...A student interrupts your lesson by calling out or interrupts a conversation...does not let you finish your comment....interrupts you mid sentence...etc. I found this issue to be incredibly frustrating and it wore me out each day... I have a list of "errors" I made this year and what I want to fix for the 08-09 school year, this is one topic I want to work on. Sounds like it would be easy to fix but it seemed too repetitive in my classroom this past year. I'd appreciate any input. Thanks so much
My cooperating teacher was big on Love and Logic and would simply say, "I only respond to students who ________." Fill in the blank with-- wait until I am finished, raise their hands, follow class rule # 2 (raise your hand rule), etc. It seemed to work very well for her.
I try to ignore it... at first it gets worse, but then eventually they realize that you're not going to stop and listen.
I do need to work on the ignoring thing. I just get very overwhelmed and lose my "cool". I'll work hard on that though, thanks Go_4th and dfleming.
I had a list of classroom rules on my wall and when this happened, I didn't stop talking, but moved over to the rules and pointed out the broken rule and went back to where I was. As somebody else said, it gets worse for a little while, then gets dramatically better almost overnight.
I ignore and then if the outbursts continue I remind that I only respond to students who are raising their hand to be called on. If the outbursts still continue and are a behavior problem, I pull the student aside and talk about why the outbursts are occurring. I think how you approach it depends on the student and the reason behind their calling out. Are they looking for attention from you? Ignore at inappropriate times and really praise them and give them your attention at appropriate times. Do you they want their peers to laugh because they don't have many friends and don't know how to make friends? Work on making friendships. Are they just being nasty and disrespectful? Set firm limits and take away privileges. Good luck this year!
Hawkteacher- I love your reasoning behind why the student is performing the behavior and also how to fix it. Thanks for your wonderful advice.
I call the student on it and tell them that it is rude to interrupt. Often they look surprised and apologize. If they are talking to someone else sometimes I'll stop and stare. When they realize I'm staring I'll ask if they are done so I may continue. It usually embarrasses them.
I was know for keeping a kid after class to practice correct procedures. If 15 kids did not follow some procedure during a class I would tell them all to please see me before lunch or whenever. We would take 2 or 3 minutes to practice correct procedures. I did that for about a week. After that if I wanted to stop a kid from shouting out all I had to say was "I think someone might need some practice with remaining quiet while the teacher is talking." They immediately fixed it and kept it fixed for the rest of class. If they were feeling bold and didn't fix their behavior, it only cost me about 2 minutes of time to correct.
I do the same thing as many posters.. ignore, tell them I only call on people who raise their hand, and if it really continues I will send them away.
I like all the above advice! I would also like to add that some students cannot help it to "blurt" I had one student I reminded not to shout out the answer and he litteraly had to hold his hands over his mouth. I had to change my questioning technique by having them write out answers on a paper first (no verbal answers). Usually, the student who interrups is most likely the student who gets off task quickly. If they haven't learned how to keep their fingers or feet occupied, I would inadvertantly get the student to doodle in his journal. This way his/her fingers are busy without interruping others.
I simply walk over to the whiteboard and write the student's name or put a check next to their name if it's already on the board. Then I call on a student and say, "Thank you ___________ for raising your hand" and hear what they have to say to the question I asked.
I go love and logic's route also. I usually say, "I listen to people who raise their hands." I also tend to ignore these students until they remember the appropriate way to get my attention. These kids generally want attention any way they can get it, so ignoring them until they choose an appropriate method to interrupt is generally highly effective. If a student consistently does this, I may send them away from the group for a time and welcome them back when they can demonstrate the proper procedure for conversation.
One of my classroom rules is: No blurting allowed. I explain what it means at the beginning of the year. Whenever a student breaks the rule, I just quietly remind them, "No blurting allowed." It usually only takes about a week for all the students to remember. I teach junior high and they love the word 'blurting'.
Usually I'll just ignore it if it's mid-sentence. But sometimes I'm in a mood and I'll stare at the intercom speaker and say "What? I'm sorry! I didn't hear you (very puzzled look) because (then stare at the kid) I WAS TEACHING! I"ve also been known to say, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you." And then wait and look at the kid. If it's yelling out an answer, I'll wait and wait, then say in a puzzled voice, "Doesn't anyone know?" And then pointedly call on someone else who shoots their hand in the air. I do have to be careful, though. There are a few kids who get their feelings hurt, so I'll just speak quietly to them later. But fifth graders usually enjoy the comedy.
I say "Hush your mouth while I'm talking" in a tone that says "shut your mouth while I'm talking" It's doesn't open the door to "you can't tell me to shut up" but it gets the point across that his/her behavior is not going to be tolerated with no unclear terms.
I will simply say, "James, you have a warning." If it happens again I will walk to my desk and grab a think card and plop it on the student's desk without breaking my stride. A think card is part of my behavior plan. If a student receives a think card it means they owe me 5 minutes from recess with heads down. I like that I can deliver this consequence without directly acknowledging the behavior.
