5 strategies to help you manage your primary classroom from Oxford University Press

 Having good classroom management strategies, is essential if you want to get the most out of the limited time you have with your students. Classroom management is about identifying the ‘critical moments’ of a lesson that need addressing to create an effective learning environment.

Rather than establishing rules and reward systems, let’s think about creating an effective learning environment where learners are actively engaged. A lot of natural, genuine communication takes place while managing a group of learners that provides them with comprehensible input, so keeping instructions and classroom language in English increases the opportunities for language to be acquired and practised.

Here are five simple strategies to implement to help you manage your primary classroom:

Establishing expectations and routines

Routines help to establish expectations making classrooms function more efficiently and effectively. Having familiar routines help children feel secure in the classroom as they promote cooperation and a sense of community. Having well-structured routines also helps to provide opportunities for repetitive language meaning that the language is acquired more easily as it is supported with actions and highly contextualised.

Some of these routines may include:

• Entering the classroom
• Speaking to the class
• Asking questions
• Giving instructions
• Setting up activities
• Getting learners into groups/ pairs
• Dealing with materials
• Tidying up
• Ending lessons

Keep instructions simple and in English

By keeping instructions in English, you are increasing the students’ exposure to English at the maximum which encourages them to develop their listening and understanding skills and helps you to communicate with them.

Try using imperatives so the instructions are not hidden in lots of unnecessary language. Consider the difference between:

What we are going to do next is that we are going to look at some pictures and see if we can match them with the words on the board, and then I want you to write the correct word under the picture.

and

Look at the pictures. Look at the words. Write (supported with a demonstration).

Limit the number of instructions you are giving to two or three. This will enable you to stage the activity appropriately ensuring that each child knows what is expected of them and the class will complete the tasks more or less at the same time.

Support instructions

As well as using imperatives, support what you are saying with a demonstration or example, especially if it is the first time you are doing a new activity. Children are very good at trying to understand what you want them to do, and don’t just listen to words. They look at what you are doing, they understand body language and gestures, and they read pictures and visuals well.

To aid this, consider presenting the instruction verbs you are going to use at the beginning of the lesson as a ‘listen and do’ activity. A couple of minutes spent doing this will make the lesson run much more smoothly.

These communication tools are invaluable in the language classroom and support classroom management just as much as the language you are teaching.

Getting attention

Find ways to get and keep their attention which don’t involve raising your voice. Here are some ways that you could do this:

1.  Train your students to respond to a signal such as a small bell, a tap on the blackboard, or raise one arm which the students have to copy.
2. Stand at the front of the class and quietly whisper a short sentence. The children nearby will go silent in order to hear what you are saying, and the whole class will gradually quieten down.
3. Have a notice on the wall with Shhh! on. When you want their attention, move to the notice and point at it. This is a ‘positive anchor’ point, so only stand there when you want to use it.
4. Have a ‘Call and Response’ strategy. For example the teacher calls out ‘Hocus pocus!’ and the class respond with ‘Everybody focus!’ Or clap/tap a rhythm that the students copy. However, make sure to change it regularly so they don’t take it for granted.
5.  Shout out an instruction that all the class has to follow, for example stand up or, hands on heads. Just make sure you are not disrupting your own lesson.

Plan what you are going to say and do

If you are new to teaching, or feel you need to make improvements in your classroom management, take some time to plan HOW you are going to do something. Very often we focus on WHAT we are teaching and forget to plan the HOW. Make sure you allow time in your lesson planning for all of the management bits and pieces as it takes time for children to enter the classroom, to get books and equipment out, or to stand up and get into groups. Therefore, make sure you plan how you are going to get the children into groups and how you are going to do each activity. Most importantly, plan what you are going to say. If you have thought about it beforehand, it will happen more naturally.

It’s not WHAT you do in the classroom it’s HOW you do it. When it comes to Classroom management and behaviour there is only one person’s behaviour you have control over…YOURS!

Find more resources to support your day-to-day classroom management, plus ideas and practical tips to motivate young learners and help your mixed-ability students shine here.

5 Things Every Language Teacher Should Know About AI from Oxford University Press

 

1. English Teachers are still needed in a world with AI

AI will be able to create mountains of individualized, valuable, interactive content. However, teachers will still be needed to provide a human touch. We need what has been called a ‘human-in-the-loop’ (HITL) to ensure the use of AI is based on our values as teachers and represents the interests of our learners and communities. What this means is that our roles are likely to shift further away from content providers to being mediators of learning. AI is likely to free us from some of the time-consuming and repetitive aspects of our work, such as creating exercises and checking homework. This will give us the opportunity to guide our students through the learning process and provide personal feedback and support. These are the types of work most of us enjoy, are really good at, and are unlikely to be replaced by new technologies.

