
Nonverbal cues and how teachers should use them
- Attention, please. Raising a hand is the traditional way to draw attention, whether you’re a student or a teacher. ...
- Bathroom time. To differentiate other needs for attention from bathroom breaks, and to avoid embarrassment in front of the class, introducing symbols that indicate the need for a quick toilet ...
- I get it/I don’t get it. ...
- I’m finished. ...
What are examples of non verbal cues?
Scholars have identified eight types of nonverbal communication:
- Facial Expression includes the eye, brow, and mouth movements that people use as nonverbal cues. ...
- Eye Contact is the use of the gaze, or looking into someone's eyes, to communicate.
- Kinesics (Body Movement) includes nonverbal cues such as postures and gestures. ...
What are the 8 types of nonverbal communication?
Types of nonverbal communication
- Vocalics. Vocalics, also referred to as paralanguage, includes the way you speak, such as your tone of voice. ...
- Proximity. How close you choose to stand or sit next to someone is also a form of nonverbal communication. ...
- Body movements. ...
- Posture. ...
- Touch. ...
- Physiological changes. ...
- Facial expressions. ...
- Eye contact. ...
What are examples of non verbal communication?
Types of Non-verbal Communication
- Facial Expressions. A large amount of nonverbal communication is relayed through facial expressions. ...
- Eye Gaze. Nonverbal communication relies heavily on the eyes, and nonverbal activities like glancing, glaring, and blinking are common.
- Gestures. ...
- Paralinguistics. ...
- Proxemics. ...
- Body Language and Posture. ...
- Haptics. ...
- Time. ...
What are non - verbal signals?
Try using nonverbal signals, which are also called silent signals. With nonverbal signals, you and your students can communicate with each other quietly, quickly, and discreetly. It also allows students to communicate their needs to you without drawing attention to themselves.

How is non-verbal communication used in the classroom?
Through the use of non-verbal language, teachers draw the student's attention to more understanding and motivate the students and even bring excitement to the bored students.
What are non-verbal cues in the classroom?
Use cues like smiles, thumbs up, shaking head “yes”, etc to praise students for correct behaviors, participation, volunteering, etc, or to reassure them and encourage them. Use simple cues like shaking head “no”, raising eyebrows, giving a “one minute” finger signal, etc to redirect students, give directives, etc.
How are cues used in the classroom?
Cues are quick verbal or non-verbal reminders of an expected classroom behavior. ... ☑ Cue: Clap 3 times (and have students clap in response to show they are paying attention). ... ☑ Cue: Hold your finger to your mouth to cue a student to talk quietly.More items...
Why are nonverbal cues an important tool in classroom management?
Non-verbal cues and signals are another way the class can communicate that can be part of your classroom management strategies. Non-verbal cues and signals can be used to communicate needs, respond to questions, emphasize actions, and direct attention.
How effective can we communicate using nonverbal cues?
“In some studies, nonverbal communication has been shown to carry between 65% and 93% more impact than the actual words spoken, especially when the message involves emotional meaning and attitudes,” she adds.
What are the examples of non verbal communication?
The many different types of nonverbal communication or body language include:Facial expressions. The human face is extremely expressive, able to convey countless emotions without saying a word. ... Body movement and posture. ... Gestures. ... Eye contact. ... Touch. ... Space. ... Voice. ... Pay attention to inconsistencies.More items...
Why is it important to use cues when learning?
When we don't fully understand something, such as a sentence with one or more unfamiliar words, we search for cues to help us make meaning. Cues provide information so we can fill in the gaps, often with a best-guess approach.
What is an example of a nonverbal cue to teach print?
Signals used by the teacher may include pointing to his or her eyes and then to the student's paper in order to communicate “eyes on your paper.” The teacher may use his or her hands in a book formation to signal “open your book.” Many teachers also mime writing to indicate “you should be writing.”
How can we integrate non verbal and verbal communication in class?
Use Your Face. Students are more engaged when listening to an active voice, meaning it carries with it nonverbal cues that add inflection, and seeing facial expressions. Think of ways to speak conversationally in a lecture, to connect with your students. Watch your students' expressions as well.
What are some important non verbal teaching practices?
Non-Verbal Communication Tips for TeachersMaintain eye contact. When speaking with a student one-on-one, face him or her directly—this simple gesture demonstrates engagement and consideration.Focus on posture. ... Show your hands. ... Maximize your classroom space. ... Smile every chance you can!
How do you demonstrate non verbal hand signals?
0:481:55Teacher Toolkit: Non-verbal Signals (elementary) - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipMy students think it's a fun way to communicate with me they have all these hand gestures that. TheyMoreMy students think it's a fun way to communicate with me they have all these hand gestures that. They have to perform in order to get my attention.
How important are the verbal and non verbal forms of communication to the teachers?
Teachers' verbal and nonverbal communication have a major role in supporting the educational success. Teachers who understand the importance of this communication will be able to become qualified educators and create meaningful learning.
