How to Establish Order in Your ESL Classroom: Essential Procedures, Rules and Consequences

When it comes to teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to young students, be they elementary, middle or high school age, it's important to set your rules and classroom procedures at the very beginning. While going over rules and regulations may be boring for a first time class, students usually expect it and it will make a world of difference in your classroom throughout the year. Students, especially younger ones, yearn for routine. An established routine with clearcut consequences will help your students stay on track and will help you when it comes to discipline. (Many teachers, ESL or not, often don't know how to react when their students are out of line).

If a student chooses to disobey or not follow the rules, the outcome will be a logical consequence to that student's choice to not follow. The following are 6 essential procedures that must be set forth from the very beginning. You will find that these procedures are often the sole root of all your problems in the classroom. Hang the procedures up in your classroom and present them throughout the year if necessary.

How to Start a Class - Make sure your students know what to do once they hear the bell that signals class has begun. If there is no bell, some kind of noise or gesture (whistle, chime, hand motion, etc.) should be used. Explain to the students that when they hear that noise or see the signal that it is their responsibility to get quiet, pay attention and sit in their seats. What happens if a student is late? You get the picture.

Quieting the Class - It's necessary for you to have complete control over your classroom. Develop a few "commands" (such as, "I say LISTEN, you say CAREFULLY - Listen - CAREFULLY." You can also count to 10, have the students repeat phrases after you "Oh YEAH!"). If they do not quiet immediately, let them know what the consequences will be. For example, sitting at their desks without speaking for 2 minutes.

Asking for Help - This varies from teacher to teacher, but establish how your students should request your help. Should they raise their hand? Should they come to your desk? Should they as a neighbor? That's up to you.

Movement of Students and Paper - How will you have your papers distributed in the most efficient manner? In my classroom I designate a "supply manager" for each table and this person is responsible for getting papers. You can try other tactics. As for movement of students, if you want them to be quiet and not talk while moving to where they need to go, say so. If they should get in a single file line, say so. You get the picture.

Working in Class - When it comes to class work, how would you like your students to get their work done? Is talking to their friends okay? Should they be quiet? Are there rewards for working well and finishing early? Or do you prefer quality over how quickly they can finish? You set the standards.

How to End Class - This is similar to the how to start class. I prefer that my students wait for my signal before they get up and leave, that way everyone's not dashing off the second they hear the bell. I also dismiss my tables one by one depending on how clean each table is, who has their work done, etc. Set the procedure and set the consequences.

To conclude, these procedures are a great start to a great year. The ultimate key, though, is to explain the procedures very well from the very beginning. If that means that your co-teacher is there to translate, excellent. If that means you have the rules translated in their native tongue and posted, even better. Additionally, you must reinforce these rules. No matter how sweet and sincere a student is when they walk into your room 20 seconds late, you must follow through with the consequences in order to maintain order in your classroom.

Good luck! If you want more ESL lesson ideas, tips, advice or personal experiences, click "Wendy Rose Gould" at the top of the page and browse around. Have fun!