5 Reasons Your Attention Signal Isn’t Working and How to Improve It [episode 98]

Emily
Hey, there, thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re sharing five reasons why your attention signal isn’t working, and what you can do to fix it.

Heidi
We start our episodes with a morning message just like we used to do at morning meeting in our classrooms. This week’s morning message is what are you most looking forward to this fall? Emily, what are you looking forward to for fall the best season?

Emily
Well, it used to be my favorite season.

Heidi
Oh, now we’ve got controversial opinions.

Emily
And especially in the years that I lived in Vegas in Fresno because I was so desperate for a break from the very oppressive summers there. But lately, I just am finding I don’t love fall as much as I used to because I know it means winter is coming right after. And so I’m having a hard time enjoying fall the way I used to.

Emily
So I’m trying to fix that by leaning into what I’m actually excited about in fall and make it not so sad about leaving summer behind so all that being said, I think what I’m most looking forward to this fall is reading the next Harry Potter book with my kids.

Emily
So we read one book each year and we always start it at the beginning of October and this year, we’re starting number five, the Order of the Phoenix. And we always kick it off with the Hogwarts dinner. And that’s one of my favorite traditions.

Heidi
That is a fun time. I feel about spring the way you’re feeling about fall but it’s hard to be excited because it means summers coming.

Emily
Yeah, long days of summer.

Heidi
I love though hot and allergies are bad and there are bugs.

Emily
I want in those hot weather of fall with the long days of summer. Is that so much to ask?

Heidi
No. Like where can we get that?

Emily
What are you looking forward to this fall?

Heidi
I just love fall except for the dark. I don’t love that. But you know, it’s just it’s got an aesthetic that no other season can compare to Oh, for sure. I mean, maybe Christmas but that’s not really a season. Like the tastes and the sights and the smells and the feels like it’s it’s such a specific sensory time of year and I just love it all.

Emily
Oh, I totally agree. Even if I am sad about the day is getting shorter. Natalie from our community can’t wait for sweater weather and apple cider. Same Natalie – love apple cider. And Lisa is excited about watching sports football on TV and her kids sports that wasn’t even on my radar. But go. I know, I think for sports people was a big deal new information for us non sports people.

Emily
We’d love to have you join the conversation over in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily
So we are quickly approaching our 100th episode.

Heidi
And to celebrate that 100th episode, we would love to have 100 5 star ratings on Apple podcasts. If you think we deserve five stars, would you mind taking a few seconds and leaving us a rating?

Emily
And if you really love us, you’re an insider, you really enjoy this podcast, would you mind leaving us a review? We would love to get 50 reviews before our 100th episode.

Heidi
Rating and reviewing a podcast is really simple. But it might feel tricky if you haven’t done it before.

Heidi
So you just start by opening that purple Apple podcast app, search for the Teacher Approved podcast and click on it. I think just kind of scroll down past the episode titles to where there’s a bold header that says ratings and reviews, then you just tap the five stars. Or you can keep scrolling down a bit to where it says write a review. And you can add your own review.

Emily
Which obviously you’re going to want to do right? We really appreciate everyone who has already taken the time to post such kind feedback, we read every comment. And it really motivates us to keep doing our best for this amazing group of teachers who listen to our podcast.

Heidi
Classrooms vary so much even at the same school. But one thing every classroom needs is an attention signal.

Emily
And by attention signal, we mean a prompt that quickly focuses student’s attention on the teacher regardless of what the students happen to be doing at the moment.

Heidi
Attention signals are typically used to stop what students are doing so you can give them some additional instruction or maybe prepare them for an upcoming transition.

Emily
And really, you will not last long as a teacher if you don’t have a way to quickly take control of what’s happening in your room because it can get out of control real fast.

Heidi
Yeah, that’s so true. But the funny thing is, I don’t remember any of my school teachers using a signal. Maybe it’s because we just did so much desk work, they could just start talking and we had of choice, but to listen.

Emily
It’s very possible or maybe they just yell, do remember some yelling.

Heidi
Well, we want to avoid yelling, we’re going to be better than that. So I am glad that attention signals have become the standard since we were kids.

Emily
But just because you have an attention signal doesn’t mean it’s doing what you need it to do. If you are giving your attention signal, and your students are only kind of listening or maybe ignoring you altogether, we are going to share five reasons why your attention signal might not be working, and the suggestions for what you can do to solve the problem.

Heidi
So the first reason why your attention signal might not be working, is that maybe you didn’t teach it well enough. Maybe you just touched on your expectations the first day of school and moved on. And now your students are kind of responding the way you want that maybe some kids seem a little confused.

Emily
Luckily, the solution to this particular problem is simple. Just stop and take 15 minutes and reteach your procedure.

