Have you ever started giving a lecture and watched your classroom fall apart? I have. It happened last week actually. Four students in a corner arguing loudly about whether Jesus was the biscuit or the syrup, a pair of students flirting, and the quieter students looking at their phones. It was going to be one of those days. I finally got the majority of the class to quiet down so I could restart. One girl loudly responded, "Now we're waiting for YOU!" Some students rolled their eyes, others told her she was being rude. I wasn't going to be able to do anything at this pace.
I put a five minute timer on the screen and said, "We'll start in 5 minutes." As soon as the timer started, I moved quickly. First to the loud arguing students. I had a good relationship with them so I simply said seriously, "Hey what you're doing is not cool and it's distracting. You don't always need to have the last word." They nodded and quickly affirmed they would no longer be a distraction. Then ... a bee line to the student who had made the comment about waiting for me. We had not always had the best relationship, but it was slowly improving. I looked at her quickly and said, "I didn't appreciate your comment." That was all I said. She responded, "Sorry about that." Okay two down and two minutes left. I moved to the flirting distracted pair. I moved one student across the room. I could see they were disgruntled. I made a note to talk to student I had moved after class. The timer rung. I said, "Okay, let's get started." This time, students were ready to listen and ready to work. Five minutes saved me 50 minutes.
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