Teacher Tricks for Triumphant Transitions

We recently had a question from a new teacher who is struggling with transitions.

“Whenever I have a transition time between activities, subjects or between lunch or special classes I lose the class.  Then it takes forever to bring them back.  How can I make these transitions easier and quicker?  I feel like I spend half the day telling them to hurry up and I am starting to feel like a nagging Mom.”

We’ve got some ideas!

Here are our suggestions for easing transition times to get students back on track and focused quickly:

Make it a game.

Many students respond well to games and challenges.  Give students a challenge such as “Let’s see if we can pick up and get ready for math in one minute or less.”  Then set a timer on your phone or use a timer on your smart board. Make it fun by calling out a countdown 5-4-3-2-1 before you start the timer. If they are successful, challenge them to get it done in 45 seconds the next day! If you want to add some math, have students create a running graph or chart of their times.

Another example works well for very young children.  When it is time to move to another place in the school, give them a challenge such as this: “We are going to line up and go to art now.  Let’s sneak up on Mrs. Smith.  We are going to be quiet as little mice so that she won’t even hear us coming!”  Then lead the line in tip-toeing down the hall. You’ll earn bonus points for putting on a headband with mouse ears!

Even older students will respond to a contest such as, “The first table to get ready goes to lunch first!”

Remind students of the benefits of their work.

Older students often respond to requests when they understand what’s in it for them.

For example, when you need students to get to work quickly, remind them that the sooner they get started the more work they will get done and the less they will need to do for homework.

Another example is to encourage students to get to work so that they can have a chance to do an activity they enjoy. For example: “I know you really wanted to see our volcano explode again. If you get to work and finish your experiment, we will have time to set it off at the end of class.”

Use call and response signals.

Master teachers often have a repertory of fun call and response signals. You start a phrase and students immediately repeat the responding phrase.  Mix it up to keep it fresh since students will eventually tune out if you use the same phrase every time. There are hundreds of possibilities. A few examples:

Teacher: Ready to rock!   Students: Ready to roll!

Teacher:  Hey class!  Students: What’s up?

Teacher: Give me five!  Students (hands in the air to countdown on their fingers) 5-4-3-2-1!

Teacher: Hocus Pocus   Students: Time to focus!

Teacher: Ready set?  Students: You Bet!

Teacher: Mac and cheese!  Students: Everybody freeze

Ask for an action.

If you can hear me…clap twice.

If you can hear me…put your hands on your head.

If you can hear me…line up at the door quickly and quietly.

You can make this fun and silly while getting students’ attention.  Even high schoolers will groan but join in by putting their left hand on the back of their right foot.

Whisper

Sometimes a great way to get attention is to do the unexpected.  Instead of repeatedly increasing your voice, give directions in a very loud whisper. Mixing up your volume is a great attention trick as we are hardwired to focus attention on something novel.

Watch this clip from the movie Dead Poet’s Society where the teacher played by Robin William’s used volume, whistling, and novelty to great effect. If you haven’t seen the movie, it is a must for teachers.

Repeat a pattern.

Clap or snap out a rhythm or pattern.  You can use popular songs, or familiar commercial jingles.  The students stop and repeat the pattern. Use your school’s fight cheer or slogan!

Musical Signals

Sing a song or play a particular song to signal time to pick up or transition.  You might have a song for pick-up time, a song for getting ready for lunch and even a song for lining up.  Here is one we recently heard and loved:

Here we go just a walking down the hall singing do-a diddy-diddy-dum diddy- do,

We look good, we look fine, as we’re walking in our line.

When students are lined up and quiet, go!

Visual signals

You have probably experienced the old teacher trick of turning off the lights to get silence. Here are a few updates on the visual signal.

Have a light saber, magic wand or some sort of toy that lights up. You can also use your phone’s flashlight. When you hold up the signal, students become silent.

Create a stoplight using three pop up lights attached to the wall or your smart board. Hit the first to signal making a transition. Hit the second to signal get ready to settle.  Hit the third to signal time to start the new activity.

If you know sign language, sign a signal and have students repeat it after you.

A high school teacher used a rubber chicken to gain attention. When he swung it in the air, students stopped whatever they were doing.

Try putting on a crazy hat or standing on a desk.   Watch Robin Williams gain instant attention by standing on a desk in another clip from the movie Dead Poet’s Society.

Every teacher should have a bag of tricks to increase motivation and make transitions run smoothly.  What transition tricks do you have up your sleeve?

Our best,