2. Artificial Intelligence will change Materials development

AI will make our lives easier in many ways. But we need experienced teachers to ensure that the materials that AI produces are suitable, appropriate and in the best interests of our learners. For generative AI to be most beneficial, specialized knowledge and expertise are vital. And it is precisely our pedagogical knowledge and our personal relationships with learners that are needed for this. AI can help teachers create individualized materials for students. But it is up to teachers to turn these materials into engaging, relevant, and effective learning experiences.

3. Artificial intelligence will transform Learner assessment

Using AI to interpret educational data will provide a much more complete view of the learner that no longer limits us to summing their learning up in a single score. Using learning analytics (for example through the various ‘dashboards’ that learning management systems as well as individual apps and websites provide) we can gain insights into what learners do, what they struggle with and how they regulate their learning. What this means is that we can gain insight into the learning process, not simply the outcome. And we can do so in near real-time. This makes it possible to provide truly formative feedback. This will in most cases require a considerable change to current assessment methods to make the most of these new opportunities.

4. There are dangers if no one is in control of AI

Big data carries many risks, not least of all a loss of control on the part of teachers and learners. As we discussed in the podcast, instead of being blindly guided by algorithms without human supervision or intervention, ‘we need to become the algorithm’. Experts in our field (i.e. teachers, materials designers, curriculum developers, and so on) need to shape how AI is built, rather than leaving this exclusively to engineers. This means it is vital for teachers to become involved in the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of new technologies.

5. AI can complement traditional learning methods

AI can be a powerful tool for language learners. It can provide personalised instruction and feedback, adapt to individual learning preferences, and offer learning opportunities outside the classroom. This does come with a number of challenges. For example, how will we be able to monitor what learners do in their own time? And if learners receive personalised instruction, then how can we ensure everyone still benefits from the activities that take place in class? In some cases, such changes may prompt changes in how learners are grouped, supported, assessed, and more. We may have to consider more individualised pathways in which learners can be guided throughout the school curriculum, while still receiving the social support and continuity needed.

Top 3 Tips To Motivate Mixed-Ability Classes

 

What’s the best way to boost the motivation of learners in mixed-ability groups? 

Teachers sometimes feel that it is their job to animate the class. They need to do more, work harder, and monitor each and every student. Such attempts often end in failure, however. The harder teachers work, the more passive the class can become. Why? Well, with mixed-ability groups, boosting learners’ motivation involves turning the classroom from a place where teaching happens to a place where learning happens. Let’s look at three simple ways that this can be done in practice.

1. Listening tasks – let’s open them up

One great way to make listening tasks more engaging and manageable for students of different levels is to open them up by providing options and choices.  

Tell the students you are going to play them a recording. Provide them with some context and perhaps pre-teach some useful vocabulary. Then, instead of looking at comprehension questions, play the recording and ask students “What was going on there?” or “How much of that did you catch?” 

Comprehension questions change the way that students listen, making them more likely to listen out for the answers. In a mixed-ability class, different students will understand different things. This approach acts as a kind of differentiation, allowing students to listen to the best of their ability, and to notice whatever they can. This is a much more effective approach than asking all students to find the same answers to the same questions. 

Alternatively, give students control over how they listen by making the recording available to all students instead of controlling the playback yourself. This gives students the chance to pause, review and repeat the listening as many times as they need.

2. Try again – peer feedback for mixed-ability groups

What has the biggest impact on improved student performance in speaking tasks: is it teacher correction, or repeated attempts?  

The answer is repeated attempts. 

Outside school, when our students are playing video games or learning skateboard tricks, there is no teacher in sight. The learning comes through repeated practice. The same principle applies to speaking. When doing speaking tasks with mixed-ability groups there is no need to try to monitor and correct all students all the time. What they really need is the chance to practise.  

Classroom tasks which have a repetition of turns embedded in them work extremely well. One example of this is a paired speaking task. When students have finished their turn, simply ask them to do it again with a new partner, or get each pair to join with another pair to make a four. You will find that students’ confidence and performance improve with every new opportunity to repeat their part. Just like in the skateboard park, mastery through multiple attempts is the key to improvement.

3. Time limits, not word limits

Try time limits instead of word limits for in-class writing tasks. Asking all students to write as much as they can in 10 minutes is an equitable and effective alternative to demanding that all students satisfy a word limit. 

