Hand Signals at the Elementary Level

The hand signals that Mr. Smith uses with 1st-4th graders at K. William Harvey in Ronan were classroom management life-savers!

The main one he uses when the class noise level gets too high or students are not settling down is "Give me five". Students hold up their hands and count to five along with the teachers. Students are trained to do this daily, weekly, and more often, as needed. They know what each number means because it is posted in the room and they've gone over it so many times.

One means "Eyes on me"

Two means "Quiet"

Three means "Be still"

Four means "Listen"

Five means "Hands free"

Other signals he uses: hold up hand, palm facing student for stop signal. This means this is their first warning and they need to stop and think about what they should be doing. Two fingers up (like a peace sign) mean I would like to get out of my seat. Three fingers up like a "W" means "SOS" or I need help. One finger up means I have a question or statement. A fist with a thumb between the first two fingers means I have to go to the bathroom. Students have a large wooden sign with Mr. Smith's name on it that they take with them to the bathroom. One student or one boy and girl can go at a time.

Sometimes, they have to get up out of their desks, line up again outside the classroom and come back into the classroom in a more orderly and respectful way. Most of the time the students are very excited to be in art class and want to know what they are doing. If Mr. Smith waits until they are quiet to start his instruction, they quiet down and listen pretty quickly because they don't want to miss out on his fun projects. If students continue to interrupt instruction they lose recess time or will owe him laps according to what day of the week it is. On Monday, since they are just getting back into the swing of things, they owe one lap or one minute against the wall during recess time. Tuesday, it's 2 minutes, or 2 laps, continuing this pattern to 5 laps or 5 minutes owed by Friday.

Mr. Smith doesn't use a lot of words to get students to pay attention. He does a great job of relating to students at their level and adding in humor into his instruction. He even uses funny voices an the students love it!