{"id":295,"date":"2012-04-01T12:55:37","date_gmt":"2012-04-01T12:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/?p=295"},"modified":"2012-04-01T13:20:43","modified_gmt":"2012-04-01T13:20:43","slug":"what-are-some-strategies-for-working-with-large-classes-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/2012\/04\/01\/what-are-some-strategies-for-working-with-large-classes-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategies for large classes – Chiew Pang"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Managing the large classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, how large is a large classroom? 30 students? 50? 3,269? It\u2019s all somewhat relative, isn\u2019t it? For someone who\u2019s used to a 100-student classroom, having 30 students will have him gleaming with joy! So, the real difficulty may not be the number itself but rather the consequences of having such numbers.<\/p>\n

One of the most nagging complaints you hear from teachers is the number of students in their classroom. But, what is the real problem? Not enough air? Not enough chairs? Unlikely. Too noisy? Too impersonal? Perhaps.<\/p>\n

The most common practice in the large classroom is, undoubtedly, group work. Set a task and the groups get to work while the teacher moves around, monitoring. Any emergent language issues can be dealt with the whole classroom later. To avoid valuable class time in forming into groups, pre-arrange them. Set a fortnightly or monthly group list and ensure that everyone knows to which group they belong. Stick it up on the classroom wall.<\/p>\n

There are various criteria you can follow for forming groups and they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. You can form groups of similar levels so they can work at the same pace, or you can mix stronger and weaker students together so that the former can help the latter.<\/p>\n

An extension of group work is to set up work stations where each station caters for specific skills and tasks. Students decide on the stations they wish to work on and when they complete the task, they move on to another on a different station.<\/p>\n

If you are fortunate enough to have a computer lab, this is a great environment to use for large classes, too. I like setups, such as a horseshoe formation, where the teacher can see at a glance what the students are doing and can dart in and out to help and direct whoever needs it. I have created interactive quizzes, games, etc, on my personal blog, which I have used to great effect in the past. I\u2019ve created activities where I can receive the results of the students\u2019 attempts so I can check their progress. Have several links pre-prepared, or you can use a Google Doc and put the links there. Students do the tasks at their own pace, and repeat as many times as necessary.<\/p>\n

Discipline is often an issue in big classes. Set up rules from the first day and abide by them. Better still, have the students themselves decide on the rules! They\u2019re more likely to follow them. Elect a few \u201cassistants\u201d to help you with management. Know the school rules regarding disciplinary action. Know what you\u2019re allowed or not allowed to do. Can you reflect good\/bad behaviour in the grades, for example?<\/p>\n

Noise is often an important issue in these classes. How do you get the students\u2019 attention? Shouting isn\u2019t the solution, nor is banging the table. Perhaps you\u2019d need a microphone if your class is that big! Perhaps a whistle \u2013 I have been told that the sound of whistles affects teenagers more than adults. Have a sign \u2013 again, establish this in the first class \u2013 for example, raising of the arm (or the sign of the llama) means that the whole class has to repeat the sign themselves and become silent.\u00a0 You wait for silence to be restored before putting your arm down and speaking again.<\/p>\n

(I\u2019d like to thank @michaelegriffin, @phil3wade, @Roselink, @kevchanwow and @cherrymp for their contribution to my crowd-sourcing document<\/a>. \u2013 Chiew )<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Managing the large classroom First of all, how large is a large classroom? 30 students? 50? 3,269? It\u2019s all somewhat relative, isn\u2019t it? For someone who\u2019s used to a 100-student classroom, having 30 students will have him gleaming with joy! So, the real difficulty may not be the number itself but rather the consequences of … Continue reading Strategies for large classes – Chiew Pang<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strategies-for-large-classes-topics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}