 more
6. If the 2 cards turned over are not a match, the cards are turned face down again and the next player goes
7. The game is over when all pictures are correctly matched with an occupation  

Guess who:

Procedure:

1. Students play in pairs and are given copies of the same pictures of occupations 
2. Students secretly select an occupation and turn it face down 
3. All other pictures are face up
4. Students take turns asking  YES or NO questions WITHOUT saying the occupation (ex. Do you work with people?  Do you work with animals?) to figure out the other person's secret occupation
5. If the other person says no to their question, the student turns all occupations face down that answer no to the question (Do you work with people? No.  turn Doctors, teachers, dentists, etc. face down) 
6. The person who can correctly guess the other's secret occupation wins 

Who Am I?

Procedure:

1. Different occupations are taped to the back or on the forehead of students 
2. Students ask YES or NO questions to other students to try to guess their own occupation (ex. Do I use tools?  Do I work with animals?) 

Production

Runway Show with Oral Presentation 

Procedure: 

1. Students choose an occupation to dress up as
2. Students must include: uniform, job description, and any other important facts in presentation

Commercial

Procedure: Students can work in pairs or small groups to make a skit about specific occupations giving job description, income, etc. 

Modification: Students can work on their commercials outside of class and videotape them to share with the rest of the class

Classroom Management Series #1: Students talking when not supposed to

Raise your hand if you have perfect students, students who NEVER talk when you or someone else is talking.  … No one?  Me neither.  That is a struggle that I feel like every teacher has dealt with at one point or another. 

What does “talking when not supposed to”: mean?

1. Talking to another student when you are giving instructions or presenting the lesson
2. Talking to another student or you when they are doing individual work
3. Talking during a test
4. Talking to someone when another students is answering, giving presentation, or asking a question

Students talk when they are asked not to because of many reasons.

• The student is bored
• The student doesn’t understand so they are asking
• The student did not hear you giving the instructions (the class was noisy when you started)

Please remember to not only use the solutions mentioned below, but always talk with repeat defenders (students who are consistently misbehaving) to find the root of the problem.  

Students that are talking when they are not supposed to are:

• Talking to the students next to them or across the room
• Talking to you when you are presenting the lesson
• Calling out answers or questions 
• Talking to themselves

Below are some solutions (divided into the two categories) that readers, teachers at conferences, reference books, and I have come up with.  

Don’t forget to fully explain your expectations of these solutions to your students and BE CONSISTENT! 

Preventive Solutions:

• Include "no talking while others are talking" rule in your classroom rules

• If it is one students that is repeatedly talking, make a signal that only you and the student know 

• Give a repeat defender a set number of words he is allowed to say each class
• Give students a time limit to complete tasks
• Assign seats to students and sit them away from their friends
• If working in groups, give each student a job 

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Responsive Solutions:

• Stand by their desk but keep teaching or explaining
•  Touch their shoulder or desk without saying anything
• Stop talking and wait for the whole class to be quiet before talking
• Using tally marks or a chart, count how many times students talk and show them in a quick conference
• Have the talkative student sit separate from the class and/or near you
• After class, ask the talkative student if they know they are interrupting class and if they have any solutions 

You will probably have to try multiple tips for each student until you find one that works for you and your class.  Remember to try to find the reason, explain your expectations, and be consistent!  

Next week's question: What do you do when students are using their cell phones in class? 

Classroom Management Series #1: Defining some terms

We are starting a series on classroom management, where every Wednesday we will address behavioral problems that typical classrooms have. 

Before we get into this week’s topic, we need to talk about a few things.  What does classroom management mean?  What are these solutions?  How can I implement them into my own classroom?

Let’s start with defining a few things. Classroom management means

1.    The process of making certain that lessons run smoothly despite disruptive behavior by students.

2.    The prevention of disruptive behavior.

Well, what is disruptive behavior then?  Disruptive behavior is students actions that get in the way the ability of teachers to teach and students to learn. 

What are some examples of disruptive behavior?

• Talking when the teacher or others are talking
• texting or playing on their cell phones
• Using profanity
• Entering class late or leaving early
• Eating in the classroom 
• Calling out
• Constant entering and leaving the classroom (students going to the bathroom, students getting drinks of water)
• Getting out of their seat frequently with or without permission
• Disruptive noises
• Verbally harassment of others (name calling, mimicking, taunting)
• Physical harassment of others (poking, pinching, punching, kicking, stealing

Our solutions (yes, remember you are offering tips as well) will be complied into two lists.  The lists will be divided up as preventive solutions and responsive solutions. 

