Here is a paradox of teaching: If you want your classroom to be full of different conversations and self-directed learning, you need to be able to quickly capture everybody’s focus.
As you read this you might be thinking, “Sure, Alec, maybe an uptight teacher like you needs to be able to do that, but I’m a facilitator of learning, not a ‘sage on the stage.’”
In fact, the opposite is normally true: A star lecturer never needs to capture students’ attention, because they never voluntarily let go of it. But if the students in your classroom are getting completely absorbed in small-group discussions, scientific experiments, problem sets, or construction tasks, you will frequently need to get them to stop and listen so you can check how much more time they need, give instructions for what to do next, or simply announce it’s time to clean up the space because class ends in five minutes.
So when you need everyone’s attention, you have two choices: shout at them—which is bad for both morale and your larynx—or use an “attention-getter.” Attention-getters are common in elementary school but rare in high school, and nearly nonexistent in higher education.This is a shame, because all learners benefit from quick and easy ways to focus their attention.
I should note that attention-getters aren’t for everybody: I know teachers who cultivate rich, discussion-led, project-based classrooms and never use them. But there’s something I’d like you to consider: if you don’t need to use an attention-getter to capture the focus of the whole class, it’s likely because students are constantly aware of your presence in the classroom. As a teacher, I don’t want to be taking up that much space in my students’ consciousness. That is to say, when I don’t need to have all of their attention, my hope is that I won’t have any of it.
The teacher quietly says, “Clap once if you can hear me.” A few people nearby clap their hands.
This gets other students’ attention, so when the teacher says, “Clap twice if you can hear me,” more people clap. Sensing the call-and-response pattern, students typically get quiet to find out if there will be another prompt.
Then, the teacher says, “Clap three times if you can hear me,” and if all has gone well, the group is—if not totally silent—at least quiet enough that the teacher can start talking, and the last couple conversations will fizzle out pretty quickly.
“Clap once if you can hear me” is my go-to attention getter when I facilitate workshops because it is self-explanatory, so people can participate even if they’ve never done it before.
I also like the fact that (when it’s going well) I don’t need to raise my voice, because the sound of clapping creates the volume.
If “Clap Once” isn’t working, you have to just keep going, and by the time you’re saying “clap seven times if you can hear me” it has become obvious that you don’t have control of the room.
I find that in a classroom setting, it also gets a bit annoying to clap over and over, for both teacher and students. If this is happening, you can start adding more complex instructions, like, “Stomp twice and clap once.” You know you’ve done it right when the whole class is doing the beat to “We Will Rock You.”
The teacher holds a hand up high over their head, making the “coyote” sign. As students notice, they put their hand up in the coyote sign too, getting quiet as they do so, until the room is silent.
“Quiet Coyote” is my favorite attention-getter, because there’s no escalation, the way there is with a verbal attention-getter like “Clap Once if You Can Hear Me.”
Here’s what I mean by escalation: If you say, “Clap three times if you can hear me” and the room isn’t quiet, you need to keep going, and/or get louder. The result is that you get frustrated, and it becomes obvious to students that you aren’t in control of the situation.
But with Quiet Coyote you just calmly hold your hand up, for as long as it takes. I find as a teacher that when it takes a long time, I actually relax a bit as I wait, and I’m able to get a richer awareness of what’s going on in the classroom and why it has gotten so noisy. For me, it’s an attention-getter and a mindfulness practice all in one.
It can take a long time for everyone to get quiet, especially at first, which means Quiet Coyote takes a lot of commitment on the part of the teacher.
The teacher shouts “Waterfall, waterfall!” and the class responds by saying “Sssssshhhhhhh” while wiggling their fingers and bringing their hands down in front of them.
I generally don’t like “teacher shouts a phrase” attention-getters, but saying “Waterfall, waterfall” just does not sound aggressive, so I find that it doesn’t raise the tension in the room (which is my worry with shouty attention-getters).
Also, a bunch of people saying “Sssshhhhh” could sound deeply obnoxious, but in the context of being a waterfall it doesn’t come across that way.
It doesn’t work if people aren’t already familiar with it. However, a lot of people are familiar with it, so it’s often worth a try to just say, “Waterfall,waterfall” and see what happens—you may be surprised!
It’s also closely associated with elementary school, so some students may feel offended, as if you’re treating them like “little kids.”
The teacher rings a chime by tapping it with a mallet. This makes a gentle but penetrating sound that reaches the whole room.
The sound of the chime is both unmistakable and soothing, so it captures attention without causing stress. If used judiciously, students typically quickly learn to look at you (or the front of the room) as soon as they hear the chime.
You need to keep track of where you put the chime last time you used it! And there is inevitable temptation for students to ring the chime when you’re not looking. Some teachers find this easier to manage than others.
The best way to set up a successful attention-getter (or any classroom structure) is to explain its purpose and ask students for input.
Challenge Success’s Kim Cawkwell, a former elementary school teacher, introduced attention-getters by presenting her need to capture the class’s focus as a dilemma to students. In an email to me, she said, “I LOVE creating space for students to engage in discussion and sometimes I also need to quickly capture everybody’s focus… What are the different ways we can do that, and what purposes can each type of attention getter serve?” Her students discussed how the class could best solve the “dilemma” of how Kim could capture their focus quickly. This meant both that they understood the purpose of the attention-getter and felt invested in its success.
When you first introduce an attention-getter, do it a few times with the class so they get used to it when the stakes are low and there are no distractions.
Use a timer to see how long it takes everyone to get quiet. This adds an element of competition—even if students are just competing against themselves for personal best, the timing will make it more exciting.
Practicing an attention-getter may feel like a waste of class time, but think about it like this: If using an attention-getter ultimately saves you two minutes every period, that’s forty minutes of extra instructional time each month!
When I introduced the “Quiet Coyote” to my class, I started by showing them a video I made starring a coyote named Baptiste.
Adding a bit of backstory (or “lore”) to your attention-getter will make it stick in students’ minds, and feel a bit more fun.
Whatever method you use to quiet the class is something you will need to do a lot. So it should be something you feel comfortable doing.
It is also good practice to switch attention-getters every so often. If you rely too heavily on one attention-getter, it will become less effective over time.
Play around with attention-getters, see what clicks and ask the students which work best for them. You’ll find that the more confident you are about your ability to get students’ attention, the less of it you will need—which means they can devote more attention to doing meaningful, interesting work in the classroom.
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