2.             Matching Plates

3.             Playing Cards

4.             Candy Groups

5.             2:00 Appointments

6.             Random Generators

2.             Word on the Board.  To gain the classes attention or to show them they are too loud you start writing a word on the board, if you completely spell the word the class has to do worksheets for the remainder of the class in silence.

3.             Too Noisy App http://toonoisyapp.com/  is an app that you can use to have the students stay in an acceptable noise level, if they do not an alarm will sound.

4.             10-15 Minute Rule  You want to keep the discussions to 10-15 minutes to keep the students engaged on topic.  After 15 minutes students will begin to tune you out and become off topic.

5.             Alternative Assignment: have an alternative assignment for those one or two students who cannot stay on task to prevent whole class punishment for one or two students.

6.             Have a Signal:  Have something or a phrase that you say to gather the class back from or to gain their attention, screaming is not an option.  You can you use the clap method, an instrument, or anything you can find that is not you yelling.  I use the word waterfall and the kids start with shh, until the whole class I quiet and focused on me.

7.             From small groups to whole class:  Have a way to go from small groups and bring them back to whole class, generally you do not want them to continue to sit with their groups after the group part so that they do not continue to talk.

8.             Strategy for Quick Transition: Timer and Marbles  Set a timer for a given amount of time, if they can regroup or group within the set amount of time with materials ready to go reward them with a marble in a jar.  When the jar becomes full they earn a prize for not wasting too much class time.

9.             Strategy for requesting teacher help: Red Cup/Green Cup  If the green cup is on the table they are fine on their own, if the red cup is on the table they are awaiting assistance from the teacher.

10.          Strategy for students helping each other first: Ask 3 before Me  Instead of students coming to the teacher first they have to ask three classmates for help first.

11.          Strategy for one student dominating discussion: 3 Tallies  A student gets to answer a question only three times, once they have their three tallies they are no longer allowed to answer questions.

12.          Behavior management system: Classdojo.com Is a digital technology that allows you to show when students are on task and allows you to keep up with who is on task and how often versus who continuously interrupts class with inappropriate talking.

13.          Strategy for encouraging certain behaviors: High Fives  Give students cards with high fives on it or some kind of reward for staying on task during discussions is always a good way to keep their attention.

Speed Dating in the real world allows you to have short conversations with a variety of people during the course of an evening to determine with whom you would like to spend more time.  This classroom strategy spins that idea to partner students up for 2-minute conversations before moving them to a new partner.  

B.            Fishbowl

Think of people standing around an aquarium and observing what the fish inside are doing.  The fish do not seem to be aware of their observers and are not concerned about who is watching them.  They are busy going about their business and interactions with each other.  

C.            Think Pair Share

The teacher poses a question on the board.  Each student thinks quietly for a moment about his or her answer to the question.  When the teacher feels that enough time has lapsed, the students share their ideas with a partner.  The teacher calls on students to share their thoughts with the class.

D.            Give One Get One

The teacher poses a question on the board.  Each student writes down his or her own ideas.  When students have had sufficient time to write down their ideas, the teacher asks them to circulate around the room.  Each student must share one idea with someone and collect an idea from the other student.  Then the student goes to another person and repeats the process.  A student may collect no more than one idea from any one person.  Each student is required to collect 4 ideas.  After all students have their ideas the teacher starts whole class discussion going over what the students have collected, having them share their ideas.

E.            Snowball Fight

Every student writes his/her name at the top of a clean sheet of paper.  The teacher poses a question and each student writes down an idea or answer.  The students then crumple up their paper and everyone throws their paper at once.  Each student picks up a new “snowball” from the floor.  They then respond to or add to what the person before them wrote.  The process repeats.  When the teachers thinks the snowball is over the paper is handed back to the original name on the paper for whole class discussion.

F.            Airplane Questions

Each student writes a question on a clean sheet of paper.  The questions could originate from a textbook, worksheet, or the teacher can pose them.  Each student folds his or her question into a paper airplane.  Airplanes are thrown one at a time.  The student closest to where the airplane lands is the first to respond to the question.  The teacher then facilitates a class discussion encouraging other students to add to the first student’s response.  The process is repeated until all response are discussed.

