2️⃣

Week 2: Classroom
Management
Created @January 13, 2025 2:56 PM

I. What is Classroom Management?

Definition
Classroom management encompasses a variety of skills and techniques that
teachers can use to create a high-performing learning environment.
Keep students organized, on task, focused,…

Classroom Management areas

1. Activities

Setting up activities

Giving instructions

Monitoring / Timing / Ending activities

2. Grouping & Seating

Forming groupings (singles, pairs, groups, mingle, plenary (gather together))

Arranging/Rearranging seating

Standing/Sitting positions

Reforming class after activities

3. Authority

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 Gathering/Holding attention

Deciding who does what (answer questions, make a decision,etc)

Establishing/Relinquishing (giving up/stop) authority as appropriate

Getting someone to do sth

4. Critical moments

Starting the lesson

Dealing with the unexpected problems

Maintaining appropriate discipline

Finishing the lesson

5. Tools & Techniques

Using the board & other classroom equipment/aids

Using gestures → helping the clarity of instructions/explanations

Speaking clearly at an appropriate volume & speed

Use of silence

Grading complexity of language

Grading quantity of language

6. Working with people

Spreading attention evenly and appropriately

Using intuition to gauge what students are feeling

Eliciting honest feedback from students

Really listen to students

Classroom management
Definition: A combination of decisions and actions

Actions: What is physically or verbally done in the classroom (e.g.,

rearranging chairs)

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 (What we do in the class?)

Decisions: Choosing whether, when, how, and who will carry out actions

(When/How,… we the actions in the class)

Decision-making process:

Every classroom moment presents multiple options

Examples of decisions teachers make:

What to say and how to say it

When to stop or extend an activity

Whether to address unexpected student behaviors

Whether to take action or let things be

Nature of classroom management choices:

No single “right” way to manage a lesson

No perfect lesson or universal solution

Different situations require different responses

Some choices may prove more effective than others, but alternative routes
remain unknown

The role of reflection:

Post-lesson reflection helps improve future decision-making

Evaluating what worked and what didn’t for better future outcomes

Essential skills for effective classroom management:

Observing and reading classroom events in real-time

Considering different possible actions

Making appropriate decisions based on the context

Executing decisions efficiently and effectively

Basic skills of classroom management:

Look Options Actions

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 Looking at the classroom Doing the chosen
Findings options
minute by minute action

Making decisions bw one

option and another

II. Lesson management

Teaching is like spinning plates—constantly shifting attention to
keep everything running smoothly

Definition
Managing and organizing learning activities

Maximizing pupils’ productive involvement

Challenges: Large class sizes and varying abilities

(Dean, 2000; Haydn, 2007; Kyriacou, 1997)

Beginnings, transitions, endings

Beginning punctually
On time: 5-10 minutes earlier

Having some chit-chatting with students during “dead-time”

Establishing a positive mental set

Mental state of teachers: tone of voice, mood, standing positions

Mental state of students: open the books, make their seat

Advanced organizers: share with the students the objectives of the lesson

(they know what they need to achieve, just the key points of the objects, help
students reflect on what they have learnt)

Smooth transitions

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 Smoothness:

Lesson starts smoothly

Smooth transitions bw activities

Decide at which moment to give instruction to the whole class

Jerkiness: illogical way of organizing activities

Ending the lesson

On time & well-signaled ending: wrap-up, assign homework

End the lesson on time: no late than 10-15 min

III. Seating
Seating arrangement

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 Semi-fixed is the good way

IV. Giving & Checking instructions

Example:

Please open your books on page 87, look at the pictures about the man does now
and what he used to do

Then, write about 4 sentences about things you used to do and compares with
your partners in a group 2 two or 3.
After that, move around the class to find the one who used to do the same things
as you.

The instruction is too long without checking instruction

(Not merely use “Do you understand?”, but try to go into more details)

💡 Grammar teaching

Setting the context

Give 1 or 2 controlled exercises

Giving example, then guide students into the tasks

Why giving & checking instructions?

Ss know what they’re expected to do about the tasks/activities

To check whether students have understood the instructions

How to give instruction?

Choosing technique of giving instructions: depends on the students level

Some techniques to give instruction:

Step-by-step / Feed-in approach: giving one ins at a time, not all a list of
instructions all together. Make sure students understand every word

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 “Show-Don’t-Tell”: Teacher does not talk about what students must do, but
demonstrate it → easier to understand the demonstration, reduce teacher
talking time

Say-Do-Check: Teachers says the ins, then get the students to do it, then
checks what Ss have done

Student Recall: ask Ss to say what they have to do in Vietnamese after

giving English instructions (Or instead, ask them what they have to do in
English but very simple questions) → helpful for low-level students)

Task 6 (page 44)

1. Work in pairs. One of you is A and the other is B (add gestures/body

languages)

Students A will have picture A; Student B will have picture B. There are some
differences bw them.

Without showing your pic to your partner, describe it.

The other student if you realize a different deetail, please draw it out in your
picture.

(Then teacher models the activities with one of the students in the class)

2. Open your book to page 35 and 36. Read the introduction and look at the
illustration, answer the questions.

3. What do you think about smoking? / Share your opinion about smoking please.

4. Can you speak louder? / Can you repeat your answer?

5. Thanks for your answer. That’s not the correct one. Can you tell me the name
of the verb tenses are used?

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 💡 You should:

Write down / Note on slides the instructions, talking and writing

simultaneously

Underline the keywords of the instructions

Asking some checking questions

V. Teacher positioning
Standing

Sitting

Crouching

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