Do you find yourself struggling with a rowdy class? One that’s a tad bit difficult to settle down? Well you, my friend are not alone. That’s why today, we will be going over 5 witty ways to quiet a noisy class so you can preserve both your voice and energy to use it for much more important things in the classroom!
Wherever you are currently in your teaching career I’m sure you’ve experienced it firsthand, new teachers even seasoned ones get to face a noisy class every now and then.
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Ever tried the power of a doc cam?
>>>Look at these high-resolution web cameras. They will surely get the attention of your students!
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It’s essential for you to not get intimidated by it because as a teacher you have to develop the skill of grabbing the attention of your students and telling them when to quiet down if they are getting too noisy. But how can you do that without getting too emotional and you’re still in a calm and cool state? Turning your kids immediately from unruly kids to well-behaved ones?
Have a read below to discover how!
5 Witty Ways To Quiet A Noisy Class
1.) Call and Response
Do you know that trick where you will start singing a song and anyone with you who knows that song will automatically finish it? People don’t know what kind of sorcery it is, but it actually works, and it’ll work for your class too!
If you can’t beat them, join ‘em! Try to use catchy and trendy phrases or songs and sing the first catchy part and let your students finish it. They won’t be able to resist the temptation, and you’ll surely get their attention.
Since we know live in the TikTok generation you can use trendy songs or phrases that your students will surely be familiar with.
Here are some great examples of catchy call and response cues that will get your students’ attention to get them to listen to you and for them to quiet down:
- You say, “I’ll! Tell you what I want, what I really, really want!” and your students say, “So tell me what you want, what you really really want!”. And then proceed to tell them what you want them to do next. (A little spice girl action!).
- This next call and response cue will surely be warmly welcomed by your students. If you heard of the chicken wing craze, then you better take advantage of it in class. Just start with “Chicken wing, chicken wing!”, and your students will say, “Hotdog and baloney, chicken and macaroni, chillin’ with my homies”. And watch as the magic unfolds.
- Another fun phrase inspired by pop culture that you can use is by shouting out “Sheeesh!”, and your students will be yelling out the same thing.
- You can also try this fun song where you say “Oh Mickey you’re so fine!” and you’re students respond with “You’re so fine, you blow my mind, hey Micky!”.
- Marco Polo is also a fun call and response phrase that you can try. Shout “Marco!” and let them respond with “Polo!”.
- You can also try to talk about Bruno! Just shout and sing, “We don’t talk about Bruno!” and let them respond with “No, no, no. We don’t talk about Bruno!”.
- You can also try, “Bad-a-bing!” and “Bad-a-boom!”.
These are just some witty call and response ideas that you can try out with your class, you can also curate your own just to make sure that they’ll understand the reference, and let the noise be history!
2.) 5-Second-Rule
You don’t necessarily have to be stressed out and shouting just to get your class to be quiet.
The next technique that you can try to quiet down a noisy class is by using the 5-second rule. In the 5-second rule, you will wait for about 5 seconds after calling their attention before you get down to business.
We all know the familiar scenario in the classroom where you’ll have to repeat what you’re saying over and over again just because one didn’t hear what you said especially when the noise in the class is over the roof.
And it’s kind of tiring and is a waste of your precious energy as well. That’s why you have to command your class properly to make sure that you’re getting them to quiet down efficiently.
Because if you will proceed to give them the instruction for what you want them to do next, they’ll probably not hear and understand it. Allotting 5 seconds to cool them down will give you the chance to talk clearly along with their full attention to what you have to say.
For example, start by calling their attention by shouting “Class, all eye on me.” and raise your hand and wait for about 5 seconds or so, until all of them are settled down and are paying attention to you.
3.) Take A Walk
Walking is good for the heart, but did you know that it’s also an effective strategy to get a class to quiet down?
I remember back in my school days, my teacher would never shout or get angry during class whenever we got noisy. All she would do is stand up. Walk around and stand close to whoever is talking a bit louder than everybody else.
This would instantly get us to quiet down, and up to this date, it is still an effective technique that will help you control the noise levels in your classroom.
Take advantage of proximity and give yourself a quick exercise as well!
4.) Use An Attention-Grabbing Instruments
Another great method that you can try in class is by using any attention-grabbing instrument that would produce a loud sound.
The great thing about using a special instrument in class is that you’ll get to save your voice from the tiring call-outs to get hush them.
Some teachers use doorbells, wind chimes, and rain sticks, I saw one teacher use a gong! It was funny and effective at the same time. I mean who wouldn’t enjoy banging a mini-gong right?
5.) Use A Noise Monitoring App!
This one’s a fun way to get your class to quiet down. Head on to Bouncyballs.org and discover a fun way to manage your classroom noise!
This web-based tool will help keep your classroom noise at a minimum. All you need to do is make sure that your microphone is on and the balls in the app will bounce at any detected noise.
In the app, you can change the sensitivity and if it gets too loud it will actually SHHHH! Telling the students that they need to be silent or bring their noise level lower.
You can also change the colorful balls into emojis, bubbles, numbers, and even creepy eyeballs, perfect for Halloween!
At the end of the day,
After distanced learning students are no doubt going to be very loud in the classroom. It’s understandable at some point, but you as a teacher are in charge to let them know why they need to quiet down in certain circumstances.
There’s no magic wand or phrase that will get your students to instantly quiet down and it takes patience and virtue to do this all throughout the year—that’s why teachers are the best!
I hope you found something useful in this quirky little article of mine today that will help you to get your class to quiet down! And if you did share a trick of your down in the comment section. Also, share this with a teacher who needs to read this!
Until our next one, best of luck!