This is an example of applying principles of differentiation to student output, rather than to teacher input. As well as being easy to implement and agreeable to students, it also requires no preparation for the teacher. 

Ultimately, two things need to be in place for students in mixed-ability groups to feel motivated. Firstly, students need to feel that they are valued for who they are and what their current capabilities are. Secondly, lesson tasks need to be flexible and formative, helping learners find their way forward, assisted by tasks which give opportunities to practise within a supportive and learning-oriented classroom environment. 

Ed Dudley is a professional development manager for Oxford University Press where he works on developing the Oxford Teachers’ Academy courses. He has extensive experience in training, teaching and materials writing. He is the co-author of Mixed-Ability Teaching (OUP, 2016) and the author of ETpedia Teenagers (Pavilion Publishing, 2018). 

6 steps to Learning with Concepts from Oxford University Press

 Learning with Concepts is a methodology that involves exploring universal ideas such as change and community. It can be applied across different disciplines and provides opportunities for learners to engage with the curriculum in an active, personalized, and memorable way. It also fosters creativity and critical thinking skills and helps learners to become more independent. Beyond this, by linking concepts to the world outside the classroom, we can provide opportunities for learners to see the positive effects their actions can have.

If you’re looking to integrate Learning with Concepts into your English language classroom, here are some ideas to get started.

1. Choose concepts that are relevant to your learners

Use your learners’ needs and interests as a starting point. Many concepts, such as identity and creativity, can be explored and revisited at different stages in a meaningful way. A concept like freedom might work very well with older teenagers but be more difficult to tackle meaningfully in the pre-primary classroom. If you have a particular topic or language area to teach, consider what concepts it links to. For example, if you need to cover jobs vocabulary, it could be an opportunity to explore the concept of community or cooperation.

2. Start at the end

Think about what understanding of the concept you want learners to work towards. For example, if you’re exploring the concept of communication with very young learners, you might want them to reach the understanding that we can communicate in lots of different ways. From here, think about the ideas that underpin that understanding: who we communicate with; what language(s) we use; how we use our voices, faces, and body language; how we use writing, pictures, and technology.

3. Match up the concept and the language

From these ideas, you can start to pin down the language that learners will need to build the concept. For example, if learners are going to explore how people communicate with facial expressions, they will need to be able to talk about feelings and parts of the face. Identify the new language learners will need, but also look for opportunities to review known language.

4. Find out what your students already know

This is a very important stage in using concepts effectively. Even the youngest learners come to the classroom with different experiences, knowledge, and understanding, and this profoundly affects how they learn new concepts and language. Introducing the concept in an exploratory way allows you to assess the concepts and language that your students already have. For example, you could use visuals to stimulate discussion or do a hands-on activity such as sorting or modelling. This enables you to identify gaps but also interests. If a student already knows a lot about something, could they share their knowledge with others? If a group of students is interested in the same thing, could this form the basis of a project?

5. Aim for a variety of activities

By approaching a concept in different ways, you enable your learners to deepen their understanding while also accommodating their different needs and preferences. With young learners, stories can be a great way to explore concepts from different viewpoints. Photos and videos can help to anchor concepts in real-world contexts, both familiar and unfamiliar. Games and role-play provide opportunities for learners to play with language and concepts. Finally, hands-on activities and projects (e.g. science experiments or creative crafts) can create memorable learning experiences, particularly when they are linked to the world beyond the classroom walls.

6. Be flexible

One of the most exciting aspects of teaching with concepts can be its unpredictability! While preparation and resources remain important, students’ interests and ideas may mean that some activities take more time than planned or may lead you in directions you hadn’t anticipated. By allowing space for this in your planning, you can make the most of the opportunities that arise and ensure that your classroom is a motivating and inspiring space for your learners.

Результати II етапу Всеукраїнської олімпіади з англійської мови

 Вітаємо наших переможців та їх вчителів:

11 клас

I місце Бандура Софія 11-А (вч. Варивода О.В.)

II місце Новоселецький Іван 11-А (вч. Варивода О.В.)

III місце  Іванченко Інна 11-В (вч. Волошин В.А.) 

10 клас

I місце Ринковий Всеволод 10-Б  (вч. Галата Л.В.), Яковенко Наталія (вч. Галата Л.В.)

9 клас

I місце Кузява Анна 9-В (вч. Волошин В.А.)

II місце Ратушний Максим 9-В  (вч. Волошин В.А.)

8 клас

I місце Дурбанов Анатолій 8-А (вч. Волошин В.А.)