CELTA Classroom Management - Three thoughts about arranging groups

Summary

In this insightful video, Jo Gakonga from ELT Training provides valuable tips on managing group work in a communicative language teaching approach. With over two decades of experience as a CELTA tutor and assessor, Jo emphasizes the significance of arranging groups effectively, whether online or in person. She shares three key thoughts: grouping with neighbors or via random breakout rooms, grouping by learner ability, and ensuring groups do not remain static. Each method has pros and cons, from fostering comfort and support to preventing boredom and resentment. Jo underlines the importance of dynamic group arrangements to enhance the learning experience and keep students engaged.

Highlights

• Jo highlights the ease of grouping learners with their neighbors or using random breakout rooms online. It's a simple but effective method. ✨
• Mixing learners of different ability levels offers mutual benefit, as higher-level students teach and lower-level students learn collaboratively! 🤝
• She advises changing groups regularly to avoid predictability and boredom, ensuring everyone stays alert and involved. 🌀

Key Takeaways

• Grouping with neighbors or using random breakout rooms is convenient but can become repetitive. 🔄
• Mixing different ability levels can benefit both higher and lower-level learners; however, it can also cause frustration. 🔄
• Ensuring group dynamics are fluid and changing keeps activities engaging and students motivated! 💪

Overview

In Jo Gakonga's enlightening video, she delves into the art of arranging groups in CELTA classrooms, a crucial aspect of language teaching. She first addresses the practicality and comfort of grouping learners who are seated together or assigning them to random breakout rooms online. This method ensures ease for the teacher and comfort for the students, fostering a friendly environment for effective communication.

Jo then discusses grouping by ability, advocating for mixed-level groups where advanced learners can assist less able peers. This approach not only supports lower-level learners but enhances the understanding of higher-level ones through teaching. However, she warns of potential resentment if the dynamics remain unbalanced.

Finally, Jo emphasizes the importance of frequently changing group compositions to maintain engagement and enthusiasm. This dynamic adjustment helps in avoiding monotony, ensuring that both online and face-to-face classes remain lively and conducive to learning. These strategies collectively help in refining classroom management, making learning both effective and enjoyable.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Group Work This chapter discusses the importance of pair work and group work in a communicative language teaching approach. It emphasizes that for meaningful communication to occur, students need to talk to each other, which requires the teacher to carefully consider how to arrange groups and pairs. Despite appearing straightforward, organizing group work can present challenges.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Three Thoughts on Grouping The chapter "Three Thoughts on Grouping" explores issues and considerations when organizing pair or group work in both online and physical classroom settings. The speaker, Joker Conga from elt training.com, shares insights based on over 20 years of experience as a CELTA tutor and assessor. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own practices and possibly reconsider their approaches to grouping.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Thought 1: Grouping with Neighbors or Random Breakout Rooms The chapter discusses methods of grouping students for learning activities, specifically focusing on two main strategies: grouping with neighbors during in-person sessions and using random breakout rooms in online settings. This practical approach facilitates easier collaboration among learners by either leveraging physical proximity or utilizing digital randomization to form groups.
• 02:30 - 05:00: Thought 2: Grouping by Level This chapter discusses the advantages of students working in the same groups during face-to-face classes and in breakout rooms. It emphasizes comfort and ease of communication as students often sit or interact with peers they are familiar with, thereby facilitating a more open and supportive speaking environment.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Thought 3: Regrouping and Organization This chapter discusses the drawbacks of constant interaction with the same group of people, which can lead to boredom, especially if they are not well-matched or desired companions. It highlights the issue of grouping learners by ability levels, noting two primary methods: pairing higher ability learners with lower ability ones or grouping learners of similar capabilities together. The chapter explores the organizational aspects of forming learning groups to optimize engagement and effectiveness.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Conclusion The chapter provides strategies for arranging group activities in a classroom setting, emphasizing the importance of planning groupings either before the lesson or as students arrive. It highlights the benefits of mixed-level groupings, where more proficient learners can support those with less proficiency, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

CELTA Classroom Management - Three thoughts about arranging groups Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 pair work and group work is a critical part of a communicative language teaching approach if they're going to communicate in meaningful ways then they need to talk to someone so as the teacher you need to think about how you're going to arrange those groups and pairs now you might think that this is pretty easy no sweat Joe but you might not have
• 00:30 - 01:00 thought about some of the issues which can arise I have three thoughts for you so listen up and see if any of these make you think again about how you arrange your pair work or your group work these will count whether you're online or in a physical classroom I'm Joker Conga from elt training.com I've been a celt a tutor and assessor for over 20 years and if you find this
• 01:00 - 01:30 interesting then please like it and check out my website for more okay three thoughts number one grouping with neighbors or random breakout rooms the way of grouping that's easiest practically is just to ask the Learners who are sitting together to work together or if you're in an online environment then just use the randomized groups for the breakout rooms
• 01:30 - 02:00 the good thing about this is that it's easy it's very convenient for the teacher in a face-to-face situation people are often sitting with people that they feel comfortable with so they're probably more likely to feel okay about talking to them in breakout rooms they'll speak to the same people again and again so again hopefully they'll get used to each other they'll feel more comfortable with each other
• 02:00 - 02:30 bad things about this boredom always speaking to the same people can get dull especially if you get stuck with people who you don't really want to talk to number two is grouping by level or you're more able Learners than your less able learners there are two ways that this can be done you can put a learner of higher ability and lower ability together or you can put Learners of similar
• 02:30 - 03:00 ability together now you can plan these groupings before the lesson or arrange your breakout rooms as your learners arrive in class so they're already ready for when you have an activity if you have mixed level groupings then this can be helpful because it can give your lower level learner support the people who were a bit better at language can help those who don't have
• 03:00 - 03:30 such good language that's also one way of keeping the class in Step doing the same kind of tasks there's actually research evidence that this can be beneficial to the higher level learner as well so not just to your lower level Learners there's nothing like having to teach something to someone to make sure that you really know it yourself well
• 03:30 - 04:00 but if you do this all the time what's going to happen is that your higher level Learners your higher ability Learners are probably going to end up feeling a bit resentful of always having to help somebody else you might also find that the lower level Learners end up feeling a bit insecure or not so comfortable because they're always with people who are better than they are
• 04:00 - 04:30 so the other way of grouping by level is to have Learners who are not so able with ones of similar ability and also maybe differentiate the tasks so they have a slightly easier task you can also aim to give those lower level groups more support the other thing to think about if you've got groups is to regroup so you don't
• 04:30 - 05:00 always want the same people in the same place probably if you're teaching online then you get to rearrange the breakout rooms and it's fairly easy to organize if your teaching face to face you might want to think about organizing who changes partners with whom rather than just say find a new partner because that will probably be a bit chaotic the easiest way to do this is to number people one two three four one two three four number ones here number twos there
• 05:00 - 05:30 number threes here number fours here make it organized they'll know what to do and it will work very smoothly I hope that these thoughts were helpful if you enjoyed this video there's lots more on elt training and I wish you the best of luck with your teaching practice thanks for watching bye