[Kataqueens]

I forgot who posted about this strategy, but I decided to use it today with middle schoolers. At the beginning of class, the students gave me the floor to explain how I would be monitoring their behavior; if I turned the lights off once, that was a warning, and a second time meant that I would be deducting one whole number grade from their section sheet. At this school, they use Gold Cards to reward students with perfect behavior numbers, and if one homeroom has enough of them, they get a treat at the end of the week. The homeroom class were going to have a class trip if they got two more Gold Cards, so there was a lot of pressure on them. lol

No one was perfect; I had to give a "warning" to each of the classes, but there was always one student who noticed me inching towards the lights, and rallied the troops. I didn't have to turn the lights off a second time for anyone, although it got close once. This probably won't work for every class; you need to get total silence at the beginning to explain the scenario, but I was fortunate to not get the wild-as-they-walk-in bunch (WWI).

[YILuv2Teach]

That's the best part about a visual signal because they will get on each other before you actually have to give them the warning. I havent done this with lights yet, but I have done it when they are earning minutes/points on the board.

[Kataqueens]

I feel really good about this; I had to take one of the classes to an assembly, and my group were the most well behaved of all the classes in the auditorium! I watched as seasoned teachers kept telling their students be quiet. We had to seat them boy-girl, boy-girl, and I managed to get everyone to sit accordingly.

[YILuv2Teach]

That's great! Assemblies can be really hard too! I usually don't have their names down enough and, "Hey you. Be quiet", doesn't really work so well.