To Click or not to Click?....That is the question!

With all SRA materials they are a lot of signals that the teacher must remember to help facilitate the flow of the lesson. Some of them include the hand drop, pointing, and an auditory signal such as a clicker. I was hesitant at first about the clicker. I felt as though I was training a puppy instead of my students. I felt that having a dog clicker would be humiliating to the students and that they would hate me for it! I did not want to use the clicker, but again I had to remember that it was not about me, but about the kids and what they needed. 

So I went to PetSmart and bought a cute clicker for $4.99. The first day I used it the students were so excited and even wanted to click it.  I explained to them that the clicker was used to help them quickly realize when I needed a response from them. I told them that sometimes I would need them to be so focused on the facts/problems that their eyes would need to be focused on that rather than on me. So their if their eyes were busy then their ears would have to listen for the "click " to respond. They accepted the rationale and had no problem with it. I must admit I had more of an adjustment period than the students. 

The students enjoyed it and when we went over facts they would even want to take turns and try to click at a certain pace. They would even remind me (more like correct me) about when I was or was not using it. It was actually pretty funny. I would ask the students why they had not responded and they would say "You forgot to click". My students needed that structure and that auditory signal to chorally respond and at the same time give all of the students enough think time to answer correctly. So to answer the question of to click or not to click the answer is simple, whatever tool you use as a signal it has to be auditory and consistent in your campus so that the students familiarize themselves with it.