Chapter 9: Who’s The Boss around Here? Managing Your Classroom 133
✓ The class is too big. This comes down to school policy but if you
happen to have a class of 30 or 40, identify the more capable students
and make them group leaders. Ask them to help you by organising the
other students. They may enjoy being used as assistant teachers too.✓ Your school says that you have to use a particular course book but it’s
as dull as ditchwater. Follow the syllabus but supplement the book with
your own ideas whenever you can.Dealing with disruptive students
Students are disruptive for various reasons. The most common problem is
that they’re bored because they don’t understand or because they don’t have
enough to do. Students who really are too smart for the level, or not com-
petent enough for it, should move to another class. Ask the school for help
arranging this.Keep a few extra activities on hand to keep the faster workers busy.Disruptive students come in some familiar forms:✓ The ‘clever -clogs’ who asks questions to show off or just to catch you
out. One solution is to ask them to do their research at home and report
their findings to you after the next lesson. They won’t be playing to a full
house after the lesson so may not bother but if they do and their find-
ings are correct, you can try involving them in presenting the informa-
tion to the class at an appropriate time.
✓ The student who wants to have a personal consultation in the middle
of the lesson. These characters ask questions that no one else in the
class is interested in or that have no connection to the lesson (or even
the course for that matter).
I recommend that when a student says, ‘Can I ask a question?’ you find
out whether it’s directly relevant to the situation. You can reply by
asking whether the student’s question is about the lesson because if not
he can ask you later (when he’ll probably have forgotten it anyway). If
you make it a habit to open up questions to the class, this lessens the
focus on you and reinforces the community setting, reminding everyone
to do what is best for the group.
If one student is unhappy about the lesson, arrange to talk to him about
it afterwards and before he convinces everyone else in the class that he’s
right and you’re wrong. Some students just want to be heard or at least
to be satisfied that you’re doing your best under the circumstances.