Attention Getters for Middle School

Attention getters are a middle school classroom necessity! Getting students to turn off their voices, so you can provide direction or instruction, is a major component of classroom management. There is no limit to the creativity that can go into these visual and audio cues, so I thought I would provide a list of some of my favorites.

Why use an attention getter?

Effective teachers don’t talk over students. Why? Well, a student who is talking is not listening, so unless you want to repeat your instructions 100 times, then waiting for 100% ears and eyes is in your best interest.

Remember that if your students are engaged in a math activity or group work and the volume is loud, then it will require more time to get your students’ attention. I would feel like such a failure if I had to employ an attention getter over and over again. If a few stragglers are still chatting, don’t forget about the other tools at your disposal: wait time, proximity, and positive narration. 

• Wait time: *Attention getter* Teacher stands where they can see the entire classroom and looks at students and … waits. Teacher scans the classroom and makes eye contact with the students or table group that is still talking. Wait until they realize they are the only students still talking.
• Proximity: *Attention getter* Teacher stands where they can see the entire classroom. They might say, “Thank you, Student X, for turning off your voice so fast.” Then the teacher walks over to students who are still talking while still scanning the entire class. The teacher walking over to them + silence from everyone else = students stop talking.
• Positive Narration: *Attention getter* “Thank you, Student Y for your eyes!” “That was fast, Student Z.” “I am still waiting on a few more friends to look at me.” 

Verbal Component Only

• Teacher says: “Waterfall” | Students say: “Shhhh”
• Teacher says: “Red Robin” | Students say: “Yum”
• Teacher says: “1, 2, 3, eyes on me.” | Students say: “1, 2, eyes on you.”
• Teacher says: “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.” | Students say: Nothing.
• Teacher says: “3, 6, 9 ..” (Pick any numbers to skip count with.) | Students say: “12, 15, 18″  (Students practice their skip counting.)
• Teacher says: “Bring it back now y’all” | Students say: “One hop this time!”
• Teacher says: “Ya’ll gonna make me lose my mind” | Students say: “Up in here, up in here”
• Teacher says: “To infinity” | Students say: “And beyond”
• Teacher says: “Macaroni and cheese” | Students say: “Everybody freeze”
• Teacher says: “Hocus pocus” | Students say: “Everybody focus”
• Teacher says: “We are ______ (insert school mascot)” | Students say: “Bum de bum-bum, bum bum, bum.” (Here is the tune.)
• Teacher says: “Hear ye, hear ye” | Students say: “All hail the queen/king”
• Teacher says: Some sort of math problem or related to what you are learning. Example: “Square root of 144…” | Students say: “12!”
• Teacher says: “Multiples are many” | Students say: “Factors are few”

Attention Getter with Visual or Kinetic Component

I prefer these attention getters because I think that asking students to clap or touch their nose/head also helps them to stop what they are doing just as much as it gets them to turn off their voice.

• Teacher says: “Nose goes” and puts their finger on their nose | Students: puts their fingers on their noses
• Teacher says: “Hands on top” and puts their hands on their head. | Students: “Everybody stop!” and puts their hands on their head
• Teacher: Clap any rhythm your heart desires | Students: Clap that rhythm back
• Teacher says: “If you can hear me, clap once.” | Students: Clap once. If students are still talking, the teacher can say “If you can hear me clap twice” or “If you can hear me, touch your nose” or give any command. I saw this idea on Teacher Reddit: teacher says, “If you can hear me, take a deep breath.” How many of us could benefit from a big inhale during a busy class period?
• Teacher says: “If someone is talking, point at them.” | Students: Point at other students until they are also quiet. (Use your discretion here.)

Other Ideas

• Wireless Doorbell – Save your voice and try a wireless doorbell. This one comes with 52 chimes! 

• Flick the lights – I liked to do this when the noise level got too loud during group work. My students knew that it meant to lower their voice without me having to say a word.

What attention getters do you use in your classroom?