For those of you who are fellow Core French teachers (especially those of you in middle school), classroom management is without a doubt the greatest challenge for a whole set of unique reasons. No more needs to be said about why this is so, it is just the reality of the situation. Having been approached recently by two new Core French teachers who were doubtful as to their very survival (“I hope I can make it through, I really do”), it seems to be an ongoing issue that deserves to be addressed in depth. The following “series” (in three parts) is the culmination of many years of experience, trial, error and hindsight. New teachers take heart (sort of)! It will always be more of an issue for you than your colleagues but classroom management becomes easier once you accept this and work with it instead of bemoaning your fate. Consider the following a roadmap not only to survival but also to emerging as a stronger individual.
Strategize – Never Underestimate the Value of a Well-Crafted Seating Plan
By now, the calm and complacent behaviour of the first week of school is but a distant memory. On the plus side, you should have a much better idea of who your students really are in terms of their ability, their peer relationships and any other outstanding issues. Use this knowledge to your advantage to come up with a classroom setup and pairings of students. I usually illicit some feedback from students by getting them to give me the names of two to three other students they feel would be effective partners. Some of their input may be surprising. When it comes time to the “reveal”, you might be surprised at the amount of excitement a new seating plan generates. It’s a sure fire way to shake things up (as I am fond of saying) and keep it fresh.
Plan Meticulously
I found when faced with management issues, knowing exactly what you wanted to accomplish and how to go about doing so was an effective way of keeping your lesson and your students on track. This means having a clear overall vision of where you’re headed but also includes accounting for every minute of the period. Being unprepared opens up the floodgates to potential problems. The amount of work this requires is daunting and relentless but it really does pay off in spades and will allow you to be more spontaneous later on.
Break Down the Period Predictably into Chunks
Example of a 40 min period.
Warm up – 5 min
Conversation – 5 min
*Mini Lesson – 10 min
Work Time – 10 min
Review Activity – 5 min
Clean Up/Exit – 5 min
The most important time frame is the 10 minute mini lesson. When struggling with classroom control, DO NOT EXCEED THIS LIMIT. Short but sweet should be your motto. Your goal here is to be able to clearly communicate a concept without being sidetracked. No matter how tempting, do not get involved in long winded explanations about why they have to take French or why chair is a feminine word but blackboard is not. Also don’t worry if not everyone gets what you’re trying to teach. Stop after the 10 minutes and instead work with students one on one or in small groups.
