How to Deal with your Learners and the Classroom

How to Deal with the Learners and the Classroom

Have you ever wondered what makes your students noisy and uninterested?

Do you think your students are too noisy and indifferent?

Most of us think that the lesson and the information we provide to learners are the most important elements in the teaching process.  However, we go on investing so much energy on planning for the lesson and for checking the authenticity of our information without paying attention to the classroom's settings, learners motivation, attitudes, activities' time and the entire atmosphere.  

We might have been through different experiences. But we also might have shared a bit of these difference. For instance, we might have noticed how students can sometimes be noisy and demotivated. In addition, we can feel that they are not interested in what we do. Such things may influence our performance in the classroom; we may either become determined to find a solution for this or start shouting and asking students to pay attention from time to time during the lecture. 

I had a conversation with some teachers and most of what they told me about their learners is:

 "I am having hard times making them concentrate"

"My students think English is not an important subject, especially those who belong to scientific streams",

"My students refuse to write their lesson, others do not listen to me when I explain and only few sit quietly and listen to me."

I remember the first time I started teaching at the university. I had no idea even how to plan for my lecture. Teaching adults seemed different from teaching young learners and I had not a simple idea how to apply all that I have learned about teaching. I entered the classroom and there was nearly 83 student. I was supposed to teach them lessons related to Library Science. All that I was holding was a document handed by the department's staff to me that contains the underlined objectives of the course. However, the first obstacle I faced was not the course design, it was rather the students' behavior and the classroom's settings.

I could not find anything to have the students' attention except by directly asking them to keep quiet and respects the efforts I was doing for them. But I, soon later, discovered that it was WRONG.  Moreover, I noticed that the chairs and tables were fixed on the floor; so, it was hard for me to organize group work or workshops in the classroom. I have to DEAL WITH IT. Once I started teaching in a private school, I had the chance to experience more of those obstacles, but dealing with them was better supported with materials, techniques and other creative ideas.

Well, at least there were no chairs fixed on the floor. 

Thus, I could learn some tips that I would like to share with you for a better future experience:

1: Enjoy

Always start your lesson with a warmer or an icebreaker. It can even be a joke or a song. One of my favorite Icebreakers is called 

Quick Change Game

You can play this quick game with a group of 15 to 20 student. the steps of this game are:

a- Divide your learners into pairs facing each other.

b- Ask students to take a moment to observe each other very well.

c- Ask students to turn back to back.

d- Now students have to change something in their appearance; for instance, unbutton a shirt, open lacers, flip a hat, cuff pants, change hair position ...etc

e- ask the pair to turn again and try to guess what their partners changed.

f- Students describe the changes in a full sentence.

This activity can serve as an Icebreaker and a vocabulary activity. It was inspired by online resources, but  I made some additional changes to it. There are many variations of this activity; for instance:

You can ask one volunteer to stand up for 1 minute so as his classmates observe him/her very well.
Ask the volunteer to go out the classroom and change 3 or 4 things from the list above. He/she comes back again to the classroom and stand in front of their classmates. Here other students have to use full sentences in order to describe the changes. It is so much fun and engaging.


2: Have their attention without raising your voice

In order to have your student follow your instructions quietly the best way is to have their attention without using a loud voice. There are some tricky techniques you can use; for instance:

Clap!

Clap your hand once and ask this question: "Students who can hear me, clap your hands with me twice!"

Animal Sounds!

Use a device like a smartphone or a computer to play an animal sound whenever your students start the noise.


Sounds of Nature!

Use the same devices to play a short sound like thunder, wind or rain in order to have their attention. 

REMEMBER

never shout at your students or label them, it will only make it worst. Remember that your learner is also your partner and you are working hard to accomplish a good result at the end. Just make your lesson fun and engaging and it is better if you are that sort of teachers who are funny and never fears to take a risk telling a joke or making a funny gesture. Students love it. 

Try to build a relationship that might help you make your learners trust you. It is better if one avoid being authoritative over the learners. Nowadays students do not like commands, but they like a gentle request. There are smart ways that can help you gain the trust and the respect of your learner. The classroom is an important element. I have always asked my students to sit in U-shape so as they can communicate with me and with one another. I use the space in the middle for some activities that require students to move and walk around the classroom. I am going to share these types of activities in the coming articles. 

Stay Tuned for more tips