One
of the most frustrating feelings that any teacher can experience is the
hopelessness that comes when students are so busy talking that they don't pay
attention to directions or work productively. Unfortunately, having a class
that is excessively talkative is one of the most frequent complaints that many
teachers--experienced and novice alike-- share. It is disheartening at best to
plan a wonderful lesson that no student can stop talking long enough to become
interested in.
The
problem of the talkative class is also one that is amazingly uniform across all
grade levels and subjects. Large classes, small classes, very young students
and sophisticated seniors can all be so talkative that little learning can
occur.
Luckily,
there are a few easy approaches that can help students take charge of their own
talking patterns and learn to work well with each other and with you. Try some
of these to help control the talking in your classroom.
·
Be emphatic
with your students when you speak with them about this problem. You should make
it very clear when it is okay for them to talk and when you want them to work
silently. If you are clear in communicating your expectations to your students,
they will not repeatedly test your tolerance.
·
Avoid the
sound-wave effect of a loud class time followed by a quiet one followed by a
loud one again. Be consistent in the way you enforce the rules in your class
about excessive talking. Teachers who aren’t consistent spend their time
getting a class quiet, allowing the noise level to build to an intolerable
level, and then getting the class quiet again in an endless and ineffective
cycle.
·
Sometimes you are the problem. When your students
are working quietly and productively on an assignment, don’t keep talking to
the class in general. When you repeatedly interrupt their work by distracting
them with your own conversation, you make it harder for your students to work
quietly.
·
Begin every
class with an activity that will focus your students’ attention on the work
they will be doing. This focusing activity will help them make a transition
from the casual chatting they may have done on the way to your class to the
purposeful work that you want them to begin.
·
Teach your
students that they must be responsible for their talking if you do not want to
spend all class period “shushing” them. Use positive peer pressure to help them
monitor each other’s behavior so that your own monitoring efforts will be more
effective.
·
Direct their
conversation if you have a group that likes to talk. Get them talking
productively about the lesson. If you are successful at doing this, their need
to interact with each other and your need to have them master the material will
both be satisfied.
·
Try to figure
out why they are talking excessively so that you can turn this problem into an
advantage. They may be talkative because they are excited, friendly, in need of
more challenging work, unsure of the limits that you’ve set, or many other
reasons.
·
If your
students tend to talk when they have finished an assignment and are waiting for
others to finish, sequence your instruction so that there is always an
overlapping activity for your students to begin right away.
·
Sometimes
when students are very excited, allow them to spend a minute or two talking
about it to clear the air so that they can focus on their work. Be clear in
setting time limits when you do this.
·
Stay on your
feet when your class has a problem with talking. Eye contact, proximity, and
other nonverbal cues will help. Persistent and careful monitoring will
encourage students to stay focused on their work rather than on conversation.
·
During a
movie or oral presentation when students may talk instead of listen, prevent
this by giving them an activity to do. Students who are taking notes or filling
out a worksheet will not have time for chatter.
·
If the noise
level is too loud, give students quiet activities that require they write or
read independently. These assignments should be designed to interest them, not
just keep the class busy.
·
Shifting
gears from one activity to another is difficult for many students. Make
transition times as efficient as possible in your class to avoid this problem.
·
If the entire
class persists in having a problem with excessive talking, chart their behavior
for them to see tangible evidence of it. Create a bar graph each day where you
rank their success at managing their problem with talking on a scale of 1 to
10. Sometimes students are not aware of the severity of a problem until they
can see it in a format such as this.
·
Move students
who talk too much away from each other. Placing one of them near where you
spend most of your time will help your monitoring efforts.
