AMIRAH NAJIHAH BT ABDUL AZIS

P5J

1.0 Introduction
Classroom management comprises appropriate approach, theories, communication
skills use and resources that a teacher does to organise students in a desired behaviour so
that lesson can be conducted smoothly and pupils can learn effectively. Implementation of
those elements will portray the role of a teacher and teachers ability to manage the
classroom during teaching and learning session. An observation had been made during
English class for Year 4 which focused on listening and speaking skills and how a teacher
manages her classroom in SK Kuala.
2.0 Theories
2.1 Instructional Management
A lot of theories and approaches were found during my observation of the video. One
of the theories that I have found is Jacob Kounin Instructional Management. Overall, the
transition of lesson carried out was smooth caused a reduction in pupils misbehaviour. As
stated by Jacob Kounin (1971), classroom management and lesson management affect
pupils behaviour in the classroom. (as cited in Charles,2008, p.59)
From the beginning of the lesson, teacher shared the learning objectives of the
lesson which was pronounce double and vowel consonant called We Are Learn To which is
WALT and the flow activities that would be carried out throughout the lesson such as Guess
It Right, Think Pair Share and Tongue Twister. This was a good routine before starting the
lesson because pupils will be clear on what will they learnt and follow the momentum of the
lesson despite realised the transition from one activity to another. As emphasized by Jacob
Kounin (1971), the smoothness of a lesson presentation depends on teachers instruction.
(as cited in Charles,2008, p.59) . From the observation, her explanation was clear when
giving instruction. Besides, during the practice stage teacher gained pupils attention and
prevent misbehaviour by calling pupils name one by one to the front to show and pronounce
their word card which represent double or vowel consonant. This technique was called group
alerting where teacher gained pupils attention to respond, demonstrate or explain. Jacob
Kounin (1971) (as cited in Charles,2008, p.60). Moreover, for the next activities which were
Think Pair Share and Tongue Twister, teacher was able to give guidance and interact with
each pairs during the Think Pair Share activity as several of them were raising hands to ask
questions. Thus, teacher who used the instructional management prevent most
management problem by actively engaging pupils, in lesson in accordance with their need
and abilities

AMIRAH NAJIHAH BT ABDUL AZIS

P5J

2.2 Bf skinner.
Furthermore, the second theory that I was able to identify from the video was from B.f
Skinners. Teacher implemented the theory throughout the whole lesson by giving positive
social reinforcement such as verbal comment, gestures and facial expressions. In the video,
teacher gave verbal comments such as very good and excellent when pupils gave respond
to her and completed the activity during lesson. Besides, teacher also improved pupils selfesteem by asking them to give self-praised to themselves by patting on their own shoulder at
the end of the lesson. According to the Skinner (1960), through systematic reinforcement,
pupils behaviour could be shaped into a desired behaviour (as cited in Charles,2008, p.50).
Thus, as indicated by Bf Skinner these systematic reinforcement help the teacher to shape
pupils behaviour well since the pupils know the sequences from their behaviour. For
instance, if they behave in a well-mannered in the class, they will receive positive
reinforcement from teacher. In addition to the social reinforcement, teacher also gave a
graphic reinforcement such as star stickers for good pronunciation during tongue twister
activity.
2.3 Haim Ginott
The last theory that I could relate in this video is Haim Ginotts Congruent
Communication. Teacher also implemented this theory during lesson. Ginott (1971) believed
that the teacher personal approach was the most influential element in creating the climate
that contributes to childrens behaviour in the classroom by using congruent communication,
which is a type of communication that is without sarcasm and in harmonious way without
intimidating pupils (as cited in Charles,2008, p.61). During the tongue twister activity, teacher
also able to prevent pupils misbehaviour before it spreads by mentioning pupils please pay
attention when your friend was presenting. The reason was to acknowledge the pupil that
the teacher was aware of his or her misbehaviour without intimidating pupils personally.
Besides, teacher also used appreciative praise that only focused on the pupils effort not
based on their character such as Thank you for giving cooperation with your friends to
shape the desired behaviour. In consequences, teacher will develop pupils self-esteem
promote cooperation with pupils in a harmonious way.

