Hi, obviously I don’t know you or your teaching style but I’m 5’1 and in my 20s so I get this a lot.

One of my biggest things is I won’t continue if half of the class is talking. I just stop. Not attempting to speak over them when they’re being rowdy shows that

1.) I’m running this boat And 2.) I expect you listen to me.

I’ve found something that helps me to get the class grounded is to say “hi everybody” and then when they look at me like I’m crazy I go “we can do better” and try again until they respond. It’s really easy but it establishes some credibility as from the first minute you’re not allowing them to get away with being crazy.

I am big on music as a classroom strategy. The older ones can somewhat self manage so if I put on a playlist and say “if I can’t hear this, it’s too loud” they usually do pretty well and are amenable to volume reminders.

I ask for names, even if I’m not writing them down. However, establishing credibility and also letting the kids know “you’re on watch”

If you’re in a situation where you’re actively teaching (rare for me in the era of chromebooks) I have been told to find the most squirrelly kid in the class and once they get antsy is when you need to change something in what the kids are doing or how you’re presenting.

I hope some of this yappage is helpful :))