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When splitting students into small groups, we can get them to assign pre-determined roles to each other like, time-keeper, group leader, group scribe etc. This would ensure there is positive interdependence and individual accountability.
-Marvin

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I strongly believe that it is important for teachers to know their students - what they like, what they dislike, what makes them ticks, what attracts them. This way, the teacher can better not only anticipate their response, but modify the tasks and challenges to interest the students and best help them learn.

- Shermin

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Engaging the "disruptive" with alternative tasks / challenges

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Engaging the "disruptive" with alternative tasks / challenges

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A possibility would be to engage the misbehaving with alternative tasks, perhaps one that inherently stops the distraction.

This example is subject specific, but I have reassigned students when playing in an instrumental ensemble to a different instrument that requires them to be engaged different. Specifically, while the rest of the class were playing on xylophones, I've reassigned two of the more disruptive boys to play on the cajon, a box like percussion instrument that is played while sitting on it. The novelty and the difference in playing kept them engaged enough to stop their disruptive behavior.

- Daniel

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One common misbehaviour that a class tends to have is noise level and being chatty when the teacher is teaching or addressing the entire class. One method, which i sometimes practice back in my contract teaching, is to stop talking, look at the class and wait for them to quieten down. This would usually be accompanied with a frown to signal disapproval and this would send a message to the students that their behaviour is unacceptable. Most of the time, the students would almost immediately notice the change in atmosphere and signal their classmates to pay attention. As the saying goes, silence is deafening and it is rare for students not to notice this sudden change of the teacher in the classroom. I prefer this method as opposed to using verbal interventions like reminders or scoldings as it keeps the momentum of the lesson going (especially when teaching important concepts/content) as the teacher is able to immediately carry on with what she is doing without having to say anything. Other non-verbal interventions such as a knock on the table, a knowing eye contact to redirect students who are off-task or misbehaving are also notably effective with children in the classroom.

- Xue Ling

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At the start of the year, teacher could set rules and routines for whole-class and small-group learning and share your expectations with them.
Especially in the first few weeks of lesson, teacher could consistently remind students of the routines set in place to get them to be familiar with the routine(s).

My mentor during contract teaching also shared with me that teacher could also provide immediate feedback at the end of the small-group learning or at the end of the lesson on their behaviour.

- Jeslin

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One way to a quick intervention is to verbally remind the students of their class rules. They tend to forget when they get excited or carried away by tasks or activities that they will be doing for the first time hence it's important for the teacher to remind them of what they should do before proceeding with the activity.
A non-verbal intervention that I noticed being used by my mentor is that she will just abruptly stop talking when the class gets too rowdy. They notice this difference and they stop with their misbehaviour.

- Nabilah

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Having a strong teacher-student relationship is important. This requires time out of class to interact with students e.g. during recess, or in between classes, or during CCAs. Every moment counts. There is a need to anticipate who / what may act up and why. Often during art lessons it is essential to plan filler activities for students who have completed their work. Expectations need to be set when they finished their assigned tasks, what they should be doing after.

In a class I observed, the teacher had brain games, that students can help themselves with. For art, it might look like another simple activity, or art story books that students can do. This may also be used if a student needs some time away from the class, but still be engaged in doing something else, before returning to their assignment.

In all cases, I think as the teacher we need to remain calm, and not let our emotions get the better of us.
- Tingyan

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Removing distracting objects from the students

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Removing distracting objects from the students

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One way in which students can get off task during lesson is by being playing around with an object that they just bought during recess or just created using erasers and staples. As teachers, we ourselves get distracted by their actions. What we can do is to remove the object from their hands but do so in a tactful manner. Do not just snatch it away from their grasp. Let them know that we are not taking it away from them forever, but only until the end of the lesson. Inform them that you believe they can focus better when they are less distracted by the object. Students need to know the reason why their things are taken away from them.

- Rosnaini

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"Silent treatment" to the class and addressing behaviour in small groups

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"Silent treatment" to the class and addressing behaviour in small groups

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This is an idea I sometimes use while teaching in class. When the class volume starts to become louder than what I deem appropriate, I stop talking and wait for the class to notice and quiet down.

