Classroom management and learning environment

Learning environment is the place where learning happens. In order for the learning to take place learning environment needs to be safe, welcoming and encouraging for teacher-student interaction. As a teacher I try to manage the classroom so that every student feels comfortable to work in it and share their ideas, the classroom that promotes good learning possibilities. There are numerous factors contributing to creating a positive and learning promoting classroom environment.

Classroom layout
In TEFL classrooms the main rule for creating an optimal learning environment is to create space which gives abundant opportunities for students’ interaction in English. While group work in my classrooms is present, I give preference to pair work as in pairs each student gets more time and opportunity to engage in interaction.

My favourite classroom layout is a horseshoe or semi-circle for several reasons:

• Students can easily work in pairs and groups of three and the partners can change (turn to the partner on the left/right).
• Students can see everyone in the classroom, which helps students to feel more involved in the class, interact with everyone in the class, participate actively and stay focused.
• It allows the teacher to monitor closely and help during the accuracy focused stages being in front of the students, not leaning over them.
• It allows crouching monitoring technique (sitting down in front of the students) to help or participate in pair/group discussion.
• Teacher can sit in the middle of the horseshoe while conducting feedback being on the same eye level and maintaining eye contact with every student in the class.

Horseshoe and semi-circle are possible for classrooms with small to medium student group size as it requires quite much space for desk arrangement.
In one of my courses in OUAS I have 34 students present. Due to the amount of the students, I do not arrange a horseshoe sitting. The desks remain arranged in rows. What I do in this classroom layout and group size is that I make sure I move desks to make more space between the rows so that I can walk and sit down in between the rows to help with tasks, giving attention to every student. I make sure every student has a pair and they can easily turn around to make a group of 4.

I place a chair in the middle of the classroom, from which I conduct feedback. I choose not to stand in front of the classroom or move back and forth when conducting feedback. When teacher remains centrally seated while doing feedback, same eye level and possibility of eye contact, it builds sense of trust, support and equality. Standing over the students emphasises authority of the teacher and promotes power distance.

Rapport

Rapport is the key to making a learning environment friendly and welcoming in the classroom. I plan my lessons with initial icebreakers, fun and engaging warm-ups. I try to personalise the material for the students asking them of their experiences and opinions during the discussion parts. Smile and encouragement are of utmost importance. I try to smile and praise students and let them know that their effort and input is very welcome and appreciated. I do not criticise or say something negative if a student makes a mistake, I stay encouraging.

Monitoring

I let the students know that I’m available to give them help anytime. I monitor actively during the classes during the task performance stage.

Knowing who can work/interact together

 After observing the students and teaching them I know how to group students better. When they feel comfortable in interaction with each other, more interaction will take place, hence more active use of language.  I also encourage peer help, especially when some students are of slightly different lower level or lack certain skill to perform a task.

Interaction with students.

Two important concepts of communicative language teaching methodology is TTT – teacher talking time and STT- student talking time.  The more teacher talks to students, the less time students get to work with the language and practice it. The TTT should be reduced as much as possible and limited to giving instructions and eliciting feedback. Basically, the less teacher talks, the better. In my classes I stick to the principle of as little TTT as possible. Beginning of the lesson to break the ice, instructions and feedback is the teacher-students interactions in the classroom. Monitoring during the tasks is not considered TTT as personal help is being provided in challenging situations to one student, pair or group.  

Throughout all my interactions with students before, during and after my classes, I’ve been respectful, encouraging and available for feedback and help when needed. Students seem to have perceived me very well during the teaching practice, giving very positive written feedback on my classes. I have not had any significant problems in interaction with any of the students.