Behaviour :Older students (although may be apt for kids box 4 upwards).

Like young learners, is there a way to get students ‘ready’ for the classroom situation? They’ve come from outside,
talking with friends, joking as they come in…. What could you do in order to have them ‘change their chip’ as they
move into the classroom environment? (Ask them to wait outside quietly until there ready-ask each a question or
give a greeting as they file in-tell them to find their name -explain they have something to do as soon as the enter-
have a short exercise for them on the desk. It could be a quick puzzle, recap on vocabulary or grammar that they
have done. Make it short.

Seating plan: put names on chairs. This allows you to separate certain students and keep others close to you. You
know your class, so decide which is best. Each week can be different.

Rules Reminder: Ask students what the class rules are and WHY they are important.

Step approach: Follow a stepping up approach- don’t wait till it’s out of hand and go off at the deep end.

1. Warn the student. (Good opportunity to point out correct behaviour of other students). Be precise in the
warning: You’re not allowed to interrupt when others are talking.
2. Separate the student. Move them to the front of the class. If necessary, have them face the front.
3. Have a personal word outside the class – best done when students are doing an activity. Tell the student
that YOU will be talking to me about their behaviour and that if it continues YOU will talk to their parents
about it.
4. It shouldn’t get to this step. Only if the behaviour is disruptive to the point that you can’t give the class, then
send them out to me.

BE CONSISTENT with the above. There are NO second chances, third chances… If you aren’t consistent the
students won’t take you seriously. If you wait before applying the steps, students won’t take you seriously.
If you ignore the behaviour the first time, it will spread to the other students. If you shout or lose your
temper, where do you go from there? – the students won’t take you seriously.
It’s usually the little things that snowball into greater problems down the line. For example, students should
raise their hands to speak. Imagine the situation where you ask a question and a student shouts out the
answer. DON’T acknowledge their answer-remind them of the rule and choose another student.

If any student reaches step two, let me know.

Preparation and Behaviour.

Most behaviour problems arise if the lesson has gaps. This ‘downtime’ gives students the opportunity to
start chatting, make noise, etc... Having your class well prepared is key to stop this from happening. You
should know from start to finish what activities you’ll be doing. Have any relevant tabs open on your
computer from the start of the day so they can be accessed easily. Preparing not only means knowing what
the students will be doing but more importantly HOW.
As you prepare the lesson, you’ll be able to identify transition points where you may have to put on a
listening, a video, etc. You should make this transition while students are doing another activity.