Hi! another intern here. I would say the best thing to do is to make a signal that becomes routine to get their attention. It can be a bell, music, or something a easy as raising your hand. Then wait to see if they get quiet. If they don’t then it’s time to call everyone to their assigned seat. I hope this helps!

A possible solution to maintain control of the classroom during group small group discussions is to monitor students. Walk around the room from group to group so students know you are making sure they are on task. If a group is off topic, redirect their attention by asking a question about the assignment so their focus is back on track. Another strategy is to make eye contact with students and to stand close by to the students off task. If that does not work there should be a warning to remind students what they should be doing and the rule they are breaking.

As an intern you have limited control over the classroom and what you can do to control the behavior in the classroom. However, you can express your concerns to the classroom teacher and how hard it is for you to teach when you can't gain control of the class.

Try to rearrange the small groups again and group this particular student with students that are most of the time engage in their classes. come closer to him when he is misbehaving and encourage to do his task, make eye contact to let him know that you are watching him and that you care about his progress also.

Expectations and procedures! Do not let the students take advantage of you.

I would voice your concerns to the teacher and maybe give her some strategies to help her. I think the countdown method is a good way to refocus the students. This lets them know that they have until you are done counting to get back on task and prepared to learn.

Dependent on student levels and if the groups could be changed without disrupting the required dynamic for their groups, I would try to change things up and shift group, and then have a day where the students sit in their groups and watch the teacher as they reiterate the group time rules, and introduce a signal for students such as a "1 2 3 eyes on me" indicator for them to listen for.

create an attention grabber such as "123, eyes on me"

I would try to rearrange the groups and get all the students to work with ones that are not that talkative. I would also try signals like music or hand signals for them to know when to stop talking. Another strategy could be walking around the room at all times and giving students eye contact and making sure they are always on task, and asking them open-ended questions.

I would prepare a handout that they have to finish within their group so they have something to work on and stay focused

The teacher needs some sort of attention grabber, like a chant or clap and needs to be done once she/he notices things are starting to get off topic, not when they already are and its too late.

A strategy the teacher could use is letting the students know either they are going to listen and allow the teacher to be in control or there will be no small groups and everyone will work quietly and independent.