Van+Ausdall,+Catherine,+Attention

ATTENTION! N L O a s =Does your class have culture? = ====By culture I mean a community of culture. Set the tone at the beginning of the year that let's your students know that you are on their team and that you are never going to give up on them. I wanted to explore this issue because I feel that gaining the attention of your students in a quick efficient way is one of the most important aspects of classroom management. ====

Five Things I Learned
1) The beginning of the year it is a good time to teach your students the class signal that you will be using to direct their attention to you. This means not only being quite and listening to you but they should also be looking at you with their bodies facing you, their hands on their desk or lap, and have their feet on the floor.

2) For younger students, singing a song with a cheerful rythum gets them up and going on an activity whether it is getting their attention or putting the items away that they were just working with. The students respond faster to the sing-song.

3) Having a specific location in the classroom where you give your attention getting signal will further instill a sense of continuity in the classroom.

4) Using a quiet voice to get your students attention is more effective than a piercing shrill yell.

5) Body language is also a useful toolfor getting lessons started. By using "space and gaze" you can get your students ready for the lesson. A the students come into the classroom greet them at the door so they have to come in single file, this will help diffuse pent-up energy. when giving instruction move out from behind your desk and gaze at all students in an effort to make sure everyone understands what the instructions are. Point to outlines, charts, graphs or other pertinent material so they follow your motions with their eyes and their minds will follow. To emphathize with your students you can use your hands while talking with the palms up, indicating that you want to make a contact with their thoughts in a non-threatening way. Smiles and other happy facial expressions indicate a willingness to work with students. __Body language should match verbal language.__ Body language can also help in creating bonds, engaging and motivating students and to reinforce learning.

Five Top Resources 1) Attention getting [|www.atozteacherstuff.com/] This website is a huge resource for everything from classroom themes and lesson plans to teaching tips (from attendance to teaching strategies). There is a discussion forum, worksheets and tool to help you create your own worksheets.

I rate this website a 5

2) Attention getting [|www.teachingideas.co.uk/more/management/**gainingattention**.htm] This website is also a good resource for teachers, like the previous one. This link will take you to a list of attentiongetting methods.

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I rate this website a 5

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">3) Response To Intervention [] <span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This website has an enormous amount of resources for academic and behavioral interventions.

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I rate this 4

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">4) Consistency and Position media type="custom" key="18637150" align="left" width="70" height="70"

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This is a video describing why it is important and how to create attention getters.

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I rate this video a 4

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">4.5) Secret Word media type="custom" key="18948632" width="70" height="70"

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This is another video on getting students attention through a secret word, you could also incorporate vocabulary words with this.

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I rate this a 3

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">5) More great attention getters and thoght provoking help from the website at whole brain teaching. []

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This is another great resource for attention getters and more thought provoking insight from the whole brain teaching website.

<span style="color: #7400ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I rate this a 4