How to Handle a Noisy Classroom..
- dibblenancy
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
What should you do to handle a noisy classroom?
It depends on the “type” of noisy. Sometimes students are a little noisy but it is “on task” talking and their energy level is high because they are enjoying the assignment and working in teams. If students are on task and working then it is o.k. if it is a little noisy unless it bothers the teacher. If it does, then stop the class, have all the students look at you and let them know that they need to reduce their voice volume. If they do not comply then it is time to have a consequence. This is what worked well for me:
RESET-Set a timer and have complete silence for 3 minutes. When the 3 minutes is up, students typically talk more quietly.
NONCOMPLIANCE-If even one student talks during the 3 minutes, restart the timer.
CALM-Once you’ve reset the timer and started over with the silence, quiet students will put positive pressure on the students that talked during the 3 minutes of silence, to stay quiet. I have had to reset the timer 3 times in a row one time but it works!
Variety-Students, like most adults, do like to talk and need to. Build “academic talking” times into your lesson plan so that your students are on task but it’s o.k. to talk. Here are a few examples:
Socratic Seminars
Small Group Discussion
Partner Quiz of test prep questions
Hands-on activity
Reading and writing-In between the more active teaching strategies build in some short “silent” times where students are reading and writing on their own. Here are a few examples:
Quick write-5 minute answer to a prompt that then will be shared in teams
Quick read-5 minute individual reading of instructions for the next activity
Final Thought: A “noisy” classroom might be a productive classroom. It depends on the type of talking that is going on. However, there is a certain noise level that is too loud and indicates that students are not on task. That does need to stop. Time to hit the reset button.
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