Talking Out of Turn

by Kelly Presmyk

Before adolescence, a child’s mind is very limited. They approach thinking very concretely. They cannot understand reasoning or consequences. Once adolescence hits, their brains are developing rapidly and they become more interested in socializing with their peers. According to Adolescent Development, students at this time become interested in the opposite sex. They need to talk to their friends about their girlfriends or boyfriends. Students talk about TV, music, sports, and food. All of these things that they have to talk about, they find time for in your classroom. This can be very disruptive!

Why?

According to an article by Ling, 53% of teachers listed “talking out of turn” as the most disruptive behavior in their classroom. This is a very disruptive behavior and there are many reasons why students talk during your class. There may be students in your class that are experiencing anxiety. They act out with disruptive behaviors in order to avoid the feelings of anxiety. According to Anxiety in Children and Adolescents, “the disruptive behavior is typically an action that helps the child avoid the anxiety-producing stimulus. This can include talking.” Other students find that talking is the only way that they can get attention. They get attention from you and from their peers when they are being called on to stop talking. Another reason for talking is that the students need to be accepted by others. They talk so that others don’t feel like they are outcasts. Some students talk to gain “status” among their peers. If they talk out in class, they are seen as the “cool” kid. Status is very important to adolescents because it also means that they are accepted and socially part of some group.

Here are some characteristics of students who disruptively talk in class:

• Student talks all the time
• Student talks out loud to them self
• Does not listen well
• Does not come to class prepared to learn
• Sometimes does not realize they are talking
• Student loves attention

Here are ways that talking out of turn is disruptive to your class:

• Teacher & students get annoyed of noise
• Students have trouble staying on task
• One student talking leads others to believe that they can talk too
• Time is taken away from lesson to discipline
• If student is not disciplined, they continue action daily
  

How to prevent and stop it

You have to be proactive with your discipline or the talking will continue and eventually become out of control. Here are some suggestions that you can use in your classroom to minimize the problem of talking out of turn:

• Set guidelines for your students about what is an appropriate time to talk. For example, let them know it is not okay to talk during lessons, but is okay during group work time.
• Before asking a question, remind the students that you want them to raise their hand quietly and wait to be called on before answering. If a student shouts out, then politely remind them that they were to raise their hand, and move on to another student who is following your directions.
• Change the seating arrangement in your classroom. Sit the talker among quieter students and try this. If this causes too much of a disruption to the quiet students learning, try another arrangement, for example, next to you.
• Try to give rewards verbally or physically for following directions and not talking.
• Allow student talking during group work, but make sure you are walking around and keeping students on track.
• Create signals so that your students realize when it is time to stop talking, and start listening.
• If the talking is consistent everyday, take the student aside and talk to them privately. This way this won’t burst their self esteem.