TASK 3 REFLECTION

Throughout this course, Managing The Primary ESL Classroom (TSL3093), I have
learned important lessons and gained valuable experiences. I have realised that classroom
management is actually the ways in which a teacher controls the lesson and the students in
order to promote a good learning environment. In general, this is done by using strategies to
reward good behaviour or success in learning and also to discipline problematic students.
In my opinion, it is extremely important to practice and have a good knowledge about
classroom management. The reason is because for me, classroom management skills
decide the success of failure of a lesson. As a future teacher, I must have a good set of
classroom management skills in order to ensure that my students can learn better. However,
implementing good classroom management in our lessons is always easier said than done.
This happened during my previous School Based Experiences (SBE) where sometimes,
things do not work according to plan. For example, I entered a Year 2 intermediate class to
teach English. I prepared a brief lesson plan, hoping that things would work like how it was
planned. The activities were fine and all the students participate actively until they started to
make noises. This is when the problem comes in and I find it very difficult to control the
students.
Apart from that, I have also observed a few lessons taught by English teachers
during my SBE. Most of the teachers used a student centred learning style in their
classroom. I also came across a teacher who implemented Glassers Reality Therapy in her
lessons. For example, she started off the lesson by asking students to greet and shake
hands with their friends sitting next to them. The reason behind this is to make students feel
safe and have a sense of belongingness in the classroom. Then, she proceeded to her
lesson by using fun learning activities. For example, she used flash cards and puzzles to
attract her students attention. From what I saw, all the students enjoyed her lesson. This
shows that the theories that I am studying right now is very important in my future career.
Therefore, this course is where I can learn about how to manage a classroom effectively.

The strength of this course is that it trains and promotes opportunities for trainee
teachers to actually put themselves in a real classroom situation. From there, they can learn
how to manage a classroom and nurture desirable behaviours in children. Besides that, the
importance of classroom management has been highlighted across numerous research
studies as the major variable that affects student achievement (Marzano, 2003). Therefore,
good classroom management is vital to ensure that our students trust us and know what our
rules are. Our students will like us even more if we show that we care for them by spending

time talking to them. This will help develop good rapport between teacher and students as
we make them feel good about themselves learning English in our class. When students are
intrinsically motivated to learn, they will achieve better results and in return, they will respect
and see you as a good teacher.
Personally, I think that there are no much weaknesses in this course. My suggestion
is that more credit hours should be allocated for this course. The rationale of doing this is to
give more time for trainee teachers to practice as well as to get themselves adjusted to the
situation in a real classroom.

REFERENCE
Frost, S. (2015, January 1). Why Classroom Management Is Important. Retrieved
from http://www.ehow.com/about_5378723_classroom-management-important.html
Marzano, R. (2003). Chapter 1. The Critical Role of Classroom Management.
In Classroom Management That Works (p. 65). Houston.
Masuki, A. (2006, January 1). ESL Classroom Management. Retrieved from
http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Classroom_Management.htm

APPENDIX

Why Classroom Management Is Important

Effective Teaching

A disorganized classroom without routines and expectations makes it difficult for the
teacher to do her job. Students don't know what to do, so they might get off task or cause
disruptions. When the teacher is constantly redirecting students or handling behavior problems,
she loses crucial teaching time. Classroom management strategies help create an organized
classroom environment that's conducive to teaching. Kids know the expectations in different types
of learning situations. For example, kids would know that when working in small groups, they talk
in quiet voices and take turns talking. They might each have a specific job within the group.

Efficient Use of Time

Taking time before school starts to create routines and procedures saves you time in the
long run. When the children know what to do, it becomes a natural part of the routine. After a few
weeks, you don't need to tell them what to do. The students know they get their planners out, write
in homework assignments and gather all of their materials at the end of the day, for example. You
can get your kids out the door faster at the end of the day. When you train them how to do each
part of the school day, you don't spend as much time giving directions.

Consistency

A teacher with strong classroom management skills creates consistency for his students.
The kids know what to expect every day when it comes to the routine activities. Your students may
fare better when you're gone if you have set expectations for everyday tasks. They know how the
classroom runs so they are able to help the substitute run the classroom. For example, if the kids
know they're supposed to enter the room and start working on a math problem on the board, a
substitute doesn't have to spend his time corralling the kids or trying to keep them occupied while
everyone arrives. You can also create consistency throughout the school by aligning your
management strategies with the schoolwide standards. If your school focuses on respect and
responsibility, incorporate them into your classroom management techniques. The students will
hear those words throughout the school and know that the expectations are the same anywhere in
the building.

Fewer Behavior Problems

The main goal of classroom management is to reduce misbehavior in the classroom.

Effective classroom management gives the students little time to misbehave. Because the
expectations are clearly explained, the students know what they need to do. Transitions in
particular are easier to control when a teacher has strong classroom management skills. For
example, if you have dots on the floor for lining up and call one group at a time, the students know
to listen for their groups and stand on a dot when called. Kids aren't bunched up since the dots
help space them out. They won't rush and push if you only call a few students at a time. The
expectations for behaviors that are part of a classroom management plan give students
boundaries, as well as consequences.

