The four tendencies
Identifying your students' expectations
We are all constantly subject to a variety of inner and outer expectations. At school, our students impose inner expectations on themselves ('I want to be the best in the class'), while teachers, etc are sources of outer expectations.
Classroom management muscle
Lessons from Arnie in Kindergarten Cop
Let us spend this blog investigating the question of classroom management. To do so, I'd like to use a visual example from a movie, something we can all relate to in some way.
I'm starting to enjoy edutainment
Edutainment is the idea that teachers should entertain and not just teach students. Teachers should be like game show hosts or performers in the classroom.
Chances are that your employer in Thailand will put some pressure on you to add some edutainment to help them keep students and get good reviews. If you can’t do this then you’ll probably be looking for a new job pretty soon.
Games to try in your classroom
Five games / activities that work with Thai students
Thai students of all ages love games. Even adult learners with serious jobs can really get into games. I also love them too because they are a fun thing to add to a class and you can make them relevant at the same time.
The importance of a positive learning environment
It helps to think back to my own past school experiences.
Call me an idealist, but each time I see a teacher whose negativity and/or negative reinforcement tactics are obvious, the Pink Floyd music video plays in my mind. “Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone…”
Overjustification
Is there a place for rewards in the classroom?
Having classroom management problems? Try using candy as a reward for good behavior or good grades. Kids love candy, so it works great as a reward. Or does it?
A better way to deal with class disruptions
What to do when students misbehave
This article is for teachers like me who don't have formal training to do what they do, but who nevertheless want to do the best that they can to enrich and improve their own lives as well as those of their students.
Thai education and TEFL class management
A look at three practical examples to use in your classroom
Class management, although employing techniques, isn't so much a process as a mind-set requiring a separate skill set from that of delivery, a point often missed in progressive education orthodoxy.
‘Sanook’, games and the Thai EFL classroom
Should teachers be entertainers?
One would think that the Thais' love of ‘sanook' would make the EFL classroom an inviting place for new EFL teachers, but the situation can be frustrating.
The system is a mess!
Postbox letter from Wilf
In my time teaching in Thai schools in the Thai system, I could manage to control most of my classes, but some were simply impossible. The reason for all of this is not always the teacher's fault. Nor is it really the pupils' either. It's the system as a whole.
