Whatever
the teacher does on the first day of a new school year
or a new term set the boundaries of classroom behavior
for that period. This seems
to be an unwritten rule of group dynamics in the classroom.
The Japanese
school year starts in April. This means that the time
to make changes in existing classes, or to set ground
rules for new classes, will soon be here. I have found
that if I take a "wait-and-see" attitude, I
often miss the single most valuable opportunity to set
the class "mood" for the time remaining. An
example of taking a wait-and-see approach would be to
go to the class with only a hazy idea of what I hoped
to do, with the rationalization that I don't really know
what to do because I haven't seen the students, don't
know their English level or whatever.
While it is
often true that I don't know much about their English
ability, there are things I can be pretty sure of and
I can use simple guidelines to predict what course of
action I can take on the first day. First, the students
will either be new to me or will be people I've taught
before. Second, the students will be new to each other
or they will already know one another. If they do know
each other, it may be on a very superficial level, or
they may actually know one another well. Correctly evaluating
these factors and using them in planning my first class
meeting can make or break my whole teaching year. Here
in brief, are some factors to consider for each class
type:
New Teacher
- New Students: Concentrate on getting the students
to interact with you, the teacher, first, then with each
other. A good "ice breaker" is teaching the
class to shake hands - firm handshake, direct eye-contact,
shake twice, let go at the same time - first with the
teacher, then with their classmates (That's right, walk
around the room and shake hands with every student, encouraging
and making corrections as necessary.) Play some upbeat
background music and have fun!
New Teacher
- Old Students: Since they know each other but not
you, concentrate on getting them to find out about you,
as you learn about them. Start with every one standing
up. Let them sit down only after they have interacted
with you. Gravity makes a good Assistant Language Teacher.
The key here is that every one has to interact, so no
one will stand out, so everyone will do it.
Old Teacher
- New Students: By which I mean they've all had you
before but they are in new classes. Many schools mix the
students up so a second or third year class will be used
to you on an individual basis but not to each other. They
are probably more worried about their peers. Hand shakes
ans self-introductions can be used to good effect here.
If they are accustomed to singing, give them a song they
alredy know.
Old Teacher
- Old Students: Now is the time to introduce any departures
from your previous teaching style. For example, in Grade
8 (chu 2) I let the students say "a-im-u"
for "I'm" but this year I only respond to "a-im"
wihtout the epenthesis (added, unneeded syllables).
I do this by pretending I don't understand what they say.
They will immediately "self-correct" their pronunciation
at the slightest sign a teacher fails to understand them
anyway. So I don't have to say anything negative like
"Your pronunciation is wrong." They know that.
When I hear something that I like, I respond appropriately.
This tells my Grade 9s that this year they (1) have to
improve their pronunciation and (2) improved pronunciation
means dropping the epenthesis. (I don't explain the term,
I just demonstrate the desired behavior and reward it
when I get it.)
Make changes
from the first day and stick to them. It is very difficult
to change directions on Day 2. You should consider making
at least some changes because the students are getting
older, at least some of them are getting better at English,
and if you keep using the exact same techniques every
year, you, the teacher, will be heading for burnout. The
students welcome variety too.
Something new
should be done on Day 1 regardless of the type of class:
If you plan to have them sign, hand out song sheet or
whatever and repeat it on Day 2 and 3. If you plan to
use the "stand-up-respond-then-you-can-sit-down"
technique in large classes, I've found Day 1 to be best.
Hit'em while they're still in shock.
Applied to
your classroom, even a simple paradigm such as this can
be a powerful tool in aiding you to make systematic observations
and predictions which will let you generate new ideas
that can be the basis of changes in group dynamics, lesson
plans or even a syllabus.
