The Nuts and Bolts of Individualization: Classroom Management

An important part of individualization is classroom management, the realm of "nuts and bolts," which soon faces any teacher contemplating individualizing in a foreign language classroom. How to implement individualization techniques may vary with the instructor, but certain organizational methods are indispensable. After a summary of the rationale and personal reasons for using this approach to foreign language teaching, three aspects of classroom management are outlined: (1) introducing the program to students, with examples of techniques successfully used; (2) organizing instructional materials and records to avoid initial chaos in the classroom; and (3) moving out of an individualized course of study back to a "conventional" method when desired. Emphasis is placed upon questions that need to be asked by everyone, while personal experiences and knowledge gained through previous individualization efforts are explained. An appendix includes a sample of some classroom rules and an example of a record-keeping form used during an individualized program.