Class Management with Sign Language!

I was recently asked how I handle questions and interruptions while I’m teaching. If you have a group of more than about six students, questions and other interruptions can take your class off-task and eat up your teaching time, whether you’re teaching Art or any other subject. Here’s what I do to really cut down on that!

First of all, I emphasize from the beginning that I only acknowledge students who raise their hands. Then, I teach my students to use “sign language” when raising their hands, so that I know if they have a question, a comment or an answer. We use the hand sign for the letter “i” for “I have a question”, the sign for the letter “a” for “I have an answer”, and the sign for the letter “c” for “I have a comment.” Students quickly memorize these hand signs, and posting pictures of them on the wall will serve as an added reminder.

I usually ask students to hold their questions until the end of my lesson, as most will be answered before I’m finished. But sometimes I do ask for questions or comments, or ask a question for students to answer. With hand signs you can be sure that you get what you asked for! Even so, there will still be times when a student will raise her hand with the question sign and start in on a story about her Grandmother’s dog. Then you just quickly cut in and say, “I’m sorry….that’s a comment. Does anyone have a question?”

Despite your best efforts to train them, some students will forget and blurt out their questions or wave their hands around wildly while calling out, “Ooh, ooh, ooh!” When this happens, you simply remind them, “I call on quiet hands,” and then go on with your teaching, ignoring the offenders until they comply.

Oh, there’s one last hand sign your students will need to know…. the sign for the letter “r” for “I need to use the rest room!”