G.            Chain Note

The teacher arranges the students into rows or groups of equal numbers. The teacher has questions prepared based on the number of students in each group.  The teacher passes the sheets out so that each student in each group gets one of the different questions.  The students individually answer the question that they have been given in writing.  After a sufficient amount of time has passed, the teacher asks the students to pass their papers down the row or to the next person in the group.  The students then add something new to what the person before them wrote.  The process repeats until everyone has answered all the questions. Finally, whole class discussion about each question.

H.            Select a Passage

Students individually select a passage from the text that stood out to them in some way.  The teacher calls on students to read the passage they selected and share the reason for selecting the specific passage.  When subsequent students are called on, they must select a different passage to discuss.

I.              Beach Ball

Write questions across the surface of a cheap plastic inflatable ball.  The teacher throws the ball to one student.  When a student catches the ball, he or she must answer the question closest to the tip of their right index finger.  The teacher facilitates as the whole class continues discussion of the question.  When the teacher determines it is time to move on to the next question, he or she asks the student to throw the ball to another student.

The teacher posts chart paper around the room.  Each piece of chart paper has one open-ended question written in black marker at the top.  Students are assigned to small groups.  Each group gets different colored marker.  Each group rotates through the posters and makes a different comment than the groups before them.  Once all the groups have rotated through all of the posters, the teacher leads a whole class discussion based on the ideas from the posters.

B.            6-3-1

The teacher instructs the students to individually write down the six most important concepts from the reading.  The students are arranged into groups of three.  Each group narrows down all 3 lists to the three most important concepts from the reading.  For the whole class discussion, each group shares one idea from their group list.

C.            Word Sort

Each student writes 10 words that were important in the reading on small cards.  Students get into small groups.  Each group sorts the words from all of the members into 3-4 categories.  Each group chooses the 5 most important words.  Each group writes one sentence using those 5 words.  For the whole class discussion have the groups share their sentences and discuss whether they agree or disagree with the statements they have made.

D.            Student Led Questioning

Each student in the group has a different question on a slip of paper.  Each student leads the small group discussion of their question.  During the whole class discussion, the students who had each question report what their group discussed.

E.            Bone to Pick with You

The teacher develops several discussion questions related to the topic and writes each on a cutout of a dog bone.  Each group selects a bone from the pile to gnaw on.  When the group believes they have gnawed the bone clean, they share their responses with the class.  Students in other groups should add to what the presenting group shares.  You can ask them whether they agree or disagree and the reasons for their positions.

F.            Numbered Heads Together

Teams of four are established.  Each member of a team is given a number of 1, 2, 3, or 4.  A question is asked of the group.  The group works together to answer the question so that all members can verbally answer the question.  The teacher calls out a number, for example two, and the person who has been assigned two from each group is asked to give the answer on behalf of their group.  This leads into a whole class discussion of the question.

G.            Jigsaw

Students are arranged into expert groups.  Each group becomes experts on a particular question.  Students are then rearranged into mixed groups, with one expert from each of the expert groups.  Each expert in the mixed group shares their question and expertise with the rest of the group.  This leads into a whole class discussion about the questions that were originally posed.

H.            Elevator Talk

Students are told that each group will have 2 minutes in the elevator with an influential person (governor, president, school board member, etc.).  Each group is to prepare the talking points that they will use to convince the person of their position.  The group needs to be clear on what actions they want the person to take.  The teacher plays the role of the designated official in the pretend elevator and each group gets in the elevator one at a time.  This leads into a whole class discussion where the class determines the most compelling evidence presented.

2.             Prezi                prezi.com is an alternative to PowerPoint.

3.             Glogster           glogster.com is a free Web 2.0 tool that allows you to create an electronic poster.

4.             Voicethread     voicethread.com is another free Web 2.0 tool that allows students to create a slide show in which they and others can add comments to the slides.

5.             Haiku Deck       haikudeck.com is a mobile app that allows you to create a visual display for a presentation quickly and easily.

6.             Educreations     educreations.com is a mobile app that allows you to create a teaching video.

Remind, formerly Remind101, is a communication tool that helps teachers reach students and parents where they are.
3. https://www.bloomz.net/

Bloomz makes it easy for Teachers and Schools to safely communicate and coordinate with parents, share media, school events, instantly message parents and more.