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      i hate shouting
      Submitted by racantillo on 16 April, 2009 - 21:39

      Hello,

      As a teacher (this is my second year in middle schools EFL) one thing I really can't stand (or find very hard to cope with) is the amount of shouting which is required of me per hour of teaching. I teach six different classes (years 7-9, secondary EFL) and each is comprised of 20-27 students aged 11-13. I find it really disheartening that sometimes the only way to reduce them to a normal behaviour is shouting, as they freeze and stop whatever their current disrupting activity may be (e.g. flying paper ships or bullying their classmates, sometime by kicking, punching or even (aaarg!) hurling chairs in the air!!!). All this while the rest of the class tries patiently to complete the assigned exercise. Can anyone please please come up with ideas to help me deal with difficult and highly disruptive children without resorting to a bellowing 'stoppit now!'

      Please help, and thank you,

      Raffaella Cantillo (Italy)

      Average: 4.5 (2 votes)

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      mam2005ash's picture
      mam2005ash
      I hate shouting as well - Yemen
      Submitted on 19 April, 2009 - 16:11

      I have the same problem inside my classes which are more than 70 students.

      Sometimes, I feel that I am going to be MAD. But as a teacher for more than 4 years I think that the best way to reduce the noisy is that to make the students love you.

      If they love you, I am sure that they will love you and listen to you as well.

      Mohammed-Yemen

      nysushi's picture
      nysushi
      I too have worked in a
      Submitted on 21 April, 2009 - 13:13
      I too have worked in a similar situation: 40 Korean 10 year olds. It was a steep learning curve but one that can be conquered nonetheless. Maybe try a few of the following:1. Divide the class into groups of 4-8 (depending on class size). Put one person in charge of making their group quiet when you want to speak (it usually helps to pick one of the "loud but innocent" ones). 2. When you want to talk, draw attention to that fact and yourself by calling the names of the students at the centre of conversations. Their conversation immediately breaks down and everyone in that group focuses on you.3. Bang something. A book, a board eraser, anything that makes a huge sound. It doesn't make you look angry and it gets the whole class' attention immediately. Saves your voice and also doesn't make you look out of control when students don't respond to your voice.4. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you should never start anything without 100% of your class' attention. Starting something without complete attention will lead to conversations restarting immediately.

      Mark Randle

       

      racantillo's picture
      racantillo
      classes too crowdy
      Submitted on 17 October, 2009 - 18:12

      hi, and thank you for getting back to me about this: huge class numbers are my nightmare! Dividing them up in groups works if you've got 10-15 bit for classes bigger than 20 it doesn't all you get is hectic chaos. What I found of use is using grids and/or handouts - they want something different from their books which they find boring but you want to ask them to learn their grammar using their books so when they revise together they can share one or two books (also it's uselful in terms of the programming and for the exercises). But they are definitely drawn to what you bring to the class as an extra (CD with songs or text-book audio CD and/or DVD with movie or singalong class which I find more boring but it catches their attention). Groupwork such as posters and recipies works fine with the girls but the boys don't really like drawing posters and get bored more easily); for 12-13 years old it's good enough if they feel like you want them to work and be autonomonus in what they learn but when they're 11-12 they still feel like you should be their mummy! As to banging something on the table, i'd rather shout since I'm quite small and not bossy at all - anyway thanks for the tips, hope class numbers will decrease in Italy! Ps what's the mean class number of students in the UK?

      Kind regards,

       

      Raffaella

      racantillo's picture
      racantillo
      phrasal verbs
      Submitted on 1 November, 2009 - 10:03

      I found that a good way to help your students learn their phrasals is to devise a grid/poster in which the main verb is at the centre and the added particles feature at the sides of the poster/grid. Students can then play by associating the main verb to one or more particles and check the meaning on their dictionary. It is astounding how quickly they learn through having fun! Oh, by the way, I'm in my third consecutive year as YL EFL teacher now, and still sometimes have to shout to keep them quiet! Groupwork and posters though definitely help, but classes are still way too numerous! Cheers, enjoy your week, R.