how to deal with the noisy class and get students to pay attention to you the volume in class is getting unacceptable and you are afraid that other teachers and people might hear it and think that the class is out of control and that you are a bad teacher that is one of the greatest fears that most teachers have so today i'm going to share some ideas on how to make a noisy class quiet and how to get them to pay attention to you hi i'm eric from etiquette and i share teaching videos every wednesday also
every sunday at 1 pm gmt we have a live stream so feel free to join us and ask any questions and problems that you might have in your class but first let's look at some ways to silence a noisy class [Applause] [Music] never shout if the students get too loud and you ask them to settle down do so in a loud voice and also use their names jimmy settle down johnny quiet please everyone i want to start class you can do so in a loud voice but never shout because that shows that you've lost the
battle and you need to shout to get their attention i've made another video that show mistakes the teachers make when they try and quiet the class you can watch that here many teachers suggest giving the class the silent treatment this can be good or bad depending on how you do it if you go to the front of the class and you stand there with a big smile on your face shoulders back and you patiently wait for the class to quiet down they will look up at you and say oh the teacher is going to say
something everybody let's quiet down so then that is a good way that's a good example of how to use it the mistake that many teachers make is that they try and get the students to be quiet the students don't comply so the teacher gets upset and they go and sit down at their seat at the desk and they sit down and they're like i'm going to sit here until you're quiet you are only wasting your own time i'm just going to wait you i'm not going to teach you until you are quiet is that a
place of strength no that's a really bad way of doing it it's more like a petulant child not getting their way and students are going to keep on disrespecting you if you do it that way instead i'm going to teach you some positive ways to get the students attention the first way i want to show you is called call and response when humans are engaged in an activity they are focused on it for students they are busy talking they're busy having fun so you need a pattern interrupt to snap them back to reality most teachers
use a call and response technique so now i'm going to show you some of my favorite call and response techniques basically the teacher calls out something and the students have to say something back or they have to do some kind of action in reply teachers train students from the very first day on using this call and response technique and they practice it a hundred times until it is ingrained in the students so that when you say that they automatically snap back and do the response here are some of my favorite call and response techniques so
one of the oldest techniques is the teacher says one two three eyes on me and the students reply one two eyes on you and they look up you can use other slogans too for example spongebob are you ready kids aye aye captain uh try not to sing the song after class class class yes yes yes class class class yes yes yes class class class yes yes yes the teacher says class class class and the students have to repeat it in the same way you can say it high or low or you can say it in
different ways and the students have to repeat after you another popular way is the rhythm clap you can use any type of rhythm clap as a call and response technique l-i-s-t-e-n hocus pocus time to focus anything works you can even use a popular theme papa i'm loving it okay maybe not like that with younger students you can also pop imaginary marshmallows into your mouth and they have to copy and do the same thing but they can talk because their mouth is full of marshmallows another one i like to use with sports teams is a popular
navy seal slogan the only easy day was yesterday remember give students time to settle down often we want them to be quiet immediately but it doesn't work that way so give them time to calm down if they're busy with a group activity you can say 20 seconds and students have 20 seconds to quiet down and to go to their seats and sit down that's a gradual way for them to relax and to get ready to listen to you in my own class i use something simple i use the three to one rules i say three
two one and stop and harry wong the teacher who wrote the famous book the first days of school i'm actually listening to it right now uses the give me five technique one eyes look two ears listen three mouth closed four hands still five feet quiet it's almost like a countdown to give students time to relax and to get used to the silence remember we want to get their attention another one you can use is water and ice you say oh water water water flow like water and the students have to copy you flowing like water
and then suddenly you say ice freeze and they have to freeze you can use animal sounds to get their attention just to snap them out and to get them to pay attention sing a song happy birthday to you some pointer students and everybody starts singing along you can start talking to a small group tell them a personal story or gossip or secrets and the rest of the class will get curious and be quiet to listen in you can raise your hand and when students hear they have to be quiet or you can put your hands
on your head and students have to copy teach like a champion author doug lemoff uses a hand gesture and a countdown to get the students attention i need two students you know who you are i need one person one person okay everybody's paying attention that is a good way to do it for very young students you can get them interested by saying where's my nose where's my nose is this my nose is this my nose where's my nose and then get them to point to their nose if there is too much energy in the room
you can get them to exercise do yoga poses or jumping jacks or a quick stretching activity and then you say okay everyone that's done let's take our seats something like simon says also works the students are busy they're talking and you say simon says touch yeah simon says clap your hand simon says touch your head and students will fall in with all the students you can write something on the board if you are not quiet by the time that i write this out you will all get detention this and then when before you're even done
most of the students will be quiet remember you want to get their attention in a positive way if you can get the attention in a fun and non-confrontational manner you will earn their trust and it will also improve the general discipline in the class your main quieting technique should be rehearsed and practice that first day and repeat it that entire week until it is 100 ingrained in your students don't accept anything other than total compliance because that first week will set you up for a pleasant remainder of the year i've got another video on five
things that teachers need to avoid when they're trying to get their class quiet you can watch that year okay everyone what techniques do you use to get your class quiet put it in the comments below i'm eric from etiquette and i'll see you all next time you
