All Eyes (and Ears) on Me
Teachers are not actors, but they do have an audience every day, and they have a lot more control over their audience in the classroom than an actor ever could in a theater. What is the difference? Teachers know the kids they are teaching. Actors will never know every single audience member the way a teacher can know the students in their classroom.
I don't know if you've noticed, but it's very obvious when students aren't paying attention, and this is my biggest concern when I am being observed by another professional (usually my mentor teacher or internship advisor). Kids paying attention has to be one of the biggest indicators that your teaching methods are getting your students somewhere, right?
Some teaching days or lesson plans go more smoothly than others—for an endless stream of reasons. I learned that sometimes chaos happens, and that can work out just fine. Most of the time, the smoothness depends on how you use specific techniques to get their attention and it's actually a lot simpler than you think. Teachers don't just magically get and maintain the attention of twenty kids in one room, but you can learn how to.
There are more subtle ways that you can grasp kids' attention, and sometimes you should be serious, while other times you can make it a little fun. Here are some things I have watched my mentor teacher do:
1. Move yourself around the room! If you are standing somewhere other than the front of the room, the students will be less likely to expect it and they'll have to turn to see where you are.
2. Have students signal in different ways when they are finished with an activity. You could ask them to stand, touch their nose, or even make antlers with their hands!
3. Use some sort of timer count-down for specific classwork (but not all the time). My mentor had the students put their pencils down, throw their hands up in the air and shout, "BAH-," then they slapped their hands on their desks and yelled, "-BAM." It's advised to practice something like this with the whole class a couple of times first, though.
4. After asking the class to be quiet, thank or name students who followed instructions right away. You do not have to name every student, but you can name a few quickly and then wait.
5. Try to positively engage students as much as possible in the hallway, at recess, or in the cafeteria and get to know them! Even those students who interrupt the class will be more likely to listen to you if they know other things about you, and if you make connections. Of course, it's important to make an effort to know all students no matter what.
After watching my mentor teacher use these subtle methods, I tried out a couple of basic ones that I was familiar with:
6. "When you are finished, eyes on me so I know you are done." Then, I added my own quirky twist, "I need eyeballs! Where are your eyeballs? I don't see them all yet!"
7. "Those who are finished, please raise your hands up high, then...stretch!" This stalls a little bit for those who are not quite done, but almost there. Plus, stretching is good sometimes.
In terms of which ones to use on which day, you honestly just have to know your class and interpret their energy levels each day. Think of the things that impact your groups of students. Is it Monday or Friday? Is your class in the morning or the afternoon? Did progress reports just come out yesterday?
Some classrooms might have call and response techniques and certain rules or routines they always use no matter what, and that works too. It all depends on how you decide to structure your classroom, and on the kids you are teaching.
Don't always use the "eyes on me" or the "raise your hands when..." tricks, because they will get old and predictable. As far as I've learned, middle school students like to be challenged every day, and if you keep them guessing, you can make it fun.