Have you ever been in the middle of teaching a lesson, to stop and realize that not all your students are listening and not all are engaged?? I think most of us teachers could answer this at some point, yes! This is why I love the whole brain teaching attention getter of “Hands and Eyes”! Hands and eyes is the focuser. Hands and eyes allow students to focus all mental activity on what the teacher is saying and doing.
Whenever I need my students to focus and pay close attention to what I am saying I say “hands and Eyes”. My students respond “hands and eyes” and clasp their hands and put them in their lap. Then they stare at me intensely. This lets me see who is immediately on task and ready for instruction.
According to the Whole Brain Teaching website, in a one hour lesson a teacher should say hands and eyes about 5 to 10 times. No matter what they are doing, my students know that when I say “hands and eyes”, they will stop, repeat what I have said, sit up, come to attention, and show me “hands and eyes”. It works like a charm!
After I say “hands and eyes”, I have my students’ attention and am able to start instruction. I deliver my instruction in small chunks at a time and then allow students to have time to teach and respond. This is called “Teach-Okay” and will be my next blog post.
Here is some practice Que Cards you can use with your class. They are from Allie Byrne and are free to download on TPT.
WholeBrainTeachingPictureQueCards
luv2teachfirst 