Speaker 1: One of the issues many teachers struggle with is controlling then teaching large classes. Large classes could mean anything from 30 to 70 students in one classroom. And to imagine some of us struggle with only a handful of students in our classes. So if you manage to control and effectively teach a large group like 50 students, anything else is a piece of cake. In this video I will first look at the seven problems we have when teaching big classes and then I will give seven ideas for solving those issues. The majority of large classes consist of school children or teenagers where teachers are bound to have behavioral issues. How do you get students to pay attention and not throw that eraser at their classmates head? Students have a different home language. Standing in front of 70 plus teenagers trying to encourage them to speak English is difficult. Most learners have a different mother language. So it is tough to motivate them to use English in the classroom. They might be shy or not interested. Teachers have to speak louder than usual causing a strain on their throat. They have to walk more to check in on the students and constantly pay attention to all areas of their classroom. Addressing the needs of so many students can be exhausting. Teachers are limited in what they can do within such a confined space. Most of the time teachers have very little space to conduct kinesthetic activities such as running diction or wall tasks. You will need to think of other ways to keep them occupied. With larger class numbers there comes an even more diverse range of learning styles and individual need for feedback. That requires more one-to-one attention. Teachers feel like they are neglecting learners' individual needs as this isn't physically possible. Schools don't have adequate resources to cater for classes of this size. So much of the teacher's time is required to design their own paperless lessons. Quieter students don't like to speak out in front of large groups of people. And so teachers have the added difficulty of ensuring that these students do not get lost in large classes. Let's look at some ideas to solve these issues. Teach learners procedures from the very start. For the first couple of weeks you will practice it every day to reinforce that behavior. What procedures do I include? An entrance and exit routine. How they come into your class and how they leave. Rules for class conduct. No speaking when the teacher is instructing. And that means no interruptions, asking your friend a question or bothering others. Also have a way to get their attention. Be it with a chime or raising your hand. Students need that clarity. If there is one difference between a good class and a bad class it's that there is clarity on classroom rules and students know what they have to do. Bad classes in turn have unclear rules that allow students to cause trouble and act out. With very young learners you can use basic expressions in their home language for instruction. With your students your job as an English teacher is to instill a passion for the language. Use flashcards and activities that get students to interact with the language. With large classes it is very difficult to use small flashcards. So you will have to use a projector which most schools have and the whiteboard. Use it to show your students colorful pictures and do activities which include multimedia like videos and sound. One of the oldest techniques for teaching ESL is the use of chants. Let students stand up at the start of the lesson and do a chant with them related to vocabulary or the topic they will learn that day. With older students you should do more pair work and activities where they can use their own experiences and knowledge such as surveys and questionnaires. If they are utterly out of control at any age there is a major problem with ethos and classroom management and you should fix that immediately. Restart the class and get those procedures down. The fact is you want the students to interact with the language as much as possible and also heap praise on them when they excel in class. You have to show them that you appreciate it when they use English in the classroom. When you give them enough praise they will try harder in the future. Nothing is as bad as a teacher that has to speak loudly to be heard the whole day. The truth is that the only time a class is draining is when the teacher doesn't have 100% control over it. They feel like they have to speak loudly to keep their students' attention and therefore tend to use too much teacher talking time. Keep teacher talking time to a minimum. Explain to the class that you will not shout. If you must, use a microphone connected to speakers or an amplifier. Make students distribute papers as class helpers and make use of the class captain for menial tasks. Have procedures in your class to make your life easier. Use activities where students interact more with each other to limit teacher talking time and use a microphone if available. I'll also note that writing instructions on the board or projector is very good so students can read the instructions. Then you don't have to repeat yourself as much. Unfortunately with large classes space is limited. Do chants and poses with the students while standing behind their desks. Let students work with elbow buddies and do short peer activities with the student right behind them. In large classes students can't move around so only do that if you have a special activity planned. Practice activities with students and drill new activities so that they know what is expected of them. I would hate to mark hundreds of tests but that is what teachers have to do on a weekly basis. Do short surveys at the end of class to check understanding and reinforce what they have learned. Let the students write exit tickets about what they've learned and read some out loud in the following class. Systematically work through the entire class so that you can reach all the students at some point. Take care not to neglect certain students or call on the same ones over and over again. You can do it alphabetically or from side to side. Don't let anyone fall through the cracks. It is vitally important to check the understanding of your learners during the lesson so do in-class feedback. Ask students to show thumbs up or thumbs down if they understand. They can also put fingers in front of their chests. Three means I've got this. Integrate the learners backgrounds and experiences as content for your lessons. Resources and books may be limited. Try and use books with online components for teaching. Be consistent in that you ask random students questions throughout your class. It keeps them on their toes. If a student is hesitant to answer, give them 10 seconds. Then ask their friend. If you give them 10 seconds and they don't answer, they will feel two things. Number one, the teacher gave me enough time to answer, I failed. Number two, because the teacher gave me enough time to answer, I will try harder in the future so I don't disappoint them. Remember not to punish the students but encourage them to do better. Be sure to walk around the class and question learners while they're busy with pair and group activities. Teaching big classes is difficult for many teachers but if you create a welcome atmosphere with strict rules and procedures that students agree to, your time teaching will be much easier than you fear.