178 | Getting Attention without Yellings (Tricks & Tips for getting a class to stop talking) - HD 1080p
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[00:00:00] Bryson Tarbet: Class, class. Yes, yes. As much as I personally hate that attention getter, it's kind of important and it actually can be really good for your vocal health. So today we're going to be talking about ways to get your class attention without shouting. You're listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tarvin, the curriculum designer and educational consultant.
[00:00:23] Bryson Tarbet: Behind that music teacher and the elementary music summit each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show notes and resources mentioned in this episode can be found at that music teacher dot com
[00:00:49] Bryson Tarbet: Hello everyone and welcome back to this week's episode of that music podcast. Today we're going to be diving in even deeper about vocal health and talking about ways that we can get our class attention [00:01:00] without just shouting and saying, Hey everybody, listen to me. Um, as we've talked about in the last couple of episodes, vocal health is incredibly important.
[00:01:08] Bryson Tarbet: Um, for all teachers in general, but especially if you're a music teacher, that is really, really important. And it's one of those things that can get away from us really, really quickly. One of the things that I love when I talk. to Dr. Jennifer Whitehead. A couple episodes ago, we were talking about instead of just shouting over the class, like getting, getting louder, sometimes go under the class.
[00:01:25] Bryson Tarbet: And first of all, that's a really good tip. Uh, so today we're going to talk about some strategies like that to get your class's attention, get them to stop talking, get them to start paying attention, get them to stop playing, whatever, rather than just shouting. Um, and I think when we have, whenever we can do this non verbally, The better, because as teachers, as music teachers especially, we are talking all day, we are singing all day.
[00:01:46] Bryson Tarbet: So whenever we can give ourselves even just like one thing that we don't have to use our voice for, that is going to be incredibly, incredibly helpful. Alright, you knew I had to start with this one, which is one that has value, but it is one that has [00:02:00] been overused and used forever, which is
[00:02:06] Bryson Tarbet: And then the students clap it back. Um, a lot of general teachers use this. And I think there's, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I think just as music teachers it drives us a little bit bonkers. Because we hear that all the time. Now, with that being said, I actually use that, a version of that all the time in my classroom.
[00:02:22] Bryson Tarbet: But I use it as an extra opportunity to To mix it up a little bit and throw in some different rhythms. So instead of just going, I might go ta, ta, ti, ti, ta. And they echo ta, ta, ti, ti, ta. And usually they need like one more. So I might go ti, ti, ta, ti, ti, ta. And they echo. So I like this for a couple of reasons.
[00:02:49] Bryson Tarbet: One, we're showing more than just ta, ta, ti, ti, ta. And honestly, most of the time I wouldn't even use that rhythm. Um, but we're also giving them an opportunity to echo it. Now, if I was in fourth grade and we were [00:03:00] practicing tika tika, I might go ta, ta, tika, tika, ta. And then they would echo it back to me. Um, so we're really kind of using it.
[00:03:06] Bryson Tarbet: I know it's just like a couple of seconds, but that's a little bit of extra rhythmic practice that we can get into there. So that's a great one that can really be used. In lots of different grades, lots of different contexts. You can make it trickier, harder, longer, shorter, whatever. Um, So we wanted to start there.
[00:03:22] Bryson Tarbet: Um, yes, there's the one that, you know, class, class. Yes. Yes. Um, I'm not a huge fan of those because those are still using your voice. Um, I, what I will say is if you have, um, if you have a home teacher that is doing something specific like that, that's working really well, um, that might be something that you could tap into, especially if what you're doing isn't working or if they're like super, just not, not into it.
[00:03:43] Bryson Tarbet: With that being said, I think it's totally fine for us to add in some new ones too. Um, so one that I. Actually, I first interacted with when I was doing my student teaching, um, at the middle school level, um, it's just, and they would echo, or I might go [00:04:00] right in there. I put it back. So really kind of using that, that fricative sound, um, to kind of cut through the, the, the noise.
