Microphones, Classroom Management and Informality

 I'm writing a lesson plan right now and at the heart of it is classroom management.  

In the school, the teachers often use microphones (Madonna-style) to speak over the students.  These are a little box that you carry attached with a wire and microphone that amplifies your voice.  I was shocked when I first saw these used in a class of 24 and have been thinking about classroom management a lot since.

It's not necessarily that the students are noisy, there are many other reasons for the constant background noise.  Whether it is the scraping of chairs on tiled floors, the picking up and putting down of bags, the movement of tables worsened by the open windows and doors for Covid purposes or sound travelling from other classrooms really easily.  

We've also spent a lot of time talking about classroom management in our flat.  We share stories of teachers and how classrooms are managed (or not), what works and what doesn't.  For me, what has worked is getting close to the "naughty" kids - I say "naughty" like that as I don't believe they are, I just think they need a bit more attention.  Getting close has meant moving my chair to sit next to them when watching a film (OMG, you should have seen the look on their faces, the sheer horror!) or teaching C (no names here) "Be quiet please!" so he can say it whenever I prompt him, like the class silencer.   I absolutely love that and it works a treat.   It's fun to figure out what works or not.

One thing I can't overcome in class is what has happened in the weeks, months and years before.  If the students are used to being shouted at, that's what they expect.  When you don't shout, it's almost as if they are waiting for you to shout and will misbehave until you do.  I continually try to change things up to keep the students on their toes, but it is a challenge.  Competitions work well, with points deducted for speaking Spanish and extra points added for speaking English or pronouncing a word correctly. 

One other thing I have noticed is the real familiarity between the students and the teachers.  No "Yes Miss", "No Sir" here, just first names and a real informality where the students feel they can interrupt and even argue with the teacher.  That sounds terrible, but the upside of this is that the students feel able to share everything with the teachers and there's a huge amount of insight on the students' personal lives.  It's a real closeness between students and pupils. 

Anyway, that's it for now, it's so enjoyable at school and I can't wait to have my very own class one day.