With almost a decade of teaching experience in middle and high school classrooms, I’ve spent a fair amount of time trying to improve my classroom management techniques. But one thing I know for sure is that it IS a work in progress that doesn’t happen overnight!
One of the most important aspects of classroom management is being able to get your students’ full attention at a moment’s notice and…. wait for it… HOLD IT for as long as needed! I doubt that I am one of the only teachers that finds this task challenging, year in and year out! Can you relate?
The Problem: I am a self-proclaimed “energetic teacher”. Yep… I like to get my kids excited about learning and being together in my classroom on the daily. There is nothing quite like a classroom for middle school students and I LOVE it…. until I don’t ;) LOL!
This year I am going to try something new…. A WIRELESS DOORBELL!
Why a doorbell? Can’t kids knock if I don’t want them to come in the classroom? Well… this doorbell is not used for entering the classroom – it’s magic comes once the kids have already entered the classroom and have settled in!
Once I feel that I need to get my student’s attention, or in other words, get them quiet and focused on ME – all I have to do is press the button on the wireless doorbell remote and VIOLA – you can hear a pin drop in an instant (well after months of training the kids)! LOL! I laugh because just writing about this reminds me how exhausting the game of classroom management is at the middle school level!
Trust me when I say – if you feel like this is something that might work or be needed in your classroom – you won’t regret it! I learned about this magic tool from another educator’s blog and am so excited I stumbled upon it!
I ordered my wireless doorbell from the ever-handy Amazon.com! At a whopping $12.99, you really can’t go wrong! Check out this wireless doorbell for yourself here.
Have you tried anything like this? I’d love to hear about any other classroom management tips you have! Drop them in the comments below :)
