Chapter 9: Who’s The Boss around Here? Managing Your Classroom 127
Organising Your Classroom
The layout of your TEFL classroom depends to some extent on the resources
available to you. What you do with them is largely up to you. Even if the
chairs are fixed to the floor, you can introduce less regimentation with cre-
ative wall decorations.Considering basic equipment...........................................................
The basic equipment is, of course, a place for your students to sit and a
board for you to write on. However, you need to think about a few other con-
siderations such as:✓ The size and shape of the room.
✓ The number of students.
✓ Equipment such as electrical items that need to be connected to a
power socket.
✓ Special and individual needs your students may have. A partially sighted
student needs to be close to the board, and left-handers may need extra
elbow room – just two examples.
✓ The surrounding environment including noise from traffic or other
rooms. Check whether you can have the windows or door open.
✓ Lighting. Make sure that there are no dark corners or a glare on the
white board.
✓ The versatility of the furniture. Some schools nail their furniture to the
floor, whereas in others cases you may have a choice of the items to use.
✓ Where students put their bags and coats. Get a few hooks put up, espe-
cially if you want your students to have the freedom to move around.
✓ Heating and cooling. There should be adequate ventilation and tempera-
ture control to enable your students to concentrate.
Most teachers like to personalise their classrooms when it’s appropriate by
putting up posters, reminders, notices and examples of students’ work.Hopefully your school has a self-access centre for students to do extra work
in but if not, make an area of your classroom a mini self-access centre where
students can pick up a novel or magazine and use a computer to research
their work. If the budget is tight, try using free literature such as holiday bro-
chures for English-speaking countries there, along with some extra grammar
and vocabulary exercises.