Your most important goal when redirecting
students who may be off task is to quickly and quietly help them get back on
task without missing even a moment of instruction. The difficulty lies in
trying to be as unobtrusive as possible while still stopping the
misbehavior. Fortunately, there are many
different ways to redirect students without disrupting instruction. Here are
just a few of the techniques you can use to help your students
stay on track during class.
·
Use sticky notes
to write reminders and put them on the desks of students who are off task.
·
Set a timer and
give everyone a two-minute break.
·
Change the pace
of the assignment.
·
Ask students if
they would like help from a classmate.
·
Use your “teacher
look” to remind students to keep working.
·
Call home if
several attempts to redirect are not successful.
·
Remind students
of their long and short-term goals.
·
Ask students to
restate the directions.
·
Ask students to
estimate how long it will take to finish the assignment.
·
Count 1, 2, 3 and
wait for everyone to pay attention to your directions.
·
Ask students who
are struggling with an assignment if they need help.
·
Move to stand
near the students who are off task.
·
Have students
stand, stretch, and then return to work.
·
Put your hand on
the desk of a student whose attention seems to be wandering.
·
Discreetly remove
distractions.
·
Ask students who
are off task to sit near you.
·
Pleasantly remind
students of the behavior you would like to see.
· Sometimes the problem is not off task behavior,
but noise. You can also establish signals such as these with your students to
let them know that they need to moderate their noise level:
o
Flick the lights
o
Fan them so that
they “chill out”
o
Tell them to use
a six-inch voice
o
Ring a bell
o
Wave your hands
over your head
o
Snap your fingers
until students snap back
o
Blow a whistle
o
Play calming
classical music
o
Raise your hand
until they raise theirs
o
Clap your hands
until they clap with you
o
Clap twice until
they clap three times
o
Stand near a
noisy group
o
Give them a
thumbs up when they are quiet
o
Give them a
thumbs down when they are noisy
o
Shush the nearest
group and have them pass it on
o
Place your finger
over your lips and have them do the same
o
Hold up your hand
in a “V” for volume sign
It’s also helpful to remember that
alpha commands tend to be more effective than beta commands when redirecting
students. An alpha command is one that is simple and direct while pointing the
student in a positive direction. For example, an effective alpha command for
students who are lollygagging in the hallway would be, “It’s time for you to go
to your seat.” A less effective beta command would be, “Why are you guys still
in the hallway?” The effectiveness of an alpha command is that it does not just
stop misbehavior, but instead focuses on a desired positive behavior.
No comments:
Post a Comment