Are you looking for a way to manage noise in your classroom or in your house?! Well then this is perfect for you!
Classroom Management: Volume Control
At the beginning of the school year, I had a student who was so loud. I’m not exaggerating when I say that she screamed in class…a.day.long. When she walked into class, she screamed! When she asked a question, she screamed! When she was in the computer lab, she screamed!
Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t trying to be mean, she just had no volume control! Well her behavior tutor finally gave me a visual chart for her so that I could remind her about what her volume should sound like while in school. I mounted the chart under my whiteboard and the magic began! It not only helped to control her volume, it completely transformed my class!
The volume chart has 5 levels:
5- Screaming & Shouting
4- Loud Voice
3- Speaking Voice
2- Whisper Voice
1- No Talking
The great thing about this chart is it very clear and you can use positive statements rather than negative. For example, instead of me saying “don’t shout” I would say, “Use your level 3 voice” and the girl would totally understand.
Well one day during our flag salute, my students were screaming and I was very upset because I had talked to them about this several times! I told them how upset I was when one little boy raised his hand. He said, “We shouldn’t use our level 5 voice huh?” And then it clicked! If this chart worked with the little girl, it can work with all of my students! So I replied, “No, we should not use our level 5 voice during the flag salute. We need to use our level 3 voice”. I reminded them for several days and eventually all I had to do was hold up 3 fingers and they immediately lowered their voices!
It also proved to work really well during our show and tell time. I have some really shy students who have a hard time speaking up in front of the class. But if I told them to use their level 4 voice, they would do so without any hesitation!
When we walk in the hall, we all have our level 1 voice on!
When we’re working with partners, we use our level 2 voice.
We ONLY use our level 5 voice when we’re outside at Recess or PE.
And let me tell you, the volume in my classroom is unbelievable!
For your own copy of Volume Levels click the picture below.
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