Air Writing

Formation: Standing at desks or in small groups

Equipment: None Rules/Directions

1. Students begin by moving in place or around the room:

 Jumping

 Marching

 Hopping

 Twisting

2. Teacher calls out letter, number, word or shape and students stop activity.

3. Students will draw the letter, number, word or shape in the air using their hand, arm, leg, head, elbow, knee, bottom or any combination of body parts until teacher calls out another activity.

4. Students continue new activity until teacher calls out another letter, number, word or shape.

Guess The Action

Assalamualaikum and Hi..This activity will helps the pupils to remember a range of important English verbs with this fun classroom activity where they attempt to guess the actions performed by their own classmates.

The game plays like a simple version of charades where a student receives a secret word and tries to act it out to the other members of the team.

Before you start you'll need to make small pieces of paper with a range of secret words written on them. 

You can use any type of words you want but I find verbs are best for this type of game so that's what I'll be using in this example.

To make the game interesting you can have easy words (worth 1 point), medium words (worth 2 points) and hard words (worth 3 points).

Here are some examples of words I use:

Easy (1 point): Eating, sleeping, running, singing, flying, cleaning

Medium (2 points): Laughing, studying, looking, throwing, talking, cooking

Hard (3 points): Thinking, pointing, lifting, climbing, opening

Split the class into teams and ask a student to choose easy, medium or hard. 

Give them around 20 seconds to act out the word in front of their group (while other teams stay quiet). Continue the process with the other teams while keeping track of the scores and see who wins!

You might like to let other teams guess the word if the original team are unsuccessful in their 20 seconds, giving them the chance to earn extra points.

  

Let's try teacher..=)

Taken from http://www.funenglishgames.com/activities/guesstheaction.html

Hot Seat

Assalamualaikum, this is a game where a teacher can do in class as an energizer to make the classroom environment become a good place for the pupils to learn (change in behaviour ). 

Based on my observation, we cannot ask the pupils to listen to our lecture without no interesting activities that being insert in our planning. This is because, the pupils is likely to get bored whenever there is no fun activities from them and they wouldn't be able to enjoy any lesson if they find out that the class is boring...and the most dangerous part is zero Learning process is happening..Huhu...
So sad..=(

Thus, we as a teacher need to make sure that we MUST have activities that make the pupils enjoy our lesson and the crucial part is no boring lesson..hehehe...

Okay,..this is one of the activities...

HOT SEAT

> In this game, the class is split up into two teams.
> One member from each team sits facing the group.
> The leader holds up a word for all of the team members to see except for the two players in the hot seats.
> The teams must try to get the person in the hot seat to guess the word or phrase.
> The first person to guess correctly gets to stand up and a new member from their team takes the hot seat.
> The person on the other team has to remain in the hot seat until she gets an answer first.
> You can keep score or just play for fun. 
> This game can also be played in pairs. 
> One pair member closes their eyes while the leader shows the word to the other pair members.
> The first pair to get the word right gets a point. Warning!

This is a loud game because people tend to get excited and yell!

Simon Says

Simon Says is a classic game that works really well as a fun ESL classroom activity.

Tell the pupils to listen to the instructions you will give them, they can follow your actions too but at some stage you will try and trick them so they have to be very careful not to get caught out.

Have everyone stand up and begin the game, for example you might start by saying "Simon says, hands on head" while placing your hands on your head.

The pupils should follow your instructions, quickly putting their hands on their heads. If they don't do it correctly or are just too slow then they are out of the game and should sit down (you might want to be lenient on students making mistakes during the first round).

Continue the game with those remaining, slowly increasing the speed in an effort to catch them out. At any point you can try and trick the pupils by, for example, saying "Simon says, hands on ears" while placing your hands on your shoulders. Anyone who puts their hands on their shoulders is out of the game.

It's a simple, fast activity that is great for improving listening skills and is especially fun for younger students who love moving around.

In addition, this activity will create a positive classroom environment where the pupils love the condition so much!! (“,) 

Line Up According To...

Assalamualaikum..This is the idea…In order to make a positive classroom environment..why don’t we do some activity that might not drive our pupils become bored and inactive…Thus this activity enables the pupils to participate actively in class.

This will automatically make the lesson become meaningful and work well.

As we are future English teachers, we choose this kind of activity for our pupils..=)

Line Up According To...

This is a great ESL classroom activity that works particularly well with classes that are normally a little shy and reserved, sometimes teacher need to get quiet students up and out of their desks to get them relaxed and feeling confident enough to use their English language skills.

The game involves groups of students lining up in order, depending on the criteria you choose, whether it's their birthday, height or any number of other options.

Begin by splitting your classroom into teams, if there are 30 students in your class then 3 teams of 10 should work well.

