Take Control of the Noisy Class Quotes

“End of lesson routine 1. Put all textbooks on the shelf and exercise books on my desk. 2. Put all equipment away in the correct drawer or cupboard. 3. Clear your work area and sit silently facing the front. 4. After you get permission to leave, push in your chair and leave in silence. 5. If it is the last period of the day, stack the chairs by the back wall.”
― Rob Plevin, Take Control of the Noisy Class: From Chaos to Calm in 15 Seconds

“18. B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T Remember, it is better to focus on the behaviour you want to see rather than that you don’t. Tell the students at the beginning of class that every time they are listening attentively, staying on task and so on, they will get one letter of the word BRILLIANT written on the board. If they get all of the letters by the end of the lesson they get a class reward.”
― Rob Plevin, Take Control of the Noisy Class: From Chaos to Calm in 15 Seconds

“Use a ‘noise level meter’ Background music makes a great noise level meter. Have it playing fairly softly in the background and assign one student per table group with the job of making sure the music is always audible. Once they can no longer hear it, they know they are too loud and they must tell their teammates to quieten down; if they can hear the music then the volume is okay. Another option is to have a visible reminder on the board or wall. This could be as simple as putting a sign up on the wall (‘You’re too noisy’) whenever talking turns into shouting, or you could be a little more creative with a colour scheme similar to traffic lights. A green card means levels are appropriate, orange means they’re getting a little bit too loud and red is way too loud. Instead of nagging kids to be quiet, just walk over to the wall and change the card to reflect the current noise level. In time, the students will start to look out for you doing this and they will remind each other to keep quiet when the orange card goes up. If the room is too noisy, put up the red card and tell students they must now work independently in silence for five minutes. If they manage that then you can then put the green card back up. A visual reminder like this develops responsibility and encourages children to monitor their own noise levels.”
― Rob Plevin, Take Control of the Noisy Class: From Chaos to Calm in 15 Seconds

“Explain to the students that whenever you call out the words ‘Ready, steady … teach!’ (in your best Ainsley Harriott voice) they are to work with their allotted learning partner for 30 or 60 seconds to teach-back what they have learned moments before.”
― Rob Plevin, Take Control of the Noisy Class: From Chaos to Calm in 15 Seconds

“Ready, steady … teach! This is a great routine to build up with your students and can be used as a quick (and often extremely lively) review at the end of any phase of teacher-talk or explanation. It’s very effective.”
― Rob Plevin, Take Control of the Noisy Class: From Chaos to Calm in 15 Seconds

“You could play ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ as the students arrive, the title theme from Chariots of Fire, the Rocky title track ‘Gonna Fly Now’ or the ‘Theme from Mission: Impossible’ during tough tasks, The Benny Hill Show theme tune when you want them to change activities or the Countdown clock music when you want them to answer spot questions.”
― Rob Plevin, Take Control of the Noisy Class: From Chaos to Calm in 15 Seconds