CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
Classroom management refers to the techniques and skills teachers utilize in order to create a classroom environment
that is conducive to learning. Such environment fosters achievement and growth necessary to meet class objectives
and reach academic goals. The aim of classroom management is to deliver lessons and do activities in an orderly and
organized manner while maintaining harmony and ensuring students’ comfort so to keep them motivated to participate
in the class. There are five aspects of classroom management: classroom physical setting, space management and
organization, grouping students, management of teaching-learning materials (TLM), and effective time management.
This paper will provide a peek of how an English class in a Thai university is conducted in these five aspects.
CLASS PROFILE
Lecturer:
Affiliation:
Course Name:
Year Level:
Major:
Class Size:
Ajarn Wanaporn Thanatkha
The Language Institute,
Khon Kaen University
English for Daily Life III
3rd Year
Mechanical Engineering
30
The Classroom Physical Setting
This refers to the overall design and layout of a
classroom. The classroom used for this class is
spacious and can seat 55 students. It has high ceiling
and proper lighting and ventilation. The acoustics can
be described as good with reduced room echo. The
room is generally clean and organized.
The classroom also provides necessary educational
technology apart from the traditional whiteboard. It has
a computer set, visualizer, projector, speakers,
microphone, white screen, small monitor, and even a
CCTV.
Space Management and Organization
This classroom has a classic seating arrangement with
5 rows with 11 seats each. The 30 students can
randomly choose where to sit. They are allowed to sit
where they feel comfortable – can be with friends, near
(or far from) the teacher, near the board, the corner, etc.
However, it can be observed that even if they choose
their seats, the proper arrangement of chairs is still
maintained.
The chairs are ergonomic and green in color. According
to psychology, green is associated to concentration and
promotes restfulness and calm. It also improves
efficiency and focus. The front wall is blue which is
associated with productivity.
The action zone is also wide and spacious. Should
students be asked to go to the front, there is enough
space for them to move around. The same goes with
the teacher. It is also important to note that the teacher
doesn’t stay in front all the time. She walks around,
maximizing the space and moving closer to students.
One interesting feature of this room is that it has only
one door located in front. This poses several
advantages like the teacher can easily see who comes
in and out of the room. This discourages students from
coming in late to class and also from going out or taking
fake bladder breaks. There is one incident in class when
a student came 15 minutes late and everybody started
clapping. One disadvantage though is that there is only
one way out. In case of emergency, the door can get
too congested for students to immediately evacuate the
room.
By: Ms. Emilyn R. Orlain
Time Management
Time management is a teaching skill that should not be
taken for granted. Without proper time management,
classes may fall behind the schedule and the teacher
may not effectively deliver the lessons and conduct
activities accordingly. In a course that all teachers
involved are expected to deliver more or less the same
quality of teaching and learning, it is important that
every part of the lesson is done with efficiency. The
review, motivation, lesson proper, activities, and
evaluation follow a proper timeline, which can be
adjusted depending on the class size and students’
level of proficiency.
Options for Grouping Students
Several discussion techniques were utilized by the
teacher. At first, the teacher employed whole-class
discussion wherein students can participate freely upon
the teacher’s signal. The students in this class were
participative and took initiative to answer. They were
also not afraid of making mistakes. They were a jolly
group that if one answer was wrong, others would just
laugh while some would chime in to give the right
answer. The discussion was open and students were
comfortable expressing themselves in agreement or
disagreement of one another.
Towards the middle of the class, the teacher put
students in 5 groups by asking them to count from 1-5.
Then students were asked to sit according to their
number. Some groups arranged the chairs in small
circles, some maintained the rows, and some sat on the
floor. The teacher allowed them to do the activity in the
position they find the most comfortable.
Selection and Management of TLM
This course is a requirement for students across all
faculties in the university. Therefore, multiple teachers
are assigned to handle several sections that should
receive the same learning materials and instructions at
the same pace. Materials and lesson plans, including
activities, quizzes, and presentation guidelines had
been pre-produced and are the same for all sections.
Textbooks and other media such as CDs and digital files
were given to students at the beginning of the semester.
In the class, all students had their textbooks with them.
It can be observed that the students referred to their
textbooks while the teacher was flashing certain key
points on the screen. Once they were asked to answer
some questions on the textbook and the teacher flashed
the page and answers so the entire class could check
and correct their answers.
In this class, the teacher started with small talk in 1-2
minutes to set the mood. She then proceeded to the
review of the previous lesson. Observing how eager the
students were to provide answers, it is noticeable that
the students did remember their lessons. This went on
for 10 minutes. Next thing she did was to connect the
previous lesson to the next lesson through a motivation
exercise. Students were given 5 minutes to play rock
paper scissors with random partners. Whoever won
would ask a question and the one who lost should
answer it correctly. With this, students were given an
opportunity to think and speak in a fun way.
The lesson proper, which went for about 30 minutes
consisted of short lecture, class discussion, and
textbook exercises. There were two textbook exercises
that were given 5 minutes each to be done. Answers
were checked and discussed in class. While students
were doing the textbook exercises, the teacher checked
the attendance, which is a good strategy to save time.
The last part of the lesson is the group activity which is
their output for evaluation. Students are put into groups
and are given the rest of the class time to complete the
given task. Using the behavioral approach, the teacher
allowed the groups to leave as they finished. This way,
other groups would be discouraged from slacking
around and would be compelled to finish the task as
soon as they could.
***
Upon observation, it can be said that this class was wellmanaged basing on how the five aspects of classroom
management are satisfied. The students were wellbehaved in general – quiet when the teacher was
discussing and noisy and playful when asked to be. All
lessons and activities were accomplished without
sacrificing students’ performance.
By: Ms. Emilyn R. Orlain