Silence

Silence[[image:stptraining/Silencio.jpg width="210" height="168" align="right"]]
As we know, at times it is essential to get silence in class. For a number of reasons, however, silence is not always easy to achieve!! We have put together **//the following list of techniques for getting silence//** in class which you might be able to add to your repertoire. Some of the techniques work better with large groups, others with small. We simply offer the ideas in the hope that one or two of them will be suitable for the very individual needs and characteristics of you and your pupils.

When we say **// Be quiet, please, //** pupils often fail to respond. This might be, in part, because they don’t know **// why //** they are being asked to be quiet. It can help if we make our reasons for wanting silence clear to the students. If it’s in order to give instructions that you are appealing for silence, say loud and clearly the word //**Instructions!**// Or if it is to ask a question that you need silence, say loud and clearly, **// I have a question! A question! //** With the need for silence immediately evident, the students are more likely to respond appropriately. With very noisy ESO classes it can be extremely difficult (and tiring) to beat the students at their own game and make your voice louder than theirs Write on the board: YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO FINISH!, followed by ONE MORE MINUTE!!, and then PLEASE STOP NOW!!! And, although a very old-fashioned technique, for those classes that need a little extra persuasion to be quiet and listen, I sometimes find myself forced to add to the last message: PLEASE STOP NOW OR...EXTRA HOMEWORK. For some strange reason this helps immensely. As the pupils are coming to the end of an activity, the teacher begins a countdown from 5 (or 10 if the amount of noise to be overcome demands it). Encourage the students to join in the countdown with you. Upon zero, the class must be silent. You can also try this technique by saying the first 10 letters of the alphabet backwards, which requires more concentration. This TPR activity is highly suitable for secondary pupils. It not only ends in silence, but it also helps to prevent the students from getting fidgety, as well as providing a few moments of humour and lots of valuable language input. The teacher gives instructions to the students such as sit up straight, stretch you legs, shrug your shoulders, wiggle your fingers, shake your feet, bend your arms, click your fingers, all of which may be done from a sitting-down position. In the tradition of TPR, the teacher should initially do the exercises, as well as giving the instructions. When the whole group is involved, the ideal instructions to conclude the activity are given: //Breathe in! Hold. Breathe out.// //Breathe in! Hold.// //(Enjoy the silence!)// //Breathe out.//
 * ** GIVING THEM A REASON TO BE QUIET **
 * ** WRITING MESSAGES IN VERY LARGE LETTERS ON THE BOARD **
 * ** THE COUNTDOWN **
 * **The TPR ACTIVITIES**
 * fhfhhfg

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