How do you deal with the pencil tappers? I have so many kids who say they need to have a beat in order to focus...but I sure can't focus while they're doing it!
Generally, most students who pencil tap don't need to pencil tap. In most cases, all I have to do is walk over to them, put my hand on their pencil and quietly ask them to "Please stop." If a student needed to pencil tap as may be the case with autistic students I think the suggestion to provide them with a non-disruptive tick is a good one.
I have some kids do this, but a lot more actually trying to do this with their hand: they actually get a pretty good beat going by alternating the tip of their fingers / knuckles. It's much louder. Some actually want to sit there and ra to himself. Normally all it takes is a look, don't even have to say anything, and they stop. But then they start again, i really don't think on purpose, they're just in the habit, they stop after I look. This haven't been a big frustration to me. They DON'T need to do this. Some of the kids like to doodle, I offered for them to get a paper and draw / doodle as long as their work gets done, and it's not gang related writing (a much bigger problem)
Have them tap their ear with their finger tip. It provides the rhythmic physical sensation and also the auditory tapping without being loud enough for others to hear.
The one student I had who just couldn't stop tapping his pencil got a mouse pad and learned to tap only there. Muted the sound nicely.
At a workshop I went to it was suggested that you tape a small carpet square or a piece of fun foam to the childs desk so that if they tap it mutes the sound and doesn't disrupt others. Some children need that kind of stimulation to help them focus.
I'll see your pencil tapping and raise you a water bottle crinkle The pencil tapping is tough to do anything about because the kids who do it are often counting and do not even realize they are doing it..or the ADD kids who need to do it. I try not to let it bother me. But excessive water bottle crinkling gets your bottle removed from your desk
Pencil tapping drives me crazy!!! I usually ask the kids to tap their hand on their leg instead. It takes a lot of reminding, because they're usually tapping mindlessly.
We must share the same students! Pencil tapping Waterbottle crackling sounds Foot tapping against the desks Whistling Humming Singing Sometimes I'm waiting for the whole class to break out into a Glee montage. I explain student rights of learning in a non-distraction classroom and what makes me cranky....these are the top 6 they have learned to not do in the classroom. And if someone begins...their neighbor gives them the evil eye or whispers "You DONT want to get her cranky!" And I have EXTRA large rubber bands tied to desks and chairs for students with ADD issues who need to pull ,tap, snap without bothering anyone. Works like a charm.
Is this age specific? I understand that some kids just can't stop it, and it's not their fault, and somehow it helps them, but in high school I've never really met a kid who couldn't stop or actually seemed to benefit. The pencil tappers seem like they're doing it because they're thinking about something (their mind is somewhere else) and simply forget. Usually I just look at them, sometimes ask them to stop, and that's it. Very seldom they do it again, but then that's it. So these kids don't seem that they NEED it to stay focus, otherwise they would keep doing it, or start tapping / making some other noise. Now the kids with the beat (finger tips/ nails/ knuckles). They seem like they're either in the habit of doing it, or can't stop, but honestly I don't see how it's helping them focus. Usually they seem to be focusing on the rhythm and not what's going on in the classroom. Yesterday I subbed for a floating special ed teachers, so since i was a second teacher in the classroom i could observe kids. I saw one guy who does this often. He was actually doing a more complex beat, and he seemed to have completely tuned ot what was happening around him. Looked away, and really concentrated on the beat. Now how is that helping? I think maybe he was bored, because the teacher was just going on and on about something, but even then, this is not a focusing strategy, it's a tuning-out strategy. My question: how would I identify the kids that need some kind of tapping / rhythm and confuse them with the ones that are just not interested in the lesson and try to entertain themselves?
Agh! I hate the humming and singing. I feel like such a grouch when I tell very grumpily to stop. It makes me feel like I'm a happiness thief. I make up for it by playing soothing music in my classroom during most quiet times.
I'm all about listening position. Hands in lap, eyes on the speaker. Are you student teaching already?
I did some research today, I asked some of my students There is this one guy, who always does the knuckle/fingertip tapping to a beat and quietly raps to himself. It hasn't been a big problem for me, because he's not loud enough to bother others, although I get very easily distracted, so on occasion I asked him to stop. But I found out early that even though he was doing this, he did ALL his classwork, all notes, activities, etc in a very neat writing on top of it. so I left him alone (I've had him in my class for a year, and that I'm subbing I still see him just about every day). So he and a few other students said that when someone does the beat / rapping, it's actually helping them stay focused. I asked: can you hear what I'm saying even though you're rapping to yourself, how is that possible? He said: yes, and I make everything you say into a rap song in my head, or I make it funny, either way I hear it and I get it better this way. So this made sense. Now I know some students do this to be entertaining themselves, and are tuned out, but I guess the best way to check it is to see if their work gets done, or if we're switching activity / ask a question, etc, they're on board. Then I asked about the pencil tapping, and most of them said that when they do this, they're probably bored and are just tuning everything out. Some might need this, they might be doing the same thing as the other guy but with a pencil, but most of the time the pencil is too loud hear what's being said. So while this kinda confirmed what I thought before, I learned something new today
I might try with the mousepad. Applecore, how are you attaching the rubber bands? That might work for me, too. The kids who are doing this the most are in an intervention class. They will say they need to do it to focus or can't help themselves, but I feel like the things they are doing aren't really working for them or they wouldn't be 4 years or so behind in skills...to me it seems as if they are doing it instead of what they don't want to do (read) not that it is helping them concentrate. Also, they hear each other and add to each other's beats, so it is pulling others off task. But they insist they can't help it--they also hum, sing, mutter... In my grade level classes, most kids will stop when asked, but it just seems as if they will seem surprised that I care, like it's totally normal to start making a beat on the desktop during direct instruction! Overall, my kids this year are much more pleasant and cooperative than some other years, but the tapping seems to get worse each year!
Aggghhh! The whistling and humming!!! Drives me crazy! They just don't seem to understand how distracting it is!
My GS, who many of you know, has ADHD. We have tried some of the many good ideas from A to Zers. The one I like is a piece of velcro to tap. Nice and quiet and keeps the ADHDer focused. I have tried the "magic seat," but it was too distracting. All the other children wanted to try it out.
I now have a few stools in my classroom that are designed to move while the students sit. Two of my students have severe ADHD and are basically moving/making noise at all times. I remind them to move their stools and not their hands or their pencils and it has been working really well so far. We tested one day last week and I didn't have one of the students bring the stool to the testing room. He tapped his pencil throughout the entire test. It didn't bother the other kids, so I let it go. The next day he brought the stool and the tapping almost entirely stopped, especially after I reminded him to move on the stool instead.
A lot of good "alternative movement" scenarios in this thread. It's been what...almost since Leslie Hart, really...that the impact of movement on memory has been compounding. One of the many things I liked about having a student-run help desk in my room was that it helped me to proceduralize the need for students to get up at least once each block in order to turn something in, acquire a resource needed to continue on with the activity, or to ask for guidance.