Explain that they must line up in order using only English to communicate with each other, teams caught cheating will be disqualified from that round (giving them a little leniency of course).

When a team finishes, the person at the front of the line puts their hand up and you walk down the line checking that they are indeed in the correct order.

You can alternatively assign each team with a captain who is in charge of organizing the team, making sure they don't cheat and signaling to you when they have finished.

Give one point to the first successful team and start the next round using different criteria, here's some I use:

Height

Shoe size
Birthday
Time they woke up this morning 
Time they went to bed last night
Number of brothers and sisters 
Number of pets 
Number of times out of the country

For fun you can try a round where they're not allowed to communicate verbally at all, limiting them to just hand movements and physical gestures. Add up the final points at the end of the game and see which team wins!

 Quoted from: http://www.funenglishgames.com/activities/lineup.html

Musical Chairs

          Ø  Musical chairs works well for pupils of 10 and younger.

          Ø  This activity helps get their blood pumping before lesson begins.

          Ø  This activity is suitable for the Set Induction.

          Ø  The aim of this activity is to get the pupils ready for the class and make the first    impression of the lesson is not boring.

          Ø   The activity generally lasts as long as one or two songs, but the teacher can also play music and stops it at different parts of the song if the teacher wants the activity to last less than three minutes.

          Ø   Encourage the pupils to move around the classroom and then find a chair quickly when the music stops.

          Ø   The pupils then get up again when the music starts playing.

          Ø  Teacher tells the pupils to sit in their assigned seats when the activity is over.

Ron Clark Movie's synopsis

THE RON CLARK STORY follows the inspiring tale of an energetic, creative and idealistic young teacher who leaves his small North Carolina hometown to teach in a New York City public school. Through his passionate use of special rules for his classroom, highly innovative teaching techniques and an undying devotion to his students and helping them cope with their problems; Clark is able to make a remarkable difference in the lives of his students. For one young girl trying to attend school while helping to raise her brothers and sisters, he offers a chance for her to overcome her situation and become one of the class' top students. For a young man with a penchant for graffiti, he offers an ideal outlet for artistic expression. Even when he is almost overcome by pneumonia, Clark continues to work with his students, hoping that he can raise their test scores to an acceptable level, or possibly even higher.

As a result of his achievements, Clark won Disney's prestigious Teacher of the Year Award and was featured in Oprah's O magazine as her first Phenomenal Man of the year. He has also written several successful books on education and child rearing.

Taken from: http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reviews/ronclarkstory.asp

Dealing with Discipline Problems

Dealing with Discipline Problems

No matter how great your classroom management system is, you are going to run into discipline problems. Even master teachers have the occasional discipline issue. Some things you can do to diffuse a discipline situation are:

1.    Making eye contact with the student - Let them know you see them.

2.    Using a non-verbal cue - Point at the work the student should be completing.

3.    Move toward the student - Proximity is a great deterrent.

4.    Give a verbal hint - During a lecture when a student is goofing off, ask that student a question.

5.    Remind your students about the rules - Direct this to the whole class.

6.    Be clear when asking the student to stop a certain behavior.

7.    Always give the student a choice - "Work on your essay or go to the office."

Maintaining a Positive Classroom Environment

One of the biggest challenges for a new teacher is classroom management. How do you create a positive learning environment when there are so many different personalities in one classroom?

Rules and Procedures

Every classroom needs rules and procedures. A rule is a hard and fast truth that must be followed. For example, a rule for your classroom might be: "Arrive on time with all materials." A procedure is a method for accomplishing a specific task. For example, your procedure for taking tests might be that students move their backpacks to the cubbies in the back of the room and have only two pencils and a calculator on their desks. Rules and procedures need to be taught multiple times at the beginning of the school year until they become second nature to the students. They should also be accompanied by consequences or penalties for not following them.

Student Involvement

Keeping students involved is the biggest step toward a positive classroom environment.  Teacher supervision is key. Don't give an assignment and then sit at your desk and read your email. Circulate around the room, giving help and providing cues for your students so they know what to do next. Make sure everyone has the materials they need to complete the work - some students will goof off simply because they don't have a sheet of notebook paper! 

Another way to increase their involvement is to make them curious about the subject matter. Tie their previous knowledge to the concept you are about to teach. Whenever you can, relate your subject to things that they'll need to be able to do in the real world.  Give them frequent feedback on their progress - both positive and constructive.

Problem Prevention

Problems can be prevented with a little thing we in the education world call "withitness."  (Yes, that's with-it-ness.) Withitness means being aware of everything going on in your classroom. Don't let things slide. Make sure students know you see and hear everything they are doing and they are less likely to try to cause problems.

Having set procedures for all classroom activities and teaching these procedures regularly at the start of the school year will also help maintain a positive classroom environment and reduce the amount of problems that you will have with discipline. When students know what to do and how to do it, they will generally work to accomplish the task at hand.

