How to make your classroom more dynamic

How to make your classroom
more dynamic!
Alan S. Mackenzie
Head of Professional ELT Development
British Council, Thailand

How to make your classroom
more dynamic!
Alan S. Mackenzie
Head of Professional ELT Development
British Council, Thailand
For VTTN Conference 8
th
– 9
th
December 2006

What is this?

Destroy the order!

Increasing interaction
•
Ask five people…
–
How long they have been teaching
–
Where their family lives
–
If they are enjoying themselves

•
Find someone who…
–
likes the same kind of movies as you
–
has been teaching for the same length of time
as you
–
was born in the same month as you

Re-structuring is change with a
purpose
•
Have a clear reason for the change
•
Give clear, easy instructions
•
Make the language to be used clear and
check that students use it
•
Give feedback on language use if needed
•
Change the task a little and repeat
•
Stir and settle

Stir: You are calm in the centre of
chaos

Settle: You are active while tasks

are being completed

Paired Heads Together
are better than one
•
Why is it good to find people who are the
same as you?
–
Humans love sharing similar experiences
–
Common understanding is comfortable
–
Bridges between two people
–
Something to talk about


4’s

What happens in a traditional
classroom?
•
Imagine I am an alien
from another planet! I
have never seen a
traditional classroom
on earth.
•
Explain to me what
happens in them.

The traditional classroom

Changing the physical setup,
changes the interaction
•
Students can move around more
•
Boys and girls are mixed so can
communicate more with each other
•
The teacher can move around more
•
Students can talk to each other and may
be more likely to volunteer
•
Different people have different ideas to
share

How much attention do the
students at the back really get?

Teacher and students are getting
closer!

Roles are useful
•
Leaders
•
Questioners

•
Recorders
•
Reporters
•
Motivators
•
Rotate the roles so that everyone can try
everything
•
Choose the roles to suit the task

Moving group members
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1

1
1
1
1
1

Use language points to set up
groups:
•
I’m a 1!
•
Are you a 1?
•
Yes, I am
•
Oh, Good!
•
No, I’m a 3.
•
OK, bye!
•
Sorry, I have a group!

Why is it good to talk to different
people?
•
Different people have:
–
Different experiences
–

Different opinions
–
Different vocabulary
•
Changing the group members changes the
information
•
Designing activities where different group
members have different pieces of information,
creates opportunities for communication.

Information Gaps: Examples
•
Cut up texts: Jigsaw readings
•
Gapped texts
•
Texts on the same topic with different
information about it
•
Slightly different pictures
•
Different pictures of the same type
•
Same questions to different people
•
Opinion role-plays

How does group size change
interaction patterns?

•
More people,
–
more ideas
–
less confidence speaking in front of the group
–
more structure needed
•
Less people,
–
more talking time
–
more groups
–
more noise?

Task
•
from?
•
school?
•
problems?

Structuring order within chaos…

Other ways to change group
members
•

What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour?
–
Group leaders are the first 4 different flavours.
Others chose what flavour they want.
•
Adjectives
–
Four adjectives: good, beautiful, fantastic,
great! Tell the students who is who.
•
Animals
–
Are you a dog? No I’m a cat!