A
procedure is essential for gaining
students' attention. Much instructional
time is lost and teacher stress is
increased without some procedure.
A
procedure
is described below for quickly obtaining
students’ attention.
First,
view the visual,
Attention Management, and let
students know that this is the procedure
you will use to get their attention.
Raise a hand showing "give me five" (two
eyes on the teacher, two ears listening,
and one mouth closed). Consider
downloading the visual to print a
transparency for use on an overhead
projector.
Explain that
you will continue teaching when
ALL
hands are raised. If someone has not
raised a hand, it is the students'
responsibility to prompt that person
to follow the procedure.
Second, when you give the "go
ahead," ask students to introduce
themselves to one other person giving
the other person (1) the name they wish to be called (e.g., "Archie"
rather than "Archibald") and (2) something
personal about themselves (hobby,
favorite activity, etc.)
After
one minute, raise your hand, and TIME in
seconds how long it took to have
everyone raise a hand to give you their
silent attention.
DO NOT SAY ANYTHING UNTIL EVERY STUDENT
HAS A RAISED HAND AND EVERYONE HAS
STOPPED TALKING. Let them know
how long it took.
Third,
challenge them by letting them know that
you believe they can follow the
procedure in a shorter period of time.
Have students introduce themselves to
someone with whom they have not yet
spoken, and
then you say, "Let's see if we can do this in a
shorter period of time."
Give them the "go ahead" again. After
you have allowed a little more time
than in the first introductions, raise a hand and start timing.
Announce how long it took for
everyone to follow the procedure.
Congratulate them on how they
accomplished the task in a shorter
period of time.
In order
to be consistent, regularly continue to
raise a hand to obtain students'
attention.
Remember that rarely can anyone
do something once and repeat it exactly as
learned at first.
In order for the procedure to
become a ritual,
you will periodically need to repeat the
instructions
of "give me five"
to have it remain as effective
as it
was when you first modeled,
taught, practiced, and reinforced it.
