Mixing it up
At my school (technical/trade) we have to do a mixture of lecture and demonstration. I also add problem solving, power point, transparencies. My question to you all is this... when the students begin practicing their lab work with each other, I often loose control of them and they are talking, chit chatting and laughing. I know there is a balance there, because i want it to be an enjoyable experience for them, but I worrry it gets too casual of an environment? Any suggestions on how to control this without constantly saying "SShhh, you should all be working without much chatting?"
Hi Sally,
This is a common problem with group project work. Keeping the students focused. The approach I use to maintain control is time. I have a set time for each part of the project to be completed by the group. They can chat a little and then they have to get to work to complete that phase. Sometimes I will have 4 time points where each group needs to be in order to be making the required progress. I post the upcoming time point on the board and make an announcement as well. This brings them back to attention and gets them to working. So in an hour activity I would call progress time at each fifteen minute interval so by the end of the hour each group will have completed the task. If you think about it by calling time in a sense you are telling them "Shhhh get back to work" but in a nice way by using time. This way you aren't constantly nagging them, but encouraging the instead.
Gary
An effective instructor will take charge of the class from the onset, reminding the students that they are there to learn. Social time is taken outside of the classroom.
Make sure you are still seen by the students as the leader, not a friend.
