We’ve all been there- you’re standing up at the front of the room trying to get your students’ attention. You say, “class, class,” in your best teacher voice, and you hear the faint response of 3 of your students… “yes, yes.” But the rest of your students keep working, talking, being disruptive… everything except paying attention to you.
Why does this happen? What are you doing wrong? There are TONS of attention getters and quiet signals for you to choose from, but they’re not all created equal. If you want an attention getter that works the first time, here are 3 things you need to know.
Why I Don’t Like Call and Responses
The main reason call and response type chants don’t work is because they’re constantly changing. One month it’s “1, 2, 3, eyes on me. 1, 2, eyes on you” and the next month it’s “hocus pocus, everyone focus.” You think it’s fun and exciting to change the chant and keep things new, but in reality, by the time your students have learned and mastered one, it’s changed. You say “hocus pocus” and some of your students don’t even say anything because they’re not sure exactly WHAT they’re supposed to say this time.
Choose One and Be Consistent
In order for an attention getter to be effective, it has to be consistent. Yes, you use your quiet signal multiple times a day. But no, your students don’t get bored of it. In fact, being consistent with your attention getter allows students to feel safe and confident because they know exactly what to expect.
If you want to use a call and response chant, go for it. But choose one and stick with it. Your kids need to be able to practice and master the attention getter and it should become so automatic that they don’t even have to think about what to do when they hear it.
Teach, Model, Practice, Repeat!
If you want your students to stop talking when they hear the quiet signal, you need to take time to explicitly teach what you want them to do when they hear it. Break it down into steps and teach your students each one. (Remember, don’t just say listen!)
Model for your students what each step looks like and sounds like and have students model for the class too. Then, spend time practicing it over and over again. Have your students pretend to be engaged in work or talking to a peer and practice multiple times. Give your students specific verbal feedback so they know what they did well and what they need to do differently next time. If your students aren’t responding to it, keep practicing. If you only practice once and start talking while students are talking, they’ll quickly learn that they don’t have to stop talking when they hear it because you’ll just start talking anyway.
Grab Your Own
If you’re ready to ditch the call and responses and are looking for some new ideas for attention getters to calm a noisy classroom, click the links below to check out two that I’ve used and love:
-chime: I use this chime in my classroom every day. It’s by far my most used classroom tool. I love that you can stop it from making noise by touching it, and it stays at the front of my classroom so I never lose it!
-classroom doorbell: Classroom doorbells are popular, and I’ve had this one for years. It worked great when I used it and all it needs is an outlet. I switched back to the chime simply because I was tired of losing the doorbell!
Do you have any attention getters that you love? Leave a comment to share!
