Behaviour management strategies in action!

Having spent the last two and a half weeks working with half classes, playing games and leading speaking activities and also supporting in classes delivered by their regular English teacher, this week I finally delivered my very own lesson with no other adult in the room.

This opportunity came about because the three English teachers were all going to be out on Friday on class trips with Grades 3, 4 and 6. This, however, left two classes of 30 Year 5 children in school expecting an English lesson. The English teacher was planning to leave something that could be delivered by the Spanish tutor, when I donned my superhero outfit and offered to cover. There was some initial doubt (to do with whether this would be allowed, rather than my competence I like to hope), but a quick chat with the Director of Studies resulted in an enthusiastic thumbs up. The teacher suggested that I plan a lesson introducing the past simple as they hadn't yet started this project. She said that there would be a 'substitute teacher' in class to help with behaviour and comprehension issues, but that it would be unlikely that s/he would be able to speak any English.

The rules - a bit difficult to introduce previously in shared lessons

I was SO excited! After rushing home and bursting into the flat with my news, to the bafflement of my flatmates, I sat down to plan two one and a half hour lessons. Finally I would have the opportunity to apply the behaviour strategies and classroom management techniques we had worked on in CELTA and Chester.

Having slept very little, but taught a great deal in my dreams, I arrived at school looking a little worse for wear. We sorted out the key situation - all classroom doors are locked after every lesson; and I was told that I didn't need to collect the classes from the playground as 'the substitute' would do this.

Classes start at the Jesuit School with a Thought for the Day and prayer session with tutors, which I am not expected to attend. At 9.15am I entered the class and the tutor quickly exited, possibly fearful that I might expect her to understand English.

First activity...

Once my rules had been shared and discussed, my first task was to get the children to make name plates with three pictures showing what they did on Labour Day; my model went down well and all were keen to get started until my ICQ of 'Should you write 'Sue' on your card?' This was taken by some as another instruction and uncertainty set in. I could almost see the thought bubble: 'But I thought I was making a name plate for me!' A quick bit of repair work, pointing to each card and saying the name of the child it belonged to sorted out the issue, but I decided not to ICQ the whole class any further with this activity!

We used the pictures to talk about things they had done three days previously. While they were making the cards they were told to discuss the pictures with the other children on their table. It was only when I asked a child to tell me what another child had done, that they realised that they should have listened as well as spoken! I gave a few more minutes for discussion, then had much more successful result. It was even better when I said that they could help each other and the table started suggesting words to add to their very simple sentences. It was very clear that they had not covered the past tense and I hoped that they would know at least a little when they left my lesson.

Teams - the cards helped me remember who was who!

Along with the name cards, one of the best strategies I found for getting the children to talk and use English was to use teams. I grouped the tables in teams of 4/5 and gave their team a number. Once I started giving points for following the rules, especially speaking English, the lesson really began to buzz. I am sorry to say Reea, as I know you will disapprove, but I did remove a point from a very noisy table. They immediately improved, as did the others in the room, and they quickly won the point back again so I don't think any major harm was done!

It was an extremely noisy lesson! The children were really quite surprised by the voiced/unvoiced effects and really enjoyed touching their throats and comparing the results with others. After lots of drilling, there was a practical sounding out and sorting activity in pairs. We marked this together with more points awarded for correct responses.

I was pleased that I had prepared a worksheet with the key points on it as one child was desperate to stick the answers on the worksheet 'for the exam' and I was able to assure him that he would have something to take away to remember the lesson. This sheet was given out at the end of the lesson for them to take home; smelly stickers were handed out to the winning team and then the first hour and a half was over  - we had all survived!

The second class was not quite so keen as the first, but name plates and points engaged them again. I think I need to work on 'catching them being good' and award points more frequently, as loud peripheral praise does seem to help. It was interesting to see how much more English the children use when they know you cannot speak Spanish; they were very good at supporting each other to find words that would communicate their meaning which was good to see.

The morning passed extremely quickly. No substitute teacher appeared but that was not a problem, in fact I enjoyed the independence and look forward to more in the future!