Heidi
And just like any other procedure, the tell try tally talk method is your friend here. You start by telling or explaining exactly what we want the students to do. We list the steps so that they can read them while you’re talking. And then you model exactly what you want them to do.

Emily
And then it’s time to try so you can ask for a volunteer to model for the class what they should do when you give the signal. Or you can switch it up and let a student be the teacher and give the signal and you pretend to be the student quickly following directions.

Heidi
It’s also fun to let students be bad examples. Ask a volunteer to show what they shouldn’t do when they hear the signal. Kids live for that sort of thing.

Emily
Especially lower grade students. After a few volunteers have modelled the steps, and you have pointed out the good things they’ve done, have your whole class try.

Heidi
You will likely need to use your attention signal in different settings. So try that now. Move to the rug, tell the kids to talk until they hear the signal. Try it out when they’re standing in line or in the gym. Use it in a variety of settings so they really get the hang of what you expect.

Emily
After your whole class has tried responding to your signal, it’s time to tally. Gather everyone for a discussion about how well they follow the steps. And make sure you point out all the good things they’re doing so they know to repeat those things in the future.

Heidi
Also, make sure to gently point out any behaviors that don’t meet your expectations at this point. We don’t want little mistakes to become bad habits.

Emily
And then it’s time to talk. So ask your students what they’ll remember to do going forward. discuss why this procedure is important and the consequences if they don’t follow directions.

Heidi
By that point, students will have a very clear picture of what’s expected of them. But don’t be afraid to reteach your procedure throughout the year if you find that students aren’t following directions the way they should. We have a tell, try, tally, talk slide deck that can help you teach and reteach any procedure. And we’ll be sure to link that in the show notes.

Emily
But if students clearly understand what to do when they hear the attention signal, but they still aren’t following the directions, maybe you have the second problem, which is that you aren’t holding students accountable for meeting your expectations.

Heidi
This is such an easy mistake to make. You give your attention signal and then without waiting to make sure that your students have follow directions, you launch into your instructions.

Heidi
But when you do that you are teaching your kids that you don’t mean it when you say that they need to follow directions. And if you don’t mean it when it comes to an attention signal, then you might not mean it at other times.

Emily
And they’re not doing it consciously. But once kids sense weakness in one area, they’re going to test the boundaries to find all the other weak spot. Bless their hearts.

Heidi
So now a little thing like talking before you have the kids attention has turned into a constant daily power struggle.

Emily
In a classroom, little things turn into big things very quickly. So make sure that when you give your attention signal, you wait to speak until your class is actually giving you their full attention.

Heidi
This doesn’t feel natural at first. So don’t worry that especially if you’re new teacher, but clearly give your attention signal and then wait.

Emily
You get so good at this as a teacher of like, I can wait you out.

Heidi
And just to have the confidence that your students will meet your expectations.

Emily
But when it comes to holding students accountable for meeting your expectations, make sure you take your students abilities into account. If you teach young kids or have neurodivergent students hold them to high expectations for what they’re actually capable of doing. Not perfect expectations that they are ideally capable of doing.

Heidi
Yeah, we have reasonably high standards not impossibly high standards.

Emily
Now if you’ve given your attention signal and waited, but students are still not meeting your reasonably high standards for following directions. Then the third mistake you might be making is repeating your attention signal.

Heidi
It’s so tempting. It almost feels like a reflex to repeat yourself when it seems like your students have tuned you out. But repeating yourself just teaches kids that they don’t have to listen to you the first time.

Emily
When this happens, remind yourself that you want to reteach not repeat. Once you get your students attention, which may take a few minutes, take a timeout to do a quick reteach of your procedure.

Emily
Start by listing the unacceptable behaviors that you just witnessed. Maybe they kept playing their math game, maybe they were talking too loud, whatever they were doing point it out and explain why it’s a problem then right away do a tell try tally talk reteach of your quiet signal procedures.

Heidi
Obviously, you do not want to spend time doing this. But the kids are even less excited to do this than you are. And that’s good. We want them to see that there are boring consequences if they choose to ignore directions.

Emily
The first time you introduce your procedure, we want those tell try tally talk steps to be lively and engaging. But when you’re reteaching a procedure because students aren’t following directions, lean in to that boring feeling.

Heidi
The tediousness of this task is going to work in your favor. If you have constant talkers or class clowns who rely on their peers for that engagement and feedback, make sure that any talking or clowning around just means that you have to start teaching your procedure again, darn it.

Heidi
Kids won’t be distracted by a friend’s antics when it leads to continued practice of the attention signal. That will bring a quick end to almost all unwelcome behaviors.

Emily
So let boring be your friend when it’s time for behavior consequences.

