How to Regain the Attention of Your Learners.
How to Regain the Attention of Your Learners.
Quieting a class to gain its attention is a challenge to many teachers.
It is perhaps the first routine that should be taught on the first day of school.
Most successful teachers develop some form of signal or cue that tells students to stop what they are doing, be quiet, and focus their attention on the teacher.
Here are some strategies that many teachers use;
Use a bell, chord on the piano, or chime to signal that it is time to stop talking and give the teacher attention.
Some teachers have collected an assortment of bells, whistles, and other novelty sound instruments that they use for this purpose.
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Use hand signals to cue students to stop talking.
Raise your hand palm or hold up two or three fingers.
Don’t say anything until you have everyone’s attention.
Some teachers have their students join the teacher in raising their hands.
Another commonly used cue to quiet a group is to hold your index finger vertically across your lips.
Others signal it is time to give the teacher attention by standing in a designated spot in the room.
Slowly clap your hands together three times.
When students hear the first clap, they are to join in on the second clap.
This grabs the attention of everyone who didn’t hear the first one.
Typically, the whole class offers the third clap simultaneously.
Now the room is silent, and attention is focused on the teacher.
Another strategy is to write a cue word (for example, STOP or QUIET) on the board.
On seeing the teacher writing that word on the board, all students are to comply immediately.
A different signal can be used to cue the class that group activities are becoming too noisy and should be brought down to a lower level.
It might be helpful to have all students pause for fifteen to thirty seconds before resuming their activities.
Some teachers flick the light switch. This tends to work if used sparingly.
Some teachers have constructed a flashing red light that they switch on when it is time for students to stop talking.
A useful way of indicating the time remaining without interrupting small-group discussion activities is to construct a picture of a traffic light, either on a poster or as an overhead transparency.
When the discussion begins, show the light with a green light.
When one minute is left, reveal the yellow light.
That is the cue for students to wind up their discussion.
When time is up, reveal the red light.
This serves as a signal for everyone to stop talking.
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