[00:04:08] Bryson Tarbet: Um, you're not using your vocal folds. You're just using, you know, the, the, the, the, What is it called? I guess breath going between your teeth, uh, to bring that up. You can again, do different rhythms, make it longer and shorter. Um, but that's a really good one. Again, not using your voice. One that I used a lot whenever we were doing something like really loud.
[00:04:25] Bryson Tarbet: Like if I had, if all my students had glockenspiels or boom markers or something, and I really wanted something that's going to break through that timbre. Um, I wish I had one here, but I actually don't. Um, it's called a stir xylophone. It's basically this like. Um, that has different length wooden tongues essentially sticking up and you take a mallet and you stir it like you're stirring your coffee and it goes through, um, which is a fun sound for me to make.
[00:04:49] Bryson Tarbet: Uh, but it's really cool. And what I like about that is it has, because it's that, you know, wood on wood, it has that. the timbre that kind of will break through things. Also, it's kind of a silly sound, so your students will get a little bit caught off guard [00:05:00] by it. Um, and I always, I use that again when we're doing something louder, um, so that I don't have to do something like the clapping or whatever for a bajillion years while I'm waiting for them to actually be able to hear, um, especially if they're on the other side of the room or things like that.
[00:05:15] Bryson Tarbet: Sometimes we just. I don't even know how to describe this one, but sometimes we just need to get our students to pay attention. And you notice that you have some that are, and this is one of my favorites. And I use it every, every once in a while, especially if I'm really trying to bring the energy of the room down a little bit, which is, I will just stop.
[00:05:34] Bryson Tarbet: And I will put my finger on my nose and I will just look around and eventually someone else is going to put their finger on their nose and I go, I'll give them a nod and I'll just keep my finger and eventually more and more people start realizing that everyone has their finger on their nose and it becomes this like, all right, we're going to just.
[00:05:53] Bryson Tarbet: sit here with our fingers on our nose. We're bringing the energy down. We're stuck kind of slowing things down a little bit. Uh, and we're getting our [00:06:00] attention. Um, does this work for every single student perfectly? No, but I think this is a really good way, especially if you just did a really, really fun game.
[00:06:08] Bryson Tarbet: The kids are a little bit wound and they need a little bit more focusing in or just a little bit of, you know, some time to breathe. Um, I think using the time that it takes for everyone to notice this, um, can be really helpful with. Cause again, it's nonverbal. You're not, you're not saying anything. Um, you're not having to use an instrument.
[00:06:26] Bryson Tarbet: It's just, you know, your finger on your nose. Um, you don't have to go get anything. You don't have to remember anything. You're really just looking around and noticing who's noticing you. Another one that your, your school might use, um, is, you know, putting your hand up in the air. If you put, if the teacher puts your hand up there, everyone else stops what they're doing and puts their hand up in the air.
[00:06:45] Bryson Tarbet: And then again, kind of like with, you know, the finger on the nose, Eventually, everyone is stopping. It's just this visual signal that, hey, something new is about to happen. You need to pay attention. Um, I'll be honest. I'm, I've never really noticed this work really well with my younger kids. Um, my older kids, [00:07:00] they can get it a little bit better.
[00:07:01] Bryson Tarbet: Um, so I typically would reserve this one a little bit more for those older kids that had a little bit more experience of it. Um, and a little bit more awareness of, I guess, what's going on around them. Kind of going off of that same app, pretend these are mallets, right? So I have my two mallets on my hand.
[00:07:14] Bryson Tarbet: Um, if we were doing something like using a glockenspiel or playing or something where if they have their hands and they're moving, they're probably going to make sound. Um, what I would do is very similar to, you know, raising my hand or putting my finger on my nose is I would give them some sort of rest position.
[00:07:27] Bryson Tarbet: So maybe I'll put the mallets on my head like antenna, or maybe I'll put them on my shoulders and freeze. And again, I'm just looking for other people that are doing the same thing. And again, the, you're not using your words to say everybody do this. But you're starting to get the, the room is starting to understand that even though that's not what you said, that's what you want.