Preventive solutions are solutions to put into place before students do the behavior.  
Such as have the classroom rules and consequences displayed. 

Responsive solutions are solutions to stop the behavior immediately. 

Such as moving the student who is talking away from the rest of the class. 

The last thing you need to know is that you must experiment.  What works for one teacher, class, or student doesn’t work for everyone.  Pick one or two solutions and use them for a week. 

In order for this to be most successful, you should explain your expectations to your students beforehand, provide good and bad examples, post your expectations or rules in the classroom for all students to see, and be consistent.  

Now, don’t forget to check back EVERY Wednesday for solutions and to answer the next week’s question!  

Leave any solution tips you have for tomorrow's question:  What do you do about students who talk when others are talking?  

Classroom Management Series #1

If asked to describe my perfect class, I would say:

• lesson plan and materials are prepared
• I was able to greet students at the door
• class started on time 
• students followed rules and participated!
• students understood the material 

I ask teachers this question at the start of every classroom management workshop I do.  Most every teacher mentions the students behaving as part of their perfect class.  When asked what is the hardest part of their perfect class, teachers normally say the students behavior.  

This series on classroom management will focus on the students' behavior.  Every Wednesday, we will conquer student discipline problems.  That's right!  We, as in you AND me, will be tackling those issues such as students talking when they should NOT, cell phone usage in class, interrupting, etc.  

Each Wednesday, I will post a student behavior we want to address and your tips.  Tips I gather from my readers, tips from the teachers at the classroom management workshops, tips from books, and my own experience.  

How will I get my readers' tips?  I will post the next week's question at the end of that day's post, and the readers will leave their tips in the comment section.  Like this: 

How do you handle students who talk when they are not supposed to?  Please leave your tips in the comment box below!  

Please check back THIS WEDNESDAY to see your's and other's tips for handling this discipline problem.  

Conversation Club Activities

I have just finished up my 8th and final conversation club for the English teachers in my area.  A conversation club is made up of a group of people who want to practice speaking a language.


The courses I facilitated were credited by the country I am serving in (meaning: teachers will get a small pay raise for successfully completing this course through the Ministry of Education).  Teachers had to complete 40 hours, one day a week for five weeks.  The mornings were dedicated to playing games and doing activities that encouraged the teachers to talk, talk, and talk.  The afternoons were focused on teaching strategies (many of which have been posted in this blog).

I have included all the activities done in these eight conversation clubs in the Resource tab.  Please feel free to check them out and use them in teaching second language learners.


If you have any questions about conversation club, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will do the best I can to help you.

How to Plan a Successful Lesson Series: Formal Assessments

Today is the last post for the series “How to plan a successful lesson plan”.  Today we will finish up with formal assessments.  We are finishing up with formal assessments because it is usually the last thing we do in a lesson and/or unit. 

We have:

1.    written a lesson plan backwards (to teach to our objective)

2.    learned the difference between the different assessments (because assessing is part of teaching)

3.    learned about the different types of informal lesson plans and when to use

and now we are going to talk about the different types of formal assessments and when to use them. 

Formal assessments can be defined as structured tests with a standardized measure or defined criteria, summarized from Scholastic website.  

Formal assessments tend to be the end of the chapter/unit test or the standardized tests normally given at the end of the school year by the state (US) or national department of education (Costa Rica). 

Types of formal assessments are:

• *Essay: Students write about a certain question, topic, or statement
• You can let the students know of the essay options before they take the test so they can prepare beforehand.  
• *Multiple-choice test: it can include the A, B, C, D choices as well as true or false and matching. 
• *Short answer exam: Short answer is one or two sentences
• Presentations (with rubric): In an English learning classroom, students give a variety of presentations-from oral reports to student created commercials.  
• The best way to measure these presentations is with rubrics.  Rubrics are set expectations of a task.  Rubrics are great for oral presentations, skits, book reports, art assignments, dialogues, etc. 
• RubiStar is a great website that provides you with a template to create your own rubric as well as a large database of teacher created rubrics. (I used it all the time while teaching in the States, and they do not know that I am promoting them here).
• Always allow the students to see the rubric before hand!
• Research (with a rubric): same as above

*All these types of formal assessments can be included on the same end of chapter/unit test as well as standardized tests. 

*Remember* when creating your formal test, grade the objectives you have taught in that unit. And grade according to the skill of that objective.  If it is a speaking objective, the student must speak as part of their final grade.  

Check back soon for more posts on classroom management and teaching English as a foreign language!