Discipline Log

Keep a detailed discipline log where you mark down notes about individual students. If you need to call a parent, jot down notes about your conversation. This way, if a pattern of disruption occurs, you can take your log to your administrator and move to the next step in the process.

Penalties

Every classroom management system should have a list of penalties for poor behavior choices. Don't discuss these while you and the student are still angry. Wait until the situation cools off before imposing penalties, and do so privately. Remember to let the student know that you are upset with his behavior, not him as a person. Once the incident is over, treat the student exactly as you treat your other students. If they see you are not holding a grudge against them, they are more likely to behave better in the future.

You Can Do It!

Managing a classroom might seem like a daunting task, but it is achievable. If you have problems, seek out teachers who are good classroom managers. Take some time to talk to them or observe their classes and then borrow their techniques to use in your classroom. Your colleagues will be glad to help you and your students will thank you for having a well-managed room where they can learn.

Taken from: http://www.teachercertification.org/a/maintaining-a-positive-classroom-environment.html

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Behaviours that teachers see as disruptive.

           1. Aggressive behavior

           2. Disobedience, refusal to obey instructions and insolence

           3. Talking out of turn and hindering other students

           4.  Irritating and wasting disruptions

Strengths and Limitations of Classroom Behavior Management

Strengths

-          The move away from corporal punishment to using alternatives such as extra work and time out – together with the possibility of access to specialist support- gives teachers more humane options for handling inappropriate behavior.

Limitations

-          One of the problems associated with the guidelines provided for teachers who need to manage inappropriate or disruptive behavior concerns the confusing way in which key terms are defined.

-          This lack of clarity can cause problems for teachers and others who try to find a label that is appropriate for the array of behaviors a particular student presents.

-          This uncertainty can also lead to difficulties in finding an appropriate solution.

Classroom Environment Factors

   1.       Multidimensionality: The wide range of players and events that are present in a classroom

-          Develop strategies for addressing the wide range of ability levels; and social, emotional, cultural and linguistic backgrounds in your classroom

   2.       Simultaneity: Many different things happen at the same time in a classroom

-          Be aware of what is happening at every level, including that of individual students, small groups and the class as a whole

-          Learn to have ‘eyes in the back of your head’

-          The challenge of simultaneity may contribute to high level of stress and burn-out unless you develop coping strategies

   3.       Immediacy: The speed at which events in a classroom unfold

-          Manage time at both micro and macro levels

-          Give immediate feedback to students during face to face interaction

-          Learn to allocate time appropriately for planned learning activities

-          Behavioral problems are most likely to arise when student’s attention, interest and motivation begin to ebb as a result of poor timing

-          Be alert to ongoing events in a busy classroom setting

   4.       Unpredictability: Carefully planned classroom activities do not always proceed as planned

-          Be flexible

-          Respond appropriately when the unexpected occurs

-          Where possible, take advantage of surprising or unanticipated events

   5.       Publicness: many people, often students, witness what teachers do, or learn about a teacher’s actions from other witnesses

-          Be aware that what you do and say is observed and may be discussed outside the classroom

-          Use this as an opportunity to model appropriate or desirable behavior for students

Definition of Classroom Management

Classroom management is certainly concerned about behavior, but it can also be defined more broadly as involving the planning , organization, and control of learners, the learning process and the classroom environment to create a maintain an effective learning experience in which expected pedagogical outcomes achieved.

•       The ‘learning process’ includes classroom activities and the teaching strategies that the  teacher use.
•      The ‘classroom environment’ provides a context for learning and includes not only the physical space, furnishing resources and materials, but also the class atmosphere, participant’s attitudes and emotions and the social dynamics of the learning experience.

 Definition of Behavior management

•       Behavior management in the classroom means creating and maintaining an environment conducive to their learning and your sanity.

  Definition of Disruptive and Disturbed Behavior

      Doyle (1986) used the term ‘problematic’ to refer to any behavior perceived as inappropriate for a given activity.

      Such behavior may range from daydreaming and mild interruptions, to unnecessary and excessive movement, shouting, swearing, and fighting and so on.

      Disruptive behavior is when a child is uncooperative and prevents themselves and other children in class from working. 

   A disruptive child also manages to grab a teacher’s attention and prevent the teacher from giving the other children attention.

      Disruptive behavior – behavior that is problematic or inappropriate in the context of a given activity or for a certain teacher.

      Behavior disturbance – significant abnormalities in the behavior of an individual who does not have a diagnosable psychiatric illness.

      Emotional disturbance – evident from inappropriate behaviors that require psychiatric treatment in the form of ongoing therapy.

For further information, click here >>>   http://www.slideshare.net/sumiwaan/classroom-management-waan