Using your voice is so important for classroom management of all grades. I find it to be something especially useful for intermediate grades, however.
Something I have personally struggled with is to make myself sound more assertive in a classroom. Really working to make your voice into a more powerful, “teacher-like” tone is extremely useful in getting a class to pay attention to what you are saying. Working your voice and differentiating your tone does wonders with the different types of things you are trying to convey to your class. Whatever tone you use, make sure that you have that commanding presence come through in your voice. It may seem as a small or obvious thing, but it really helps yourself, and your class, to flourish!
Welcome to Ms. Senchar's Blog! 
Kyla, I agree! It has taken me a while to start to get the proper voice with my grade 1/2 students. The tone we use as well as body language makes a world of difference when it comes to students deciding to listen to the teacher or not! Thanks for your insight 🙂
LikeLike
Definitely! It has taken me a while as well to find my teacher voice; I still struggle with it actually, but i’m a lot better than I was. My problem is my tone; i’m always coming off as “too nice”. It definitely makes a world of difference how you sound/act when it comes to classroom management! Thanks for the response!
LikeLike
I totally agree with this! In my last practicum experience I was told that I have to be “more mean” because I couldn’t project my voice to be loud and assertive. This year, keeping that in mind I used my most assertive sounding voice to get the class’ attention and it worked so well! My sponsor even gave me a high five telling me I found my inner teaching voice. I find that a good mix of assertiveness and kindness really builds the teacher-student relationship! Thanks for the post
LikeLike
Thanks for the response! I was totally in the same boat as you with needing to sound more aggressive; they will think they can get away with everything if you don’t assert yourself! Glad you found your “teacher voice”! I agree that you need to maintain a balance of assertiveness and kindness in your practice, as it works toward developing a positive rapport with your students.
LikeLike
Great points, tone is very important in the classroom.
How do you feel about the use of silence? Sometimes to gather my classes’s attention I have fallen silent and waited for the class to orient themselves to be ready to listen again.
LikeLike
Thanks for the comment! I personally haven’t used silence yet in the classroom, but my sponsor teacher uses it a lot and it’s really effective. It’s something I want to try out for myself. How do you find being silent works?
LikeLike