Favorite Expressions
Posted by Jen Bragg on 22 Jun 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Management, Classroom Routines, Inspiration and Motivation, Teachers and Teaching
My first two years of teaching were spent as a fifth-grade teacher. My classroom was a portable trailer with wood siding (inside and out) and orange carpet. I loved it! Not only could I adjust the temperature in my classroom, but I never really had to stress too much about the noise level. My students sat and worked in cooperative groups, and since fifth graders have a lot to say, we sometimes strayed to the noisy side.
We had art in our classrooms, and one afternoon, the art teacher was circulating in my room, checking students’ progress with his assigned project. My happy tweens were getting a bit rowdy, so this soft-spoken Southern man decided to get the noise level in check. “It sounds like Congress in here,” he loudly declared. (Well, it was loud for him.) I’m not sure that solved the noise problem, but I had to chuckle! I had never heard that expression before, but it fit!
Tell me about a favorite kid-friendly expression that you use in your classroom. Is there one you use so often that your students tend to repeat it with you or you’ve learned from parents that they’re using at home? Please don’t feel limited to sharing phrases for quieting your students. It can be a positive reinforcement phrase, a transition signal, or even a daily greeting.
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17 Responses to “Favorite Expressions”
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More Comments Pages: [1] 2 » Show All Comments
We sing…everybody’s eyes on my, eyes on me, eyes on me. Everybody’s ears open look this way. After the first line, the kids are joining in the song and at the end they are quiet listening.
I was cleaning up my school papers and came across a list with encouraging words. Thought I would remind us all how important words are! Let’s push their behavior over the top! Ways to Praise a Child=Great Discovery*You’ve Discovered the Secret*You Figured it Out*Fantastic Job*Hip,Hip,Hurray*Bingo*Magnificent*
Marvelous*Terrific*You’re Important*Phenomenal* You’re Sensational*Super Work* Creative Job* Super Job* Fantastic Job* Exceptional Performance* You’re a Real Trooper* You are Responsible* You are Exciting* You learned it Right* What an Imagination* What a Good Listener* You are Fun* You’re Growing Up* You Tried Hard*You Care* Beautiful Sharing* Outstanding Performance* You’re a Good Friend* I Trust You* You’re Important* You Mean a Lot to me* You make me happy* You Belong* You’ve Got a Friend* You make me Laugh* You Brighten my day* I respect You* You mean the world to me* You’re a Joy* You’re a Treasure* You’re Wonderful* Awesome* A+Job* You’re A OK My Buddy* Say I Love You!* p.s. Remember
A SMILE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS!
Sure am happy I came across this list. Will put one up at school and one at my home:)
My classroom was large with lots of open space. When learning was too noisy, I would have to be even louder in order for my preschoolers to hear me. Often this only made the children up their volume. I would go to the light switch and flip the light off until everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I would then remind them to use inside voices. I would then turn the light back on. It worked like magic and even on bright sunny days, the children were aware and quieted when the lights went off.
When our Kindergarteners walk in the hallway, they do “Bubbles and Hooks.” They puff out their cheeks like they are going to blow bubbles (keeps them quiet) and they hook their hands behind their back (keeps hands to self). Other things that I use are: Show me Bug Eyes - they all look at me using wide eyes. I use the Poem: Tootsie Roll, Tootsie Roll, Lollipop. We were talking, now we stop. It has hand motions. They students join in after I have started. Other props are: wind chime (when they hear they wind chime they stop what they are doing and look at me) I have a gadget that sounds like a frog croacking.
I am a preschool teacher and when we are lining up to go down the hallway, I will say, “We go down the hallway”, and the kids respond, “Quiet like a mouse.” Another way I get their attention for listening is by asking the children to touch different parts of their body. For example, “If you’re listening, touch your ear”, or “If you’re listening, rub your tummy.” The children will look around and examine their classmates to see if everyone is listening and if everyone has found the “right” part of their body. Works great!