Emily
But if you have clearly taught and reach out your procedure, and you’re holding students accountable for meeting your expectations, but your attention signals still isn’t working, maybe the problem isn’t your students. Maybe the problem is you don’t have a good attention signal. They’re not all good.

Heidi
And there are several reasons why an attention signal might not be a good one. Maybe your signal is easy to ignore. Sometimes teachers use signals that are completely visual.

Heidi
Like I’ve seen this, teachers will just stand at the front of the room holding up the quiet coyote sign. And you will be waiting for ages with your hand in the air until enough kids have noticed and nudge their neighbors that everyone is finally paying attention.

Emily
And that’s just not effective or efficient, you definitely want to choose a signal that has a sound component. But make sure that it’s a clear enough sound that it’s not easy for students to miss it in a noisy classroom.

Emily
Your voice makes a good signal. But if your class is really getting noisy, you may have to raise your voice quite loud to be heard over them.

Heidi
And that’s when a noise making device can come in handy. I know a lot of teachers are using doorbells as attendance signals. And I think that’s a great idea.

Emily
It blows my mind that would have been so amazing when we were teaching second grade.

Heidi
You can keep that button on your lanyard. And then you can signal from anywhere in your room. It’s perfect.

Emily
And something like a bell or chimes really limits your ability to give your signal whenever you need it, though. So if you’re at the front of the room and your chimes are at the back, you have to walk back to them before you can get your students attention. It’s not an impossible hurdle. But it is a hassle.

Heidi
But really with any kind of device even with the doorbell portability is an issue. Yeah, you can easily carry the doorbell around your room. But you need a plan for what to do when you’re outside of your room. What if you need their attention in the gym or in the hallway? You’ll likely need to teach a verbal cue, even if you use a sound making device in the classroom.

Emily
So far today, we’ve mostly focused on the teachers role with attention signals, but we also need to consider the student’s response. When we give our prompt what exactly do we want students to do?

Heidi
Well, obviously with an attention signal, right, we want the students attention. But what are the specific behaviors that show we have that attention?

Heidi
You may be doing all the right things and signaling for your students attention. But if your students are responding to your prompt without actually paying attention, your signal isn’t a good one.

Emily
To make sure we have our students attention, it’s helpful to give them an action to do in response to the attention signal. A lot of signals have a student verbal response built in so if you say 123 Eyes on me, the kids are supposed to answer with…

Heidi
One two eyes on you.

Emily
Good job. That’s your cue that they have heard the signal and should be ready to listen.

Heidi
There are lots of fun call and response signals. Emily, are you gonna help me out with this? So if you say flat tire, they say or you say hocus pocus and they say…

Emily
Everybody focus. A rhyming signal is always fun.

Heidi
But you may want to consider a physical action besides It’s a verbal response. Ideally, you want something that gets kids hands empty, to really improve your chances that they’re actually paying attention.

Emily
And that’s why I loved our pirate attention signal that we both did for years. So that as the teacher, I’d say all hands on deck, and the students would respond with “Aye, aye, captain.” And they were expected to salute when they responded.

Emily
So kids can give a verbal response without ever looking up. But if they also have to do something with their bodies, it’s much more likely they’ll be focused on you when you start giving directions.

Heidi
So consider if your attention signal is actually a good prompt. Can the students clearly hear it? Do you have something you can use that doesn’t rely on a device for those times when you’re not in your classroom? Does the student response to your prompt include a physical action?

Emily
And in a previous episode, we shared a whole bunch of attention signal ideas that were shared from our community. So we’ll link to those in the show notes too, in case you want to go back and listen to that episode and hear those really awesome ideas.

Emily
So all of this brings us to our fifth reason your attention signal might not be working, and this might ruffle a few feathers. Maybe the problem is that you have too many signals.

Heidi
But there’s so many fun signals out there, it really is tempting to want to use lots of them. If you have 5-10, or more attention signals, or you’re changing them up all the time, you are actually setting yourself up for headaches.

Emily
When we have more than a couple of attention prompts, it takes a lot of space in students working memories to keep things straight. Is this when I say guacamole, or is this when I say Ghostbusters, if kids are confused, it impacts their ability to pay attention.

Heidi
We also need to keep in mind that the purpose of an attention signal is to create an automatic response in our kids brains. When they get this specific input, they can do this specific thing without thinking. If we want that automatic response, we have to keep the prompt as consistent as possible.

Emily
And that doesn’t mean you have to commit to just one prompt but you need a limited number of prompts. Maybe you have one signal out on the playground and one whispery signal in the hallway, and one signal you use in class. Use a few prompts consistently if you want a consistent response from your students.

