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Classroom Management
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Classroom Management Listening Practices
with ESL/EL Civics Students
by Shannon Solis
Listening is often described as a passive skill, but those of us who
have tried to be effective listeners know that it takes total concentration
and involvement. The term “active listening” is more than
just a catchy phrase for good human communications; it really does
mean active involvement on the part of the listener. The listener in
all adult literacy programs can be the instructor, but
most importantly it is the learner.
The EL Civics department at North Harris College – Parkway Center
shares with the community 17 classes. All 17 classes are presently
using the following textbooks - Voice of Freedom, Standout for the
lower level students and the PEACE curriculum as an additional supplemental
guide to enhance preparation of our students for the Citizenship exam
with CIS (formerly INS). I would like to share a couple of great activities
which two of our classes have administered. Judith an EL Civics and
ESL instructor for the past three years uses music to reach her students.
The music tends to calm students down, causing a more productive classroom
environment. Think about it, if you have had a bad morning, woke up
late, had a bad day at the office and walk into class hearing music,
you cannot help but begin to relax and be ready for instruction. Music
soothes the mind, body, and soul. If you do not believe me, just play
a tape, CD, or 8 track depending on your mood and let go and listen.
Every piece of music has a message just like an article/book has a
main idea. Judith incorporates Jazz, the Blues, Hip Hop, and country
to reach different student’s music interests. I had the privilege
to be apart of one of the classes where the Isley Brother’s CD
was playing and the students had the words printed on a page in English
and were singing the song along with the CD. This practice is an awesome
one for our adult students. They learned possibly a new song and learned
some new English words at the same time. Music as many already know
is a great tool for learning (we should all know that every song tells
a story). Studies have shown that music calms the student down. The
student can then reflect and hopefully retain the information heard.
When I left Judith’s class at Bridges Academy, I felt rejuvenated
and ready to hit my next task head on.
The other class I would like to share is Matt’s class held at
DOSS Community Center where we have a partnership and great site supervisor – Diane
Koon. Matt is a new instructor to our department and a graduate student
at the University of Houston. Matt is an awesome fit for our students.
Matt has mostly lower level ESL students, based on the BEST exam scores.
When I entered his class in Spring of 2004, to see how things were
going, Matt was discussing two and three syllable words along with
pronunciations with qrst words. Matt would write five to six words
of each letter on the board. The entire class would repeat the word
after him and then define the word for a clearer understanding. Some
words that were a little more difficult are quart, quite, etc. How
do you define quite, with students trying to learn English, but Matt
did a fantastic job!
Majority of our students are from Mexico, South America or Vietnam,
but other populations are growing like Cambodians, Chinese, Japanese,
and Arabic. Many of our adult students have degrees from other countries,
but just want to learn how to speak English. As we all know, practice
makes perfect. I enjoyed visiting all my classes and seeing what new
activity the instructors have designed and shared with our students.
Many times students give us ideas on how to teach a specific topic,
so as an instructor we must listen to our student needs and develop
new strategies that increase student retention. These new teaching
strategies assist with classroom management.
Preparation by all staff members within any Adult Education department
is crucial for students and staff involvement, retention, and classroom
management. The front receptionist whether by phone or in person is
your first point of contact. If that person is well informed and respectful,
then the students will know this is a place to be. If the instructors
are planning ahead for every class meeting and have more than enough
assignments for each class, then the students will not get bored, nor
drift off, and basically not have time to disrupt, because task after
task after task is being administered. Regardless of what many educators
think, structure is important as well as flexibility. The more structured
and prepared staff are, the better retention programs can have. Yes
I am aware there is no perfect model, but I believe a learning institution
should have a solid professional development plan, seasonal instructors
as well as newly hired instructors, so a diverse group of instructors
and staff can learn from each other. These building blocks will flourish,
if professional development is made a priority.
The Adult Education departments at North Harris College, Tomball College,
Cy-Fair College, Montgomery College, and Kingwood College have dynamic
programs, and I encourage you to come by and visit us as well as invite
us to visit your programs.
About the Author
Shannon Solis worked full-time for the Adult Education Department at
North Harris College-Parkway Center for one and a half years. She
is now working full-time with College Services on many projects to
see how their district handles situations from a broader aspect
and also works as an adjunct developmental math instructor. She was
charged with developing a District ESL Task Force to involve all
five campuses and develop timelines on strategic initiatives that
will promote success for ESL students. She is a doctoral student
in administration and supervision and looks forward to completing
this degree and assisting students and institutions of higher education
in a more productive and global manner.
 
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