Inés MIller, Brazil
In response the issue of discipline, I would say that although we usually feel like asking and sharing 'tips', it might be better to try to understand the local 'discipline'situation with our students.

Working within Exploratory Practice (Allwright, 1991-2003), a large group of Brazilian teachers (and others around the world) have worked with their students to understanding what is going on in their classrooms. We've done this by integrating an investigative dimension to our familiar activities, which we then name Potentially Exploitable Pedagogic Activities. In this way, we've come to discover together with our students "Why don't we pay attention?", "Why are we so noisy?", "Why we don't feel like speaking English in class?", etc.

I guess you could say this is a 'tip', and I would have to agree...

Michaela Paul,New Zealand
Dear Nar Berk,
I'm not sure if this will work, but you could give it a go. I feel that students at that age often have a low attention span and need to have a break for maybe 2-5 minutes every 30, or even 20, minutes to relax.
Why don't you set up a traffic light system in your classroom where you have the colours red, orange and green. When the light is on red, there is to be no talking, when it is on orange they can talk, but only in English
and when it is on green they can talk in any language they want.If you think that they may find this silly and laugh at you, maybe you could set up the lesson where you explain a particular language point for 20 minutes and then they do an activity to do with your explanation, but they do it by themselves (like cutting and pasting information, or doing a guided teaching activity) - any activity where they can talk amongst themselves and they can relax for ten minutes. While they are doing the activity you go around the room, monitoring them and answering any questions.

Roberto Marulanda, Colombia
The first impression is the most important point.Working hard at the beginning, preparing lessons, taking workshops, printing work sheets with eye-catching material all make a difference.

I've been working with students who have a very strong negative vision of English and, after two or three classes, when they notice that I really grade them in a professional way, they reconsider they behaviour and change drastically. Of course, each environment is different but as a suggestion: Do all that you can and do not involve administrators in your business until it is the last resource. I hope this helps you a little.

Ann Chryssanthopoulou, Greece
Dear friends
I know how difficult is to control classrooms. Regardless of their level some of them can be a pain in the neck for the teacher. I had the same problem with my low level classes this year.

There were many children packed like sardines in a small classroom. In this situation, inevitably, the students talked a lot to each other rather than concentrate on their studies. After practising with methods such as group and pair work, which I have to admit didn't improve the situation, I decided to praise them in a different way.

Every time they did something well, or answered correctly my questions I offered them "stickers"(these are small sticky pieces of paper that carry encouraging words such as "good answer", "good work", "good reader" etc.) It worked as a motivational tool and I noticed that, when I asked a question, telling them in advance that the person who gives me the correct answer would get a sticker, there was absolute silence in the classroom as they remained quiet in order to hear my question. I must stress here that stickers are not given for
answers to easy questions . They are given only for difficult ones and to those children who answer them correctly.

I must admit that I am not very strict with my low level students as my aim is to make them talk in English , so I accept answers which contain a few mistakes as long as they made an effort. At the same time they can be used in reading, writing, or in any other classroom activity. So far my simple method has worked very well and above all it has been effective both with silence in class and my students' performance.

Adam, UK
Having a quiet, obedient and attentive class is a dream for language teachers, but how often does it happen in reality?! Students are disruptive for a variety of reasons; boredom; the work is too easy or difficult; peer
pressure; factors outside the classroom and others. I think the best method to minimise disruption is to try to get the attention of the learner, getting them involved in the lesson and what they are learning. Get them
to make decisions about what and how they are learning. Variety is important; have activities where students are moving interspersed with group work, pair work and individual work. Using Learner Diaries is a good calmer as well as a good method for introducing reflection. Do an internet search for writers such as David Little, Phil Benson or Leni Dam to get more ideas about this. Lastly, don't worry to much about a noisy class. Kids have a great capacity for learning and I think you would be surprised how much they take in during a lesson which a teacher feels has accomplished little! Good luck and enjoy your classes. If you do, your students will!

Sheryl Carvalho, Portugal
I work in Primary schools in Portugal. In one of my classes of 8-10 year olds, I decided to give the students more responsibility. I created teams, with responsible captains. These teams needed to rely on each other more than on me, to resolve problems, answer questions, complete tasks, assign roles and responsibilities. From the beginning, this had a real impact on the lessons.