Managing the Classroom
A Critique of Chapter 3
written by Jeremy Harmer (2007)
By Zhang Xiao Yu
Pre-Service Teacher, School of English
Faculty of Social Sciences
Universidad Latina de Costa Rica
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Post 240
Receiving a good reward for teaching not
only relates to teacher’s plan and teaching, but also
relates to how managing the classroom is important. Talking about management,
this is connected to how teachers organize their classes, the way to talk with
their students, the way to introduce the class to new topics, how the class
space is organized, and so on.
Chapter 3 by Harmer (2007) is about some aspects
to manage the classroom. These aspects are: classroom management; the teacher
in the classroom; using the voice; talking to students; giving instructions;
student talk and teacher talk; using the L1; creating lesson stages; different
seating arrangements and different students groupings. The chapter by Harmer
(2007) reminds us that we should be flexible to face the aspects appropriately,
some details like movements; the place to stand; using the voice; the way we
talk with students in the different situation, like giving instructions or
doing an activity; some advantages and disadvantages of seating arrangements, grouping
and pairing.
I disagree with the point made regarding
different students’ groupings, class-to-class. The test stated that joining two
different groups, could be the same levels or different levels, so that they
can interact with each other. If the high levels students interact with low
levels students, the lower ones might learn some things, but how about the high
ones? And sometimes the lower ones might be afraid to talk with the high ones,
like some shy students, they can talk with their peers, but afraid to talk with
the new ones that maybe will cause uncomfortable to some learners.
The chapter by Harmer (2007) also mentions
some different seating arrangements. If a teacher only works with one type of
seating, that will bore the students. For that, sometimes teachers can change
the seating in other to work better. In regards to giving instructions, the
chapter says that the best activity in the world is a waste of time if the
students do not understand what it is they are supposed to do. It is true; try
to make a simple and easy instruction, and do not complicate them. When you are
giving the instructions, make sure that your students are paying attention and
make sure that all your students will understand it. If you can, it is better
to give the students at least one example and that will make they work easier.
There are a lot of teachers who ignore managing
the classroom, or maybe they have nerve care about it. It is a very important
to know it because it will help a teacher’s teaching become easier and
successful.
Reference
Harmer,
J. (2007). “Managing the Classroom”. How to Teach English. Essex: Peason.
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