Student Contributor: K. Cabiad
Quiet Critters is a cute way to help manage volume during work time. It is a little ‘critter’ that is made at the beginning of the year by the students that only like to come out when it is quiet time.
This tool is made at the beginning of the year by all the students. All you need is a jar, pom-poms, and googly eyes. At the beginning of the year when making them, you will discuss how they are making little critters to hang out with them while they are doing their work. They only come out while everyone is quiet, and they don’t like loud noises or being played with. If the students are making too much noise the poor little thing will want to go home to the jar. Having the cute little critter on the desk will serve as a reminder of the noise level expectations.
This tool falls into the preventative phase. The preventative phase is to prevent problems before learning occurs. The students know that they can’t disrupt the critters and they only like to come out when it’s quiet. Before the teacher puts the critters out they will remind the students that in order to keep the critters out, they have to be respectful of what the critter needs in order to be put on the desk. Since having the critters on the desk serves as a reminder to make sure they are being quiet, this tool does the exact thing the preventative phase prioritizes. This falls into the collaborative theory of influence. It is a joint effort of both the students and the teacher. The students are participating in creating and naming their own critter and they are also responsible for making sure that other students are respecting the critter's needs of it being quiet. The teacher is the one who is deciding when the critters are needed and making sure that the students are following through with the volume level for the benefit of the whole class.
More Information –
Tool Source: Pintrest
Teacher’s Classroom Hack Gets Young Kids Quiet In A Fun Way.
