Classroom management techniques that I utilize:

Give me five!
Students need to understand and practice what is expected of them. As a method to get the attention of my students, I incorporate "Give me five!" or "High five!" to have all the students to pay attention to me. The students are expected to have their eyes on me, be quiet and still, have one hand in the air and wait for instructions or information. 


For my first practicum, I started as a student teacher with zero experience in classroom management. I now understand why seasoned teachers utilize many techniques to get the attention of their students and why it is important to do so. The students that I taught were used to their teachers using a clapping pattern to grab their attention, teachers putting their hand in the air silently (waiting for the students to also raise their hands in silence), and "simon-says" style methods to make sure their hands are free of pencils and other objects (for example, if you can hear me, touch your shoulders. If you can see me, cross your arms, etc). 


Through practice, I found that utilizing the clapping pattern also worked for me, but the students do not respond each time. This showed me the importance of knowing more than one technique to utilize. 


After a bit of research, I came across the "Give me five". I thought that this would work well in the classroom with the students that I had because I can make it a little fun for the students to do with a "clap" prior to having students raise their hands in the air. Also, it is a combination of two other techniques that the students were already used to doing: 
1) Raising their hand in silence and waiting
2) Clap to respond


After implementing this at the start of a unit that I was teaching for French class, the students picked this up quite quickly. 


I understand that this method may not work for me in the future because it depends on how the students respond, but I'm glad that I was able to find a technique that both myself and my students were comfortable with.


- December 2014