During my first month working as an ESL teacher I was required to attend a group training course with some of my future co-workers. The training course consisted of several trial classes and sometimes we would have to observe our teammates give a lesson and even provide them with feedback. After just one day it was clear to all of us who was experienced and who was just starting out, but during this training course I met 3 teachers who gave fantastic classes yet only had 2 months of working experience.
These teachers had a special way of getting our attention and they also had what I call “teacher’s charisma.” I remember asking them if their teacher training course had given them any special training. Two of them simply smiled and recommended a book to me, that book was Classroom Management Techniques by Jim Scrivener.
"Classroom Management Techniques offers a huge range of practical techniques to help teachers make the most of their teaching space and get students working in more focused ways. It helps teachers anticipate and avoid problems in the classroom, allowing more time to be devoted to meaningful activities."- Jim Scrivner
At first I found it hard to believe that a book could make such a big difference in a person’s teaching method.Nonetheless I was so impressed by these teachers that I decided to borrow this book from a friend and see what it had to offer. When you open the book and look at the table of contents the way the chapters are organized will immediately catch your attention. Each chapter focuses on a specific idea for example, chapter two’s title is “The teacher”and within its pages the reader will learn about how a teacher should present him/herself to the class, how to get the class’ attention through your tone of voice, making use of gestures and facial expressions, and a number of other interesting techniques. Every chapter takes a look at one particular aspect of the classroom setting such as the student, the classroom, the lesson, behavior, etc. and in each chapter the reader is given useful tips and things to watch out for when dealing with a specific topic. One very important tip the book offers is to raise or articulate your voice whenever you want your students to remember a specific word or phrase. The book also encourages the teacher to move and avoid being a statue while in front of the board in order to maintain the class’ attention.
The main idea of this book is to take a detailed look at the classroom setting and place attention on what we should do as teachers as well as what we should not do. The book is extremely detail oriented and it focuses on a communicative and learner centered classroom method. It also mentions all the obstacles that can and will arise in every teacher’s career. Although the book focuses a lot of attention on preventing and avoiding certain things, it also focuses on positive aspects like connecting with students, developing a “teacher persona” and creative lesson plan ideas.
I remember that as I read this book, all the questions and doubts that crossed my mind (as an inexperienced teacher) would simply go away as I finished each chapter. Now that I am more experienced I realize that the information this book offers is actually extremely helpful, especially for teachers who are feeling a bit nervous to get up in front of a large class.
Although this book is extremely informative and interesting, the author treats the topic of classroom management as a sort of philosophy. I like the overall content of the book, but sometimes the author can be a bit too wordy and take a very over analytical approach with his ideas. If you can work around this aspect of the book and take in the valuable techniques and advice it has to offer, then you will not regret it.
Classroom Management Techniques is the perfect guide for any beginner teacher who wants to prepare themselves for what they may encounter in their classes. This book is a great tool for all teachers no matter what subject or language they may plan to teach.
