Monday's Spanish 3 class

Today was a 2-hour delay schedule which meant that classes were only 30 minutes long.  It also means that the students were able to sleep in this morning and they were in my class later than their usual time.  That means that their behavior is not typical on days like today especially after last week's homecoming festivities.  I knew I couldn't fit in a complete lesson but wanted to get started on the new chapter.  The first problem was getting them all settled down.  I waited patiently in the back of the room not saying anything and finally they caught on as the "shhh" message moved through 28 students.  Using the time on task chart 3.7 from HQET, I found within the first 15 minutes I had two verbal managements of off task behaviors, one to group with a por favor, and one to a particular student by calling his name.  Once I started asking questions directly to individuals, things quieted down.  Seems to be a good strategy.  Toward the end of the period, did take a Dew away from a student's table without saying anything.  He waited until everyone left to ask politely if he could have it back.  Again, the non-verbal action seemed to work well and avoided any arguments.  Will see how things go tomorrow with a full class period and full lesson.