Why You Need a Bell-Ringer

What is a Bell-Ringer?

If you are new to teaching, or in a school where this isn’t a term that is used, you’ve probably seen something similar.  Bell-Ringers are activities students do as soon as they arrive in class.  It is usually something quick and typically I don’t give a problem that the students are not going to know how to do.  Here are the reasons why you need to be using a bell-ringer in your classroom.

Classroom Management

Bell-ringers are great for classroom management.  We all know that students do better when they have a routine that is expected.  Ideally, students know what to do as soon as they walk in your room.

Having a bell-ringer is a great addition to your routine.  The students can have an expected activity to work on while you wait for the rest of the students to trickle in from their classes or their lockers.  It is also a great activity to have them work on while you go around and check their homework.

It gives the students a silent activity to keep the volume down while you are focusing on something else.

Informal Assessment

You can choose to collect the bell-ringers if you would like and this could be a great tool for informal assessment.  Give them a problem that relates to what you’re working on and then use their proficiency in solving the problem to guide that day’s lesson.  Maybe you’re a math teacher and you notice that a group of student is all making the same mistake.  This gives you data and direction for what you need to make sure you touch upon in your lesson.

Great Ideas

Some activities that can be used as bell ringers are:

• Journaling
• Review Problems
• Silent Reading
• Grammar Exercises

Also, Check Out:

Finding Your Role as a Co-Teacher

What to Do When You’re About to Lose Your Cool