Don't know who the student is, but the humming continues despite being told to stop (generally to the whole class). The other students don't know who it is either, but they are complaining about the hummer. How do I get this to stop?
Call different kids up to your desk to talk to you and note if the humming continues or stops, it may take a while to figure it out though. My brother clears his throat or makes noises without consciously knowing it as part of his ADHD as verbal tics.
I had a kiddo that could not help it. He often didn't realize he was doing it. If they are doing it intentionally, they are doing it to get a rise out of you. It is working. In both situations, I suggest learning to tune it out.
Well honestly it doesn't bother me at all. For some reason, I don't notice tapping or humming, it is the other students who had to point it out to me. I'm thinking if it happens again, I will just give a blanketed speech about how you can hum and tap all day and not bother me at all---but you are aggravating your peers so they are paying attention and trying to figure out who you are, and once they do and they tell me who you are: you, me, and mom are going to have a nice long conference in order to figure out why you think it is okay and appropriate to distract your peers.... I'm one of those people who can totally tune it out. And I do, it really takes my other students clear aggravation for me to even notice it.
Honestly, someone else in your class already knows who it is, trust me. Whether it is intentional humming or not, someone is sitting close enough to know who is doing it. Perhaps making the statement that you can't hear it if a student complains will get you the culprit sooner, if it really is bothering some of the students.
It is aggravating some of them, I know because they told me. And they were looking around to see if they could figure it out. I couldn't. Eventually those kids will figure it out. I'm pretty sure whoever is doing it is trying to aggravate me, not their peers. Hopefully, when I disabuse them to reality: it doesn't bother me, it bothers your peers--this will end it. I said stop one time, and it continued, and I didn't say anything else. I figured ignoring it would make it stop. Will find out Tuesday, if the person is bored and has moved on from the humming, because they didn't get the rise out of me they were looking for. Ha, I'm on a anti-depressant that makes "rises" out of me impossible. They're in for a boring year as far as that goes They only way to possibly aggravate me is to come over to my house and mess it up (I'm a neat freak to say the least) and since that ain't happening--no aggravation is possible
If I have a sneaky student, I commit to being very observant the next day. While I'm making my rounds I will keep an ear out for the humming. If I start to hear it, I will not react and keep doing my thing like it didn't happen and find the general direction it is coming from. I won't say anything, but I'll keep listening until I pinpoint the perpetrator. Then once I know who it is exactly, I will pounce! And do my thing. I do the same thing with kids doing sneaky things like trying to toss something when my back is turned. Except I just watch carefully from the corner of my eye. It doesn't look like I'm searching for anything, but I can catch where it's coming from in general and pinpoint them. Sometimes it takes allowing them to throw things a few times. They get complacent and again: POUNCE! I usually give them harsher consequences than I normally would just to dissuade any others from being sneaky. If you just stay observant constantly, and not move around too much (i.e. stay in one corner of the room where you can see everyone and everything and just watch), less sneaky things will happen. The next time it happens, you would have a good idea of who probably did it.
I agree that someone probably knows who the hummer is. You could try circulating to find the general area, see if it stops when you are certain places, etc. Put your detective gear on! Those type of things bother me! We learn the word irk in our first vocabulary unit. Last year, I took the time to get everyone to list their pet peeves (or things that irk them) and we talked about them. It was funny to hear students even at the end of the year ask someone to stop tapping their pencil because, "You know it irks me when you do that."
The 'hummers' are seeking attention from their peers, are disrupting your instruction and are showing disrespect for you...you may state that it's nt bothering you but maybe it shoud.
From what I've seen and dealt with, you're ignoring strategy may be the best path for now. It will most likely have one of two endings, either they'll lose interest because they aren't getting the desired response or they'll escalate to force a response. If the 2nd happens, it may be easier for you to spot the culprit. You do have to consider though, that one of the complainers is the hummer, or one of the hummers. I have a hummer this year. He and his grandmother have a history of causing problems at school. He does it as a power play. If it bothers the kids around him, they come to me and I address it with him,privately after class. I refuse to give the attention to him during the class. I've explained that he has one more chance bopefore becoming an island. For him, it's a power play. Because of the family situation I've kept my principal updated on everything.
Use the word "selfish" in describing the behavior. I'm amazed how many problems that stops in middle school.
I mean it doesn't bother me in the sense of it personally doesn't distract me when people hum or tap, it usually has to be consciously pointed out to me for me to even notice--and then it goes right back to being successfully blocked out. I am one of those people who prefer background noise, and can't fall asleep without fans making lots of racket--so I can block noise easily. I didn't mean that it doesn't bother me that they are aggravating other students. That is my whole purpose in telling them to stop humming to begin with. If the humming is distracting someone it is not producing the optimal learning environment which I strive for in my classroom. I want the perpetrator to know that humming doesn't get on my nerves and they aren't irritating me with their humming, in fact I might be singing along in my head. They are irritating their peers, and that is the problem.
:thumb: I believe in the 'broken windows' theory of classroom management. If you let little things like that continue in your classroom, it will lead to bigger problems down the line.
This makes sense to me. You need to be in charge. However, last year I had a hummer. I tried everything. My colleagues suggested earplugs, but he kept spitting them out. It turns out, he had tourettes, and now has a full time aide. One thing that made it easier for the class and me was that he was adorable. He freely gave his kind words (and humming) to everyone.
That was our staff joke about our little Nathan (made up name). People would suggest ear plugs and we'd joke that he keeps spitting them out.
