Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Yada, Yada, Yada - Noise Control

I am thinking about incorporating some power teaching methods, or whole brain teaching, (the site is temporarily down, they are upgrading it) this year to help with classroom management. There were a few things I wanted to work on, and one of them was chattiness. Last year's class was really chatty and I want to nip it in the bud for this year's class.

Jeff B's blog on whole brain learning has been really helpful. This year one of the things I am going to try is the Yada Noise Control Scale. I am slightly modifying his scale to the following categories:

  • Rock Concert - out of control, way too loud!
  • Recess - loud, excited voices
  • Conversation - normal voices
  • Spy Talk - only the person next to you should hear you
  • Pharaoh's Tomb - not a peep! (Egypt is a huge part of their social studies unit)

I am making a display with the following handout, which will be laminated and posted vertically as one long banner next to my chalk board. When I am done, will post a picture of it.

With my classes, we will practice what these different levels sound like so they understand what is expected when we calibrate our noise levels.

Some other methods I am going to incorporate are the rules, class-yes, & scoreboard.

If you have used any of these methods, would love to hear from you!

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5 comments:

  1. The methods you've listed to be incorporated are ones I use and they are really powerful. I'd include 10 finger woo and it's cool, too. We started school a couple of weeks ago and in the beginning, there was some resistance, but the scoreboard is totally working (students who resist are actually working for my team! classmates are influencing that and getting them on their team). The it's cool and woo are awesome for creating a positive climate. good luck and tell us how it's going!

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  2. Thanks! Can't wait to see how it works with my students. Need more info on "10 finger woos" and when to use them?

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  3. 10 finger woos are when something is good or to be celebrated. we do them when someone volunteers or has a great answer (giver her a 10 finger woo) or when the class as a whole does well (let's give ourselves a 10 finger woo!). They literally wave their 10 fingers and say WOO at the same time. It's fun. the It's cool is really helpful when people make a mistake and keeps kids from blaming or being mean to another when something doesn't go right.

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  4. Thanks, the 10 finger woo will be fun for my 5's to do!

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  5. What a cute and reasonable approach to classroom noise management!

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