Should of Started Sooner

My class this year isn't full of a lot of "interrupters." I have had groups in the past who blurted out, made noises, and had little control over questions or concerns they had even if I was clearly unavailable and working with a student or group. It's been a nice group of kids and I didn't really feel I needed too many tools for kids to stay out of the way as far as conferring.

Until two weeks ago.

Suddenly kids were standing near me, or coming over in the middle of a small group and talking to me. I ignored and then acknowledged when I was ready. We talked. We problem solved. It didn't work.

I always keep a little set of sticky notes or notecards on my desk for kids to write me notes. For instance, "I had a problem at recess," or "I need to talk to you." I realized today I needed a public notebook for the little things like, "My book is in my locker," or "Are we using the Chromebooks in math today?" Questions they feel like they need answered right then, but actually, don't. I think there was some relief when I said, just write down you are going to your locker and go! Just let me know you are wondering what math tools we'll use today. It worked like a charm. They just needed to be heard and reassured that I trust them and I want to help when I can.