Heidi
But that doesn’t mean we can never use the fun attention getters. If you do want to mix things up without creating headaches for yourself, try limiting your wildcard prompts to a set time of day. I

Heidi
f you have to meet your class outside to lead them in from recess, maybe that’s your moment. When all the kids are lined up, you can do a few fun attention getters every day before you walk them in. Since the kids are already in line, the stakes are kind of low in terms of what you need students to do. So that’s a great time to have a little call and response fun. Or maybe you do it right before you dismiss them to pack up for the day.

Emily
Right by limiting your attention grabbers to a specific time of day, you can sprinkle in some fun without sabotaging your own classroom management.

Heidi
Your attention signal is one of your most important classroom management tools. So make sure your signal is a good one, and that you teach it right and that you hold your students accountable for meeting your expectations without having to repeat yourself and that you keep your attention signal consistent.

Emily
We’d love to hear your thoughts about attention signals, come join the conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily
Now let’s talk about this week’s teacher approved tip. Each week, we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can apply in your classroom today. This week’s teacher approved tip is have a backup plan for when your attention signal doesn’t work. Tell us more about this, Heidi

Heidi
I would love to. So no matter how well thought out your attention signal is there will be times where it just doesn’t work. My first response to this moment was to panic. And maybe you’re the same. But really a failed attention signal is just part of a teacher life. So instead of panicking, we are going to make our backup plan ahead of time.

Heidi
And then in those moments when your attention signal fails to get their attention, you will know exactly what to do. So the first step in our plan is to stay calm. Then, obviously, we don’t want to repeat ourselves. Unless we are absolutely certain that the problem is that the students didn’t hear this signal that you just gave.

Heidi
But if you know that the problem is bigger than them not hearing you, you need to respond in one of three ways. Either you need to make a game of it, you need to take something away, or you need to shake them up.

Heidi
If the students are really invested in what they’re doing, and they’ve just tuned you out, you can turn it into a game. You give your attention signal, nothing happens. So you start clapping a pattern or you get really quiet and start giving them directions. This is one of my favorites. If you can hear me touch your nose Can you hear me wiggle your fingers and keep going until they’re all paying attention.

Heidi
But if the problem is that your students are too busy talking to pay attention, maybe they need to lose something. You can pull out your phone and start timing them on your phone and hold up your phone so they can see those minutes ticking by, you could go look up at the clock and time how long it takes them to get quiet, and take that time away from something fun in the near future.

Heidi
Or maybe the consequence is turning in their quiet creditors or losing the privilege of working with partners for a while. Once students realize that they’re going to lose something, they will pay attention very quickly. But if your class is really out of control, you need to shake them up.

Heidi
Turning out the lights is a classic. I do remember that from when I was in school. But as a teacher, I found that kids just get crazier when you surprise them with the lights going off.

Emily
Yeah, you can hear those screams right now can’t you.?

Heidi
Yeah. And also, you know, flickering lights on and off can trigger kids with sensory issues. So I would avoid that, but you can shake them up in other ways. Maybe you start talking in another language or just start talking in gibberish if you don’t know another language that will shake them real quick.

Heidi
You can maybe go to the front of the room and just stare at the ceiling. Do something unusual to get their attention that isn’t you demanding their attention in a way that is creating more headaches.

Emily
So the key here is to make a plan now. What’s your backup plan when your attention signal fails? Then you know exactly how to respond in a way that doesn’t create more headaches.

Heidi
To wrap up the show we’re sharing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?

Emily
I’m giving extra credit to Love at First Sight on Netflix. The new rom com movie based on a book called The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, which is objectively a much cuter title. I’ve kind of wrote this movie off just because of the title Love at First Sight just sounds so cheesy, but I heard it recommended so I gave it a try the other day and it’s very cute.

Emily
So the story is about 20 year old Hadley who misses her flight to London and while waiting for her rebook flight meets Oliver, a mathematics student who lends her his phone charger and surprise, he’s on the same flight. I don’t think the premise sounds that earth shattering but I found it delightful. With a really amazing soundtrack and Jamila Jamil plays the quirky narrator who just appears as a character in every scene, which is really fun and clever.

Heidi
I love that. That sounds fun, I’ll have to check it out.

Emily
What do you give me your credit to Heidi?

Heidi
My extra credit goes to Dani DiPiro, who is @positivelypresent on Instagram. She posts a such thoughtful happy art. I love what she posts every day, but I especially love her fall posts from a fall girl. And she’s definitely worth adding to your feed if you just want a little pick me up and a boost every day.

Emily
She’s such a good follow.

Heidi
That’s it for today’s episode. Consider these five reasons why your attention signal might not be effective. And don’t forget our teacher approved tip to make a backup plan for those moments when your attention signal may fail you altogether.