ESL Classroom Management

The Five Golden Rules of Good Classroom Management
Are you an ESL teacher with classroom management problems? I hope not, but if you are reading this, it might
be the case. Have you got a handful of troublemakers who wear you out? Or has the whole class taken over and
you find it hard to teach anything?
This article proposes 6 golden rules for good classroom management to help you create your plan or strategy
with your young students learning English.
Why the classroom management problem in the first place?
Firstly let's look at reasons why the children might be misbehaving. Are they bored? Does learning English not
engage them? Are they fed up with sitting at their desks? Do some of them have behaviour problems such as
ADD and disrupt the class for others? Maybe the children find English hard and do not think they can learn it so
they hide their lack of confidence behind an excuse of misbehaviour. Maybe the naughty child just thinks that
the teacher does not like him or her. Or maybe the children are not motivated to be good because they are never
praised when they are well behaved.
One thing is for sure; you must be the boss, because, like a young puppy that will try to become pack leader, if
you are not in charge then the children will be. And that's the last thing you want! Some newly qualified ESL
teachers go out into the classrooms today like so many sacrificial lambs! They want to be nice, fun and friendly,
but they fail to establish class management rules and boundaries from day one and the children stampede right
over them. This can be a bit of a shock!
There are many techniques and strategies for good classroom management and ultimately you have to develop
your own personal style that fits with your philosophy in life and that is also effective. In addition you must
comply with the rules of the establishment you work in. If your school or institution has rules that you do not
agree with and you cannot change them then look for another job! The school should be your ally not your foe.
The Only REAL Classroom Management Solution
Rather than a plan, strategy or technique, the vital key to good classroom management comes from the ESL
teacher's attitude and decision to earn the love and respect of your students. Think about it, if students like you
and respect you they will naturally behave well and pay attention because they want to please you. So how can
an ESL teacher make this happen?

Good Classroom Management Rule 1

Be a mentor not a friend and earn the children's trust by being
firm, fair and consistent.
Save yourself the humiliation of trying to be the students' best buddy, they will probably laugh at you behind
your back. Rather be their mentor, a model for them to copy, not only in terms of learning English but also in
terms of how you expect them to behave. You are someone they can trust and come to for help. Err on the side
of being strict, especially at first. It is harder to become strict if you have been casual and lenient.
The children will trust you if you are consistent, clear in establishing the rules from day one and consistent in
applying them. Refuse to go on teaching until your rules are applied. If you are inconsistent, if you yell at the
children or lose your cool, suddenly punish a child unexpectedly, put them down, be sarcastic or embarrass
them, they will know that they cannot trust you.
Good Classroom Management Rule 2
Show your EFL / ESL pupils that you care about them.
At the same time as being firm and fair in class find opportunities to talk to your ESL students informally
outside of class time for example sharing a walk over to the canteen or down a corridor. When you get the
chance ask the children how they are, what sports they like, who their favourite band is at the moment and so
on. The children will feel special because you have taken some of your time to speak to them. If the children
feel that you know them, you know what they like, what they can't wait to do when they get home and so on,
they will truly feel that you care about them. Now tell me, seriously, how much more likely are they to behave
when class time comes round? In fact they could even feel embarrassed for playing you up!
Another way to communicate that you care is to look at your pupils, make eye contact and smile at them. If you
have some ESL pupils you do not like in your class put yourself in their shoes and do whatever it takes to
replace your negative feelings with feelings of compassion for that student.
Good Classroom Management Rule 3
Get closer to your EFL / ESL pupils.
Never spend a full class up at the board or at the front, behind your barrier of a desk. Instead, perhaps during an
ESL writing task, take some time to sit in next to different students and ask them how they are, ask them if they
have anything in particular they would like to ask you that they have not understood, or just tell them that they
are doing well and put a couple of ticks on their work.
Good Classroom Management Rule 4
Praise and encourage good behaviour.
Children respond far better to praise than criticism, which only makes them shrivel up inside and feel worthless.
Never ever, ever use destructive criticism. Far too many human beings have a lack of self-love, as it is, without
propagating it further in the classroom. There is so much good that you can do as an ESL teacher by increasing
your pupils' self-esteem through praise and encouragement.
If you listen to a rather shocking number of parents, they spend their whole time telling their children to stop
doing this or stop doing that, and the whole dialogue is negative. Be conscious and make sure you do not fall

into that trap. Focus on the positive in order to draw more attention to it and apply the universal law of "you
attract what you focus on".
Make sure you give plenty of praise and encouragement to ESL students who are well behaved. For example,
give out tasks to students who are being good, thank them for being well behaved or for doing something
quietly. If children are vying to get your attention say; "I'm picking Sarah because she has been so good today".
If a student is being naughty avoid using his or her name. Children love the sound of their own names it means
they are getting attention. If Johnny is talking say, "I'm listening to Sarah now".
Rewarding students is all part of the process. This does not mean taking them out to pizza. I personally am
against rewarding ESL students in this way. To me it belittles the teacher to have to resort to such things, not to
mention the fact that ESL teachers are usually not properly paid for the work they do without having to spend
part of their salary on bribes for the children.
Instead use ideas that confer responsibility or distinction on the pupil such as: verbal or written praise, a positive
note to take home to parents, a star on the work, displaying a particular student's work on the wall, being given a
seat of honour, being named the student of the day or week, being given a special responsibility such as running
an errand for the teacher, doing the role-call, helping the teacher with a class activity, collecting or giving out
materials, leading a group activity or tutoring another student.
Good Classroom Management Rule 5
Make your teaching style interesting and varied.
Tap into all the different ESL learning styles so that you reach all students in your class. Just standing there
talking at the board is not going to interest many children anyway, but aside from that, you'll miss the children
who mainly learn from tactile and kinaesthetic experience. By using a wide variety of ESL classroom games you
will by default dabble in auditory, visual, kinaesthetic and tactile skills and thus engage all your pupils at least
some of the time.
The other advantage to ESL classroom games is that they engage and motivate the children. It's obvious; if a
child is enjoying the learning process then he or she is FAR more likely to pay attention! It important though to
choose appropriate games for your class size and classroom configuration.