The idea the kids have is that you are not paying attention to them while the teacher is talking and hence are not afraid to speak to each other. Having silence from the teacher is out of their norm so they get nervous and pay attention to you because they take the silence to mean the teacher is now observing you.

There are a few ways for the teacher to proceed from the prolonged silence treatment. If the message is clear to the students, the teacher can continue teaching and since the students understand that a warning was given to them they would stop misbehaving.

Another type of response teachers may receive from the class is that there are still a number who did not understand the non-verbal cue and continue to talk. This is where the next step of intervention becomes verbal where the teacher can point out their behaviour and how it affects the others and interrupts their learning. When the students realize how they are inconveniencing their class they would stop their misbehaviour.  Highlighting the behaviour (and not the person) is a method that can be used for small-group teaching as well.

- Odelia

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I believe that the first step of intervention is by being aware of every student’s actions to be able to foresee any misbehaviour that will arise, and taking action to prevent it from manifesting. It is a good idea to frequently walk around the class, such as when adopting the presentation approach for whole-class teaching, so that students know that their teacher is watching them. Aside from that, the teacher can also take visual cues from the students, such as when a student lost interest in the lesson and begins to zone out or get distracted by other things. To get back the student’s attention, I would typically call on the students and ask them if they are able to follow the lesson.

In small-group learning, as the teacher will be moving from group to group, assigning roles to every student in the group would be beneficial as every one of them will have a sense of responsibility and would be more likely to live up to the expectations.

All in all, I think we can carry out proper interventions if we understand the rationale behind the student’s behaviour and to give them roles so that they are more responsible for their actions and can practice self-control.

- Amira

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1. When the class is distracted, we can use clapping rhythm to gain back their attention. The teacher would make sure that everyone is responding and giving attention before proceeding.

2.  If it is individual students whom are distracted, the teacher would usually pause and give an eye look (non verbal). If there is a task to do such as cleaning the whiteboard or distributing materials the teacher may ask the distracted student to do it.

- Shaur En

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In order to manage a class well, teachers need to constantly be aware of what is happening / things that students are up to in the classroom. We need to have eyes on the back of our heads and to always be a step / even steps ahead of our students. In many cases, nonverbal interventions such as the teacher look, or simply tapping on the student’s table as a reminder may be more effective in getting the student to rein in on his/her behaviour. This is in comparison to scolding the child directly, which may result in both disrupting the momentum of the class as well as possibly inviting resentment from the student. In cases where such nonverbal interventions do not work, it may be advisable to speak to the student privately instead of reprimanding the child in front of the whole class.

In managing small group learning, the teacher can assign roles to each student such that they are clear and aware of their responsibilities during the group work. The roles assigned can be rotated on a regular basis to ensure that all the students get a chance to be involved in different roles and responsibilities. This also helps in nurturing in them various essential social skills.

- Yi Sheng

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Involving the Restless Ones / Don't Scold, but Surprise.  

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Involving the Restless Ones / Don't Scold, but Surprise.  

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If there is a student in the class who is particularly restless and disruptive, the teacher can call upon the student and involve them in an activity. This does not always mean calling them out to answer a question (which might be useful but depending on the student can sometimes be frustrating and humiliating for them). It can also involve getting them to help you with your slides / or just create some sort of activity for them to do. For example, I read about a music teacher who was playing a tango piece for the class, and one students was joking around and being disruptive. So she extended her hand to him, and was surprised that he took it, and she led him in a short tango that got the whole class laughing. From that day on, the student paid more attention in class because he was excited to see what other unexpected thing she might to next. The teacher described this method as - "Don't Scold - but Surprise". The lesson will be more memorable for the right reasons that way.

