What I do...

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Home : 2006 : August : 21

What I do...
By LindaR

Hi PEPteach,

Last year, I had a pretty social group of 6th graders. A VERY quiet signal that I used was the overhead. I would turn it on and begin writing what I wanted them to do. Sometimes I would add a sentence
directed towards a particular student, such as, "Thank you, Pete, for getting out your math book." Sometimes, I'd add some humor, such as, "I wonder if Pete is talking to Carl about how excited he is about our next math lesson...let's see if he'll catch on when he sees everyone quiet with their math books out."

At times I would purposely misspell a word or make a punctuation error,

which definitely got their quiet attention.

The kids loved this time...sometimes I'd preface my written directions with, "It is now silent math time..." I couldn't believe how responsive the kids were to this type of signal, and I plan to do it again this year.

LindaR