How to Manage your Language Classroom

Classroom management is often the most difficult aspect of beginning teaching. How do you gain respect from your students, especially if you are fresh out of college? Do you address their misbehavior? If so, how do you address it? Which techniques do you use? The classroom management world can be very complex. Here, you will find techniques, activities, and resources to make that world feel a little smaller, and hopefully help you feel more confident when managing your classroom. 

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Techniques

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• These first two articles are general tips to managing your classroom. The first is directed towards second language teachers, and the second is general ways that many people "sabotage" their classroom management

  • ​https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/language-classroom-management/

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• These next two focus on students that are misbehaving or unengaged in the classroom and suggestions on how to approach this

  • ​https://thehighlyeffectiveteacher.com/10-ways-to-deal-with-a-student-who-wont-engage/

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• When it comes to classroom management, the best thing you can do is have a plan and stick with it. Have different levels of different techniques to use in different scenarios, and remember to use referrals, write ups, and calls to admin/the principal as a last resort, or if the behavior has escalated to a point where the student or others are in danger. Always demonstrate kindness and understanding rather than anger and punishment. This will often lead to the continuation of the behavior, and/or a lack of relationship between yourself and the students. 

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Activities

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• Campanadas, or bell ringers, are a great way to get students working and in the mindset of your classroom and the target language from the moment they sit down. It also can be a great introduction/overview of what they will learn today, as well as a reminder of what they learned in the previous lesson

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• You can also use sites like Blooket, Gimkit, Quizlet, or Kahoot as bell ringers. Have the join code up and on the board as students walk in, and start with one of these to practice vocabulary and engage students. These can also be used as rewards if students are engaged in other activities. I highly recommend Blooket and Gimkit, they are extremely enjoyed among all ages of students (Blooket is free!)

• Using a prize box or some sort of reward system is very helpful with classroom management. You can keep it as simple as answering questions right/participating in class earns you a prize, or you can create a whole system with tickets and raffles that you draw out of each week or each month. The possibilities are endless, but no matter which direction you go, this will keep students engaged

• As far as the high school and middle school level, and even some elementary, there is a large issue with cell phone usage in the classroom that is greatly effecting their engagement in and understanding of the content in all classrooms. As far as a language classroom, being distracted and on your phone, that contains LOTS of English, can make it very difficult to pick up on a second language and immerse yourself in that language. Here are two simple ways you can promote less phone usage: 

  • Whenever you see a student on their phone, point at the phone and chant: "Teléfono, teléfono, teléfono, no!" (this may work best for Spanish, but it could be done in other target languages as well). I would correct cell phone behavior in a more discreet way first, such as with your eyes or a quiet, "Put your phone away please." However, if this is not working, or it is a student who is consistently on their phone every day, this little chant might do the trick. Other students will often catch on and chant along with you, or even start to hold each other accountable​

  • Create some sort of point system in which students would put their phone into a pocket by the door with their assigned number. If they do so, they will receive participation points for the day, or extra credit. There is a lot of gray area with phones in schools right now. Many teachers or schools are not allowed to take phones from students, so this is a way to attempt to remove the phone from the students as long as they choose to do so.

  • At the end of the day, the best phone policy to have is no phones. Although this may seem extremely difficult, if you think you are able to pull it off, I would do so. Whether that be signage, consequences, reward systems, etc. The least amount of phones being used/looked at during the time they are learning a second language, the more likely it is that they will retain this information

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Resources

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• Below are 3 different easy-to-use classroom management resources. The first is a way to do seating charts that can be more enjoyable for you and the students, the second is a list of a bunch of different call and responses that you can use to get the attention of your students, and the last one is a website called Classroom Screen. It can be used to project text, such as instructions, a timer, what volume they should be speaking at, etc. It's great to keep both you and your students on track