- Almira

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Maintaining classroom momentum through non-verbal cues

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Maintaining classroom momentum through non-verbal cues

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To maintain the momentum of a class, using non-verbal cues are effective to signal to the students that their actions are being watched by the teacher. One way I usually use in my classroom is the proximity control technique where I would walk towards the inattentive student while I am speaking. If a student is fiddling with items on the table, I would walk towards them while speaking and take that item away from them then correct their misbehavior privately after class. In addition, I also tend to get inattentive or students who seem to have zoned out to answer my questions or get them to paraphrase their peers' comments/answers. This would ensure that students are alert as the teacher may call upon them anytime.
- Kelly Phua

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Then teacher can group off-task students with the more responsible ones to get them used to the expected behaviour. Teacher can also reinforce the desired behaviour by publicly announcing “I can see that most of you are ready. Your table is clear of the previous subject’s materials and your subject-related materials are on the table. That is good. I will give some time for the few who are not ready before we begin.” Also, when students seem distracted, teacher can first use non-verbal cues like coming closer to student or looking at the said student and pausing for a while to get his/her attention. If it repeats, teacher can then move on to verbal cues like getting the student to share their opinion about the subject matter or answer question. Personally, I like to use name-dropping by using their names in examples that I will be giving. This signals for their attention and they tend to be more alert thereafter as they know the teacher is watching them.

-Nabilah Ithnin

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When we see a student fiddling with an object that is irrelevant to the lesson, we can walk closer to them and use proximity control. If that doesn't alert the student, we can then silently remove the object from the student without stopping the whole class to address the misbehaviour. Speak to the student privately after  whole-class instruction/after the lesson.

- Hui Ting

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Address isolated behaviour issues by calling out specific students in a friendly manner. Eg. “Do you have something to share?” or “Do you need help?”
Alternatively, use the names of students from the class to illustrate examples or help explain a concept. Use them for positive or neutral  illustration. Students  enjoy this kind of involvement and will be attentive to what you want to say.

- Stella

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Each group can be provided with a "task accountability" chart. This chart will be filled in by the members. It will document what each student has done/ contributed to the group. Teacher can choose to provide comments/ feedback, or use this chart to award participation points. Each student has a role, but content and learning interaction should come from not just 1-2 students. As an extension, students can also chart what they have learnt from their members. These charts can also be used for recurring small-group activities across several weeks. This ensures that each child contributes and learns, and it serves as a way for the teacher to keep track of the work done during the activity: completeness, extent of learning, if more help is needed, etc.
-Marie

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At the start of lesson, the teacher should set routines and lesson schedule clearly for their students (either written on the whiteboard/flash via the projector). You can also publicly announce the goal you want your student to achieve.

Eg: "The noise level was a 4 during your group work time yesterday. Let's all try to keep it to a 2 today!"

-Jazreel

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Teacher can establish over time the culture of cold-calling students to check their response and understanding of concepts. By calling upon the names of the students at random frequently, students will be conditioned to stay attentive to the discussion/speech by the teacher(s) and classmates within the room.

- Peter

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Always scan across the classroom to ensure that the students are doing the right things at the right time. For instance, at the start of the lesson, they should be ready with the correct materials on their table; during lesson, they are attentive and on task. Scanning across the room helps us spot any potential problem so that we can give an opportunity to the student to correct the behaviour before us having to address it verbally or using consequences.

I think that we should remember that noise can be constructive too because I’d witnessed how my CT picked up on a brewing misconception from the students who were sharing thoughts with each other while she was elaborating on a concept. It also helps when we ask the student(s) who are talking whether they have anything to share with the class so that we do not immediately penalise them for chatting, just in case they were discussing exciting thoughts on the topic which we can then address as a class as well.
- Esther

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Students could be provided with mobile devices such as iPads or tablets to engage them in their learning. Using interactive tools enables them to display images, record videos, explore a new medium which helps them to visualize their observations and understand new concepts taught in class. Learning also become more interactive with technology as students can receive direct results from their research or feedback on their work, which promotes student autonomy.

- Winnie

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During whole class discussions, students can write their responses on their personal whiteboard (or use the budget version - clear plastic folder with white paper slotted in) and flash their answers at the same time, game-show style.

This ensures that all students participate, instead of riding on their peers' answers.

- Yanni