Sometimes we have to teach large classes. Teaching large classes, however, in some countries are not uncommon. Teaching such a large group of students can be a challenge. Here are some strategies you can use in different stages of the lesson to encourage everyone to participate and make the most out of your time with students.

How to Teach Large Groups

The Perfect Balance Between Pair Work And Group Work

1. Appropriate Activities & Benefits
   Pair work is great for practicing model dialogues, playing games such as battleship, conducting vocabulary checks, and completing worksheets. Working in pairs gives individual students a lot of speaking time. If working together, students will often have more confidence than when completing exercises individually. If students are competing with their partners, they will be more motivated. Students can work in groups or form teams for role plays, races, games such as board games or card games, and discussions. Groups give students the opportunity to create more complex dialogues, explore relationships between characters, pool knowledge together, and have a more social learning environment. Additionally there is a better chance for self correction or peer correction and for a discussion on a wider range of thoughts and opinions with larger group sizes. On the other hand, individual speaking time is limited when working in groups. You can increase the amount of speaking time students have by decreasing the size of groups to three or four people. If you are in a large class and want all the groups to present material at the end of the lesson, larger groups may be necessary but limit group size to about six.

Role-plays give students the opportunity to demonstrate how to use English in real life situations and make them focus more on communication than on grammar. Role-play activities can be a lot of fun however a class full of shy students may be reluctant to participate so it is important to know your students.

How To Proceed

Summarizing or making a summary can be a tiresome activity for either students or avid readers. However, the ability to do so reflects how well the readers understand a writing piece. In fact, summarizing helps a reader retain the knowledge or message being conveyed by the writer after he or she reads the material. In addition, summaries made will help readers locate ideas about the text without having to re-read the whole material. 

In this post, there are several strategies of how to summarize, they are as follows:

Reading can be viewed as a dynamic activity that produces meaningful knowing. Each of you can read well if you have the patience and determination to do so. In this post, you will find activities that can assist you in understanding any reading material you will encounter.

Many language textbooks emphasize more on product (answers to comprehension questions) than process (using reading skills and strategies to understand the text), providing little or no contextual information about the reading selections or their authors, and few if any pre-reading activities. Newer textbooks may provide pre-reading activities and reading strategy guidance, but their one-size-fits-all approach may or may not be appropriate for your students. 
There are some guidelines for developing reading activities which can serve as starting points for evaluating and adapting textbook reading activities. 

• Use existing, or add your own, pre-reading activities and reading strategy practice as appropriate for your students. 
• Don’t make students do exercises simply because they are in the book; this destroys motivation.
• Another problem with textbook reading selections is that they have been adapted to a predetermined reading level through adjustment of vocabulary, grammar, and sentence length. This makes them more immediately approachable, but it also means that they are less authentic and do not encourage students to apply the reading strategies they will need to use outside of class. When this is the case, use the textbook reading selection as a starting point to introduce a writer or topic, and then give students choices of more challenging authentic texts to read as a follow-up.

Why Should a Teacher Ask Questions?
Questions are integral parts of a teaching learning activity. It can be understood that a teacher asks questions to students in the classroom. The question is why a teacher should ask questions. There are several reasons why a teacher asks questions:

In this 2nd edition of a book that has provided inspiration to countless teachers, Carol Ann Tomlinson offers three new chapters, extended examples and information in every chapter, and field-tested strategies that teachers can use in today's increasingly diverse classrooms. Tomlinson shows how to use students' readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles to address student diversity.
In addition, the author shows teachers how to differentiate, or structure, lessons at every grade level and content area to provide "scaffolds"--as well as high-speed elevators--for *The content of lessons, *The processes used in learning, and *The products of learning.
Teachers can draw on the book's practical examples as they begin to differentiate instruction in their own classrooms. Strategies include curriculum compacting, "sidebar" investigations, entry points, graphic organizers, contracts, and portfolios. As Tomlinson says, "Differentiation challenges us to draw on our best knowledge of teaching and learning. It suggests that there is room for both equity and excellence in our classrooms.

