What creative ways do you get your students' attention? I know some people turn off the lights, ring a bell, clap a beat. Are there any other neat things you might do? What song might you sing or what do you do?

[pg]

Hi!

Have you heard of the game of calling out, "If you can hear my voice clap three times?"

I love doing this ~ whenever I do it, I get quite a few that respond by clapping. It tells me that, although I feel as if they are not hearing me, they are listening much more closely than I might imagine.

Give it a try ~ it's much fun!

pg

[Courtney23]

Hi! I use a call and response technique. I'll say "1, 2, 3, eyes on me." The kids respond "1, 2, eyes on you." I'll also say "Here ye, here ye." The kids respond "All eyes on the Queen!" They seem to really like it and it works!!! I also will say things like "Snap 2 times if your listening", etc. Hope this helps!!!

[Teach'n'Learn]

Oh, I like "Hear ye, hear ye!

I use a dog squeaky toy because my classroom theme is dogs.

[TeachAbroad]

I just started with a new attention getter today..I use maracas when student voices are too high. However, by the end of the day I noticed that I should go back to clapping because I'm all around the room and sometimes I have to move quickly to the front to get the maracas. Clapping is a lot more efficient.

[teacher4lf]

Have you tried the hand that says give me five? I know that people have put up pictures and it works great. If anyone knows where the picture is...I'd love to see it too

I hope this leads to a response =)

[missingyou]

In the past I have used a wind up music box to get the attention of my students.When they hear the music they get quiet because they want to have music left in the box at the end of the day. If there is music left when I would open the box at the end of the day they would earn a minute or two of extra recess on Fridays.

[missingyou]

When it is too noisy say-

"Oh my goodness oh my soul I'm about to lose control !"

The kids usually finish the chant for you but then you also have their attention.

[KarenLB]

I use that one. I have a picture up but I drew the hand myself.

I actually call out Eyes and Ears first to get everyone's attention. Then when everyone is settled I say - give me 5. Sometimes I just hold up my hand w/ my 5 fingers out. If they settle right away they get points... if it takes them a while -----

[4strong]

I explain what a good listener looks and act like: eyes on speaker, ears listening, mouth closed, hands and feet still. We practice. We talk about how important body language is, and how it shows respect.

I start practicing the first day and continue practicing each day. I say, "Listeners, please." Students are to stop what they are doing and turn toward me, so I can see all eyes. They can be in groups all around the room, but they know they need to turn and listen.

It's been working for me...sometimes I have to say the phrase twice, but I make a big deal about having to do that :-)