How to settle a noisy class immediately with this intriguing starter.

How to settle a noisy class immediately with this intriguing starter.
What might this be?
The start of the lesson can be the most demanding time for the teacher. Trying to get the class to listen so that you can speak. Often a battle of wits (which frays your nerves!) At last, the class are quiet and you can begin. But somebody has been waiting for just this moment (to some it is a game) and they speak out again disrupting the quiet and watching you closely to see how you react.
After 30 years of struggling to get attention in thousands of classes I have developed techniques that seem to work well for me in the way they arrest the attention of the class and put the focus off the teacher onto something else for those vital opening moments.
Here is one of my ideas.
You project the picture below onto the screen (or whiteboard) and straight away direct all you attention to it.
Say, “any ideas what this could be?”
There will be a wide variety of ideas shouted out so you say this: “these all sound like good ideas but there is only one right answer. I’ll tell you what I’ll do…write down your explanation of what you think that image is and then I’ll collect them up and tell you who the winner is!”
Make sure you have a piece of paper ready for each of them to quickly distribute to avoid the chaos that would ensue if you asked them to find something to write on at that precise moment.
Now here comes the key point. As they write down their explanations say, “Come on, be fair, those who are talking. Just clearly write down what you think it is and put your name please. This fun competition won’t work if you talk now!”
I don’t know why but there is something in these words coupled with that activity which has a quietening affect on them and as the class as a whole quieten it seems to quieten the few who normally call out. Remember also, that once they’re quiet, as a group, its easier to briskly move onto the next part of your lesson.
If you want to mention a few prompts and suggestions to get them thinking I have prepared a list below.