Week of August 25, 2008 - Page 1.....Page 2
Students don't respond to clicker
(Question asked during seminar break)
Secondary Teacher: My students didn't pay attention to me when I used the dog clicker. I thought I was supposed to click it two times to get their attention and then click it two more times after a brief pause. No matter how many times I clicked it, they wouldn't stop talking and pay attention.
The problem is not the clicker but the number of times it's being clicked. Once or twice is sufficient. Anything more than that betrays a lack of resolve on the teacher's part for holding student's accountable for their behavior. Because, quite simply, the effectiveness of any procedure is based on the teacher's ability to hold the students accountable for complying.
And maybe that's the problem. Students who don't respond correctly and not being called on it. (By called on it, I don't mean a verbal reprimand. I'm talking about some kind of action to back up the teacher's previously stated expectations regarding the clicker.) The very fact that the teacher is clicking multiple times implies that a number of students are not coming to attention at the sound of the clicker. Thus, the additional clicking.
Clicking it more than two times just confuses your intended message. The message multiple clicks sends is, "I'm not sure how to deal with students who don't stop talking and pay attention, so I'm going to attempt to click you all into submission." The unfortunate byproduct of too much clicking is the need for more clicking which, in a circularly reinforcing fashion, weakens the effectiveness of using the clicker in the first place.
Click it once.
Wait for compliance.
Jot down the names of students who don't give you their attention.
Meet with these students at a later time to talk about consequences.
Students who don't respond when called upon
(Question asked during seminar)
Secondary Teacher: What do you do when you call upon a student--when using the Class Cards technique--and the student refuses to respond?
I would just set the card aside, ask the student to keep thinking, call upon several more students, and then get back to Non-responder. If he still doesn't have a response I would repeat the initial procedure. If, after getting back to him again and he still does not have a response, I would set the card aside as a reminder to speak with him before the period is over. (I say "period" because this situation normally appears at the secondary level.) There are a number of reasons for this, one of which is the fact that most classes are fifty minutes in length. This creates an attitude of resistance. The student is thinking, "If I just drag my feet or make it difficult for the teacher to call upon me, I'll be able to sneak through one more lesson." This, as you can imagine is not conducive to a successful classroom environment.
The only way to get through is: 1) keep calling upon him; and 2) speak with him privately about the need to get involved in what's going on. Honestly, though, you probably won't see much of a change until the student figures out you're actually on his side and are looking out for his best interests. That's going to take some serious relationship building on your part.
Something to Think About: Teaching is a crock pot affair but we live in a microwave society. Take your time, keep your eyes on the horizon, and anticipate a better future for Non-responder. The change won't happen overnight; however, with a patient touch and a firm hand, you'll begin to see some progress.
Teacher stood when repeating a comment
(Seminar interaction)
I was working with a large group of teachers in a somewhat noisy cafeteria. During a discussion, one of them offered her opinion on something. Right away, another teacher called out, "Echo!" (This is the strategy explained in Chapter 3 of the book Eight Great Ideas. The chapter is called, "Confessions of a Former Echoer." It just means that the person who said "Echo" hadn't heard what the speaker had just said.)
Anyway, the teacher repeated what she had just said but--being in an acoustically challenging environment--her voice didn't carry very well. Once more, a teacher called out, "Echo!"
At the sound of the second "Echo," the teacher stood up, turned toward the area of the room from which came the request, and repeated her original statement. Because she had stood to project her voice, her original statement was delivered.
Wow. That's exactly what happened in my room whenever a student heard "Echo" more than once. The student would finally stand and deliver. It sometimes took a sign language prompt from me; but, they eventually learned to do it on their own.
It was great to see the same dynamic--without the need for a prompt--play out during the course of a presentation.
Magnetic tiles from craft foam
(Email suggestion)
Teacher suggestion: I really liked the numbered hexagons with a strip of adhesive on the back side that you demonstrated during the workshop. Unfortunately, I didn't have any hexagons in my math manipulatives. So, I made my own. I used an Ellison die that punches out six hexagons at a time and used craft foam for the material. Not only could I use any color I wanted, but the foam hexagons really stick to our magnetic white board.
Very cool.
Bathroom buddies
(Question asked during seminar break)
Teacher: How do you deal with having to send a student to the restroom when they need another student to accompany him? I hate to have a student interrupted from what he was doing only to walk with another to the restroom. Any suggestions?
We talked about it during the break and came up with this idea: create buddy groups so that every student has several students he can ask to accompany him to the restroom. By doing that, you'll be providing your students with a choice--a form of freedom, which is one of the basic needs--when choosing a bathroom buddy. This should help to reduce the number of times students are pulled away from important tasks or activities.
Voice for dismissal from carpet
(Question asked during seminar)
Teacher: I know it's usually better to use a sound or a song to initiate a procedure we have to do over and over again. However, it seems a bit unnecessary to do that when I'm releasing from a carpet meeting when I can just use my voice. Having to walk over to the CD player and find the right song seems like a bit of a hassle.
I responded by stating that if the CD player is not convenient to use, it's not likely to be used. Maybe, I suggested, you could put the player in an easy-to-get-to spot. After all, using musical cues to initiate a procedure is usually better than using your voice.
My bad. I should have said, "Go ahead and use your voice to dismiss them. They're right there in front of you and you have their attention. Your voice is fine in that situation."
It's when they're at their desks--in who knows what kind of attention state--and you want to call them to the carpet that a distinctive sound or song should be used. Dismissing them when you're done, on the other hand, can be as simple as, "Okay, guys. That's a wrap. Back on task."
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