"Talkers"

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Home : 2004 : January : 17

"Talkers"
By Susan

After teaching for 24 years, this is the best that has ever worked for me. I did not come up with this idea, I may have even gotten it at ProTeacher. Every day I write the word "Quiet" on the board. When that start getting
"chatty", without saying a word, I will erase the letter "t". If they still continue to talk, I erase the letter "e". If I erase all of the letters by the end of the day, there is no recess. (I have had years where this has never happened.) Usually when I start walking toward the board, I will hear whispering of "She's getting the eraser" or "We're going to lose a letter". This

method works with peer pressure because the students will look at their neighbor or group and point toward the board. I don't have to call names and I refuse to raise my voice to get them quiet. I found out the first year of teaching that the louder I got, the louder they got. (If it is a really bad day and I do erase all of the letters, there are ways that they can "earn" a letter back (quiet during naptime, quiet during centers, etc.) I am not crazy--I know that keeping a chatty group in for recess is torture on me!