When I take my fifth graders to computer lab, each receives a “computer cup.” If s/he needs help with the task for the period, s/he places the cup upside down on top of the monitor with the SOS “¡Ayuda!” (Help!) side in front. When s/he has found an item for a webquest or has finished a part of an assignment for checking, s/he places the cup upside down and turns it to the other side with
“¡Hecho!” (Done!) showing.
The use of the cup cuts down immensely on noise and frantic, tired hand-raising. I just “scan” the computer lab to see who doing or needing what. (Note: I ask children always to have a paperback book handy to read if they do have to wait a bit. I am not superwoman.)
To make the “computer cup,” I use large Solo cold beverage cups in color for maximum visibility. I make up large inkjet labels in color with words in Spanish in Microsoft “Word Art” and stick them on the cups.
P.S. This is NOT my original idea but comes from Liz Lackman and Carol Thompson, computer lab instructional assistants at Dorothy C. Goodwin School in Storrs, CT. I have adapted/expanded their idea for use in a world language computer lab.
