Minimal resources: Role-plays and discussion

Here are a few materials-light ideas for role plays and discussions:

1. Choose a holiday

The idea is to set up a situation whereby students in pairs shop around for a package holiday, visiting different “travel agencies” (also pairs of students) in turn, and then making their decision. Divide the class into two – one half will be “shoppers”, the other half “agents”. Divide these groups again, into pairs. The agent pairs should be distributed around the room, and separated as much as possible from the shoppers. Tell the agents each to put together an attractive ten-day holiday package, including destination, itinerary, excursions, accommodation, and so on. (It is important, by the way, that all the holidays cost the same – fix a price in advance – so that the agents don’t simply undercut one another). Meanwhile, the pairs of shoppers decide what it is that they, personally, want out of their holiday, e.g. relaxation, adventure sports, shopping opportunities, etc. The shoppers then “visit” each agency in turn – seating should be arranged so that the shoppers can sit down when visiting the agencies. After sufficient time has elapsed for the an exchange of information, the shoppers all move round one, and the process starts again, until all the shoppers have visited all the agencies. Each pair of shoppers can then decide which holiday they will choose.

The format for this role play works for a number of different situations that involve shopping around. I have used it successively for a “choosing a school” scenario: each “school” puts together a policy on such things as discipline, homework, uniform, compulsory subjects, extra-curricular activities, even a school motto! Meanwhile, each pair of “parents” decide what kind of school they are looking for, for their “special needs” child. They then interview – and are interviewed by – the school’s representatives.

Other situations that lend themselves to this idea are: choosing a flatmate, choosing a wedding function, choosing a retirement village, and so on.

The beauty of this role play format – apart from the lack of materials – is that there is in-built repetition, as each pair of shoppers repeats its interaction with a new agent. Task repetition is an important factor in the development of fluency.

2. Alibis

This is an old favourite which, like the previous activity, is inherently repetitive. It also has an added game element, in that the participants have to try and outwit each other. The basic format starts with two students being “accused” of having committed some crime, such as a robbery in the institution where the class takes place, in a fixed period, say, between the hours of 10 and 11 in the morning on the preceding day. The two “accused” then have to establish an alibi, and they go out of the room to do this. The alibi needs to account for their actions only during the time period in question (anything before or after is irrelevant), and it is important to establish that they were together for all that time. While the accused contrive their alibi, the rest of the class can prepare generic questions, with the teacher prompting, if necessary, of the type: What were you doing…What did you do next? Did you meet anyone? What did you say? How much did it cost? Who paid? etc. The accused are then led in, one at a time, and have to answer the questions put to them. (It helps to establish the rule that they are not allowed to claim that they don’t remember). Any significant discrepancy in their answers means that they are, of course, guilty.

With large classes, Alibis can be played in groups, each group playing their own version of the game. Alternatively, (and so long as they are out of earshot) the two accused can be interviewed simultaneously by two different groups, and then exchange places.

A variant is Green Card, in which immigration officers interview, separately, two candidates who claim to be members of the same family (in which case, they have to answer questions about the other members of their immediate family – their names, age, and appearance), or who claim to be partners (in which case, they have to answer questions about their daily routine). Another variant of Alibis is UFO, in which two people are interviewed separately by The Institute of Paranormal Research about an encounter with aliens that they claim to have experienced.

3. Pyramid (or consensus) debate

The principle of this format is that at first individuals work in pairs to achieve consensus on an issue, and then these pairs try to convince other pairs, before forming groups of four, and so on, until the whole class comes to an agreement. For example, the teacher might set the class the task of devising some “class rules” with regard to such things as classroom etiquette, discipline, duties, homework, etc. First individuals draft a list of a maximum of, say, eight rules. They then compare in pairs, and draft a new list of eight rules, but one that they are both agreed on. This will normally involve some discussion and negotiation. Once they have their list they join forces with another pair, and the process begins again. Finally, the two halves of the class come together to agree on the definitive version.

Other ideas that work well in this format are ranking tasks – e.g. the five most important people in history; the ten best pop songs of all time; the eight things I would take to a desert island; the six school subjects that should be compulsory, and so on. Or students take a bare statement and qualify it in such a way as to make it acceptable. For example:

– Children should be beaten.
– Smoking should be banned.
– Anyone should be allowed to adopt children.

Classroom management requires a positive relationship between the teacher and the student. A teacher, who has a good rapport with their students, will have a better outcome. Respect for each other, will prove positive in both the relationship and study.

Obstacles to this rapport may involve the classroom set up, which can create problems, such as with rows. The students, at the back, are disadvantaged.

1. An alternative, he suggests, is to arrange the chairs and tables into a three sided box shape. In this fashion, every student is in the first row and the teacher can freely move around the room while talking, and therefore giving personal contact.
   Training students to do what you want them to do, when you ask them to do it, is the side of discipline management called Responsibility Training. The goal is to make responsible behavior in the classroom a matter of routine.

2. Maintaining good order in classrooms is one of the most difficult tasks facing young inexperienced   The task has become more difficult  over the past few decades as young peoples respect for authority has changed dramatically.

• The primary cause of misbehavior, in the classroom, is attention, power, revenge, self confidence and problems at home. To look at one example of misbehavior is when the student, that is the loudest in class, is commonly known as The Loudmouth. To act on the students problems, this one included, we need to pinpoint the students needs.
  We can identify that the student is looking for attention and cries out for it with every action. The school or home environment may be very painful and the student may be using loud behavior to protect him/herself from others.
• The status of the student is that he/she needs to be noticed and recognized and is trying to be somebody through negative behavior.
• The consequent mistakes, which can be made by the teacher, can be to avoid the student, or not deal with the problem at all.
• Never yell at the student, is sound advice, instead take the student aside and communicate.
• Putting the student down and making them feel immature in the classroom is a recipe for disaster.
• This will not only anger the student, but cause more problems with the whole class.

3. The ways to get a routine of positive behaviour is to reward them with more than just a pat on the back. Activities to help you get to know and understand your students.

What to do if the whole class is good- or not? Encouraging new learning partnerships with creative learning relationships. Getting people involved!

4. Consistency is all or nothing. You are either consistent or inconsistent. Being consistent lays the foundations for meaning Business? Never make a rule that you are not willing to enforce. The line between acceptable behavior and unacceptable behavior must be crystal clear.
   When someone annoys us we get upset, and when you get upset in the classroom we can open our mouths and yell, without the students even listening to us.
5. Our first object, therefore, is to relax in response to seeing the disruption. Even though this is not a natural response, it takes training, but it is a skill that all natural teachers master. Relax, keep your mouth shut and give yourself a moment to think to signal to students that you mean business.

Stop what you are doing, take a deep breath, turn slowly towards the students and simply wait. The students can now see that in your classroom, discipline comes before instruction. Studying the students behavior is a common problem in the classroom.
How do you control a student that just sits there looking at you instead of getting back to work? The answer is to move closer, relax and wait. Human interaction is more intense the closer the people are to each other. With practice, patience and experience most behavior problems can be overcome.

Author: Warren Roga