“Can I Get Your Attention Please?

”
Action Research

Danny Turpin
EDI 685
Spring 2020
 During my student teaching experience, facilitating 3 sections of 9th grade United States

history at Okemos High School, I often found myself repeating the phrase “Can I get your

attention please?” to my students. Student-based discussion is a high priority in my classroom, so

before conducting this inquiry, I did not have a solid technique in place to grasp my student’s

attention. Before conducting this action research project, I would sporadically try different

techniques, but always resorted to my go to, “Can I get your attention please?”, so I needed to

find a better way. In this experiment, I hoped to discover a more beneficial and intriguing way

for me to capture my student’s attention.

To conduct my study, three techniques of attention grabbers were used. Each class

period, per week, would use one technique. First, a control technique was needed - something to

compare to the other techniques. The control technique was to just talk over the class. An

example of this would be to use my signature phrase, “Can I get your attention please?”. The

next technique was the classic bell. My mentor teacher has one on her desk. She previously had

not used it in class, so I figured that this would be a respectable technique to try. The other

technique involved in this study was an attention grabber used by Calvin Terrel at a professional

development I attended. This attention grabber consists of the teacher saying “oooh oooh” in an

owl-like fashion and then the students reply with the same “oooh oooh”. I found it very

intriguing when Calvin Terrel used it, and with my personality, I thought it would be fantastic for

this study.

In research conducted outside of this experiment, it describes how students ultimately

want to have a say in the classroom community, and “one of the easiest and most effective ways

to do this is to give them some agency over the attention signals you will use in class” (The

Teaching Distillery, 2019). Before conducting this experiment, I asked the students if they would

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like to use the bell and the Calvin Terrell “oooh oooh”. I had an overwhelmingly majority

answer yes. However, I did have some push back on the “oooh oooh”, with some students being

unwilling to participate. I explained to them that they did not have to complete the action, but all

I asked in return was for them to be silent for the sake of the data, and they obliged.

First, I created a chart organizing the first week of data collection (Figure 1). For each

class period I would time how long it would take for me to gain their attention. 1st hour would be

my control for week one, 3rd hour used the bell, and 6th hour used Calvin Terrel’s “oooh oooh”.

(Figure 1.)

Notice from Figure 1, specifically the bell technique and “oooh oooh”, each day that it was used

the time increased. This occurred more significantly with the bell. I noticed throughout the 2

weeks of observing this research collection that the two classes who participated using the bell

technique became immune to the bell. This observation is supported by a fellow teacher, Ann

McCormick, who completed an action research project similar to this. In her findings she

describes,

Claim #2: Using the same strategy for the entire week becomes repetitive and
ineffective as students become uninterested and bored … One student responded,
“I would like this better if Miss McCormick switched the strategy up because we
get tired of doing the same ones over and over and we stop paying attention to
them.” (McCormick, 2009)

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I also asked my students this similar style of question, and many of the students responded the

same way, that the bell became reputative and annoying. I would highly suggest using a few of

your favorite attention getters and mixing them up to keep your students on their toes.

For the week 2, I continued the same technique of collecting data, but I switched the

attention grabber techniques for each class period. First hour was now Calvin Terrell’s “oooh

oooh”, 3rd hour became the control, and 6th hour was now the bell. I had similar outcomes from

the data in week 2 compared to week 1. I averaged the total averages per day and the results of

the attention grabbers are shown in Figure 2.

(Figure 2.)

For the control group it was an average of 5.40 seconds for students to bring their attention back

to the teacher. The bell was an average of 3.70 seconds, and Calvin Terrell’s “oooh oooh” was an

average of 1.90 seconds. After observing the actions of my students, I knew that Calvin Terrel’s

the call and response technique would be the best way to move forward with attention grabbers.

In conclusion, Calvin Terrel’s “oooh oooh” call and response technique was the winner.

According to research, call and response techniques “…are an interactive tool that can be used in

cultivating a culturally competent classroom by gaining students attention in a positive and

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humorous way… These fun attention signals grab students’ attention, lighten the mood, and

create a sense of community” (From Rigor to Results, 2005). I believe that is why Calvin

Terrel’s technique was so successful. The students had fun! They also had a sense of

responsibility to respond to the call, which resulted in students to stop what they were doing and

be a part of the classroom community. In the future, I would suggest two things to my fellow

colleagues. First, allow students the opportunity to choose attention grabbers that they would

enjoy and will consist of a call back. This gives the student some power in their classroom and

ensures that they will have fun in the process of quieting down. Secondly, I would suggest using

different techniques throughout the week. Mix it up, and then the students will not get immune to

one technique as my data shows. Overall, I was satisfied with this action research project, and

will use what I have learned in the future to help with my classroom management.

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 Citations

“Attention Getting Signals in the Classroom – Call and Response Ideas to get your students
ready to learn”. The Teaching Distillery, September 25, 2019.
https://www.theteachingdistillery.com/blog-2/attention-signals-for-the-classroom

“Attention Protocols in the Culturally Competent Classroom”. From Rigor to Results. October
12, 2005. https://rigor2results.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/attention-protocols-in-the-
culturally-competent-classroom-part-3-2/#more-344

McCormick, Ann. “Attention Getting Strategies – If You Can Hear My Voice Clap Once”. April
25, 2009. https://rigor2results.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/attention-protocols-in-the-
culturally-competent-classroom-part-3-2/#more-344