53 Teacher Favorite Attention Prompts

Attention attention! Are you paying attention? It’s almost that time of year again! Keeping and getting your learner’s attention can sometimes be a struggle. What works best? We asked teachers, and they answered. Check out 53 responses from real teachers, and give them a try in your own classroom!

Randi Cochran-Durmis:

Teacher: Hear ye, hear ye.

Students: All hail the queen!

Jenny Chasteen Foster:

Teacher: waterfall

Students Shhhhh...... (while waving fingers in downward motion like a waterfall)

Lindsay Starr: I have used a wireless doorbell before, 🤷‍♀️ loved it!

Brendon Diaz:

Teacher: Crrrrrrrrew

Students: Aye aye captain! (We solute each other too).

Krisha Bartlett:

Teacher: Okie dokie.....artichokie!

Patti Wallace Bonnin:

Teacher: Everybody stop! Hands on top.

(It’s good if you are in the middle of an activity and you need to give them additional instructions).

Melissa Warren Emmerson Teacher:

Teacher: One little mouth goes...

Student: Shhh, shhh, shhh.

Kelsie Bostick:

Teacher “Ooooooo, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”

Students: “Spongebob Square pants”

(Better for older kids).

Heather Shields:

Teacher: Mac and cheese, everybody freeze!

Eka Lianawati:

Teacher: “Peanut, peanut butter (jelly)” and also “macaroni and cheese... (everybody freeze)”. Not to forget, “one, two, three, eyes on me (one, two, eyes on you).”

Lindsey Snyder:

Teacher: Eyeballs Up

Teres McDonald:

Teacher: “Tootsie roll lolly pop, we’ve been talking, now time to stop.”

Amy Kraus:

Teacher: “Hands on top, everybody stop!”

Em Ellen:

Teacher: “Hands on top!... That means stop!”

Beki Piel :

Teacher: “Hold up!”

Students: “Wait a minute!”

Courtney Ryan:

Teacher: “Hands on head, shoulder, knees, toes.”

Students: “Eyes, ears, mouth, and nose,” doing the actions. They like that!

Elizabeth Eichen:

Teacher: “Raise your hands if you hear my voice! Touch your nose if you hear my voice!.”

Louie Aina Villas:

Teacher: “All set.”

Students: “You bet!”

Teacher: “Flat tire!!”

Students: “Shhhhhhhh.”

Teacher: “Chicka chicka.”

Students: “Boom! Boom!”

Tiffany Ranck: “We say macaroni, they say cheese and however loud we say it, is how loud they do it: so we start loud and repeat and go to whispering! This one is silly, but they all love it (and it doesn’t hurt my ego)”.

Betsy Stetler:

Teacher: Hands on top and stop! Kids put both hands on top of their head and look at the teacher

Tasha Clouthier:

Teacher: "Finger on your lips, that means zips."

Ashley BreAnne:

Teacher: “Ready to rock?”

Students: “Ready to roll!”

Kellie Sargent:

Teacher: “Hands up” 🙌🏻

Students: “Stand up” 🙌🏻

They know to stop what they are doing, stand up and put their hands up. We do this a lot when doing things like task rotations. They love it!

Anne Reidy Spatz:

Teacher: “Holy Moly.”

Students: “Guacamole.”

Makala Leichtenberg:

Teacher (singsong): “If you can hear me touch your...”

This is a great one because you can easily see who is not listening.

Robin Tolbert McClellan:

Teacher: “To proficiency.”

Students: “And Beyond.”

Jane Anderson Bush:

Teacher: “Scooby doo.. where are you?”

Latasha Smart:

Teacher: “Science”

Students: “Rocks”

Jenny Gronefeld:

Teacher: “Lions tigers and bears.”

Students: “O My!”

Sheila Cantrell Aultman:

Teacher: “It’s my turn to talk.”

Students: “It’s my turn to listen.”

