Dear Rim,

I hope this is your name!

My input is about 'large classes mangement' I hope this could help.

Working with large classes can be annoying for the teacher as large class can affect student learning and your ability to teach in addition it may affect the quality of education.

Before we get into the solutions, let’s figure out the problem with working with large classes.

1-     It needs good planning.

2-     It needs you to establish a rapport with your students.

3-     It requires you to monitor all your student , which is a really hard task. In addition, you have to give attention to all your students.

4-     It is important at the same time to maintain control and provide effective discipline.

So  you need to examine pedagogical techniques and classroom management practices to make the best of large classroom situations. So you have to keep the following points in mind:  

1. We can think of students as having a range of abilities and as “works in progress.” We can, avoid labeling such as, “That student is smart. That one is stupid. That one never listens.”
2. We can individualize interactions as much as possible. We can learn student names or use student identifiers such as name cards, so students feel important and feel that we know them.
3. We can create a plan that allows us to give individual attention to a particular set of students each day. We can rotate, so that over 2-3 days, each student or student group gets some individual attention.
4. We can work with administrators and fellow teachers to regularly update the curriculum to meet student needs.
5. And, we can encourage student responsibility and independence by allowing them freedom within the established framework to make choices, to help with classroom logistics, and to help each other.
6. They can create purposeful activities that keep learners on task. And, they can have additional self-directed activities available for students who finish early.
7. If you have several large classes, establish consistent routines for all of them. You can use curriculum and lesson plan templates, but keep them general enough so that they can be adjusted for each individual group as needed. Many teachers find it useful to create smaller teaching units within the larger group. When possible…
8. Give learners responsibility for choosing and doing individual projects in a group they have chosen;
9. Display student work and projects; and,
10. Use any available aides or volunteer help effectively.
11. We, as teachers, know we have authority and know we must use it selectively and wisely. We have an obligation to treat all students fairly and to avoid humiliating them. If we respect them, we know they will respect us.
12. In addition, we, as teachers, can be proactive rather than reactive. We can establish clear rules and expectations and then follow them for all students. We can even let students establish their own agreed-on classroom conduct guides. Consistency is crucial.

Resources:

Shaping the Way We Teach English – Module 6

Regards,

Khalid Fuad

I'm interested in your suggestion. It's very good to do the activities with students. I'm teach in Primary School in Thailand. It's very hard for me to teach them to understand. But I will try when I read your suggestion.

hello!

i am teaching Speech to students in the graduate school here in our college and i would like to ask for suggestions on activities for teachers in this class who are my students. I believe that you would be able to suggest some for adult students. Thank you

I do drama myself as a hobby and drama classes are noisy, regardless of the number of players there's always a lot of talking going on. The director who gives instructions, the players who need to understand and rehearse their lines in a loud voice, the rehearsals themselves, etc.

I think for such a big class you could divide them into groups and assign roles or drama techniques (as a means to practise English) and then change group dynamics. The idea is to have fun and to draw your students attention to you when you're giving instructions.

Drama classes are noisy by nature. The more engaged your ss are in their tasks and the clearer you are about what they have to do on their own and in their groups the more successful the session. As Mr Khalid Fuad said, good monitoring will help.

Good luck! Georgina

www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/georginahudson

It might help to break them into groups of 5-10, each group should have its turn to perform and while a group is performing the others will be the audience/critics!