AMIRAH NAJIHAH BT ABDUL AZIS

P5J

3.0 Resources and materials

Teaching resources and materials are crucial in the classroom as it help to engage
pupils during the learning process. As indicated by Roberson (2014), teaching resources
and materials help to facilitate different learning styles such as visual, auditory and
kinaesthetic. From the observation, teacher used word cards that represented words that
have double consonant and vowel. The focus skill of the lesson is listening and speaking.
Hence, the word cards used to introduce new vocabulary that have double consonant or
vowel. Teacher put the word cards under the chairs and asked them to come in front and
pronounce the word. According to the Cronsberry (2004), using word card will provide visual
cues for pupils.
Apart from that, for the listening activity teacher used audio aid to practice listening
skills. Pupils have to listen attentively in order to complete the next activity. Next, the use of
worksheet also had been implemented in this lesson during the think pair share activity. In
pairs, they have to complete the wordlists in the worksheet. Hence, the variety of use of
teaching resources and materials facilitate different learning styles as teacher integrated
different teaching styles and the suitability of the activity that fulfil the needs of pupils in
learning such as auditory learner when listening to the audio, visual when the teacher used
word cards also kinaesthetic learning style when pupils completed the worksheet during the
activity. Thus, teacher was able to exploit the teaching resources and material successfully
and conducted the lesson smoothly as well as planned. The suitability in choosing teaching
materials was part of important features when planning a lesson. Teacher has to make full
use of the teaching resources and material during lesson in order to emphasis on pupils
engagement towards the lesson and promote higher level of thinking skills (Chitravelu,
Saratha & Teh, 2005)

AMIRAH NAJIHAH BT ABDUL AZIS

P5J

4.0 Communication
Communication is one of the vital element to ensure an effectiveness of classroom
learning. when it comes to teaching, communication is the vehicle that moves education
forward. It is a process of interchanging thoughts, feelings, and information (Jones, 2000).
Hence, a teacher that possess a great communicative skills could promote good behaviour,
enhance classroom learning and develop pupils positive self- esteem by creating positive
atmosphere of the classroom. From my observation, teacher used both verbal
communication and non-verbal communication in the classroom during the lesson. From the
set induction until the end of the lesson, teacher projected her voice clear and loud so that
entire classroom will get the correct explanations and instructions. On the other hand,
teacher also used simple instructions and non-verbal communication such as body gestures,
facial expression and eye contact to explain certain meaning and gave instruction as the
level of pupils are below average. For example, from activity Guess it right, teacher did
some actions to display the words that she wanted the pupils to guess. She also gave some
clues to pupils to guess on those words. For example, on the word ball, she used body
gesture to portray the picture of the ball. In addition, teacher also used cueing by clapping
her hand to grab the attention of the pupils. Other than that, teacher can use non- verbal
cues to correcting misbehaviour and telling teachers intentions in the classroom.

5.0 Classroom management

However, despite of having a lot of strengths and suitable activities in this lesson, the
teacher slightly showed the flaws of the lesson when she directly translated word similarity
with the pupils first language which is Bahasa Malaysia. A language teacher should avoid
making direct translation in the ESL classroom. This would encourage pupils to use their first
language in the future ESL class as they were given opportunity to use Bahasa Malaysia. In
addition, time allocations for each activity carried out is quite longer. This is because teacher
kept asking pupils to come in front individually. Individual activity is time consuming as they
were a bigger number of pupils in that class. Pupils will become bored as they getting overexposure from the lesson as teacher repeated the same steps for the activity. Thus, teacher
has to avoid satiation as suggested by Kounin (1971) (as cited in Charles,2008, p.61) by
carrying out the activity in a group, so that they can interact with their peers to avoid
boredom and they will cooperate to complete the activity rather than individual work.

AMIRAH NAJIHAH BT ABDUL AZIS

P5J

Apart from that, the physical arrangement of the classroom clearly showed that the
arrangement of the classroom layout a bit compress as the arrangement was not suitable for
implementation of curriculum such as group work, cooperative learning as the tables were
arranged in pair per rows. As indicated by Lenin & Nolan (1991), the physical environment of
the classroom should consolidate class learning and promote active participation of pupils
through discussion. Teacher should locate instructional space by creating different areas
within the classroom such as reading corner, multimedia spaces, learning centre or stations
and individual works area to create a safe and positive environment.
In conclusion, the teacher has managed to conduct a manageable lesson without any
misbehaviour and portrayed positive attitude of teaching practice where she able to plan the
lesson comprises with appropriate approaches that teacher used during lesson, interactive
teaching and learning activities, resources that engaging pupils with the lesson and good
communication skills that make pupils feel appreciated, which will develop their self-esteem
and self-confidence and improve on their class performance even though they were below

AMIRAH NAJIHAH BT ABDUL AZIS

P5J

References
Charles C.M., Gail W.Senter (2008) Building Classroom Discipline (9th ed). United States of
America: Pearson
Charles C.M. (2014) Building Classroom Discipline (11th ed). United States of America:
Pearson

New International Edition

Cronsberry J.K. (2004). Chen - Using Word cards in

Language Learning

(TESL/TEFL). Iteslj.org. Retrieved 8 March 2015, from

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html
Roberson, C. (2015). Why Are Teaching Aids Important? | eHow. eHow. Retrieved 8 March
2015, from http://www.ehow.com/about_6365616_teaching-aids-important_.html
Jones, F. (2000). Tools for Teaching : Discipline instruction motivation
Santa Cruz, CA : Fredric H. Jones and association.
Levin, J & Nolan, J. (2014) Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision
Model (7th Ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Nesalamar, C., Saratha, S. , & Teh, S.C. (2005). ELT Methodology, Principles and
Practice ( 2nd ed). Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.