By Sarah Lofthouse
Sometimes it can be difficult to get your students’ attention if they are busy and noisy during a lesson. Here are some strategies you might like to try to help regain attention and quiet when you want it.
Students need to be told the idea and your expectation at the start of the lesson. Practising the routine will also help reinforce it for use later.
1. Countdown. A simple countdown from 5 could be employed. Add the expectations as you practise, for example: 5 – in your place facing front; 4 – stop fidgeting; 3 – pens down; 2 – closed mouths; and 1 – we are ready.
2. Adding time. Every time the class do not act quickly when you ask for quiet you put a tally mark on the board. One mark means one minute being kept in. The beauty of this is it is simple and effective and you can also easily remove marks to reinforce positive behaviour.
4. Location anchor. Cut out a circle from brightly coloured paper. Stick it onto a point on the floor or wall and tell students you will give them important information when you are at this spot. Regularly reinforce the importance of the location by only giving important pieces of information when you are at that point. Then every time you want quiet, walk onto the spot or lay your hand on it on the wall. This method will need practising and could be made into a game to begin with.
5. Lights. Simply switching the light on and off to give a visual signal that it’s time to be quiet and face the front.
6. One for all and all for one. Tell the class you have chosen one student at random (don’t tell them who it is) and that their behaviour during the lesson will apply to all. If they can listen and settle quickly when asked then the class will be rewarded.
7. Copy cat. The idea is that the class have to copy your sound. For example, you clap twice, they clap back. You could try it with song lyrics or movements.
This is what other Beaumont staff have suggested:
Jane Pearson (History): “A visual clue to the lesson on the board such as a large picture and they have 2 minutes (show a timer on the board rather than a little hand held kitchen one) to figure out how the picture links to the lesson/explains something etc. Seeing the time ticking I find is more effective. I have this timer document on my desktop so I can open it quickly whenever I need it.”
Steve Jump (PE): “Just wait and be patient – someone in the class will get the fact you are waiting for silence and usually tell the rest of the class to stop talking. This then usually ripples through the class until all are quiet. I sometimes hold up my hand in class and wait – usually works. Finally – only done occasionally if you have a really troublesome class – I sometimes leave the class and wait outside the door for a 10 – 20 seconds and then come back into the room. This works brilliantly as the pupils are almost all silent when I re-enter…weird!”
Sue Lutz (MFL): “I try to find a song that is linked to the theme of my lesson. For example I played “Keep Young and Beautiful” for a lesson on fitness/healthy eating. They are quiet as they are listening to the song and starting to engage with what the lesson is about. Works best with music that they do not know!”
Fiona Pinkerton (Science): “My normal method of getting students to be quiet is ‘3,2, and…….1’ the ‘and’ drawn out depending on how quickly they tune into realizing they need to be quiet! It works well especially if I then deduct them a minute of their time for every second I wait. I also use names and a good old glare at individuals to get them to shhhhh. Once for my year 11 class who were lethargic and not listening I did a little Irish dance at the front of the classroom. Strange I know but they tuned in following a good giggle and I consequently had their full attention.”
Laura Hawkins (MFL): “My idea is ‘Pumpernickel’. If the students are working in groups/teams they all have to stop if they hear the word and put their hands on their heads/be silent. I give points to first team to be silent and remove points for last team to be silent. The word could obviously be anything. It works best when there’s a competitive element to the activity. Obviously, what you make them do on hearing the word could be anything relating to their subject. Other than that I just use the old favourites of hand in the air or countdowns.”
Kyl Messios (Drama): “With KS3 I set up expectations at the start of the year and introduce a clapping rhythm that they join in on at the end (idea stolen from Harriet Rowlands years ago). It’s really important that I can get their attention quickly and safely during some of the more ‘energetic’ lessons. Sometimes I dance about or say funny things (that I think are funny). I find that the best thing to do is get the lesson/activity going quickly and energetically.”
For more ideas try these links:
www.behaviourneeds.com
www.busyteacher.org
Beaumont Teaching and Learning 