Making a Waterfall

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We had an assembly at my school today. If you’ve ever been to a school assembly, you know that it’s essential for the presenter to be able to manage the crowd, to get students back under control and focused after a joke, trick, or part of the presentation that causes (or tempts) students to talk. This morning I saw the presenter use an amazingly simple-yet-effective technique to keep the students focused and engaged. He called it “making a waterfall.”

Here’s what he did. He told students that when they heard him say, “Waterfall,” they were to make a waterfall with their hands and fingers. Watch the short video below where I demonstrate what he did.

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If you’re an administrator who frequently speaks in front of an audience of students (especially at the elementary level), this might be something to try. If you’re a teacher, this might be a technique to use in the classroom to get students refocused after a group activity. 

UPDATE: I used this technique two days later at grade-level awards assemblies, and it worked amazingly well (better than I even thought it would)! This is a keeper that I'll definitely be using in the future.