It happens in every classroom, ELT and others; it happens daily. You might already have your own solution(s) to it. But here’s mine ...

When a group of students is doing a focus-on-form exercise (eg constructing sentences using the third conditional, or whatever), there will invariably be one or two who finish in just-about-no-time, while others need a good while longer to think carefully about what they’re doing and to make sure they’re completing the exercise to their own satisfaction. So, the early finishers (and their teacher) sit there in respectful silence. I stopped doing that a couple of years ago.

What I do now is to take advantage of that spare minute or two to strike up a conversation with the early finisher(s) about what they’ve done at work today; or whether they’ve managed to sell their car yet; or whether their brother’s broken leg is better; or where they got that nice tie from or, alternatively, I’ll tell them about something interesting that I have read/done/seen, etc recently. As a result, there’s no time wasted in suspended animation.

None of the chat necessarily has anything to do with the third conditional, and it nearly always continues, with the other students joining in as they finish, for several minutes – way beyond the last late-finisher’s satisfactory completion of the focus-on-form exercise. But it’s real and enjoyable; and it’s an important opportunity for me to get to know my students even better.

Then, as soon as the conversation feels as if it’s reaching a natural conclusion, I say, ‘OK, everybody, compare your sentences with your partner.’

 

David Hogg

Barcelona, Spain