My three year olds can be loud at times, so I sing a song it gets them everytime. 1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a fish alive. Before I get to 3 they are joining in. Lets face it as teachers we get tuned out a lot. I say hello is anyone home? And I start looking in their ears. I had a student go home and was trying to get his parents attention. He said hello is anyone home? and started looking in their ears. The parents thought that it was funny and started using it at home. We are preschool that is partnered with a K-8 school; the other day some 4th graders were running through the halls and being loud. My threes stopped them and said that they were being disrespectful to others and need to stop. Their teacher fell out. I taught my kids to be respectful of others that are learning. I thought it was cute, and now I know they are listening.
We have “3 S lines” in our school. Single, Silent and Straight. So whenever any adult says 3 S line the children know what to do.
Silent as a Fox is another thing that we do. Using sign language for a “Fox” so all we do is raise our hand with the “fox” and the children are to copy and be silent.
This year I added… Quiet as a Fox in a box. This refers to being silent in the hall and using the tile boxes to keep the line straight.
I do 1,2,3 all eye’s on me! and they reply 1,2,Eyes on You! I also use the clapping and tapping…
You play, you stay is one I used to use meaning you play and waste learning time you stay inside to give me back my lesson minutes subtracted from the recess time. This doesn’t fly anymore as they are very strict making sure our kids get 30 minutes of daily PE. But I also remind kids that if they play and don’t take learning as seriously as they should that they may stay in the same grade next year.
T,S,Q another example of getting a quiet line: Tall, Straight and Quiet. I used this before our current principal introduced 3 S lines…
The traditional clapping a pattern and the kids echoing is used school wide as a quieting technique.
One of the upper grade teachers says If you have time to do it sloppy, you must have time to redo it neatly.
One thing that worked this year is “silent and white.” Meaning: Silent lunch and white milk only for my collab class. We actually did an experiment where everyone had white milk and we recorded how fast our math lesson went. The day prior to that I had timed how long it took to get through 1 lesson… and asked who had had what kind of milk.
Yep, no surprise we got more done on white milk days! So when I started introducing multiplication I would have one day a week that was “white day” and that would be my main focus lesson day… worked!
And strangely enough none of the kids told their parents or if they did the parents didn’t have an issue with it. I had my bosses’ blessings though!
If I think of anything else I will post again.
My class taught me this technique when I need their attention while they are sitting in front of me on the rug. I say, “Crisscross, applesauce, hands in your lap.” Their hand movements are hands on knees, then on opposite knees (2x) then hands together in their lap. Sometimes I throw in “…Hands on your head” or other body parts just to make sure they’re listening.
Last year, one of my kindergartners shared this expression with our class. “Josiah” was working in the block center alone, and had pulled every block off the shelf. When I called for clean-up time, he looked at me with complete frustration and said, “Mrs. Hall, how am I supposed to clean all of this up by myself??” Before I could respond, “Tyler,” from across the classroom, stopped what he was doing, stood up tall and straight, and declared, “Josiah, if you are big enough to make that mess, then you are big enough to clean it up!” An expression, I found out later, he had heard several times from his mother. I got a good laugh out this expression, but I have used it several times with my class this year as a reminder that they are responsible for cleaning up their own messes.
We have always said, “One, two, three, eyes on me”, or we do a clapping technique. I will clap twice, then they clap twice. I then clap in a different pattern. You can do this slow and then speed it up and wind down toward the end of the clapping. The children have fun and at the same time, you have established their complete attention.
I have been a substitute for the past 2 years, so I have heard a lot of different expressions. Here are 2 of my favorites:
“Hand on your hip, finger on your lip” (for getting students to stay quiet in the hall)
“Dot Dot, not a lot” (for when students are using glue)
When I want to get the attention of my students, I say “Marco” and they respond “Polo”. I even use it when I’m not with my own students–who doesn’t know that Marco and Polo go together?!