Now in an updated third edition, English Teaching in the Secondary School is a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of teaching English. Presenting an informed view of current educational policy, the authors provide advice to help students creatively and independently interpret government initiatives and incorporate them in their teaching practice. With practical ideas for use in the classroom, extensive discussion of theory and opportunities for reflection and critical thought, the authors guide students through the whole process of English teaching in the secondary school.
Fully updated to include:

A Guide to Teaching Practice has long been a major standard text for all students of initial teacher training courses. It is the fullest, most comprehensive, most accessible introductory text in the field. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to take account of the many changes that have taken place both within the education system and within training courses, including:
* Literacy and numeracy hours
* ICT and e-learning in the classroom
* Subject knowledge
* Resources
* Children's rights, bullying, child abuse, and other legal issues.
As before the book is comprehensive in its coverage of issues and provides a practical guide to student teachers and in-service teachers on all matters of teaching practice and beginning teaching. It covers all the important basic skills and issues, such as planning, classroom organization, behavior management, and assessment.

Teaching Practice is for teachers and trainers on pre-service training courses. It provides a task-based approach to making the most of teaching practice. Chapters systematically cover the main challenges for new teachers including:
- Planning lessons
- Presenting and practising new language
- Working on skills
- Managing classroom activities
- Correcting and giving feedback

Essentials of English Language Teaching (Keys to Language Teaching)

Essentials of English Language Teaching is part of a series designed for teachers and teacher trainees who wish to improve their classroom teaching. It provides practical suggestions for lessons and activities, adopting an integrated approach which examines teaching across the skills, rather than one skill at a time.

Teaching English through English is a practical training course for teachers or intending teaching English as a second or foreign language. It is designed to give them practice effective use of classroom English and to extend their language teaching skills and techniques, with the aim of helping their students learn to сcommunicate successfully in English. It can be used on teacher training courses and as a reference book for teachers to use on their own. It is suitable for both native and non-native speaker teacher.

The first part of the course covers the use of social, personal and organisational language in typical classroom situations, and shows how these situations can be used for presenting, practising and reinforcing target language. The second part deals with tne main areas of methodology, and the language and teaching skills needed for each. A detailed introduction includes notes for teachers on how best to use the course, аnd the appendices include a glossary of more specialised ELT terms and other practical information.

Ideal for the novice teacher, this book features sample lessons with explanatory comments on the teaching techniques and methods used. Areas covered include grammar, functions, vocabulary, pronunciation, and the four skills, as well as planning, assessment and classroom management.

Key features

• Easy-to follow description of the language.
• Accessible lesson plans which provide a blueprint for teachers to use.
• A good way in to methodology that avoids a lot of technical jargon and theory. 

Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need or expect their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them: “Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher’s ability … to maintain the interest that brought students to the course in the first place” (Ericksen, 1978, p. 3). Whatever level of motivation your students bring to the classroom will be transformed, for better or worse, by what happens in that classroom.

Creative Questions: Lively Uses of the Interrogative
 
This resource book deals with one of the major barriers to fluency and accuracy in English – question forms. It integrates question practice into all areas of language teaching – grammar, vocabulary, the four skills, register, cross-cultural training, and others – empowering students to ask questions accurately and appropriately, and enabling them to become active learners. There are over 70 activities, from five-minute warm ups to full lessons, for students from beginning to advanced levels.

One of the most effective ways to implement the research-based instructional strategies from Classroom Instruction That Works is to use them with educational technologies, such as word processing and spreadsheet applications, multimedia, data collection tools, communication software, and the Internet. This book shows you how and gives you hundreds of lesson-planning ideas and strategies for every grade level and subject. Discover new educational tools that support research-based instruction, and learn ways to use technologies you already know to

For some teachers, the first meeting is considered to be one of the most important important meetings in their classes. This is the time when the teacher tries to build relationship with her students and vice versa. The success the teacher achieves in this moment surely has contribution to her success in later meetings. Therefore, teachers should know what it takes to make an impressive first meeting.
There are several things that the teacher must do in order to make her first meeting with her students motivate students, be remembered, and sustain the students’ eagerness to always come to class.

Accurately assessing your students’ developmental state can direct your planning and impel your teaching. For instance, recognizing a 16-year-old’s concern about his appearance and his standing among his peers may promote your rapport with him and eliminate learning barriers.

There is a saying that goes like this: “When we fail to plan, we plan to fail.” From this saying we know how important a plan is. Likewise, in teaching a teacher must be able to make time for herself to plan her lesson.
Planning a lesson is very necessary. A teacher without a plan when teaching will look so funny. Students will respect a teacher who just comes to class without any preparation. The class will be least controlled. The students will not likely learn something from the teacher, they learn like a routine. And finally they will not feel satisfied with the learning.