DEVELOPING CLASSROOM SKILLS

Laily Yahya

CONTENTS
The roles of a teacher The roles of a learner Managing large and mixed ability classes Managing group work activities

Laily Yahya

What is a teacher?
Actors? Always on the stage Orchestral conductor? Direct conversation and set the pace and tone Gardeners?plant seeds and then watch them grow

Laily Yahya

The roles of a teacher

Facilitator - Facilitate learning in a learner-centred lesson Controller -in charge of the class & activity taking place -tell learners,organise drills -exemplify the qualities of teacherfronted classroom -transmission of knowledge
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The roles of a teacher

Organiser -organising students to do various activities -getting students involved -giving information to students -telling them how to do activities -putting them in pairs/groups -closing things down when time to stop
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The roles of a teacher

Assessor -offering feedback on performance - corrections and grading students in various ways Critical issue here is Fairness -we have to be sensitive to the students possible reactions -students want credit for good performances and constructive criticism for poor performances
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The roles of a teacher

Prompter -encouraged students when they lose the thread of whats going on -or when they are unable to proceed -occasionally offer words/phrases suggesting students say something -prompting has to be done sensitively, encouragingly and with discretion

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 Participant -join in the activity not as a teacher & to take part in a discussion -Reasons : to enliven things up from the inside -caution : since teachers can easily dominate the proceedings, great skill and sensitivity is needed to avoid this situation
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Resource
Offer guidance as to where students can go for the information encourage students to use resource materials for themselves Teachers must be helpful and available
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Tutor
Working with individuals /small groups , pointing them in directions they have not thought of -more personal contact so that learners feel that they are supported
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Observer
Observe what students do to give useful group and individual feedback Watch to judge the success of the different materials and activities that they take into lessons
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Performer
knowing that different teachers act differently individual teachers vary their behaviours, depending on what they do, gives us insight into classroom behaviour
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The teacher as a teaching aid

Teacher as teaching aid -mime & gestures -language model Provider of comprehensible input -the ways we use our voice, the ways we model language, employ gesture and expression are important teaching skills
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The roles of a learner

Cognitively and Actively participating. Responsible for their own learning

Learners have different roles according to their learning styles Concrete learners Learning strategies: games/pictures/films/cassettes Analytical learners Learning strategies : Studying grammar/reading newspaper/problem-solving/studying alone Communicative learners Listening to native speakers Using English for communication outside class Learning new words by hearing them Authority-oriented learners Prefers teachers explanation Studies grammar Likes to write everything in a notebook

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Managing large classes

Catering to the students needs -provide opportunities to use the language -provide for individual practice in listening n speaking activities -effectively be carried out through pair work and group work -an effective technique is to team teach : a colleague working with you, demonstrating teaching points and acting as facilitators
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Managing large classes

Organising student-centred activities -demands careful planning -group work/pair work as well as self directed learning -plan organisation of seating positions and movement of tables n chairs

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 Organising the physical environment -clean, well arranged classroom with attractive wall-displays to stimulate learning

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Managing mixed ability classes

A language class that is made up of : highly proficient, proficient and low proficiency students Careful thoughts are : -Student organisation: whole class, groups, pairs, individual - Begin with a whole class approach -Teaching-learning materials: graded objectives using and devising materials of different levels of complexity

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Managing group work activity

Students are organised in groups according to either : mixed ability (heterogeneous) :same ability (homogeneous)

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Managing group work

Decide on the appropriate size Plan the movements of students so that they get into groups effectively Devise appropriate activity Allow them to use what English they know Allocate enough time Do not change the composition of a group Give clear instructions Do not interfere with group work unless students requested for help Do not correct errors Allow for feedback

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TUTORIAL
Analyse learners role and teachers role Discuss ways of managing - large and moxed-ability classes - group work activities

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