The first strategy from Solid English (p42) describes how a teacher starts each school day with a session of quiet reading or individual work. This enables her to be available for students to tell her anything in whatever form of language they please. This strategy can be used:

• to accommodate lateness - in fact, the time spent waiting for late students to arrive can be used productively by getting to know individuals and their day-to-day difficulties;
• to address communication difficulties where a student may not want to speak out in front of the class but now has the opportunity to talk quietly with just the teacher;
• to build good relationships with one's students;
• to get to know personally any student who may be contributing to discipline problems.