What are cues in education?
A cue is just a hint and does not lead the student to a direct answer. A prompt is much more invasive as it takes the student step-by-step through the task leading to a direct answer.
What is a cue strategy?
Cueing is a commonly used strategy in early reading instruction, in which teachers prompt students to draw on multiple sources of information to identify words. It's based on the now disproven theory that reading is a series of strategic guesses, informed by context clues.
What are the examples of verbal cues?
What are examples of verbal cues? Examples of verbal cues include words and phrases such as 'Listen', 'Let's review', 'Pay close attention', and 'what you need to do now'. Verbal cues may be both direct, such as 'read this book', or indirect, such as 'find a book to read'.
What is meant by cueing?
Cueing definition The definition of cueing is giving a reminder or hint of something. An example of cueing is a teacher whispering lines to her students from behind the stage curtain. verb.
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Do teachers give directions after a presentation?
After lesson presentation, there’s often a task for students to complete. No matter what it is, teachers will give directions - often only verbally. When offering auditory-only directions, students are required to remember a lot of information.
How to communicate non verbal?
Non-Verbal Communication Tips for Teachers 1 Maintain eye contact. When speaking with a student one-on-one, face him or her directly—this simple gesture demonstrates engagement and consideration. 2 Focus on posture. Standing tall with your shoulders back is good for your health and conveys confidence and success. 3 Show your hands. Hands are trust-indicators. Crossing your arms across your chest, placing your hands behind your back, or in your pockets might communicate that you are uninterested or not approachable. Use an open-body gesture such as an upturned palm and open arms (rather than crossed arms) to indicate you are open and accepting of anything your students want to share. 4 Maximize your classroom space. Move around the room. Doing so helps keep students’ focused and will give you an opportunity to make more direct eye contact with every student—not just those in the front of the room. 5 Smile every chance you can!
How to practice body language in a classroom?
If this list of body language best practices feels overwhelming, start by focusing on just one or two items at a time. Begin with your posture, then focus on eye contact, and then moving around your classroom more often. Soon, these behaviors will become second nature, and you will be taking note of the positive impact your non-verbal cues are having on your hard-working students.
How to show trust in a class?
Show your hands. Hands are trust-indicators. Crossing your arms across your chest, placing your hands behind your back, or in your pockets might communicate that you are uninterested or not approachable. Use an open-body gesture such as an upturned palm and open arms (rather than crossed arms) to indicate you are open and accepting of anything your students want to share.
How to speak to a student one on one?
Maintain eye contact. When speaking with a student one-on-one, face him or her directly—this simple gesture demonstrates engagement and consideration.
How to keep students focused in the classroom?
Maximize your classroom space. Move around the room. Doing so helps keep students’ focused and will give you an opportunity to make more direct eye contact with every student—not just those in the front of the room.
Why do teachers use body language?
According to experts from the National Education Association (NEA), the most effective teachers use body language to communicate with students, build rapport, and make them feel safe and supported.
Can nonverbal cues affect teaching?
The idea that your non-verbal cues can have a significant impact on your effectiveness as a teacher may not be something that you think about too often.
Attention, please
Raising a hand is the traditional way to draw attention, whether you’re a student or a teacher. However, taking that one step further with the quiet coyote hand signal can be a way to draw attention that’s a little more fun, and a lot more distinctive.
Bathroom time
To differentiate other needs for attention from bathroom breaks, and to avoid embarrassment in front of the class, introducing symbols that indicate the need for a quick toilet break can be efficiently utilized in the classroom.
How to teach nonverbal cues?
Explain to students why non-verbal cues will be helpful in the classroom, and demonstrate each cue to the students slowly and repeatedly. Practice cues with students. Immediately after introducing students to cues, give them the opportunity to respond.
What happens if you don't use cues consistently?
Be consistent. If cues are not used consistently, they will be ineffective. After you have established your cues, use those cues and only those cues to elicit the assigned action.
How to teach students to stop disruptive behavior?
Establish non-verbal cues for individual students if necessary. If you have any students in your class who struggle with their behavior more than the rest, you can establish a personal cue just for that student. Consider the student’s needs, and meet with the student to work together to establish a non-verbal cue that will remind the struggling student to cease the inappropriate or disruptive behavior. This discrete cue will likely be less embarrassing for the student than receiving a constant oral reminder.
How to teach no talking?
Practice cues with students. Immediately after introducing students to cues, give them the opportunity to respond. Move through the rules one at a time, practicing the cue usage. To practice your cue for “no talking” you could allow the students to start conversing with someone around them and wait for an undetermined amount of time before holding up your signal. Repeat this procedure numerous times, ensuring that students commit the cue to memory.
How to teach a student to get to your seats when the bell rings?
