The 1 Trick You Need to Manage Assembly Behavior

Managing assembly behavior can be a challenge; You have to try to manage your class silently while sitting on the end of a long row of students. In the best situation, your students are watching an engaging educational assembly. In the worst situation, your students have been listening to one speaker drone on for an hour and they are about to loose their minds. To manage my classes' behavior during assemblies I use mystery students. Before the assembly I pull 1-2 popsicle sticks from my attendance jar, look at the names, and put them in my pocket. I tell my students that I will be watching the two students whose names are on the sticks, to see if they have appropriate behavior during the assembly. I remind my students that I am the only person who knows the identity of the mystery students so, each student needs to be on their best behavior in case they are the mystery student. After the assembly, I review the classes' behavior with them and I reveal whether the behavior of the mystery students was positive or negative. If the mystery student's met the behavior expectations of the assembly, I gave them a reward in the form of class points. (Our class is earning points towards a class free time session). I find that a reward that benefits the whole class inspires better behavior. I do not reveal the identity of the mystery students if their behavior was negative. My students are so excited about the mystery students during assemblies that they remind me to grab the sticks before we leave. If I see a student acting up during the assembly, I can hold up the sticks (with the names hidden) to remind the student that I am watching the mystery student's behavior. What is your best tip for managing assembly behavior? Let me know in the comments below.