How to get a noisy class quiet in 10 seconds or less

This hyper-effective classroom management tool relies on 2 key principles: responsibilities and routines.

Some of your students will respond very well to being given a responsibility. In fact, it's probably your most challenging students- the ringleaders- who will respond best to responsibility because they crave attention.

For this classroom management strategy, we're going to award three or four students with the responsibility of getting the rest of the class quiet.

These students are going to be our ‘Shushers’ and their job is to shush the rest of the class members, in a very special way when asked to do so.

To give them every chance of success, we're going to train them.

Each nominated Shusher is asked to give their best and loudest shush, complete with an angry scowl and a finger on the lip gesture.

After a few practises, the Shushers are then told that whenever the teacher shouts, ‘Shushers!’, they're to give their very best and loudest to shush in unison.

The rest of the class are told that when they hear the shushes shush, they must stop talking and sit in silence. After two or three practices, they all get the idea and we now have the makings of a very effective routine. 

To give the shushing routine the best chance of success, there are two additions.

First, your shushes need regular feedback. They should be told when they're doing a good job, and given hints and pointers when they're slacking or messing around. Remember that the students you use as shushes are likely to be natural live wires, so they will need careful management and positive reinforcement.

Second, I found that shushes sometimes need a little extra help to get a particularly rowdy class to settle. I give them this by using another routine prior to calling on them. The countdown. This is simply the process of counting down slowly from 10 to 1 out loud while giving encouragement along the way…

10. OK everyone, by the time I get down to one you should all be sitting on your own seats with your bags away and your hands on the table. Excellent, Carly and Sophie, thank you, you got it straight away.

9. Brilliant over here on this table, let's have the rest of you doing the same.

8. Come on you need to finish chatting, get that mess put away and be sitting facing me.

7. All done over there at the back. Well done, just waiting for a few others now

6.Still some bags out at the back and people talking

5. Good. We’re getting there

4. Just a few more now to settle.

3. Ah you've got it and you're sitting perfectly well done.

2. Well done, everyone. We're nearly there.

1. Brilliant, thank you.

 (pause)

 Shushers!

 By the time you reach 1, most students will be settled and responsive, leaving the Sushers to deal with the small minority who are still talking. Obviously you can shorten the countdown or disregard it completely if a group is reasonably settled. At these times, the Sushers alone can bring silence to your room.

 This is just one of THOUSANDS of novel, creative ways to win the hearts of tough students and improve classroom management contained in the best-selling book Take Control of the Noisy Class.

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