Kathryn McCutcheon-Christie:

Teacher: “Holy Moly;

Students: Guacamole”

I’ve also done: “It’s me! Mario!”

Kayla Easter: My favorite is when it’s time to come in from outside I’ll just yell “toddlers!” And they all come running yelling “toddlers” back, but in the classroom I’ll use: “if you can hear me touch your (name any random body part)” and I’ll wait until all children are ready.

Cynthia Hemphill - Witham:

Teacher: Hand on a hip, finger on a lip.

Malinda Bright: A coworker says:

Teacher: "Class, class."

Children: "Yes, yes."

Jacquelyn Brooke Alway:

Teacher: “Arms up, arms down, put a bubble in your mouth.”

Alexis Marie Steinberger: “Show me 2!” Gets their attention every time. Means quiet. Also if sitting on a circle time rug, I’ll do “open shut them open shut them give a little clap clap clap. Open shut them open shut them, hide them in your lap lap lap.” (Take your fingers and wiggle them slowly up to your mouth for the next part): Creep them crawl them creep them crawl them (whisper) right up to your chin chin chin....open up your little mouth ....(and faster) but do not let them in.” They love it!

Teresa Katheleen: I've used a few, but my favourite with my school age group is I start counting. Once they have gotten quiet and are paying attention, I then count again to the number I got to (so if it takes them to 20, I count to 20 again) during the second counting they have to stay quiet and still, and if someone talks or moves, I start back at 1 until I can get to the final number without them moving or talking.

Brianna Keating: “Voices off in 5 4 3 2 1…” slowly growing to a whisper works for my kids!

Margaret Damron: When my kiddos are getting restless during circle time I say: “Reach up and tickle the sky. Bend down and touch your toes. Touch your eyes and touch your nose. Finger on lip and have a seat.” It gets the wiggles out and they love doing it.

Courtney Powell Hubert:

Teacher: “Ready Set!”

Students: “You bet!”

Cynthia Moreno:

Teacher: “Alligator, Alligator.”

Students: “Chomp, Chomp, Chomp”

Meridith Gray

Teacher: Stop! Collaborate and... *cups ear*

Students: Listen!

Teacher: Show's starting!

Students: Quiet in the front row, shhhhh! *finger over lips*

(I started this jokingly and my students LOVED this for some reason and it became a thing. 😂)

Teacher: Your eyes are...

Students: WATCHING!

Teacher: Your ears are...

Students: Listening!

Teacher: Your bodies are...

Students: Calm!

Lisa Darrow:

Teacher: “Cherry tree cherry tree.”

Students: “Chop, chop, chop.”

Larry Biederman: I’ve used many lines over the years, but this has always been my favorite: “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?” It’s simple, but it works. I’m a high school teacher, and I just don’t feel the need for a creative line. I prefer to do something to build respect. During the summer, I work at summer camps with elementary kids. I still use the same line since after saying that line for 9 months to high school students, I feel like “boys and girls” could send a little like talking down to them. The younger kids like being called “ladies and gentlemen” since they feel older when I say it. With growing concerns for respecting gender identities, I’m thinking about modifying it to make sure non-binary students and campers feel included.

Joan Coffey-Wray:

Teacher: “I need voice level at zero in 3,2,1,0.” Usually hold up hand/fingers as I count. Sometimes I have to do it twice, but it usually works, if not I drop a big heavy book on my lab demo table from a height of about 2-3 feet. 😁

SueEllen Currie-Fields:

Teacher: “Can I get a”...

Students: “What what!”

Kayla Marie Koropchak:

Teacher: “Llama, llama.”

Students: “Red pajama.”

Chloe Denyer: (to the tune of frere jacque)

Teacher: “Are we listening, are we listening?”

Children: “Yes we are, yes we are.”

Teacher: “Have we turned our ears on, and listening to our teachers?”

Children: “Yes we are.”

Teacher: “Thank you.”