[00:07:47] Bryson Tarbet: This is a really good one to, to, to bring the sound down rather than adding something like a stir xylophone. Um, that could just, you know, will add more sound, a little bit more sensory input. Um, so this is something that you can keep in your back pocket, especially if you're doing something like [00:08:00] rhythm sticks or glockenspiels or, or whatever that they're gonna have.
[00:08:03] Bryson Tarbet: Uh, if their hands are moving, their hands are probably making sounds. Another great one is to just turn off the lights. This is great, you know, if you're working around, you're going around the room, if students are working independently or they're, you know, using instruments or whatever, if you turn off the lights and kind of set that expectation, hey, when the lights turn off, everybody freezes.
[00:08:23] Bryson Tarbet: And looks towards the lights because you're looking towards the teacher, right? Uh, because there's more information coming. This is a great one. Again, you're not using your voice. You'll have to try, uh, kind of give them a little bit of opportunity to practice this expectation. But what's great about this one is you can use it pretty much like all different grades.
[00:08:41] Bryson Tarbet: Um, and a lot of homeroom teachers will use this one as well. Um, that when lights go off. You stop, you freeze, and you look to the teacher for more information. Quite frankly, there are no right or wrong ways to do this. I think as long as you are getting your students attention and you're ideally [00:09:00] not adding more to your vocal folds, you know, adding more work, adding more speaking, singing, shouting, whatever, um, If it works, it works.
[00:09:08] Bryson Tarbet: Um, now sometimes you are going to need to use your voice to get the students attention. Um, and this is one of those things where I make it very clear, um, that I, I don't like raising my voice. I really don't. Um, so if I raise my voice, I keep, I kind of like save that in case there's something like big, like like a safety issue or, um, Hey, I don't know, whatever, whatever might happen is like, my students know that like if I bring out my big voice, if I say, Hey, Or something like that.
[00:09:34] Bryson Tarbet: They're like, Oh, we got to stop. Like something big, like this isn't just him getting our attention. This is some, something is, something is off. Um, so that's something that you would keep there. Or, you know, if there's, Oh, there's an announcement, but I have 28 glockenspiels. We need to stop talking like right now because I need to hear what this announcement is.
[00:09:49] Bryson Tarbet: It could be important. Um, that's something that you could use there. Um, so sometimes you're going to have to use your, your voice and I think that's okay. But the, the idea is to, [00:10:00] whenever we can, not to use our voice to, to get our class attention or to, um, to get people to stop talking or whatever, whatever we can do to reduce the strain on our voice whenever we can, that's going to be the help.
[00:10:12] Bryson Tarbet: Yeah, that's what's going to be the most helpful. So try your best to remove some things. Um, And then as you notice yourself getting a hold, you know, trying to get getting above everyone and getting louder than everyone. See if you can try a new strategy to not do that. I hope you're able to take away some new ways to get your class attention or at least some reminders of things that you probably should be doing that you used to do that you might've forgotten.
[00:10:34] Bryson Tarbet: You got to get on with a bad habit. Again, using your voice. Is a hugely important thing and protecting your voice is even more so important. Uh, as teachers, we are professional voice users, users as music teachers. We are so much more on that side of using our voice. So we really need to take care of it, not just for the now, but for the long.
[00:10:55] Bryson Tarbet: So whenever we can get our class's attention without shouting, or whenever we can just take off some vocal [00:11:00] load, that is where the real magic is gonna happen. It would mean the world to us if you would leave us a review on iTunes, YouTube, wherever you are watching or listening to this podcast. It helps us understand what types of topics you guys are looking for more of, and it helps us get in front of new audiences of music teachers just like you.
[00:11:17] Bryson Tarbet: With that being said, I will see you next week, and in case nobody has told you lately, thank you so, so much for making a difference in the lives of the students that you teach.
