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Teaching big groups
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Thu, 03/19/2009 - 02:35
How can I teach large groups and still be communicative? Any ideas?
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 20:03
#2
I agree, but I'd go further and organise them in teams that remain stable for the duration of the course. It sometimes takles a long time for learners from some cultures to feel confident working in groups and in communicative language teaching we constantly change them round and never let them get to know their team mates really well.
Teams need some support to form cohesive bonds but team contracts and team tasks can help and these are natural spaces for communication within the group.
Then if you have a large class of teams you really have quite a small class because you view the teams as units.
Olwyn
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 20:15
#3
I agree with your idea of keeping them as teams for the entire term, but to give them the posibiitiy to interact with different classmates let them to experience different pronunciations and speaking styles to help them with real life situations
Ximena
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 06:39
#4
Dear Carmen,
Large classes can present the teacher with a number of problems from trying to involve all pupils equally to classroom control. Despite such problems the teacher can employ a number of techniques to create successful classes.
- Use worksheets. Rather than going through activities with the whole class, hand out worksheets. This way each student will have participated and gained some benefit.
- Pair/group work. Experienced teachers will use a lot of this to maximize student involvement. Clear instructions are vital with large groups.
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Clarity. Large groups usually mean large classrooms. Try to ensure that your voice and board work is visible/audible to the whole class.
- Choral repetition. Again this will help get all pupils involved.
- Appoint group leaders. Use them to make classroom management easier. Group leaders can be used to hand out copies, collect work,keep control of the group etc.
- Dynamics. Large classes are often more dynamic and dramatic. A large number of students equals a greater variety of ideas.
Experienced teachers can use this to their advantage and organize humorous, involving classes. Few teachers would choose large classes over smaller ones, as it makes a difficult job even more challenging.
Using some of the above suggestions can make a potentially difficult situation a great deal easier and more enjoyable.
Best Regards,
Amir(Moderator)
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Mon, 03/30/2009 - 12:42
#5
Dear Amir, thanks for your ideas. I liked the idea of using choral repertition aassd a way to get students involved.
carmen gloria
organize them in small groups to work in communicative activities, such as create a movie sequel, ( a second part of a famous movie that they invent ) or recreate a popular fairy tale that they can create keeping just the plot, but they can change all the rest. This is a writing and listening activity, because they can tell it to the rest of the class without telling the name of the fairy tale. Hope ithese can help,
Ximena