Katherine Mikuljan, 1998

Introduction

Being placed in a grade 3 classroom after being in a grade 7/8 class was quite a transition. Originally, I thought my biggest challenge would be adjusting to the learning levels in the classóto my surprise that was the easy part. I fully believe that making optimum use of every teaching moment is vital in today's busy classroom. Thus, effective classroom management techniques are so important to being a successful teacher. But how does one accomplish such a goal? In my previous class the students could easily pick up on subtle cues when I wanted their attentionóthe look' or just waiting quietly worked like a charmóunfortunately this did not work with the grade 3s. Without a doubt, my central concern in my grade 3 class was how do I get the short attention span of these 8 year olds.

The Process

Feeling like the new kid in class', I spent the first few days observing to see how the class was run. The students half-heartedly responded to my Associate Teacher's attention grabbers of counting, turning off the lights, and the occasional raising of the voice. While in the role of observer, with fingers crossed, I hoped they would respond to me with wonder in their eyes and anticipation in their faces to what I had to say. Not a chance!

When given the opportunity to facilitate an activity I reverted back to the methods that worked wonderfully in my grade 7/8 class. I patiently waited for the class to refocus on me so I could continue with the lesson. However, my patience grew thin as I realized they forgot about me waiting for them.

When I approached my Associate Teacher with my dilemma of how difficult I found gaining the classes' attention she suggested counting like she did. Okay, I thought, this sound feasible. The next time I told the students to put away their books the chatter began again. When I started counting one, two, threeÖ a chorus of little voices began accompanying me. Of course I stopped counting after 5 but they continued up to ten, blasting a rocket into space in the process. Obviously, this was not what I was looking for.

While talking to one of the other teacher candidates about my newly deemed situation' she suggested I count backwards. Brilliant, why didn't I think of that? So the next time the class went off task I began counting, five, four, threeÖ not surprisingly I was once again greeted with a chorus of voices counting down for me. Back to the drawing board.

On one occasion, out of sheer desperation, I reverted back to my own days in elementary schoolóI turned out the lights. Sometimes I truly believed that it was the only means my former teachers ever got us to stop what we were doing. Unfortunately, something appears to have changed over the past 15 years, perhaps today's students have figured something out that my friends and I never didóthe teacher can't see what we are doing with the lights off. Needless to say, I began to get frustrated.

On more than one occasion I had noticed teachers in the school raising one arm in the air and covering their mouth with their other hand to get the attention of students at large gatherings. My Associate Teacher tried this technique as well in her class on a few occasions. Why not give it a try, I thought. The noise level during an assigned work time had began to crescendo. I proceeded to raise my hand and put my other hand to my mouth. What on earth was I thinking? Most of the children were too busy talking to their neighbours, while the rest were actually continuing to focus on their work, no one was looking at me. I needed to try something that utilized some from of audio cue as opposed to solely visual.

Up to this point I had tried everything my Associate Teacher did, minus the raising of the voice. Wanting to hold to my convictions of never fully yelling' at a class, which I felt was on its way, I had to think of something. But what? If only it had been one student making all the noise, at least then I could have dealt with the situation' on an individual basis. However, it was the majority of the class wasting time, not only their time but my time as well.

I knew I had to try some new way of grabbing the students' attention. Something that was quick, something that had an audio cue and above all something that they would possible like. While volunteering in an elementary school the teacher I worked with effectively used the technique of echo clapping to get the attention of her students. I figured I would give it a try.

It was my third and last week in this grade 3 class. The children were quite eager to begin their design and technology project, making buses. The enthusiasm level in the class was the highest I had ever seen. I knew that I had to introduce the echo clapping before the project began or the potential of never having control during this talkative activity would elude me. Before I sent the students back to their seats I expressed how happy I was over their excitement about the project and that I realized they wanted and needed to talk to their friends while they were working. I explained that when I needed to get their attention I would clap a rhythmic pattern that they would need to repeat. This of course meant that they would need to put down anything they were using. While they were clapping they needed to see where I was standing in the room because I wanted all eyes on me. On their way back to their desks we practiced a few times (something I learned quickly in this class) so that I knew everyone had the hang of it.

The Results

It worked! Whenever I clapped a rhythm the students echoed it back. This is not to say that it worked perfectly ever single time but I was truly impressed with the response. Most importantly, I observed some notable changes.The students were fascinated with clapping. They thoroughly enjoyed it and actually prompted me on several occasions to use it. 

There was a significant reduction in lost time. I could immediately get the students attention and give my instructions while at the same time refocusing some of the students back to the task at hand.

The fact that it was a audio cue allowed me to get the students' attention from anywhere in the room. The practicality of this was endless.

The instant I knew that I had started something good was when my Associate Teacher, out of the blue, used the technique and got everyone's attention. To quote her, "Wow! This really does work."

Conclusion

 Finding a way to get my students' attention not only benefited my need for effective communication, it provided the students with active role in the process. Although I was in the class for only a short period of time the difference this technique made was incredible. I am so glad that I found something that worked for all the students and never had raise' my voice while doing so.