Classroom Management

Calling out and interrupting is an issue I tackle each year with second graders and
it can be quite frustrating! Wong (2007) eplains one of the characteristics of a well!
"anaged classroo" to be little wasted ti"e# confusion and disruption$ With that being
said# I a" continually working on ways to help students co""unicate their ideas and
knowledge without doing so in a disrupti%e "anner$ When thinking about options of what
I can do to di"inish interrupting# a few ideas co"e to "ind$ &irst# I could establish e%en
clearer routines$ 'o"eti"es# students in "y class shout out when they are finished with
an assign"ent$ (lthough others "ay still be working# I will hear# )I*" done!+ followed
by a wa%e of a paper in the air$ ,ccasionally# other students will beco"e anious as they
see other students finishing first$ 'ince one person shouted out# other peers often begin
s"all chit!chat with one another$ Wong (2007) "entions the i"portance of posting
assign"ents and working hard to ensure students know what is epected of the"$ I*d like
to work harder to post )What to do when I*" finished+ options on "y board# so that
students do not feel the need to interrupt and ask for guidance whene%er they finish a
task$ -a%ing a type of checklist of options to work on upon finishing an assign"ent is
beneficial for all in the classroo"$ ,f course# I will ensure that anything I list on the
board as )When I*" .one+ acti%ities will ha%e been gone o%er thoroughly so that
students know how to use "aterials and co"plete tasks independently$
/his goes hand!in!hand with the second option I*%e thought of as a way to
decrease disrupti%e beha%ior$ 'o"e teachers (and I a" guilty of this# too# at ti"es) want
to di%e in too quickly$ We are ecited about the work stations we*%e created in our
classroo" and we*%e purchased "any learning ga"es and tetile acti%ities for our
students$ I ha%e learned that ga"es and centers need to be introduced slowly# one by one#
and in great detail when all students are present to obser%e# "odel# and practice$ 'ending
a student off to an area of work that he0she is unsure of results in confusion# argu"ents
between peers in regards to following directions# and "ore$ 'pending so "uch ti"e on
rules during the first si weeks of school could be "onotonous# but it*s critical$ 1%en
when students ha%e a great day# teachers should not be too free to gi%e the" free ti"e to
do what they want$ If they are not ready to "ake independent choices yet# odds are#
disrupti%e beha%iors will occur$ -earing students shouting# )2o! /hat*s not what you*re
supposed to do+ or co"ing up to the teacher in groups saying# )We don*t get this+ is
often the fault of the teacher$
( third option that I often use to pre%ent calling out and interrupti%e beha%ior is
the use of co""on classroo" signals$ &or ea"ple# during "y 3orning 3eeting ti"e# I
allow two students to share each day$ /hey "ay share %erbal news# or so"ething that is
special to the"# such as a trophy# award# or so"ething that goes hand!in!hand with
so"ething we are studying in class$ (lthough "y students try to be good listeners# kids
are kids# and they get ecited when they find that they are able to "ake connections to
their friends who are sharing$ /his ecite"ent also results in students talking o%er the
sharer or starting to share their own eperiences$ 3y class uses a )3e too+ sy"bol with
their hands to decrease the a"ount of %erbal speaking that could co"e off as disrespectful
while another indi%idual is speaking$ (n i"plication of being disrupti%e or calling our
while other indi%iduals are speaking results in the )disrupter+ ha%ing to wait for another
day to share$ I ha%e eplained to a disrupti%e student that since they see"ed to already
ha%e so "uch to say while another peer waited so patiently to share# they could wait to
share another day$ 3ore general i"plications when it co"es to these beha%iors in%ol%e
students ha%ing to )take a break+ in a pri%ate area of the classroo"# where they think
about why they are there# what they can do now to do better# as well as what they can do
later$ ,ften# I ha%e students write these answers down$
/here are often underlying reasons for students interrupting often$ /hey "ay be
unsure of the ground rules of the classroo"$ 'tudents "ay not re"e"ber what to do when
they co"plete an acti%ity# and therefore# choose to chat with friends or disrupt peers in
order to figure out what to do net$ /he teacher should spend lots of ti"e laying down
rules and routines# and not epect students to understand the" after one ti"e$ 'tudents
should be asked to repeat back to the teacher what is epected to the"# followed by
participating in practice situations where students can "odel correct and incorrect
beha%iors$ 4ike Wong suggests# students need to know how to seek help$ I*%e begun to
use an )(sk 5 before "e+ strategy when students need help and the teacher is busy$ It
gi%es kids the freedo" to quietly ask their peers for assistance and also "eans that if a
student is confused# he0she has options$ /his should decrease their choice to start fooling
around or disrupting peers because they*re )lost$+ I*%e learned that "y second graders
understand best when they .,# rather than -1(6$ (nother reason students "ay call out
and interrupt# especially at a young age# "ay si"ply be because they are "ore ego!centric
and so eager to share$ I could address this by ensuring I fit ti"e into the day for students
to share$ 'tudents can earn talk ti"e when they*%e de"onstrated that they could work
independently without interrupting# and I could spend ti"e on lessons where I turn the
tables and interrupt "y students# to gi%e the" a sense of what it feels like$
When addressing disrupti%e beha%ior# I want to be careful not to cause "y
students to think that what they ha%e to say is not i"portant$ /here are certainly days
where I feel defeated as a teacher# feeling like students had things to share with "e# and I
si"ply did not ha%e ti"e$ ,r# they spoke out at inappropriate ti"es and were
repri"anded# ne%er to ha%e a chance to try again$ If "y students work hard throughout
the "orning# they "ay earn 7 "inutes of )talk ti"e+ before lunch$ /hey en8oy this$ I
think it*s i"portant to let the" know that school is not strictly all work and that there are
ti"es to share other infor"ation# but students need to know when the appropriate ti"es
are$ /eachers should be cautious not to co"pletely single students out# since e%eryone
interrupts e%ery now and again$ I always try to turn these negati%e beha%iors into learning
eperiences the best way I know how$
6eferences
Wong# -arry (2007)$ The well-managed classroom. 6etrie%ed fro"9
http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_sc/gen/HSTPR034.PDF. -olt# 6inehart#
and Winston$