If “get to your seats when the bell rings” is rule number three, you could make your non-verbal cue as simple as holding up three fingers , clearly indicating that you are asking them to complete rule number three. Introduce cues to students. Teach your cues to students just as you would teach a classroom lesson.
How to respond to a cue?
Praise students for responding to the cue. As students start to respond to the cue quickly, lavish praise on them. Remind them repeatedly how proud you are of their hard work and how grateful you are for their cooperation.
What are some rules that deal directly with group behavior?
Rules that deal directly with group behavior, such as “no talking” and “get to your seats when the bell rings” can be easily partnered with distinct non-verbal cues. Select appropriate cues. Whenever possible, you should make your cue relevant to the rule in question.
How to teach students to be more positive?
Use cues like smiles, thumbs up, shaking head “yes”, etc to praise students for correct behaviors, participation, volunteering, etc, or to reassure them and encourage them. Use simple cues like shaking head “no”, raising eyebrows, giving a “one minute” finger signal, etc to redirect students, give directives, etc.
What is the purpose of meeting with students individually?
Meet with student individually to identify with student how you and they should communicate in a special way
How Are Nonverbal Cues Helpful?
Nonverbal communication is symbolic. It allows teachers to convey entire concepts with a single gesture, and these simplified cues are easily understood by students with disabilities. When a teacher raises their hand, it can tell students that now is the time to remain silent and pay attention—all without a single word passing between them. A student may use cues, such as sign language, to quietly request a bathroom break or communicate with a fellow student without disrupting the class. Nonverbal cues bridge the gap between students with disabilities and the world around them.
Why are nonverbal cues important?
Nonverbal cues are used to communicate with and ultimately educate students with disabilities. Although the classroom cues discussed throughout this article can be helpful for communicating with students of any age, grade level, or academic ability, they are most often used to reach students with disabilities, allowing these students to engage with teachers and peers in a way that would otherwise be out of reach due to cognitive, hearing, speech, or other impairments.
What is nonverbal communication?
Nonverbal communication is just one of the many skills you’ll need as a special educator. In addition to utilizing nonverbal cues, you’ll need to be able to recognize developmental disorders, provide for students’ unique needs, and help students with disabilities reach their full academic potential.
What are some examples of nonverbal cues?
Examples of Nonverbal Cues. If you’re a teacher, you already use nonverbal cues in the classroom. Eye contact, facial expressions, and posture are types of nonverbal cues that students pick up on whether you intend them to or not. However, there are nonverbal cues you can use intentionally to tip the scales in your favor.
Why do special education teachers put pictures on their desks?
Printed Pictures. Many special educators hold up printed pictures when they want to convey a concept to their entire class. A red stop sign may indicate that the class is too loud, while a pencil can remind students that their peers are still working on a task.
How to manage a classroom?
Every teacher has their own tried-and-true methods for managing a classroom. Common strategies include commending a student’s good behavior in front of their classmates or speaking to a disruptive student in private. Spoken praise or a stern warning can go a long way towards communicating with students of any age, but how do you connect with students who have mental or physical limitations inhibiting their ability to communicate?
What are some simple words to teach in ASL?
Simple words you can teach your class in ASL include bathroom, help, play, sit, and stop.
Why is it important to have verbal and non verbal communication skills?
You should brush up on your verbal and non-verbal communication skills to effectively show your students what appropriate classroom behavior means.
How to get attention in a classroom?
Clapping is a quick way to get the attention of a classroom that is out of control. If you do not have time for a five second stare, loud claps should make your classroom stop acting out and pay attention. Simply clap your hands together several times loudly.
Why do we use behavior charts?
Behavior charts are an easy way to encourage appropriate classroom behavior because students can see how they are doing behavior-wise. A simple tracking method is to use numbers or colors to signify good and poor choices. For younger children, it will be especially easy for them to learn to associate the color red or the number 1 with poor behavior and the number 5 and color green with good behavior. When children are not following the rules, have them move their name or a clip down the chart, a concrete way to reinforce the classroom rules.
How to get students to say yes?
Remember to smile when you are giving your students approval. If a student's behavior improves , say the word "yes" with a large smile on your face. You want your students to understand that you notice when they do something right, too.
How to tell students to have time out?
Do not hesitate to tell students that they are going to have time out if they continue to act unruly. State loudly and clearly that the actions they are taking are making you send them to time out during recess. Follow through with your punishment to demonstrate that the students cannot get away with poor behavior.
How to teach students to be polite?
Remember to say "Good Morning" and "Good Bye" to your students on a daily basis. It not only helps to set a good tone for the day but also helps students learn to mirror polite behavior. Try to greet students by name. According to the TeacherVision website, which features tools and resources for educators, students who were personally greeted by their teachers also felt that those teachers cared about them personally. This belief helped motivate the students in the classroom.
Is communication nonverbal?
The majority of your communication with your students is nonverbal. Strong verbal communication is significant as well, while you should show your students the rules and classroom lessons they need to know.
