IFD Rocha ¨Héctor Lorenzo y Losada¨
Centro de Referencia: Cerp del Este Maldonado
Classroom Management: Scrivener vs Brown
Read Chapter 5 Classroom Management of Scrivener's book: “Learning Teaching” and Chapter 21 Classroom Management of Brown's book: “Teaching by Principles” and
compare and contrast both authors.
Classroom Management by Scrivener
● Scrivener states that changing seating arrangements can help students
interact with different people than the ones they normally do. He also
mentions how it’s difficult to sit still for a long time, so teachers should
include activities that give them a chance to do some movement. Scrivener
mentions a few arrangements like fixed, semi-fixed, and large seating.
What he means is that seating should be movable and adapt to what the
needs of the lesson are: if they are going to work in pairs the seats should
be clearly separated in pairs, if they are working in opposing teams the
teams should be facing each other, etc.
● Scrivener does not mention these factors as Brown does. He only mentions
the seating arrangement as stated previously.
● Scrivener gives a more detailed description of the use of the board, and
how to possibly divide it to categorize and organize it. He also gives some
advice on how teachers should stand while writing on the board and how to
Didactics I
Prof. Lilia Ferragut
Student: Agustina Molina
Date: 19/06/2023
Classroom Management by Brown
● Brown talks about seating arrangements, he highly suggests changing the
traditional rows as students are members of a team and should be able to
see each other and interact. He mentions semicircle patterns, U shapes,
concentric circles, or even one circle if the classroom allows it. This should
facilitate teamwork and communication among students.
● The author also talks about the classroom itself, that if we have the
possibility to get our classroom prepared, the better. Different aspects
such as hygiene, the board is erased, chairs are arranged, bullet boards
are used to help visual learning, the classroom is as noise-free as possible,
and heating and cooling systems are working. Also regarding the
equipment we are going to use; if there are working outlets, everyone can
see the screen and board, and we know how to operate it. It’s highly
possible that teachers might not be able to control all of these factors, but if
it’s within reach, teachers should make their classrooms as comfortable as
possible.
● Use of the board: he briefly mentions the importance of using the board to
our advantage by illustrating with words, pictures, charts, and graphs. Also
taking into account that it has to have an order and needs to be neat as the
 avoid silence and keep the class going while writing. board is a guide to students.
Another thing he mentions is how we can use drawings to express what we
want to say.

● Here, Scrivener talks about gestures and facial expressions to facilitate ● Another factor Brown mentions is our projection of voice and body
giving instructions and increase opportunities for learners to talk. Some language. He states that one of the requirements of good teaching is good
possible gestures could be used for following instructions: voice projection, teachers need to be heard by all the students in the room.
- stand up It’s also important to present ourselves confidently in front of a class, our
- work on your own faces should reflect warmth, and we should use hand and facial gestures to
- five minutes left enhance meanings. Making eye contact is also important, moving around
- quieten down and dressing appropriately is another thing to take into account. Brown also
- listen to me talks about gestures to get learners’ attention.
- listen to her/him
- please stop talking now
- stop a noisy student talking to enable someone else to speak.

● Something Scrivener talks about is monitoring, what our role is after ● On the other hand, Brown doesn’t explicitly talk about monitoring but
setting up the activity in which they mainly work in pairs or groups. mentions how the teacher shouldn’t plant their feet firmly in one place for
He says there are a few things teachers can do, such as: the whole hour, and that we should move around but not distract them.
- Immediately after setting up the activity, go through the students
and make sure they understood the activity.
- We can monitor discreetly, the students know we are there, but we
aren’t actively interfering, just when necessary.
- We can vanish, there are certain activities where our presence can
be distracting, such as a reading activity, we can sit at the back in
a corner and not interfere.
- Likewise, we can monitor actively by walking around, viewing and
listening to the groups, and giving advice and corrections.
- And we can also participate by joining the groups, offering ideas,
helping with questions, and joining in discussions.

● When talking about eliciting, the author mentions that is related to drawing ● Brown doesn’t explicitly talk about eliciting.
out information, language, and ideas from students. It enables teachers to
start from where the learners are and then from where to work forward to.
There are three types to eliciting:
- conveying a clear idea to students by using pictures, gestures, or
questions
- then supplying the appropriate language, information, or ideas.
- And lastly, give them feedback.
● Scrivener talks about intuition and teaching, which can be related to what ● A related aspect that Brown talks about in this chapter is the teachers’
Brown talks about in roles and teaching styles. Sometimes teachers face roles and styles.
situations where they have to make spontaneous decisions upon previous The roles are related to the many possibilities a teacher can play such as:
experiences we have stored inside to help interpret what is happening at - an authority figure
that moment. It’s really important that after that happens, we reflect upon - leader
our decision, and what could’ve possibly gone wrong. These reactions - knower
depend on our personality and the previous experiences we have had. - director
- manager
- counselor
- guide
- friend
- confidante
- parent
And when talking about teaching styles, it will always be related to our
personality style, which can vary from person to person.

● With Scrivener, we have the topic of classroom interaction, which covers
TTT and STT and how we as teachers should try decreasing our talking
time and this goes on hand with building a rapport with students. Building
a friendly environment between them and us, there’s a chance of useful
student interaction. He also talks about allowing time for them to listen,
think, and process their answer and really listen to what they have to say.
● One of the most important topics Brown talks about is creating a positive
classroom climate. This is connected to establishing rapport, and positive
energy within the classroom, and therefore building a relationship with our
students that entails trust and respect, which leads to them feeling capable,
competent, and creative. But we need to balance praise and criticism, so it
doesn’t mess up the relationship.