Rob Plevin worked in a school for children with emotional and behavioural needs. He was judged 'outstanding' by OFSTED. I have used his approach to dealing with children and found it to be practical and effective.

Below you will find the link to Rob Plevin’s brand new program ‘Take Control of the Noisy Class’.

This resource pack is a MUST for any teacher who struggles with the problem of settling very difficult groups of students and controlling noise levels/constant chatter.

Here is  a small sample from a section in the ‘Take Control of the Noisy Class’ program titled ‘Attention Grabbers’...

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Attention Grabbers & Silencers

If you think about it, virtually ANYONE could stop a classroom full of troublesome students from talking and get them to listen – even if only for a few moments.

A sufficiently dramatic outburst such as standing on the table screaming would almost certainly do the job. If that didn’t work perhaps putting a huge, colourfully wrapped box (complete with colourful ribbon) on a table in the centre of the room, with a sign saying ‘I’ll open it when you’re quiet’, would create enough intrigue to shut them up long enough to remove the wrapping paper.

Or how about issuing everyone with a raffle ticket and writing ‘There is a mystery prize up for grabs - when you’re quiet I will draw the winning ticket’ on the board.

Or ... well I’m sure you get the idea.

The point is, getting their attention is not the problem.
Getting their respect, getting them to respond positively to your instructions and getting them to engage in the rest of your planned activities – they are problems. We’ll deal with these topics throughout ‘Take Control of the Noisy Class’ but for now here are a few tried and tested ‘silencers’...

Attention Grabber #1: Use the ring leaders

Many of the most challenging and difficult to manage pupils in school tend to be those with leadership potential – the ringleaders. You can use this personality trait to your advantage and get them on side by giving them a responsibility such as setting up/taking part in a demonstration, quietening down a particular group of students etc. They respond well to responsibility.

Here are two things to remember when giving responsibilities to students (particularly challenging students):

i) Always speak to them out of earshot of the others...

“Ryan I’m going to need you this lesson. The other kids look up to you so I’m counting on you to help me get their attention.”

ii) Make sure you give them clear instructions as to exactly what their job will entail because it would be counter-productive for you to award a responsibility only to have to then challenge the student for doing something wrong.

Give them a brief ‘action point’ checklist or a list of ‘dos & don’ts’ for their particular job. Better still, spend a few minutes demonstrating exactly how you expect/need them to behave in their particular role. The Needs-focused Approach™ is about giving kids every opportunity to do things RIGHT – give them clear tracks to walk in and they are less likely to stray off the path. Sometimes they need more guidance than we might think.

Attention Grabber #4: Start with a choice

Choices are powerful motivators. They give students a sense of autonomy and a feeling of increased possibility of success. By simply changing our language and offering pupils a limited choice we take some of the pressure out of our requests and create more willingness in them to take part.

On test papers, for example, the questions which give a choice - “answer two from section A, two from section B, and two from section C” are less threatening than those which offer no choice at all.

Instead of saying “Turn to page twenty and get on with the exercises; when you’ve finished those you can complete this worksheet”, try “I’ve written some choices on the board. You only have to do five from the ten choices, and in any order you like.”
The choices could include all the exercises from page twenty and all the questions from the worksheet, together with some extension activities. The difference is the way they are presented to the students.

Attention Grabber #5: Start with a challenge

I’ve often heard it said that there are two ways to get disinterested students engaged – bet them or pay them. I don’t want you to be out of pocket so let’s rely on the first one. Challenge is a universal motivator.

To use challenge in the classroom effectively we have to get both the context and the level of challenge correct. In terms of context, the challenge has to appeal to the students. A physical activity will only appeal to physical students, a sports challenge will only appeal to sporty students and a technical challenge will only appeal to technical students. Finding the right context to motivate disengaged students requires getting to know them so that you can base the challenge on something which interests them.

Silencer #8: I’ve got my ‘Eye' on you

Bags of toy plastic ‘eyes’ can be bought very cheaply in craft and hobby shops. They move, they look silly and your students will love them!
One eye on a table = “I am keeping an eye on you”

Two eyes = “I've got both my eyes on you – be careful”

Third eye = a consequence.

IMPORTANT:
Always remember that any attention-grabbing strategies will have, at best, a temporary effect on the group. While they will certainly get most of the group’s attention, it might only be for a few moments.

During those few moments it is crucial that you have an activity planned and ready to roll, a demonstration set up, a video ready to play or at the very least some clear instructions written on the board or fixed in your mind as to what you will do once they are attentive and listening. If you don’t, you’ll lose them again and getting them quiet a second time will be much, much harder.

You can’t wait for things to go wrong before deciding what to do about them. As you read all these ideas, ask yourself two important questions ... “What would I do next?” and “What will I do if this has no effect?”
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Here is the link if you want to find out more.

No More Noisy Classes