At Thanksgiving dinner, my grandfather used to blurt out whatever was on his mind, interrupt others while they were talking, and dominate the conversation.
I was a grade schooler at the time, but if I could, I would have put him in time-out so the rest of us could join in the conversation.
But behavior like this isn’t just rude at Thanksgiving. It’s always rude. And it’s also always rude in the classroom.
If there are students in your classroom who talk when they’re supposed to be listening or working, academic progress will suffer. Talking without permission wastes time, interrupts the learning of others, and leads to more serious disruptive behavior.
A teacher recently said to me, “My students are talking all the time, but I put up with it because I think it’s good to have open discussion in the classroom.”
I was speechless, but thought, “My gosh! Her room must be complete chaos.”
She went on to say that she has major behavior problems every year and has received her share of complaints from parents. She wondered if I thought her philosophy regarding talking had anything to do with it.
Very delicately I said, “I think it might.”
Allowing students to freely talk without permission is like driving an old jalopy; progress only comes in fits and starts, and you’ll never reach top speed.
Besides being a classroom management nightmare and slamming the brakes on learning, talking without permission is remarkably rude. It’s akin to cutting in front of the line at a sold-out movie.
With 20 to 30 or more students in a classroom, asking students to raise their hands is the only way to ensure fairness. Every student has the right to participate and all should have equal access to the discussion—not just those who are more outgoing, aggressive, or obnoxious.
The same is true for side-talking during lessons or during independent work. It interferes with the learning of those within earshot and is therefore patently, and grossly, unfair.
Follow Your Classroom Management Plan
Every year it seems, I overhear teachers complain about their talkative classrooms, as if they have nothing to do with it. The fact is, the teacher decides when, how much, and how often the students are allowed to talk.
After all, the teacher is in charge, not the students.
So what do you do when your students call out without raising their hand? How do you react when you notice two students talking during independent work time? How should you handle it?
The most effective way to handle talking is to enforce a consequence. If hand-raising isn’t a classroom rule, I recommend including it. If it’s already part of your classroom management plan, then it should be enforced like any other rule.
Too many teachers feel they’ll be disliked if they strictly follow such ticky-tacky rules. But the opposite is true. Your students will love you for it because it reassures them that they are equal members of your classroom, free to join in the learning process.
It also provides a model for how to behave when working together in groups without a teacher present.
It’s important that your students understand why hand-raising is important. So be direct. Tell them that calling out and side-talking is rude and disrespectful to the class, and that it is your job to protect their right to learn without interference.
Teach your students how to take turns talking and include hand-raising as part of your classroom management plan. And if you want your classroom to run like a finely tuned Italian sports car, then enforce a consequence every time a student breaks a rule.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
My district requires that our classroom seats be grouped and that group discussions, “pair-sharing,” and group projects take place many times throughout the day. In my class each year of about 30 sixth graders, they are in groups of four or five kids.
A repetitive problem is that they start off discussing at a reasonable volume, but it always gets quite loud. Though I can be tolerant of kids-being-kids, the noise level really stresses me because I am basically a quiet person. I’ve tried all kinds of bells and other warning devices, but they always quiet down for a little while, then within a few minutes they become too loud again.
Any tips on getting them to maintain normal inside voices?
Hi Virginia,
It’s normal for students to gradually get louder as they talk over one another and other groups. They’re not doing anything wrong per se, so enforcing with consequences it isn’t cool. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it.
Students have to learn how to discuss in small groups–how to take turns, how to get everyone involved, how to paraphrase, how to listen, etc. They also need to know how to keep their voices at a level that doesn’t interfere with the rest of the class–and drive you crazy. I recommend you schedule a lesson(s) to teach them.
Most effective would be to choose 3 or 4 students to sit with you in a group while the rest of the class gathers around. Then teach, model, role play, review, and practice. Finally, after they’ve proven to you they understand and are able to discuss in groups exactly as you taught them, and under your close guidance, assign one student per group whose sole job is to monitor voice level. It’s a good idea to assign that job to those students who have a greater tendency to get loud (sneaky, huh?). This should do the trick.
Michael